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State Attorney Amit Isman has directed police to expand the list of suspected offenses against Bezalel Zini and two other soldiers to include “assisting the enemy in wartime,” a move taken at the final stage of a probe into the alleged smuggling of cigarettes into the Gaza Strip during the war.

Under Israeli law, assisting the enemy in wartime is among the gravest criminal offenses, with penalties that can reach life imprisonment or even death.

The decision marks a sharp escalation from a similar case only weeks ago, when soldiers from the Bedouin Reconnaissance Battalion accused of smuggling cigarettes into Gaza were charged with a lesser security offense carrying a maximum sentence of five years. Investigators say Zini and the two other suspects are alleged to have engaged in the same conduct.

MK Moshe Saada, who previously served as deputy and acting head of the Police Internal Investigations Department (Mahash), condemned the prosecutor’s decision. “Amit Isman, who is unfit and has failed, continues to use his position for political purposes and to act systematically to thwart members of the national camp,” Saada said.

Saada went further, accusing the prosecution of abusing its authority. “The delusional instruction to add an offense of assisting the enemy-punishable by death or life imprisonment-to an allegation of cigarette smuggling is part of a planned witch hunt whose goal is to trigger a constitutional crisis or to force the resignation of the Shin Bet chief, who exposed the military advocate general affair and does not fall in line with Isman and his deep-state associates.”

Earlier on Tuesday, a court approved publication of the fact that Zini is suspected of involvement in the wartime smuggling of cigarettes into Gaza.

Police told the court that Zini’s questioning has concluded and stressed that the central allegation against him relates solely to cigarette smuggling. His detention, along with that of the two other soldiers, was extended until Thursday. At the same time, authorities confirmed that all three are also under investigation for assisting the enemy in wartime.

According to police, investigators carried out a series of investigative steps over the past several weeks and have now completed the evidence-gathering phase.

Following developments in the case, prosecutors have submitted a prosecutor’s statement against Zini, a procedural step that typically precedes the filing of formal charges, which is expected on Thursday.

{Matzav.com}

Legislation that U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law on Tuesday included more than $4 billion for Israel, as well as several other provisions in support of the Jewish state, according to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Trump acted fewer than three hours after the U.S. House of Representatives cleared the bill that would reopen the federal government through Sept. 30 after a short shutdown. The Senate had passed the legislation earlier.

Atop the list is $3.8 billion for the U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding, which includes $3.3 billion in security assistance and $500 million for missile defense, such as Iron Dome and Arrow.

“Congress sent a powerful message about the strength and vibrancy of the U.S.-Israel alliance,” AIPAC stated. “This funding makes America safer, stronger and more prosperous, and ensures our democratic ally can defend itself from our shared enemies.”

Other funding includes $47.5 million for U.S.-Israel emerging technology cooperation (a $27.5 million increase), $75 million for U.S.-Israel counter-drone and directed energy investment (up $20 million), $80 million for U.S.-Israel anti-tunnel defense cooperation (a $32.5 million increase), $37.5 million for the Nita Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act that supports economic cooperation and peace building and $3 million for U.S.-Israel international development cooperation.

The measure also bans funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry against Israel.

“Congress once again came together to send an unequivocal and bipartisan message of support for Israel and the U.S-Israel relationship,” AIPAC stated. “This strong bipartisan support reflects that the enduring partnership between the United States and the Jewish state remains stronger than ever.” JNS

{Matzav.com}

The Otef Israel Forum responded to the report on Tuesday on mortar shells and rockets that were discovered in the southern Gaza Strip, warning that, in its words, this is only “the tip of the iceberg” of a much wider and dangerous phenomenon. According to the forum, trucks entering the Strip from Egypt are not […]

SAN FRANCISCO – Google breached its own policies that barred use of artificial intelligence for weapons or surveillance in 2024 by helping an Israeli military contractor analyze drone video footage, a former Google employee alleged in a confidential federal whistleblower complaint reviewed by The Washington Post.

Google’s Gemini AI technology was being used by Israel’s defense apparatus at a time that the company was publicly distancing itself from the country’s military after employee protests over a contract with Israel’s government, according to internal documents included in the complaint.

In July 2024, Google’s cloud-computing division received a customer support request from a person using an Israel Defense Forces email address, according to the documents included in the complaint, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in August. The name on the customer support request matches a publicly listed employee of Israeli tech firm CloudEx, which the complaint to the SEC alleges is an IDF contractor.

The request from the IDF email address asked for help making Google’s Gemini more reliable at identifying objects such as drones, armored vehicles and soldiers in aerial video footage, according to the internal documents included with the complaint. Staff in Google’s cloud unit responded by making suggestions and doing internal tests, the documents said.

At the time, Google’s public “AI principles” stated that the company would not deploy AI technology in relation to weapons, or to surveillance “violating internationally accepted norms.” The whistleblower complaint alleges that the IDF contractor’s use contradicted both policies.

The complaint to the SEC alleges that Google broke securities laws because by contradicting its own publicly stated policies, which had also been included in federal filings, the company misled investors and regulators.

“Many of my projects at Google have gone through their internal AI ethics review process,” the former employee who filed the complaint said in a statement to The Post, provided on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from the company. “That process is robust and as employees we are regularly reminded of how important the company’s AI Principles are. But when it came to Israel and Gaza, the opposite was true. … I filed with the SEC because I felt the company needed to be held accountable for this double standard.”

A Google spokesperson contested the whistleblower’s allegations and said the company did not violate its AI principles because the account’s usage of its AI services was too small to be “meaningful.” The AI product that was used is broadly available to any customer, the spokesperson said.

“We answered a general use question, as we would for any customer, with standard, help desk information, and did not provide any further technical assistance,” a statement provided by the spokesperson said. “The ticket originated from an account with less than a couple hundred dollars of monthly spend on AI products, which makes any meaningful usage of AI impossible.”

Google documentation for its “cloud video intelligence” service says that tracking objects in video is free for the first 1,000 minutes and then costs 15 cents per minute.

A spokesperson for the SEC declined to comment. Anyone can file a complaint with the agency, which does not make them public. Complaints do not automatically lead to an investigation.

Representatives for the IDF and CloudEx did not respond to requests for comment.

In 2024, CloudEx was among the sponsors of a tech conference held south of Tel Aviv called “IT for IDF,” which featured Israeli military officials praising the importance of cloud computing to its operations in Gaza, according to the event website.

The complaint to the SEC claims that the use of Gemini described in the internal Google documents was related to Israel’s operations in Gaza, without citing specific evidence. Google previously said its work for the Israeli government was “not directed at highly sensitive, classified, or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services.”

Google, which used the motto “Don’t be evil” when it went public in 2004, has since its founding focused on serving consumers and businesses. More recently, company leaders have also sought defense contracts, triggering protests from some employees.

The company introduced its AI policies that barred uses related to weapons or surveillance in 2018, after employee pushback led the company to decline to renew a Pentagon contract that involved analyzing drone footage.

In 2021, Google and Amazon won a $1.2 billion cloud deal with Israel’s government known as Project Nimbus. Microsoft also provides cloud computing to the Israeli government. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Post.

Some Google, Amazon and Microsoft employees have protested the companies’ work with Israel. Google fired more than 50 workers in April 2024, according to a group representing the workers, after some of them staged sit-ins at company offices and demanded it cease working with the Israeli government. Microsoft has also fired workers, after protests at its campus near Seattle.

Google in February of last year updated its AI policies to remove its pledges not to apply the technology to weapons or surveillance, saying it needed to evolve to help democratically elected governments keep up in the global battle for AI dominance.

When the CloudEx employee filed the support request to Google in 2024, they described a bug that led to the Gemini AI software failing to properly analyze aerial footage some of the time. A Google staffer was copied in on the initial request, according to the documents included in the complaint to the SEC. The complaint alleges that staffer works on the IDF’s Google Cloud account.

After exchanging several messages with a Google support worker, the CloudEx employee said the issue resolved itself, according to the documents.

In December, the Pentagon announced that Google’s Gemini was the first AI offering to be provided to Defense Department employees on its new GenAI.mil platform, under a new drive to increase military use of the technology.

The whistleblower report adds to claims that major American tech companies have been drawn into assisting Israel in its war in Gaza, even as public opposition to the war in the United States has grown.

Israel has said that about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, died in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas that triggered the war. The Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, says that more than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Gaza war.

Reporting from The Post and other news organizations has shown that Google and other U.S. tech giants have worked on military-related projects for Israel.

In January 2025, The Post reported that Google employees rushed to provide the Israeli military with greater access to AI tools in the weeks after the Oct. 7 attack. An internal document showed that one Google worker had warned colleagues that if requests from Israel’s Defense Ministry for more AI capacity were not approved, the country might turn to Amazon instead.

In August, Microsoft, which also has contracts with the Israeli government, said it had opened an internal inquiry after the Guardian newspaper reported that the company’s cloud services were being used to store phone-call data obtained through large-scale surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.

In September, Microsoft said the investigation led it to shut off a unit inside Israel’s Ministry of Defense from accessing some cloud services, in line with its terms of service barring mass surveillance of civilians.

(c) 2026, The Washington Post

President Donald Trump signed a roughly $1.2 trillion government funding bill Tuesday that ends the partial federal shutdown that began over the weekend and sets the stage for an intense debate in Congress over Homeland Security funding. The president moved quickly to sign the bill after the House approved it with a 217-214 vote. “This […]

The first husband of former first lady Jill Biden has been charged with killing his wife at their Delaware home in late December, authorities announced in a news release Tuesday. William Stevenson, 77, of Wilmington was married to Jill Biden from 1970 to 1975. Caroline Harrison, the Delaware Attorney General’s spokesperson, confirmed in a phone […]

Did you ever realize that most of the good in your life slips by unnoticed? Small wins. Big saves. Tiny moments that show He’s with you. And then what happens? We forget. Like… • The bus that waited. • The appointment that suddenly opened. • The friend who texted at the perfect second. • The […]

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States is engaged in ongoing negotiations with Iran, while declining to reveal where the discussions are being held. Speaking to reporters, Trump confirmed that diplomatic contacts are underway but said details about the venue remain confidential.

“They are negotiating. They’d like to do something, and we’ll see if something is going to be done,” Trump said. He added that Tehran had missed earlier opportunities to reach an agreement. “They had a chance to do something a while ago, and it didn’t work out. And we did Midnight Hammer. I don’t think they want that happening again,” Trump continued, referring to U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last June. “But they would like to negotiate. We are negotiating with them right now, yes.”

Trump says he is negotiating with Iran but doesn't know where the next meeting will be.
Then he says he doesn't think Iran wants another Midnight hammer. pic.twitter.com/bBH2rGSMid

— Ali (@MerruX) February 3, 2026

When pressed about where the talks would take place, Trump refused to elaborate, responding simply, “I can’t tell you that.”

The comments came amid reports that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were expected to meet Friday in Istanbul to discuss a potential nuclear agreement. However, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that consultations are still ongoing regarding the location of the meeting.

According to reports, Iran has requested that the talks be moved from Istanbul to Oman, signaling continued disagreement over the framework and setting of the negotiations.

Trump has repeatedly urged Iran to reach an agreement with Washington over its nuclear program, while making clear that military action remains an option if diplomacy fails.

Ahead of the anticipated talks, two Iranian officials told The New York Times that Tehran is prepared to shut down or suspend its nuclear program as part of an effort to ease tensions between the two countries. The report said Iran favors a U.S. proposal from last year that would establish a regional consortium for nuclear power production.

The officials also disclosed that Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, recently held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the report, Larijani delivered a message from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, indicating that Iran could agree to transfer its enriched uranium to Russia, similar to arrangements included in the 2015 nuclear deal.

{Matzav.com}

After years of public criticism and petitions to the Supreme Court of Israel, the Israel Police have begun testing a new method for dispersing protests: water cannons using water mixed with pepper spray, instead of the controversial “skunk” spray. According to a Ynet report, police have conducted trials of the new method during several protests […]

When the 58-year-old fraud victim told investigators in Maryland the details of how she had been duped out of $1.7 million, they knew she was hardly alone.

A year-long, expanding investigation – the results of which were made public Monday – revealed just how widespread her plight was: more than 650 victims, targeted by the same three call centers in India and losing over $48 million. The fraudsters posed as tech support workers, allowing them to gain access to victims’ computers, or described themselves as American law enforcement as part of elaborate ruses.

“A staggering amount of money,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, head of the bureau’s Baltimore field office. “It’s infuriating and it’s unfair.”

The probe led authorities in India to raid the call centers on Dec. 11 and 12, Paul said. Those operations were “dismantled,” according to India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, leading to the arrest of six leaders and the seizure of laptops, cellphones, other devices and cash.

Maryland officials said the victims probably will never see their money again.

Investigators this week described how the scams started at the call centers, where workers spent their days looking for American targets through email, text messages, phone calls and computer pop-up warnings.

They often played the role of a tech support worker from, say, Microsoft or Apple, persuading their marks to download software onto their computers. Or they said they were calling from the U.S. Social Security Administration to report that criminals were using the victim’s Social Security number for money laundering, drug trafficking or child pornography. “It’s always something that sounds horrific,” FBI agent Jeremy Capello said.

The terrified victims are often transferred to someone purporting to be from U.S. law enforcement agencies such as the FBI or Drug Enforcement Administration.

“The antennas come down because you think you’re talking to a trusted person in the government,” said John McCarthy, the top prosecutor in Montgomery County, Maryland. “That’s how they suck you into this.”

The big goal: convincing the victims that their money wasn’t safe in the bank and that it needed to be transferred for safekeeping, to the FBI or DEA or even the U.S. Treasury Department. Soon enough, the target – often an otherwise smart person but fully in the grip of skilled impersonators – is routing money to specific bank accounts, purchasing and moving cryptocurrency, buying gold bars for an “agent” of the government to pick up, or sending cash.

“It’s all about the art of making people believe you’re someone you’re not,” said Capello, who works in the FBI’s Baltimore field office and has investigated white-collar fraud for 16 years.

The first person to reach targets, Capello said, often speaks with a noticeable Indian accent. As the victim talks to more people faking identities – especially the purported American law enforcement officers – the voices tend to become more American-sounding, according to Capello. Sometimes that is how the fraudsters speak, but sometimes they are Americanizing their voice through software and AI, according to Capello.

Another central part of the scam: convincing the victims to keep their money movements secret so as not to attract attention from the criminals who already knew about them.

The 58-year-old reported the fraud to detectives at the Montgomery County Police Department, who had arrested several gold-bar scammers working in Maryland, some with ties to Indian call centers. They had put out the word: Come to us if you have been swindled. By the time the 58-year-old fraud victim had arrived, the Montgomery detectives, working alongside the FBI, were determined to trace the frauds to the call centers overseas.

The woman provided a wealth of data of the people she was dealing with: bank account numbers, email addresses, phone numbers. “We were off to the races,” Capello said.

Investigators worked closely with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), slowly linking the woman’s details with others in Maryland and elsewhere in the United States.

The U.S. and Montgomery County investigators were able to present their case to Indian authorities through an FBI agent stationed in Delhi solely tasked with helping to investigate scam call centers in India, according to Capello. Before authorities there could search the call centers, though, they needed sworn statements from at least two U.S. victims, which Capello and the Montgomery detectives were able to provide.

The India raids took place in Noida, Delhi and Kolkata, according to authorities there.

“During the period 2022-2025,” India’s Central Bureau of Investigation said in a news release, “the accused individuals, operating under pseudonymous identities of US Government officials from Drug Enforcement [Administration], Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Social Security Administration, conspired to target US victims by threatening them that their Social Security Numbers had been used for money laundering and drug deliveries.”

The Indian call centers used in frauds, Capello said, sell each other lists of potential American targets with phone numbers and email addresses. And they work in highly competitive operations, with quotas posted on the walls, he said.

The fraudsters present themselves as concerned, diligent government agents, but their power and intimidation is never far from the surface. And they’re not scared to bring it the fore, Capello said, recalling how one victim – balking at their demands – suddenly received an email with what looked like a genuine American arrest warrant and a threat that he would be locked up if he did not follow orders.

The message, in no uncertain terms, was this: “How do we know you’re not involved in this too?”

“These scams exploit fear, trust and vulnerability. They are deeply personal crimes,” Montgomery County Police Captain Marc Erme said.

Capello said it remains very difficult to recover any of the money. But he feels like their work – dismantling the three call centers – will help prevent more scams.

“We’re making an impact,” he said. “We’re chipping away at it.”

(c) 2026, The Washington Post 

{Matzav.com}

Yisrael Hayom journalist Ariel Kahana spoke about the hypocrisy of the left and other topics in an interview with Kol Chai on Tuesday morning. Regarding the reopening of the Rafah Crossing, Kahana said, “This is a significant achievement in my view. No goods are entering, inspections on our side are extremely strict, and our forces […]

Graphic videos showing the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk while he spoke to a crowd on a Utah college campus quickly went viral, drawing millions of views. Now, attorneys for the man charged in Kirk’s killing want a state judge to block such videos from being shown during a hearing scheduled for Tuesday. Defense […]

Elon Musk is combining SpaceX and xAI in a deal that values the enlarged entity at $1.25 trillion, as the world’s richest man looks to fuel his increasingly costly ambitions in artificial intelligence and space exploration.

The acquisition of xAI was announced in a statement on SpaceX’s website signed by Musk and confirming a Bloomberg News report earlier Monday.

The deal gives SpaceX a valuation of $1 trillion, and xAI a value of $250 billion, people familiar with the matter said. The combined company’s valuation was announced to employees in a memo on Monday, some of the people said earlier.

SpaceX said it acquired xAI to “form the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth, with AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world’s foremost real-time information and free speech platform.”

The company is still expecting to hold an initial public offering later this year, one of the people said. SpaceX had been planning an IPO that could raise as much as $50 billion, in what would be the biggest initial share sale to date.

The combined firm’s shares are expected to be worth $526.59 each, according to some of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The deal is all stock, one of the people said.

Representatives for SpaceX and xAI didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The deal brings together two of the largest closely held companies in the world. XAI raised funds at a $230 billion valuation in January, while SpaceX was set to go ahead with a share sale in December at a valuation of about $800 billion.

Terms of the offering including price and valuation weren’t disclosed in the statement on SpaceX’s website.

The companies will remain operationally separate because SpaceX is subject to international regulations that control how information and technology related to defense systems are transported and shared, and xAI isn’t, according to a person familiar with the matter.

xAI will exist as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SpaceX, according to another person familiar with the matter.

In a memo, SpaceX said employees should be cautious about interfacing with xAI employees, as not all of them are cleared to work under those regulations, one of the people said. Business Insider reported earlier on the plan to keep operations separate.

In explaining the rationale for the deal, Musk said in the statement that the least expensive way to do AI computations within two to three years will be in space.

“This cost-efficiency alone will enable innovative companies to forge ahead in training their AI models and processing data at unprecedented speeds and scales, accelerating breakthroughs in our understanding of physics and invention of technologies to benefit humanity,” he wrote.

SpaceX is requesting permission to launch as many as a million satellites into the Earth’s orbit for the plan, according to a filing Friday.

The offering further entangles Musk’s various business ventures. The billionaire acquired social media platform Twitter in late 2022, renamed it X, then merged the site with his artificial intelligence startup xAI in a $33 billion deal.

XAI, which also operates chatbot Grok, is an expensive operation, burning around $1 billion a month in service of its stated ambition to gain “a deeper understanding of our universe.”

A merger with SpaceX pools capital, talent, access to computing power – and blurs corporate boundaries.

Unlike some of Musk’s other ventures, SpaceX stands out as arguably his most successful and consistent business. The company, the only American one that can routinely send astronauts to and from the International Space Station, is a key rocket launch provider for both NASA and the US Department of Defense, which the White House has moved to rename the Department of War.

The increasing revenue it’s generating from the Starlink network of more than 9,000 satellites is even more significant, now outpacing launch sales and presenting a potential source of funding for xAI’s capital-intensive business.

Following the announcement of the acquisition, SpaceX also noted that one of its Falcon 9 rockets suffered an undisclosed issue after launching a batch of Starlink satellites into orbit. The company said that while the upper port of the rocket safely deployed all the satellites on board, a mishap occurred just before the vehicle was set to take itself out of orbit.

The incident marks a relatively rare misstep for the Falcon 9, which last suffered in an-flight issue in 2024. “Teams are reviewing data to determine root cause and corrective actions before returning to flight,” SpaceX said in a statement on X.

(c) 2026, Bloomberg 

A long-running investigation into Switzerland’s wartime banking practices has uncovered nearly 900 Credit Suisse accounts with potential Nazi links, including previously undisclosed accounts tied to the German government and its war machine, according to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley. Grassley revealed the findings ahead of a Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday examining the role of […]

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu held an extended three-hour strategy session in Yerushalayim on Tuesday night with White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, focusing on coordination ahead of impending U.S. discussions with Tehran. During the meeting, Netanyahu cautioned that Iran’s record shows it cannot be relied upon to honor diplomatic commitments and stressed that any broader regional understanding must place security first. The talks also centered on Gaza, with Netanyahu reiterating Israel’s insistence on the complete dismantling of Hamas and the full demilitarization of the Strip. As Witkoff prepares for sensitive meetings with Iranian officials in Turkey, Israeli officials made clear that no “grand bargain” can come at the expense of removing terrorist threats.

The meeting was timed to prepare Witkoff ahead of his planned talks in Istanbul on Friday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. In a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu “emphasized his position that Iran has proven time and time again that its promises cannot be relied upon.” The warning comes amid reports that Tehran is proposing limits on uranium enrichment in return for sanctions relief. Netanyahu urged the American side to approach such offers with skepticism, arguing that without intrusive inspections and meaningful penalties for violations, any agreement would simply mask Iran’s nuclear aims.

Netanyahu also briefed U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee on newly uncovered intelligence pointing to abuse of humanitarian assistance in Gaza. According to the Prime Minister, Israeli forces uncovered “serious violations,” including the use of bags bearing the logo of UNRWA to hide weapons and military gear. Israeli officials say the findings underscore claims that terrorist groups have penetrated international aid mechanisms, raising concerns about future reconstruction efforts.

On the domestic front, Netanyahu spelled out what he described as Israel’s “uncompromising demands” for ending the war in Gaza. He reiterated that Hamas must be fully disarmed and the territory completely demilitarized before any rebuilding can begin. “The Prime Minister clarified that the Palestinian Authority will not be part of the management of the Strip in any way,” the official statement said, highlighting a clear divergence between Israel’s position and views held by some in Washington. Netanyahu insisted that Israel’s war objectives must be fully achieved before reconstruction proceeds.

The talks also addressed the potential second phase of the ceasefire, with Netanyahu stressing that Israel will not permit terrorist groups to regroup or rearm under the cover of humanitarian pauses. By presenting Witkoff with a broad assessment that included input from Israel’s senior security leadership, Netanyahu sought to ensure the envoy enters discussions with Tehran fully briefed on Israel’s assessment of the “multi-arena” threat. The meeting ended with an understanding that while Washington pursues diplomatic avenues, Israel remains prepared for the possibility that Iran’s “promises” will again go unfulfilled.

{Matzav.com}

TRUMP: “I’m thrilled to sign the Consolidated Appropriations Act to immediately reopen the federal government, and fund the vast majority of operations through the rest of the fiscal year.”

A 13-year-old Australian boy is being hailed as a hero for his sheer endurance and bravery after swimming about 2½ miles in rough waters then running about a mile to rescue his family who had been swept out to sea.

Austin Appelbee, his mother, Joanne, and two siblings Beau, 12, and Grace, 8, were on vacation kayaking and paddleboarding off the coast of Quindalup, in Geographe Bay, in southwestern Australia, when the weather deteriorated, according to local authorities and Australian media reports.

Fearing for her family, Joanne made the difficult choice to send Austin to get help, she told Australia’s national broadcaster, ABC News, calling it “one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make.”

“I knew he was the strongest and he could do it,” she said of her teenage son. “I have three babies. All three of them made it. That was all that mattered,” she added about the family ordeal where she spent more than eight hours clinging to a paddleboard in the ocean.

Western Australia Police Force said in a statement that it received an emergency call about 6 p.m. Friday that a woman and her two children had been swept out to sea in rough conditions.

Austin paddled to get help before his kayak took on water and failed him, police said. He then swam nearly 2½ miles in fading light and rough conditions before reaching land to ring the alarm.

“The actions of the 13-year-old boy cannot be praised highly enough – his determination and courage ultimately saved the lives of his mother and siblings,” said Inspector James Bradley, South West District office said in a statement Monday. “This incident is a reminder that ocean conditions can change rapidly. Thankfully, all three people were wearing life jackets, which contributed to their survival.”

Austin, in an interview with ABC News, recalled that his mother had directed him to “go get help” while she stayed with his siblings.

“I knew it would be a long way … but the kayak kept taking in water, I was fighting rough seas,” he said. “I was very puffed out but I couldn’t feel how tired I was,” he added. “The waves were massive.”

Austin said he decided to ditch the kayak and remove his life jacket, which were making it difficult for him to swim, and alternated between swimming breaststroke, freestyle and survival backstroke – an energy-preserving stroke for long distances. “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming,” he told himself, putting happier thoughts about his family and school friends into his mind to pull through, he said.

“I just said ‘all right, not today, not today, not today.’ I have to keep on going.”

Finally, he made it to shore.

“I hit the bottom of the beach and I just collapsed,” he said. But his feat of endurance was not over. He then sprinted over another mile to find a phone, where he called emergency services and told them his family was stranded at sea, he said.

“A multiagency search and rescue response was initiated,” police said, involving multiple marine sea rescue services and a rescue helicopter.

The family did not immediately reply to a request for comment from The Washington Post.

“This is what a true West Aussie hero looks like,” said Roger Cook, the premier of Western Australia, in a post on social media Tuesday, calling Austin’s feat of endurance an “extraordinary act of courage,” to save his family.

“Austin’s bravery is beyond his years, showing remarkable courage, resilience and determination in the face of real danger. Well done, Austin – we’re so proud of what you’ve done.”

Mike Tipton, a survival expert and professor of Human and Applied Physiology at Britain’s University of Portsmouth, said Austin’s survival was a “remarkable achievement.”

“He must be an accomplished swimmer, but even then, the water was cold enough to incapacitate him without unrelenting effort. He was clearly driven on by the desire to save his family – this is a common and critical factor in such survival scenarios,” he told The Post by email.

The Naturaliste Marine Rescue group, a volunteer group which was among the first responders, said the weekend’s rescue had the “best possible outcome, one we won’t forget in a hurry.”

“The bravery, strength, and courage shown by this family were extraordinary,” it said in a Facebook post. Naturaliste Marine Rescue commander Paul Bresland told ABC that the teenager’s efforts were “superhuman” and that his description of the kayak and paddleboards meant that his family was found “within an hour.”

“Fantastic effort from all involved in trying conditions. A great outcome,” Marine Rescue Busselton, a volunteer organization also involved with the incident, said in a social media post. “Please be mindful of the strong offshore winds that can occur this time of year.”

(c) 2026, The Washington Post 

{Matzav.com}

A faster way to get through airport security may be coming to an airport near you.

TSA PreCheck Touchless ID, a new program that uses facial recognition, is expanding to 65 airports this spring. The expansion will prioritize 2026 World Cup host cities, where travel is expected to surge, said Transportation Security Administration spokesperson R. Carter Langston.

“Passengers seem to absolutely appreciate it – the speed, the efficiency,” Langston said. “All they show is their face, and the officer just waves them right into the checkpoint. No hassling with passports or IDs or phones.”

The TSA launched the first iteration of the program in 2021 in partnership with Delta Air Lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It’s now available for five airlines across 28 airports.

Critics worry that the program raises privacy concerns. It is voluntary, and travelers can opt out at any time and use a standard ID verification instead.

– – –

What is PreCheck Touchless ID?

The TSA said in an email that the initiative is a joint effort from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, airports and airlines that allows travelers “to move through dedicated lanes with ease, enjoying a smoother and more convenient airport experience.”

The program uses the CBP Traveler Verification Service to create “a secure biometric template of a passenger’s live facial image taken at the checkpoint and matches it against a gallery of templates of pre-staged photos that the passenger previously provided to the government (e.g., U.S. Passport or Visa),” the agency website said.

– – –

Who is eligible for PreCheck Touchless ID?

To use the program, fliers must be a current TSA PreCheck member with a valid “known traveler number” and an active airline profile (such as being enrolled in a loyalty program). They must also have a valid passport uploaded to their airline profile.

The airlines currently participating in the program include:

Alaska

American

Delta

Southwest

United

TSA PreCheck Touchless ID offers current TSA PreCheck members an expedited airport security screening by way of “facial comparison technology.”

It’s only available at select airports, through participating airlines – which vary. For example, travelers at John F. Kennedy International Airport, but only if they are flying with Alaska, American, Delta or United. It is available at George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, but only for passengers flying with Alaska, American, Delta or United. For a list of availability, visit the TSA website.

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How can travelers opt in?

To use the program, travelers must first opt in through their airline’s website or app before checking in to their flight.

The process varies by airline, but you can generally find the prompt under a “travel documents” section (where you add your known traveler number or passport details) of your airline loyalty program app or website.

American Airlines customers, for example, will find the opt-in choice toward the bottom of the “Information and password” page of their AAdvantage profile, while Alaska Airlines customers should go to their account settings, then click into the “travel documents” section.

Once travelers have opted in, then checked in for their flight, a TSA PreCheck Touchless ID symbol should appear on their boarding pass. If the symbol is not on your boarding pass, you won’t be able to use the lane, even if you show an employee that you are enrolled in the program.

At the airport, travelers should follow signs to a separate TSA PreCheck Touchless ID lane. Instead of handing an ID over to an officer to verify your identity, you’ll instead pause to scan your face, then keep moving.

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Is it really faster?

It can be, for two reasons.

First: There is no slowdown to hand over and scan your ID; travelers must only pause during their walk through the line dividers before proceeding to the X-ray machines.

Second: Because the program is new, requires signing up in advance and is not available for every airline, it’s getting a fraction of the traffic that regular security, Clear or PreCheck lanes are.

We’ve had mixed results. When it works, it’s incredible; you really are through in seconds.

But we’ve also been delayed when the facial comparison machine was undergoing maintenance and was out of use, sending us back into the longer PreCheck lane.

Which airports offer PreCheck Touchless ID?
TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is already available at 28 airports (however, participating airlines will vary; check the TSA website for more information):

Boston Logan International Airport

Charlotte Douglas International Airport

Chicago O’Hare International Airport

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport

Dallas Love Field

Denver International Airport

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

Dulles International Airport

George Bush Intercontinental Airport

Harry Reid International Airport

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

John F. Kennedy International Airport

John Wayne Airport

Kansas City International Airport

LaGuardia Airport

Los Angeles International Airport

Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport

Newark Liberty International Airport

Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport

Oakland International Airport

Palm Beach International Airport

Philadelphia International Airport

Portland International Airport

Reagan National Airport

Salt Lake City International Airport

San Francisco International Airport

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

William P. Hobby Airport

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What are the privacy concerns?

The TSA is using more facial recognition at the airport, including in regular security lanes and CBP checks.

The CBP says its Enhanced Passenger Processing involves taking a traveler’s photo using “auto capture technology” to simplify the inspection and adjudication process.

Travelers can also use biometric screenings to speed through Global Entry, using a CBP app.

The TSA says on its website that it may share your information with “CBP, DHS S&T, or others as necessary.” The agency confirmed that that includes sharing information about travelers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to check for deportation orders.

There has been a bipartisan effort to put more guardrails on its use at airports.

In 2019, the Department of Homeland Security said that photos of travelers were taken in a data breach, accessed through the network of one of its subcontractors. (The TSA says its databases are encrypted.)

A Senate bill would allow officers to continue scanning travelers’ faces if they opt in; it would ban the technology’s use for anything other than verifying identities. It would also require the agency to immediately delete the scans once the check is complete.

If you change your mind about TSA PreCheck Touchless ID, you can opt out at any time and ask for standard ID verification instead. You can opt out of any facial recognition at the airport by saying, “I’d prefer a standard ID check.”

The agency also says it deletes photos and personal data within 24 hours of scheduled flight departures. The TSA website’s FAQ section addresses some privacy concerns and says that all data collected during facial comparison checks is protected.

(c) 2026, The Washington Post