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Putin teaches the Prime Minister of Oman how to wear an earpiece during their meeting at the Kremlin.

President Trump’s Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, has spoken out in strong support of the administration’s move to resume collecting student loan debt, accusing colleges of taking advantage of loan forgiveness initiatives enacted under Biden.

On Monday, the Department of Education revealed that starting May 5, it would resume collection efforts on student loan debt from the approximately 5.3 million individuals currently in default.

In a sharply worded opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal, McMahon pinned the blame for the student debt crisis on Biden’s policies and institutions of higher learning, saying they’ve misled students while benefitting from the system.

“Colleges and universities call themselves nonprofits, but for years they have profited massively off the federal subsidy of loans, hiking tuition and piling up multibillion-dollar endowments while students graduate six figures in the red,” McMahon wrote.

She pointed to research from nearly a decade ago that links the rise in tuition to increases in federal loan limits.

“A widely cited 2015 study found that for every dollar of increased federal caps on subsidized loans, colleges raised tuition by 60 cents,” she continued.

McMahon also blasted academic institutions for continuing to push students toward degrees that hold little real-world value, while encouraging them to take on huge financial burdens.

“Many of the degree-granting programs that qualify for student loans are worthless on the job market, but colleges continue to accept students to these programs and encourage them to borrow to pay for them.”

She emphasized that both students and institutions must be held responsible for the role they play in the growing student debt crisis.

“Accountability is a two-way street. As we push to hold student borrowers to account, we will also push colleges to be responsible and transparent.”

Dismissing claims that the resumption of collections is punitive, McMahon said the decision is rooted in fiscal responsibility and called out President Biden for making hollow campaign pledges.

She said Biden used student loan forgiveness to appeal to younger voters during his campaign, without the legal authority to deliver on those promises.

Student loan payments were first suspended during Trump’s administration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, McMahon noted, but the Biden White House extended those suspensions beyond what she says was legally permissible.

According to her, this extension only made things worse by giving borrowers the false impression they wouldn’t need to repay what they owed.

“I am announcing the end of this dishonest and irresponsible policy. We will conform the department’s repayment options to federal court decisions and end the Biden-era practice of zero-interest, zero-accountability forbearances that are pushing borrowers into loan delinquency and default,” she said.

She outlined the steps that will soon take effect, including getting nearly 2 million borrowers back into active repayment status and restarting collection efforts for those who are still in default.

“On May 5, we will begin the process of moving roughly 1.8 million borrowers into repayment plans and restart collections of loans in default. Borrowers who don’t make payments on time will see their credit scores go down, and in some cases, their wages automatically garnished.

“Why? Not because we want to be unkind to student borrowers. Borrowing money and failing to pay it back isn’t a victimless offense. Debt doesn’t go away; it gets transferred to others. If borrowers don’t pay their debts to the government, taxpayers do,” McMahon added.

She also underscored the unique nature of student debt, saying it must be taken seriously and cannot be viewed like ordinary consumer loans.

“We are committed to ensuring that borrowers are paying back their loans, that they are fully supported in doing so, and that colleges can’t create such a massive liability for students and their families, jeopardizing their ability to achieve the American dream,” McMahon said.

Earlier, McMahon had taken aim at Biden’s repeated attempts to erase large amounts of student debt—moves that were partially thwarted in court decisions last year.

According to the Department of Education, 42.7 million Americans currently owe over $1.6 trillion in student loans, creating what the agency described as a looming threat to the financial health of the federal student loan system.

The department further warned that millions of borrowers have gone well over a year without making payments, with some having defaulted on their loans for more than seven years.

{Matzav.com}

Negotiations between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program will move Wednesday to what’s known as the “expert level” — a sign analysts say shows that the talks are moving forward rapidly. However, experts not involved in the talks who spoke with The Associated Press warn that this doesn’t necessarily signal a deal is imminent. Instead, it means that the talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff haven’t broken down at what likely is the top-level trade — Tehran limiting its atomic program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. “Agreeing to technical talks suggests both sides are expressing pragmatic, realistic objectives for the negotiations and want to explore the details,” said Kelsey Davenport, the director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association who long has studied Iran’s nuclear program. “If Witkoff was making maximalist demands during his talks with Araghchi, such as dismantlement of the enrichment program, Iran would have no incentive to meet at the technical level.” That technical level, however, remains filled with possible landmines. Just how much enrichment by Iran would be comfortable for the United States? What about Tehran’s ballistic missile program, which U.S. President Donald Trump first cited in pulling America unilaterally out of the accord in 2018? Which sanctions could be lifted and which would be remain in place on the Islamic Republic? “The most important determinant of expert talks’ value lies in whether there is a political commitment to do something and experts just need to figure out what,” said Richard Nephew, an adjunct fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who worked on Iran sanctions while at the U.S. State Department during negotiations over what became the 2015 nuclear deal. “If the experts also have to discuss big concepts, without political agreement, it can just result in spun wheels.” Experts and the 2015 nuclear deal The 2015 nuclear deal saw senior experts involved in both sides of the deal. For the U.S. under President Barack Obama, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz reached an understanding working with Ali Akbar Salehi, then the leader of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Both men’s technical background proved key to nailing down the specifics of the deal. Under the 2015 agreement, Iran agreed to enrich uranium only to 3.67% purity and keep a stockpile of only 300 kilograms (661 pounds). Today, Iran enriches some uranium up to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency put Iran’s overall uranium stockpile in February at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds). The deal also limited the types of centrifuges Iran could spin, further slowing Tehran’s ability to rush for a bomb, if it chose to do so. It also set out the provisions of how and when sanctions would be lifted, as well as time limits for the accord itself. Reaching limits, relief and timelines require the knowledge of experts, analysts say. “A nonproliferation agreement is meaningless if it cannot be effectively implemented and verified,” Davenport said. “The United States needs a strong technical team to negotiate the detailed restrictions and intrusive monitoring that will be necessary to ensure any move by Iran toward nuclear weapons is quickly detected and there is sufficient time to respond.” It remains unclear who the two […]

At a climate-focused event in San Francisco on Monday, former Vice President Al Gore delivered a sharp rebuke of President Donald Trump’s administration, drawing comparisons to Nazi Germany and issuing warnings about the dangers of political manipulation and unchecked power.

Speaking at the opening of Climate Week in San Francisco, Gore accused the Trump administration of shaping a distorted version of reality to serve its agenda, likening the strategy to the tactics employed by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime during the 1930s and 1940s.

“I understand very well why it is wrong to compare Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich to any other movement,” Gore said to a crowd of about 150 policymakers and climate activists gathered at a science museum near the city’s waterfront. “It was uniquely evil, full stop. I get it. But there are important lessons from the history of that emergent evil.”

Gore’s criticism comes amid a wave of similar condemnations from prominent Democratic figures who have recently taken aim at the Trump administration. In a recent speech, Barack Obama voiced his alarm over federal threats against universities for not disclosing student protesters’ identities, saying that Trump’s leadership has corroded core American values. Kamala Harris has accused the administration of acting beyond constitutional boundaries and fostering a climate of fear. Hillary Clinton, in a New York Times op-ed, accused Trump of “squandering America’s strength and threatening our national security,” adding to the chorus of Democratic voices opposing the current administration.

During his speech, Gore referenced post-World War II reflections by German philosophers on the Nazi regime’s rise to power.

“It was [Jürgen] Habermas’ mentor, Theodore Adorno, who wrote that the first step in that nation’s descent into hell was, and I quote, ‘the conversion of all questions of truth into questions of power,’” Gore said. “He described how the Nazis, and I quote again, ‘attacked the very heart of the distinction between true and false.’ End quote. The Trump administration is insisting on trying to create their own preferred version of reality.”

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Gore’s statements.

Gore, who received an Academy Award for his 2006 climate documentary An Inconvenient Truth, also took direct aim at several public claims made by Trump regarding climate science and energy. He cited them as examples of the administration’s rollback of environmental protections and policies enacted under previous Democratic leadership.

“They say the climate crisis is a hoax invented by the Chinese to destroy American manufacturing,” he said. “They say coal is clean. They say wind turbines cause cancer. They say sea-level rise just creates more beachfront property.”

In his 25-minute address, Gore also referenced figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Pope Francis while calling on the audience to continue the fight against climate change and resist authoritarianism.

“We’ve already seen, by the way, how populist authoritarian leaders have used migrants as scapegoats and have fanned the fires of xenophobia to fuel their own rise of power,” he said. “And power-seeking is what this is all about. Our constitution, written by our founders, is intended to protect us against a threat identical to Donald Trump,” he said, prompting applause from the audience.

Following Gore’s speech, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie addressed the gathering. Pelosi emphasized key climate measures such as the Inflation Reduction Act and praised Pope Francis for his environmental leadership. Lurie highlighted San Francisco’s achievements in sustainability, including investments in electric vehicle infrastructure and renewable energy initiatives.

{Matzav.com}

Antisemitic hate in the United States has reached a new peak, with 2024 marking the highest number of reported incidents ever recorded, according to a disturbing new report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The watchdog documented 9,354 cases of harassment, vandalism, and assault — a 5% rise from the previous year’s record, and the most since the organization began tracking in 1979. That staggering figure translates to more than one antisemitic incident every hour, every day. New York and California led in reported cases, but all 50 states saw incidents. Most troubling is the surge in physical assaults, up 21% to 196 incidents targeting at least 250 individuals — nearly a third of them Orthodox Jews. Vandalism spiked 39%, and bomb threats against Jewish institutions numbered 647. The ADL’s report links much of the escalation to the fallout from Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. Over half of all reported incidents — 5,452 — were tied to anti-Israel or anti-Zionist activity, with many taking place at rallies where antisemitic chants, slogans, and imagery were present. Groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine and the Party for Socialism and Liberation played central roles in organizing these events. “This is a five-alarm fire,” warned ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. “American Jews are being targeted daily. This cannot be normalized.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

In a powerful and impassioned address delivered on the last day of Chol Hamoed Pesach at his home, HaGaon HaRav Meir Tzvi Bergman, Rosh Yeshivas Rashbi and Zakein Chevrei Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah, issued a resolute call to action against the looming threat of a mandatory draft for yeshiva students. His words were delivered amidst growing concerns over recent arrests of yeshiva bochurim and stalled efforts to formulate a conscription law acceptable to the Torah community. Speaking to a gathered audience, the Rosh Yeshiva opened by acknowledging the gravity of the current situation: “Everyone knows that Klal Yisroel is in great danger today. There is a threat to take yeshiva Bochrim to the army, chas v’shalom.” He emphasized that this is not merely a policy issue but a direct challenge to the spiritual foundation of Klal Yisroel. With clarity and conviction, he declared, “We must stand like an impregnable wall on this matter. We will proclaim to all—those who wish to hear and those who do not—that we will not give up on a single bochur. No one has the authority to forsake the holy Torah.” His words resonated as a rallying cry, urging unity and resolve in the face of external pressures. The Rosh Yeshiva further stressed the importance of communal support for yeshiva students, encouraging them to remain steadfast in their refusal to cooperate with military authorities. “If we stand strong and protect our yeshiva bochurim, ensuring they know that all of Klal Yisroel stands with them, then Hashem will nullify this decree,” he assured. Concluding his remarks with a heartfelt tefillah, Maran HaGaon Rabbi Bergman prayed for the elevation of Torah’s honor and the speedy arrival of Moshiach: “May we merit to see the nullification of this gezeirah and the coming of Moshiach b’meheira b’yameinu, Amen. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Qatari and Egyptian mediators have proposed a new ceasefire framework to Hamas that includes a long-term truce, the release of all Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners, and a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the BBC reported Monday, citing a senior Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations. The reported plan envisions a five- to seven-year truce and the creation of a new governing authority in Gaza, which could replace Hamas. According to the BBC, Hamas has signaled a willingness to hand over control to another Palestinian body, provided it gains approval at both the national and regional levels. There has been no confirmation or comment on the proposal from the Israeli government. A senior Hamas delegation is expected in Cairo in the coming days to deliberate on the initiative. This comes shortly after Hamas rejected an Israeli proposal that included a six-week ceasefire and the return of hostages in exchange for disarmament. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that the war will not end until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are released. As of Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s Office has issued no public response to the renewed mediation efforts. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A massive explosion has hit Russia’s 51st GRAU arsenal in Vladimir Oblast, a facility believed to store over 100,000 tons of munitions, including artillery shells, rockets, and missiles.

Some 40 construction vehicles in the Gaza Strip, which the IDF says were used by Hamas for terror activities, were destroyed in airstrikes overnight and this morning.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirms for the first time this morning to Fox News that the three senior staffers fired last week from the Pentagon, Dan Caldwell, Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll; were fired for accusations of leaking classified information.

Sec. Of Defense Pete Hegseth responds to latest allegations of sharing war plans on signal: “This is what it’s all about — trying to get at President Trump and his agenda.”

An Israeli air strike near the Beirut area has reportedly eliminated Sheikh Hussein Atawi, a senior terrorist linked to both Hamas and Hezbollah.

Vice President JD Vance announces that the United States and India have officially agreed on the terms to begin trade negotiations.

Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz said in an interview with Newsmax on Monday that Harvard’s new lawsuit is likely a strategic move intended to pressure the Trump administration into negotiations, and warned that the university stands little chance of prevailing if the case reaches the Supreme Court.

Harvard filed the legal action in an effort to stop a federal decision freezing more than $2.2 billion in grant money. Speaking on The Record With Greta Van Susteren, Dershowitz explained that the government isn’t legally obligated to provide such funding to any academic institution.

“Harvard’s going to lose. It has no obligation legally, the government, to fund a $53 billion university. I don’t understand the basis of the lawsuit,” Dershowitz said. “They’re claiming First Amendment. But, you know, Harvard has the First Amendment right to speak and to teach and academic freedom, but it doesn’t have the right to get funding.”

He went on to suggest that the lawsuit is less about winning in court and more about opening a path to dialogue. “I think the lawsuit is designed to send a message to the administration — come sit down and negotiate. Their two lawyers who they hired initially are negotiators; they’re close to the Trump family and Trump business. And I think this is simply a ploy to try to get a resolution,” he added.

According to Dershowitz, a settlement is the likely outcome, though he believes the administration ultimately holds the stronger position.

“About a third of the things that the government asked for from Harvard are right; they should do it. Third of them may be wrong and about a third of them are subject to negotiation. So this case will settle. But if it goes to the Supreme Court, it’s going to lose. [Harvard] may win in the district court because it’s Massachusetts, but it will lose in the Supreme Court,” Dershowitz said.

{Matzav.com}

A camel seen heading to Shacharis this morning in Rosh Ha’ayin. It wasn’t immediately clear where it came from.

During overnight operations in East Jerusalem Palestinian town of A-Ram, the IDF says it demolished the home of a terrorist who carried out a deadly car-ramming attack outside a military base in central Israel in July.

Dramatic footage captures an IDF drone strike that killed Hezbollah terrorist Ali Qaid Hashem in southern Lebanon. The terrorist escaped the first missile; the second one obliterated him.

Swiss pharmaceuticals powerhouse Roche announced Monday it plans to invest $50 billion in the United States over the next five years, creating 12,000 jobs. The Basel-based company, whose array of products includes cancer medicines and multiple sclerosis treatment Ocrevus, said the investment would go toward high-tech research and development sites and new manufacturing facilities in places including California, Indiana, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The announcement comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has urged foreign businesses to invest more in the United States, and announced sweeping tariffs earlier this month on imports as part of hopes to reduce a large U.S. trade deficit when it comes to sales of goods. Before the Trump administration backed off its most stringent tariff plans, products imported from Switzerland had been set to face tariffs of 31% — more than the 20% tariffs on goods from the European Union. Switzerland is not a member of the 27-country bloc but is virtually surrounded by four EU countries. Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2 set off turmoil in world stock markets. A week later, Trump spoke by phone with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter in a conversation that her office said focused on tariffs. She emphasized the “important role of Swiss companies and investments in the United States.” Hours later, the U.S. president announced the U-turn that paused the steep new tariffs on about 60 countries for 90 days, fanning speculation — which was not confirmed — in some Swiss media that her chat with Trump might have played a role in the change of course. Roche, in its statement, said that once the new, expanded manufacturing comes on line, the company “will export more medicines from the U.S. than it imports” — though it made no mention of tariffs. “Today’s announced investments underscore our longstanding commitment to research, development and manufacturing in the U.S.,” said Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker in a statement. The company — like cross-town competitor Novartis — has deep ties to the U.S. market and said it currently employs 25,000 people and operates 15 R&D centers and 13 manufacturing sites in the United States. The planned investment will add 1,000 jobs at Roche in the U.S. and “more than 11,000 in support of new U.S. manufacturing capabilities,” it said, which will increase its footprint in the United States to 24 sites in eight states. Roche tallied more than 60 billion Swiss francs (about $74 billion) in worldwide sales last year, and nearly 25 billion francs of sales in its key pharmaceuticals division alone came in the United States. Roche’s share price has fallen by about 18% over the past month, with most of the drop coming after the U.S. tariff announcement on April 2. (AP)

According to new demographic research from the Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the global community is expected to lose 70% of its Holocaust survivors within the next decade, and 90% over the next 15 years. The findings will be unveiled at a major conference scheduled for Tuesday.

The report, titled Vanishing Witnesses: An Urgent Analysis of the Declining Population of Holocaust Survivors, estimates that by the year 2040, the number of survivors worldwide will dwindle to approximately 21,300.

Pinchas Gutter, one of the few remaining individuals who fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, reflected on the report’s sobering implications. “We have an important piece of history that only we hold and only we can tell. I hope in the time we have, we can impart the learning from the Holocaust so that the world will never again have to endure that level of hate,” said Gutter.

“I am a witness. Those of us witnesses still alive are working to make sure our testimonies are heard and preserved through any means possible. We are counting on this generation to hear us and future generations to carry our experiences forward so that the world does not forget.”

The release of the study coincides with Yom HaShoah, Israel’s national day of Holocaust remembrance, and comes just four months after the world marked eight decades since the liberation of Nazi death camps.

The population projections are based on data from 2022 and 2023 involving more than 250,000 survivors who were recipients of compensation, social services, or support through the Claims Conference.

Because survival rates vary by region, the decline in the survivor population will differ across countries. In Israel, for instance, 40% of Holocaust survivors are expected to pass away within the next five years. In the former Soviet Union, the decline is projected to be even steeper—about 50% over the same period.

The report points out that although Holocaust survivors have benefited from the broader global increase in life expectancy due to advances in healthcare, this longevity often comes with age-related challenges that require long-term medical and emotional support.

Nearly all of the remaining survivors were children during the Holocaust—either imprisoned in ghettos or concentration camps, or hidden to escape capture. Today, 98% of survivors are over the age of 80, and the median age is 87. The report also reveals that around 1,400 survivors have reached the milestone of 100 years or older.

Vladimir Shvetz, whose mother, Nechama Grossman, is 110 years old, shared that her life has been a living testament to resilience. “We must remember her story, remember the Holocaust, remember all the survivors, and learn from it so that her past does not become our future,” said Shvetz.

Malka Schmulovitz, a 109-year-old survivor, expressed her urgency in a public statement, saying her advanced age is a stark reminder that the opportunity to share these stories is fading quickly. “We all have a testimony that needs to be shared. We all want to be sure that this generation of young people and the ones that come after them, hear and understand what truly happened during the Holocaust; if only so that we do not see it repeated,” said Schmulovitz.

Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference, stressed that the diminishing number of living witnesses underscores the immediate need to amplify Holocaust education and remembrance.

“Now is the time to hear first-hand testimonies from survivors, invite them to speak in our classrooms, places of worship, and institutions. It is critical, not only for our youth but for people of all generations to hear and learn directly from Holocaust survivors,” said Taylor.

“This report is a stark reminder that our time is almost up, our survivors are leaving us, and this is the moment to hear their voices.”

{Matzav.com}

During remarks on Monday in Yerushalayim, Rav Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of Tzfas, spoke critically about recent decisions issued by the Israeli Supreme Court, asserting that such rulings lack halachic legitimacy when they run counter to Torah law.

Rav Eliyahu emphasized that these types of rulings carry no halachic authority and explained that his position is firmly grounded in classical Jewish sources.

“If the Supreme Court rules against the law and a minister or Knesset member asks me who to listen to, their ruling has no validity and the source for that is in the Gemara, Mishna, and the Rambam’s halachic rulings — practical halachic rulings — and the sages ruled that way since that’s what the Torah says.”

Expanding on his point, the rov highlighted that Torah law obligates individuals to think for themselves and not surrender their judgment to external authority. “The Torah tells man to use his discretion, don’t follow blindly, and anyone who demands that you follow blindly is contradicting the Torah, how can we go against the Torah, G-d forbid?”

Rav Eliyahu concluded his remarks by reiterating that from a halachic perspective, there is no requirement to adhere to judicial rulings that oppose the law of the Torah. “Therefore, we hope that there won’t be a situation where the judges rule against the law, since if they rule against the law, there is no need to follow their ruling.”

{Matzav.com Israel}