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The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new round of updated COVID-19 vaccines for the 2026-27 season, clearing the way for the shots to begin reaching pharmacies and health care providers across the United States within days.

The updated vaccines are intended to provide protection against more recently circulating versions of the coronavirus as the country heads into the fall and winter respiratory-virus season. The FDA had previously recommended that manufacturers update their vaccines for the 2026-27 season based on the evolution of the virus.

The approvals cover updated vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, with eligibility continuing to focus broadly on people 65 and older and younger individuals whose medical conditions put them at increased risk of severe COVID-19.

Moderna announced Thursday that the FDA approved its updated 2026-27 formulations of both Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE. The new versions target the JN.1-lineage XFG subvariant of SARS-CoV-2, which the company said is intended to more closely match circulating strains.

Under the FDA-approved indications, Spikevax is available for everyone 65 and older, as well as people from 6 months through age 64 who have at least one underlying condition that places them at high risk for severe COVID-19.

Moderna’s mNEXSPIKE is approved for people 65 and older and for those ages 12 through 64 with at least one underlying medical condition that puts them at increased risk of severe illness.

Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated Comirnaty vaccine has also been cleared for the coming season, with the formulation designed to target a more current coronavirus lineage. The vaccine is approved for adults 65 and older and for people ages 5 through 64 who have at least one underlying condition associated with a heightened risk of severe COVID-19.

The new shots are expected to become available shortly, with manufacturers preparing to ship supplies to pharmacies and other vaccination sites in the coming days. Moderna said its updated vaccines would be available in the United States imminently.

The approvals come as federal health officials continue to move away from the sweeping COVID vaccination policies used during the height of the pandemic and toward a more targeted approach focused on older Americans and people considered more vulnerable to serious complications from the virus.

Age remains one of the strongest risk factors for severe COVID-19, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies numerous medical conditions that can increase a person’s chances of becoming seriously ill. The CDC notes that its list of higher-risk conditions is not exhaustive.

The FDA’s action concerns whether the vaccines are approved for use and in which populations. Separate federal recommendations governing who should actually receive the shots are issued through the CDC’s immunization process, meaning FDA approval and CDC vaccination recommendations are distinct steps.

The updated formulations reflect the now-routine process of revising COVID vaccines as the virus evolves, similar in concept to the regular updating of influenza vaccines. The FDA’s vaccine advisory committee met in May to discuss which SARS-CoV-2 strains should be targeted by vaccines used beginning this fall.

Four COVID-19 vaccines currently have FDA-approved products in the United States: Pfizer’s Comirnaty, Moderna’s Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE, and Novavax’s Nuvaxovid.

The arrival of the latest shots comes more than six years after the COVID-19 pandemic began and as the federal government continues dismantling some of the emergency regulatory framework established during the crisis.

In June, the Department of Health and Human Services determined that circumstances no longer justify the COVID-19 emergency-use declaration for drugs and biological products. The declaration is scheduled to terminate in June 2027, after which remaining products relying solely on COVID emergency-use authorization would no longer be covered by that authority.

The FDA’s latest approvals, however, involve fully licensed vaccines rather than a return to the broad emergency authorizations that characterized the early years of the pandemic.

For Americans seeking the updated shot, supplies are expected to begin arriving shortly, though eligibility, insurance coverage and recommendations may vary depending on age, medical history and subsequent federal guidance.

{Matzav.com}

A Brazilian tourist vacationing in Italy was horrified after making a simple request to have her scrambled eggs cooked a little longer — only to discover an apparent message to the kitchen printed on her receipt instructing staff to burn her eggs and spit on them.

Maria Clara said the disturbing incident occurred Aug. 19 while she was having breakfast with relatives at Victor Lab, a restaurant on Viale Ceccarini in Italy’s Romagna region.

Clara ordered scrambled eggs along with juice and coffee. When her breakfast arrived, however, she felt that the eggs were far too soft and politely asked the waiter whether they could be cooked a little longer.

According to Clara, the waiter responded that “we don’t make undercooked eggs here.” The plate was nevertheless taken back, but when it was returned, she said the eggs were still softer than she wanted.

Rather than continue complaining, Clara decided to let the matter go and finish her meal. She also claimed that the restaurant served her a salad even though she had specifically asked for the dish without one.

It was only after the family finished eating that they noticed a message printed on the receipt — apparently an internal note intended for the chef.

“This annoys me. Burn the eggs and spit on them,” the message read.

At first, Clara and her relatives wondered whether the remark was simply some sort of inappropriate joke between employees. But the message soon raised a far more troubling question: Had anyone actually followed the instruction?

Clara posted a photograph of the receipt alongside a one-star Google review describing what had happened and expressing disbelief over her experience.

“I’m still in shock, I can’t believe this happened to me,” she told local media.

Clara said her family immediately confronted restaurant management about the message. When the 17-year-old waiter was asked to explain himself, she said he turned pale, apologized and claimed that it had merely been a “joke” between himself and the chef.

Victor Lab subsequently issued an apology and characterized the employee’s behavior as “completely inappropriate.”

The controversy did not end there, however. According to reports, the restaurant’s owner later appeared in a TikTok video featuring a joke about a customer ordering food “with spit” — prompting another wave of criticism on social media.

{Matzav.com}

WASHINGTON — Construction at the White House forced President Donald Trump’s Marine One helicopter to use a temporary departure point with inadequate radio coverage, contributing to a communications breakdown before the presidential helicopter came too close to a commercial passenger jet earlier this month, federal investigators revealed Thursday.

A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report released Thursday provides the clearest account yet of the Aug. 4 incident, when Marine One departed from the Ellipse, just south of the White House, as an Envoy Air passenger jet was taking off from nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The NTSB found that ongoing construction at the White House had temporarily shifted Marine One operations away from the usual South Lawn location to the Ellipse. FAA technicians subsequently determined that the temporary site lacked adequate line-of-sight coverage to the radio equipment used for communications with Reagan National’s control tower.

The finding links the incident to the extensive construction taking place on the White House grounds, including work on a new permanent granite helipad designed to accommodate the newer generation of presidential helicopters.

The communications failure meant controllers apparently did not know Marine One was about to depart and therefore did not stop commercial aircraft operations at Reagan National as required.

Under longstanding procedures between the Pentagon and FAA, Marine One is supposed to give Reagan National controllers three minutes’ notice before lifting off. That warning allows controllers to clear potentially conflicting air traffic from the helicopter’s route toward Joint Base Andrews.

The requirement has taken on even greater importance since the Jan. 29, 2025, collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National that killed 67 people. Following that disaster, the FAA established procedures requiring takeoffs and landings to be stopped when helicopters are traveling along conflicting routes near the airport.

On Aug. 4, however, Marine One’s warning never successfully reached the tower.

Investigators said the helicopter crew’s first radio call was not received at all. A second transmission reached the tower but was “broken and completely unreadable.”

Marine One’s pilots then attempted to use a backup procedure, asking personnel at the helicopter facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling to relay the three-minute warning to Reagan National.

That effort failed as well.

Without receiving the warning, controllers allowed Envoy Air Flight 3742, an Embraer E-170 bound for Pensacola, Florida, to depart from Runway 1 just as Trump’s helicopter was leaving the Ellipse.

The aircraft subsequently experienced what the FAA described as a “momentary loss of separation.”

Preliminary calculations indicate Marine One and the passenger jet came within approximately 0.82 nautical miles of one another horizontally and 700 feet vertically. Investigators are continuing to analyze surveillance data to determine the precise minimum separation.

The Envoy pilots told investigators that their aircraft’s traffic collision avoidance system issued a “Traffic, Traffic” warning shortly after takeoff. They could see the helicopter on their cockpit display but never visually spotted Marine One outside the aircraft. The system did not issue the more serious resolution advisory that would have instructed the pilots to climb or descend to avoid a collision.

Marine One’s pilots, meanwhile, were eventually warned about the departing jet and reported that they had the aircraft in sight.

“We’ll be doing a momentary delay,” the Marine One pilot said after seeing the traffic.

The passenger jet climbed above the helicopter, and the two aircraft continued moving away from one another.

Neither aircraft was damaged, no injuries were reported, and both continued their flights normally.

The White House has maintained that Trump was never in danger.

“Marine One flights are piloted by some of the best aviators in the world, and at no point was the President in harm’s way,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said after the incident.

Perhaps most troubling, Thursday’s report revealed that officials were already aware of communications problems before the incident occurred.

On July 30, just days before the close call, personnel from Marine Helicopter Squadron One, or HMX-1, met with Reagan National air traffic controllers specifically to discuss problems communicating with Marine One.

The helicopter crews acknowledged that radio communications had been “spotty,” while controllers raised concerns that they had not always been receiving the required three-minute departure notifications.

The two sides agreed that if direct radio contact failed, Marine One crews would use alternative means of relaying the warning.

That backup system was precisely what the Marine One crew attempted to use on Aug. 4 — but the message still failed to reach the tower.

The NTSB’s investigation then uncovered a physical explanation for at least part of the communications problem.

FAA technicians examined the radio system and concluded that “there was not adequate line-of-sight” between the radio transmitter and receiver site and the Ellipse, where Marine One had temporarily been operating because of the White House construction.

The FAA subsequently relocated the radios used for Reagan National’s helicopter-control frequency from a nearby neighborhood to the top of the airport’s control tower.

Tests conducted afterward with HMX-1 helicopters near the Ellipse found no further deficiencies with the communications system.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had previously acknowledged that investigators were examining communications problems involving the presidential helicopter operation.

“We’ve found at a staff level, between the Marine One team and the FAA, there had been some telecom issues,” Duffy said earlier this month. “We are resolving that, and our teams are working very well together.”

The incident occurred as the White House South Lawn was undergoing significant construction related to Trump’s new permanent helipad.

Trump has said the granite landing pad is necessary because the newer VH-92A presidential helicopters are substantially more powerful than the older aircraft and risk scorching or damaging the South Lawn with their exhaust. The project has been estimated at roughly $5 million to $6 million, with Sikorsky parent company Lockheed Martin contributing toward its cost.

The NTSB has not issued a final determination of probable cause, and its investigation remains ongoing.

Thursday’s preliminary findings, however, reveal an extraordinary chain of events: construction moved the president’s helicopter to a temporary site, that location suffered from inadequate radio coverage, repeated attempts to warn air traffic controllers of Marine One’s departure failed, and a commercial passenger jet was then permitted to take off as the president’s helicopter entered nearby airspace.

The incident is likely to draw additional scrutiny because it occurred in the same highly congested Washington airspace where the deadly 2025 collision between an Army Black Hawk and an American Airlines regional jet led to sweeping new restrictions on helicopter operations.

The NTSB investigation remains active, while the FAA has already taken steps to improve radio coverage and coordination between Reagan National controllers and the presidential helicopter unit.

{Matzav.com}

Sen. Rand Paul’s effort to pursue a contempt of Congress prosecution against Dr. Anthony Fauci has run into significant legal obstacles, with Trump administration officials reportedly questioning whether the Kentucky Republican’s attempt to send the matter to the Justice Department without a vote of the full Senate can survive a court challenge.

Paul has been seeking criminal consequences for Fauci over his refusal to answer questions concerning his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The senator’s committee voted along party lines on Aug. 6 to hold Fauci in contempt after the longtime government health official repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during questioning.

Rather than seek approval from the entire Senate, Paul devised a different route. He wants Vice President JD Vance, acting in his constitutional capacity as president of the Senate, to certify the committee’s contempt resolution and forward it directly to the Justice Department.

According to The Wall Street Journal, however, some officials in the Trump administration have doubts about whether such a referral would be legally valid without the Senate itself first approving the contempt resolution.

Historically, congressional contempt cases are brought before the full House or Senate before being referred to federal prosecutors. Paul faces a political problem with that approach: His resolution is not expected to attract the 60 votes required to defeat a filibuster, leading him to pursue the Vance strategy instead.

Paul’s office forwarded its contempt report to Vance late Tuesday, following repeated inquiries from the Journal regarding the document’s status, according to people familiar with the process. Paul had already sent the Justice Department a letter on Aug. 6 laying out his committee’s allegations, but the department has yet to receive an official contempt referral, the Journal reported.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has reportedly not made a final decision about whether he wants federal prosecutors to proceed against Fauci.

Although Trump has repeatedly criticized Fauci, he said earlier this month that he had not personally discussed possible charges against him with Attorney General Todd Blanche or U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

Vance has voiced support for efforts to hold Fauci responsible for his conduct, though he has not publicly committed to certifying Paul’s contempt referral.

“Dr. Fauci caused incalculable harm to the American people,” Vance spokeswoman Taylor Van Kirk told the Journal. “The Vice President applauds Senator Paul’s efforts to hold Fauci accountable and supports any valid paths to achieving justice.”

Questions surrounding the legality of Paul’s proposed procedure could become a major problem if prosecutors ultimately bring a case.

Stanley Brand, an attorney who represented Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro in their congressional contempt prosecutions, said bypassing the Senate’s traditional procedures could provide Fauci with strong grounds to seek dismissal.

“There’s just a bevy of cases that say you can’t just go around the Senate rules or the House rules when you put somebody in contempt,” Brand said. “That referral is null and void.”

Bannon and Navarro were both prosecuted by the Biden Justice Department after refusing to comply with subpoenas issued by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. Unlike the procedure Paul is proposing, however, the full House voted to approve contempt resolutions in both cases before the matters were forwarded to federal prosecutors.

Fauci, 85, invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination more than 100 times while appearing before Paul’s committee last month. Fauci also suggested that the proceeding had been structured as an attempt to lure him into committing perjury. His attorneys have maintained that he engaged in no wrongdoing.

Adding another complication to any potential prosecution, President Joe Biden issued Fauci a preemptive pardon before leaving office. The pardon covered possible federal crimes arising from Fauci’s government service between January 2014 and Jan. 19, 2025.

A conviction for contempt of Congress carries a possible sentence of as much as one year behind bars, along with a fine of up to $100,000.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu called on Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir on Thursday to join forces and run together in Israel’s upcoming election, warning that divisions among right-wing parties could ultimately hand victory to the left.

Netanyahu said he plans to invite the two party leaders to meet with him in the coming days as part of an effort to broker an agreement between them.

“Smotrich and Ben Gvir have an obligation. They must unite,” Netanyahu said in a video released Thursday. “Every time we ran united, we won; when we ran divided, we lost.”

Acknowledging the personal tensions that have developed between Smotrich and Ben Gvir, Netanyahu said those differences must be put aside for the sake of the broader right-wing bloc.

“I understand that there are personal grievances between them; they need to overcome them. I will invite them in the coming days, and we will make every possible effort to unite. That is what the public expects from us — and rightly so,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu pointed to Israel’s 1992 election as a cautionary example of what can happen when right-wing parties fail to consolidate their votes.

“In ’92, the right, just like today, had more votes than the left. But because there were three parties that did not cross the electoral threshold, we lost to the left,” he said.

“We got the Oslo disaster, Arafat here, Hamas here, and everything else was a disaster… ongoing disasters,” Netanyahu added.

He warned that the same scenario could unfold again in the coming election if smaller parties on the right fail to cross the electoral threshold.

“And therefore, it could happen this time as well. Every time we went together, we won; every time we went separately, we lost,” Netanyahu said.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir responded shortly afterward with a sharp attack of his own, accusing Netanyahu of actually wanting Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party to remain relatively weak so that Netanyahu would have the option of forming a government with former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot following the election.

“Dear Prime Minister, we both know the truth. You want a small Otzma Yehudit so that you can go with Eisenkot, so that you can establish a ‘broad national government,’” Ben Gvir said.

Ben Gvir argued that a strong Otzma Yehudit, coupled with a joint ticket involving Smotrich and former senior IDF officer Ofer Winter, would provide the path toward establishing an unequivocally right-wing government.

“Only a large Otzma Yehudit, and Smotrich and Winter running together — only in this way can a fully, fully right-wing government be established,” Ben Gvir said.

Israeli Defense Minister Yisroel Katz warned Thursday that Israel will respond forcefully to any further balloons or kites launched from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel, declaring that the deadline previously given over the attacks has now expired.

Katz issued the warning during a security assessment attended by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the head of the IDF Operations Directorate, the commander of the Home Front Command, and additional senior defense officials.

“The ultimatum we issued following the launching of balloons and kites from the Gaza Strip toward communities in the Negev has expired,” Katz said. He said that from this point forward, Israel will classify every such launch as “an act of terrorism in every respect.”

The defense minister said Israel’s response will extend beyond those directly carrying out the launches and will target the people and infrastructure involved in facilitating the attacks.

“From now on, every launch will be met with a powerful response against those responsible, the organizers and the perpetrators, as well as against the launch sites and the infrastructure they use,” he said.

Katz said that under directives from Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and instructions he has issued to the military, the IDF has been authorized to employ whatever measures are required to eliminate locations being used to launch the balloons and kites.

Those measures, he said, could include ordering civilians to leave a neighborhood or other area being used as a base for the launches before Israeli forces take action there.

“The IDF will use all necessary means, including evacuating the population from an area or neighborhood from which launches are carried out, in order to deal with the centers of terrorism,” the Defense Minister said.

Katz stressed that Israel has no intention of returning to the security reality that existed along the Gaza border before the October 7 attacks, when incendiary balloons, kites and other forms of harassment were repeatedly directed at southern Israeli communities.

“We will not allow Hamas or any other element to return to the methods of harassment and threats against the communities of the south as occurred before October 7, and anyone who does so will pay a heavy price.”

{Matzav.com}

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Agudath Israel of America is pleased to welcome the Orthodox Union’s appointment of Rabbi Shmuel Silber as its new Executive Vice President.

The OU has played, and continues to play, a major role in the development of Orthodox Jewish life in the United States and abroad. Jews from all backgrounds have a stake in a strong OU, and in a strong OU leadership. The tragic passing of Rabbi Moshe Hauer of blessed memory nearly a year ago was a painful blow felt not only by the organization he led, but by the entirety of Klal Yisroel.

And, by the same token, the appointment of Rabbi Shmuel Silber as the OU’s new Executive Vice President is wonderful news not only for the organization he will lead, but for the entirety of Klal Yisroel.

Rabbi Silber enjoys a sterling reputation as the longstanding Rav of the Suburban Orthodox Congregation Toras Chaim in Baltimore. He is respected as a talmid chacham, an accomplished scholar with strong inter-personal skills and an innovative intellect.

We at Agudath Israel are confident that these attributes will serve Rabbi Silber well in his new position, and we look forward to working with him and the OU on matters of common concern.

Congratulations, as well, to Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph, upon his assumption of an expanded role within the OU as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer.

{Matzav.com}

Dear Matzav Inbox,

We Americans have a funny way of looking at ourselves. We like to think that we are a little more sophisticated, a little more open-minded, a little more “with it.” Israel is wonderful, of course, but somehow, in the back of our minds, we sometimes imagine that we Americans have figured out certain things that they haven’t. We know how to bridge communities. We know how to be inclusive. We know how to look beyond labels and backgrounds.

And then you see a scene like the one that took place in Belz.

The Belzer Rebbe hosted Sefardic Selichos, with Rav Yitzchok Yosef and Rav Yitzchok Dovid Grossman present.

Think about that for a moment. The Belzer Rebbe. In Belz. Hosting Sefardic Selichos. There was something so beautiful about it, and something that, at least to me, was also a little uncomfortable. Because I found myself wondering: Could I picture this happening here?

Could I picture one of the great American Chassidishe courts or yeshivos hosting a full-blown Sefardic Selichos, with leading Sefardic rabbonim participating? Could I picture everyone simply appreciating the beauty of another community’s mesorah, without worrying whether it was “ours” or “theirs”?

Maybe it could happen. I hope it could. But I have trouble picturing it. And that should make us think.

We talk endlessly in America about achdus. We have dinners about achdus, speeches about achdus, panels about achdus and organizations devoted to achdus. We know all the terminology. We know how important it is.

But sometimes achdus is much simpler than that.

Sometimes it is a Belzer Rebbe opening his doors to Sefardic Selichos.

Sometimes it is recognizing that another mesorah does not threaten yours. You can be completely Belz and still make room for something that comes from a different part of Klal Yisroel. You can be fiercely loyal to your own minhagim and still celebrate somebody else’s.

In fact, perhaps that is what real confidence in your own mesorah looks like.

There is a tendency in America to confuse being “advanced” with being modern. But maybe being advanced has nothing to do with how modern you are. Maybe it means being secure enough in who you are that you can embrace another Yid who looks different, davens differently, pronounces the words differently and comes from a completely different mesorah.

The Belzer Rebbe did not deliver a lecture about unity.

He showed us what it looks like.

So the next time we American Jews congratulate ourselves on how progressive, sophisticated and broad-minded we are, perhaps we should remember that scene in Belz.

Who, exactly, is more advanced?

I say we Americans could learn a few things from the Belzer Rebbe.

C. B.

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Canada’s public broadcaster has ignited a firestorm after an internal directive instructed journalists not to independently characterize the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as acts of terrorism, instead directing them to use language describing the hijackings and subsequent plane crashes.

According to an internal CBC memo signed by Bassam Boushra, a senior official responsible for journalistic standards, reporters and editors were instructed to describe the events by stating that hijackings resulted in passenger planes crashing in Washington, Pennsylvania and Manhattan, and that the World Trade Center was destroyed.

The internal guidance was disclosed by political consultant Warren Kinsella in a Toronto Sun column and subsequently reported by the National Post.

The directive quickly drew sharp criticism from Canadian politicians and Jewish organizations, who accused the CBC of sanitizing the nature of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in history.

Conservative Member of Parliament Rachael Thomas called the guidance completely disgraceful, arguing that it dishonors the victims, their families, survivors and emergency personnel who responded to the attacks.

Thomas stressed that the Sept. 11 attacks were an act of terrorism, period.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Canada also condemned the broadcaster’s policy, describing it as a complete collapse of journalistic standards.

CBC pushed back against the criticism, saying reports that its journalists were instructed to declare that 9/11 was not terrorism are inaccurate.

CBC spokeswoman Kerry Kelly said the guidance reflects a longstanding editorial policy under which terms such as “terrorist” and “terrorism” should generally be attributed to governments, experts or other authoritative sources rather than presented as the broadcaster’s own characterization.

The controversy echoes criticism CBC faced following the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, when employees were similarly instructed not to refer to Hamas terrorists as “terrorists” in the network’s own editorial voice.

The Sept. 11 attacks, carried out by Al-Qaeda terrorists in 2001, killed 2,977 people, including 24 Canadians.

Adding to the controversy, the Canadian government itself officially describes the events of Sept. 11 as terrorist attacks on its government website.

{Matzav.com}

Sen. Ted Cruz is openly acknowledging his desire to become president, raising the prospect of a high-profile battle with Vice President JD Vance for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028.

“It’s no secret that I want to be president,” Cruz said Wednesday during an appearance on a podcast hosted by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Pressed on whether that means he will actually enter the 2028 race, the Texas Republican stopped short of committing, responding, “Time will tell.”

Cruz was similarly cautious when questioned by Newsmax about his presidential plans, insisting that his immediate political priority is helping Republicans retain control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

“My focus politically right now is Election Day in November,” Cruz told host Greta Van Susteren on Wednesday. “We are at real risk of losing both the House and Senate. So I am devoting every waking hour to raising money, to campaigning, to fighting to keep the Senate Republican, to keep the House Republican.”

Cruz, who competed for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, made light of his continued interest in the White House, describing presidential ambition as a “permanent and often fatal bug.”

His remarks followed comments earlier in the week in which Cruz rejected the idea that the Republican Party is ready to simply hand its next presidential nomination to Vance as President Donald Trump’s presumed political heir.

“Oh, no — there is going to be a full discussion about who we are and what we believe,” Cruz told MS NOW host Ali Vitali on Monday. “I’ll certainly be part of the discussion.”

According to Cruz, the 2028 Republican primary should serve as a broader argument over the party’s future, with major disagreements likely to center on America’s role abroad and the GOP’s approach to economic policy.

On foreign affairs, Cruz said Republicans will have to determine whether the party intends to become “an isolationist party that withdraws from the world” or remains committed to “American leadership.”

He said a similar ideological choice awaits Republicans on domestic economic policy, contrasting a “small-government, free-market conservative party” with a “big-government, nanny-state party.”

Those arguments could place Cruz squarely against Vance in a future Republican primary. The vice president has frequently expressed reservations about American military involvement overseas and is already regarded as one of the leading potential contenders for the party’s 2028 nomination.

Vance, however, has yet to announce his intentions and has said he plans to wait until the midterm elections are over before deciding whether to launch a presidential campaign.

The potential Republican field could extend well beyond Cruz and Vance. Trump has mentioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a possible figure on the party’s 2028 ticket, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who ran against Trump for the Republican nomination in 2024, is also believed to be weighing another campaign for the White House.

{Matzav.com}

The Federal Aviation Administration is moving to fire two air traffic controllers who allegedly left their posts about an hour before their shifts ended on the night of the deadly March collision between an Air Canada Express jet and a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, according to reports Thursday.

The early departures allegedly left just two controllers in the LaGuardia tower without backup as they dealt with an unusually heavy workload. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the development, said air traffic at the airport was running at roughly twice its normal volume that night.

The March 22 disaster occurred after Air Canada Express Flight 8646, a CRJ-900 arriving from Montreal, landed on Runway 4 and collided with an Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle that was crossing the runway. The plane’s captain and first officer were killed.

According to the NTSB’s preliminary findings, two controllers were working in the tower at the time of the collision. One was simultaneously handling ground-control and controller-in-charge responsibilities while dealing with a separate aircraft emergency, while the other took over communications on both the ground and local-control frequencies. The NTSB has not yet determined the probable cause of the crash, and its investigation remains ongoing.

The newly disclosed FAA findings raise questions about why only two controllers were available at the time. According to the Journal, federal officials determined that two additional controllers had departed approximately an hour before their scheduled shifts were over, leaving the remaining controllers without additional personnel to assist during the heavy traffic period.

The practice of controllers leaving before the scheduled end of their shifts is reportedly known within the industry as an “early shove.” Federal aviation officials are now conducting a broader examination of alleged timecard abuses involving air traffic controllers.

The FAA confirmed that it is taking the allegations seriously but did not publicly identify the two controllers.

The agency said it “is committed to holding employees accountable, and we will not compromise the safety or efficiency of the National Airspace System.”

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union representing controllers, said it is discussing the allegations directly with FAA officials.

“NATCA is actively discussing these allegations with F.A.A. leadership. We believe those discussions are the appropriate forum for addressing the matter,” the union said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also condemned alleged abuse of work schedules, saying most controllers faithfully perform an extraordinarily demanding job but that the government would act against employees who violate the rules.

“We will not tolerate fraud, and we are taking appropriate action to hold folks accountable and prevent unlawful practices from disrupting the traveling public,” Duffy said, adding that such practices “take advantage of the American taxpayer, unfairly add additional work to their fellow controllers and impact the airspace.”

The NTSB’s preliminary investigation has provided a harrowing picture of the moments immediately preceding the collision. The fire truck had requested and received clearance to cross Runway 4 as the Air Canada aircraft approached. The runway’s warning lights were functioning, and the controller subsequently repeatedly ordered the truck to stop as the danger became apparent.

Investigators found that the controller first instructed the truck to stop about 12 seconds before impact and again issued a warning four seconds before the collision. Both the fire truck and aircraft apparently attempted evasive maneuvers immediately before they struck one another.

The FAA has since accelerated efforts to improve the tracking of airport vehicles, announcing a $16.5 million initiative to equip its airport vehicles with transponders that allow controllers to identify and follow them on runway and taxiway surveillance systems. The agency specifically cited the LaGuardia crash in announcing the safety initiative.

For now, however, investigators have not concluded that staffing levels or the alleged early departures caused or contributed to the fatal collision. The NTSB investigation remains open, with a final determination of the accident’s cause still pending.

The FAA’s effort to terminate the two controllers nevertheless adds a significant new dimension to the investigation, focusing scrutiny not only on what happened in the seconds before the crash, but also on staffing decisions inside the LaGuardia control tower in the hours leading up to it.

{Matzav.com}

Former South African-Israeli hostage  Aviva Siegel recounted in an interview published on Sunday how Hamas terrorists beat, tortured and abused women held hostage in Gaza during her 51 days of captivity in the wake of the Hamas-led invasion into the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023.

“I’m a witness of all of the girls who were beaten up into pieces,” she told The Daily Mail from her home in northern Israel.

Seeing one girl return after she was abused, Seigel continued, “she was purple; I wanted to die. That was one of the hardest moments: knowing what was happening to the young girls.”

Siegel, 65, and her husband, Keith, 67, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, were abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza during the Oct. 7 massacre. She was released on Nov. 26, 2023, as part of a temporary ceasefire agreement. Her husband was redeemed after 484 days in captivity.

The pair elaborated further about their harrowing experiences.

“After a couple of days, Keith looked at me and said he couldn’t breathe, because there was a lack of oxygen. I couldn’t breathe myself, and I remember trying to figure out what was happening, or if we were just going to die,” Siegel said.

“I said to him, ‘Just lie down and try and breathe.’. And while he lay down, I was scared to look at Keith, dead. I remember saying to myself, ‘Just don’t look at him, because you don’t want to see him dead.’ And just trying to say, ‘Please, let me die first, because I don’t want to see Keith dead,’” the former hostage was quoted as saying.

Keith Siegel recounted the time his captors became even crueler, after a ceasefire collapsed on Dec. 1, 2023.

“I’m lying on my back, on the floor. He came up to me, standing above me, and he starts screaming at me and cursing me. And he spat on me, he kicked me. He kicked me in my legs, and he kicked me in my ribs,” he said.

While he was held in total isolation for six months, Siegel asked the guards to teach him Arabic, in an attempt to keep himself sane.

One guard agreed, but asked Siegel to repeat words of the Shahada, a Muslim declaration of faith recital that converts non-Muslims to Islam. The guard said, “Okay, now you’re a Muslim,” to which Siegel said he replied, “No, I’m not a Muslim; I’m a Jew.”

Siegel was released on Feb. 1, 2025, and was reunited with his wife and their four children.

Aviva Siegel released a memoir in March, titled The Main Thing Is to Wake up to a New Morning.

“Everybody who reads the book will feel what it’s like to be a hostage in Gaza, underneath the ground, feeling like it’s the end of the world,” she told The Daily Mail. JNS

{Matzav.com}

CIA Director John Ratcliffe used a highly secretive visit to Moscow this week to deliver a direct warning to Russian officials against launching attacks or provocative operations targeting NATO countries, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.

The message comes amid U.S. intelligence assessments suggesting that Moscow may be considering actions designed to probe the strength and unity of the NATO alliance and determine how President Trump would respond to aggression against a member state.

Iran was also reportedly on Ratcliffe’s agenda. The CIA director warned Russian officials that additional sanctions could be imposed if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to commercial shipping, according to people briefed on the talks.

Ratcliffe’s previously undisclosed trip became public Tuesday after observers spotted a U.S. Air Force aircraft arriving at a Moscow airport and subsequently noticed a diplomatic motorcade traveling through the Russian capital.

The trip marked Ratcliffe’s first publicly known visit to Russia since becoming CIA director.

Ukrainian officials were informed in advance that an American delegation would be traveling to Moscow, according to a senior Ukrainian official. Kyiv was also asked to refrain from carrying out strikes during the period in which the U.S. delegation was visiting Russia.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Ratcliffe’s mission included delivering the warning concerning potential Russian actions against NATO.

The CIA has declined to publicly explain the purpose of the director’s trip.

President Trump confirmed Wednesday that Ratcliffe had traveled to Moscow, telling radio host Glenn Beck that the visit was “semi-routine.” Trump disputed reports tying the mission specifically to Iran or concerns about Russia testing NATO.

Trump nevertheless suggested that the talks could ultimately produce developments connected to his efforts to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end, saying “something may come out of” Ratcliffe’s visit.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ratcliffe held discussions with Russian intelligence officials during his stay in Moscow but did not meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Thursday, Peskov rejected media accounts describing Ratcliffe’s visit as an effort to warn Russia against provocative action involving NATO.

“A lot of such scare stories are being published right now. Of course, they have nothing to do with reality,” Peskov said, while asserting that Russia “is facing a very aggressive policy towards itself from European countries.”

The reported warning comes against the backdrop of recent U.S. intelligence assessments indicating that Putin may be prepared to authorize provocative operations on NATO territory.

Those actions could include cyberattacks, hybrid operations and other forms of interference deliberately kept below the threshold of a conventional military assault, according to U.S. officials.

American officials believe the objective of such operations might be less about triggering an outright military confrontation and more about testing whether NATO members remain unified — and whether the Trump administration would follow through on American commitments to defend an ally under pressure.

A series of incidents involving Russia has heightened those concerns. Officials have pointed to Russian drone incursions into Romania, a Russian missile that entered Polish territory last month, and an increase in suspected sabotage operations and cyberattacks across Europe.

Article 5 of the NATO treaty provides for collective defense among alliance members, meaning an attack against one member can be treated as an attack against all. The United States invoked Article 5 following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Trump, however, has repeatedly criticized NATO countries that he believes fail to spend enough on their own defense and has publicly questioned whether alliance members are carrying their fair share of the security burden.

At the same time, Trump has been pressing Moscow and Kyiv to reach an agreement ending their four-year war, though efforts to secure a diplomatic breakthrough have recently shown signs of stalling.

Russia’s relationship with Iran has added another layer of tension to Washington’s dealings with Moscow during the U.S. war with Iran.

Russia has continued cooperating with Tehran and has provided Iran with intelligence regarding U.S. positions in the region, according to previous reports. Moscow and Tehran have also maintained years of cooperation involving the production of military drones.

{Matzav.com}

The Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) killed a Hamas Nukhba terrorist identified by the military as a bodyguard of the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, in a strike in the Khan Yunis area on Monday, the agencies announced on Thursday.

Razek Sahil Suleiman Abu Shahma took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, infiltration of the IDF’s Re’im base, according to the statement.

In a separate strike in Khan Yunis on Sunday, the IDF killed Hazem Mousa, another Hamas Nukhba terrorist who the military said also infiltrated the base during the massacre. The IDF and Shin Bet said both men had been planning attacks on Israeli troops and civilians and working to rebuild Hamas’s “military” capabilities, in violation of the ceasefire.

On Monday, the IDF also targeted two Hamas terrorists in central Gaza who it said participated in the Oct. 7 massacre, confirming that Nukhba Force member Mohammad Abu Asaad was killed in Deir al-Balah. The military said they too had been planning attacks and rebuilding Hamas’s capabilities.

Also on Monday, the IDF and Shin Bet struck five Hamas weapons-storage facilities and a launch site across the Gaza Strip, including sites inside mosques and near humanitarian infrastructure. After the IDF said it had uncovered dozens of Kalashnikov rifles hidden inside Gaza mosques, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter accused Hamas of failing to disarm: “This is not disarmament.”

Israel has also responded to renewed kite launches from Gaza. Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the IDF to adopt a “zero-tolerance” policy toward kites and balloons launched from Gaza into communities in the Negev. Netanyahu and Katz warned Hamas that continued launches would lead to intensified strikes against those responsible and evacuations from areas used as launch sites.

The developments came as IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir vowed during a visit to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday that Israel would prevent Hamas from rebuilding and continue pursuing those responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre. “The IDF will not return to the doctrines that prevailed on Oct. 6,” he said.

“The pursuit of the terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre continues—everyone who took part in the massacre will live on the run until they are eliminated,” Zamir added.

He described the effort as a long-term mission and said the IDF remained committed to demilitarizing the Gaza Strip and disarming Hamas. JNS

Meta has agreed to impose major new restrictions on teenagers using Facebook and Instagram, including a combined two-hour daily limit and an overnight lockout, as part of a landmark settlement with state attorneys general that could ultimately cost the social media giant nearly $18 billion.

Following Wednesday morning’s announcement of the agreement, Meta issued an open letter calling on Snap, TikTok and YouTube to adopt the same protections. The company urged its competitors to join an industry-wide effort to “support teens and empower parents” by embracing what Meta says is its most extensive framework yet for regulating young people’s social media use.

The settlement will cap teens’ combined daily use of Facebook and Instagram at two hours and prevent them from accessing the platforms between midnight and 6 a.m., although messaging functions will remain available. Notifications will also be turned off during school hours. Meta will introduce stronger age-verification measures and new default settings governing beauty filters and the visibility of likes on posts.

The deal marks a significant resolution for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his company, which had faced potentially enormous financial exposure from litigation over allegations that its platforms harmed children.

“We want to ensure teens benefit from this new industry standard, but we cannot do it alone. These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers — TikTok and YouTube — to put the same measures in place,” Meta said in its open letter.

The agreement was also deliberately crafted to encourage the 52 state attorneys general involved to pursue comparable settlements with Meta’s largest social media competitors.

Should Snap, TikTok and YouTube, which are confronting their own legal challenges from state attorneys general, accept the same framework, Meta has agreed to subject itself to even tighter rules.

Among those additional concessions would be a further reduction in how much time teenagers can spend on Meta’s platforms. The initial settlement establishes a two-hour daily ceiling, but that limit would fall to only one hour if the other social media companies agree to participate in the framework.

Meta’s public appeal specifically called on Snap, TikTok and YouTube to “support teens and empower parents” by adopting the broad set of safeguards governing social media use.

The company’s financial obligation would increase as well if its competitors join the agreement. Meta’s payout would rise from approximately $12 billion to more than $17 billion under those circumstances.

A person familiar with the agreement acknowledged that offering to accept tougher restrictions and a larger payment if competitors join might appear unusual, but said the arrangement was designed to make the settlement truly industry-wide.

“The rationale is that it’s not a comprehensive agreement unless others sign on, and certainly competitors must match at least a portion of payment if Meta is going to pay out fully … it ensures incentive for continued action on this.”

The settlement’s numbers illustrate both its enormous financial scale and the extent of the changes Meta has accepted.

At roughly $18 billion, the maximum payout would be by far the largest settlement in Meta’s history, vastly exceeding the $5 billion penalty the company paid to the Federal Trade Commission in 2019.

Based on Meta’s $200.1 billion in revenue during fiscal 2025, the company generates approximately $18 billion in just 33 days.

Meta has committed to paying 70% of the potential $18 billion total. The remaining 30% would become due only if TikTok and YouTube collectively agree to pay $5.3 billion and implement comparable changes to their apps.

Teenagers will initially be allowed a maximum of two hours per day across Facebook and Instagram. If TikTok and YouTube agree to equivalent limits, Meta’s cap would be reduced to one hour.

A six-hour overnight “Night mode” will automatically prevent teen users from accessing the platforms between midnight and 6 a.m.

Most of the settlement’s requirements will remain effective for 10 years.

Three particularly significant changes will affect the teen experience on Meta’s platforms. They include prohibiting “cosmetic surgery and extreme makeup filters”; hiding “Likes” and other reactions on teen posts by default; and expanding parental controls and supervision over teens’ use of the apps.

One area left untouched by the settlement is Meta’s recommendation algorithm. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt has criticized that omission, arguing that the system is “engineered to maximize young people’s engagement even with content that harms them.”

One of the central concerns surrounding restrictions imposed solely on Meta is that teenagers who reach their Instagram time limit could simply switch to another social media platform and continue scrolling there.

Meta has maintained that restrictions affecting Facebook and Instagram alone cannot solve the broader problem of excessive social media use among teenagers, which is why the company is pressing its competitors to accept comparable rules.

A second person familiar with the matter told The Post that Snap may be receptive to joining the initiative. There is currently no sign, however, that TikTok or YouTube is preparing to sign on in the near future. Snap, TikTok and YouTube did not provide comments in response to inquiries.

Snapchat, led by Evan Spiegel, could therefore emerge as one of the first competing platforms to voluntarily consider adopting the framework restricting teen social media use.

The settlement ends a multistate lawsuit brought in 2023 by a bipartisan group of state attorneys general. The states accused Meta of deliberately creating addictive platform features that harmed teenagers while also improperly collecting young users’ information.

Settlement payments will be distributed to the states over a 10-year period. Although each state will have discretion over how its share is spent, the money must be directed toward programs involving the “remediation of harms related to youth social media use.” Potential uses include counseling services, wellness initiatives and after-school programs. Individual users will not receive settlement payments.

If Snap, TikTok and YouTube ultimately adopt Meta’s framework, Meta will be required to implement the additional restrictions it has pledged as part of the deal.

The settlement is still awaiting judicial approval. Assuming it receives the necessary signoff, its provisions are expected to be fully put into effect within six months.

For Meta, the agreement brings an end to years of negotiations and litigation that at one point threatened to expose the company to as much as $200 billion in potential costs. Investors appeared to view the settlement favorably: Meta shares initially jumped following the announcement before finishing the trading day approximately 1% higher.

The resolution closes the door on a lengthy and potentially far more damaging legal fight for the social media giant.

“Litigation is over,” a source said. “They are putting it to bed.”

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed documents directing that Lake Ontario be officially renamed “Lake America,” escalating his rhetorical battle with Canada as a tariff dispute between Washington and Ottawa continues to intensify.

“We’re going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately, to Lake America,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The president held up the signed directive following the announcement, while the White House also released a map reflecting the newly designated name for the Great Lake.

“We filed all the necessary papers, documents, everything else. We notified all of the various people that we have to notify. So we’ve done everything that you have to do, and this is official, effective immediately.”

Trump tied the decision directly to his growing dispute with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government, accusing Canadian officials of treating the United States unfairly and singling out tariffs imposed on American agricultural products.

Trump said that “the Canadian officials have created this very badly. They’re nasty people. They charge our farmers 400% tariffs.”

The Lake Ontario move follows Trump’s decision last year to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

Trump suggested Thursday that he might eventually take his renaming campaign even further, joking that with a gulf and a lake now bearing the America name, an ocean could be next.

“If you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake. Now, all we need is an ocean. So maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or the Pacific,” Trump said Thursday.

{Matzav.com}

Nearly 38 years after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, relatives of those murdered in the terror attack are facing another painful wait for justice after the trial of an alleged bombmaker was abruptly postponed because of newly discovered evidence.

Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Wednesday in Washington, D.C., in the case against Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi, who is accused of constructing the explosive device that killed all 259 people aboard the flight and another 11 people on the ground. Several victims’ relatives had planned to attend the proceedings and “stare down” the accused terrorist in court.

Instead, the emergence of undisclosed new evidence prompted the trial to be delayed, adding yet another unresolved chapter to a case that has stretched across nearly four decades.

“There are some family members that will stare at him — it brings them peace to stare him down,” said Kara Weipz, whose brother, Rick Monetti, was killed in the historic attack. “I don’t care to look at him.”

Monetti was a junior studying communications and was one of 35 Syracuse University students aboard the London-to-New York flight when it was destroyed on Dec. 21, 1988.

Weipz, who was forced to scrap her travel arrangements after Monday’s announcement that the trial had been postponed, said her previous encounters with Al-Marimi during pretrial proceedings left her unsettled by his demeanor.

“He seems very calculating, in my opinion,” Weipz said. “It’s tough, it’s difficult being in the courtroom with him.”

“My purpose for going is to represent my family and learn more about the truth,” said Weipz, who works as a preschool teacher in New Jersey.

For Weipz and other relatives who have spent decades waiting for answers and accountability, the latest postponement represents one more delay in an extraordinarily long legal saga.

“It’s a constant anxiety,” she said of her brother’s death and the ensuing legal battles — which included one conviction in 2001.

“It dredges it all up. You go through a roller coaster of emotions,” she said.

Federal prosecutors allege that Al-Marimi, a onetime Libyan intelligence operative who is now in his mid-70s, traveled to Malta carrying a suitcase containing the bomb. There, according to authorities, he met with fellow conspirators who directed him to program the device’s timer in preparation for the attack.

Authorities contend that Al-Marimi and his alleged accomplices carried out the bombing on orders from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was overthrown and killed during Libya’s civil war in 2011.

Weipz said she hopes the prosecution of Al-Marimi will finally provide additional answers about the plot that took her brother’s life and establish responsibility for another person allegedly involved.

“[I want] a guilty verdict and to hold another person who played a part in his murder accountable,” she said.

But even a conviction, Weipz said, cannot erase what happened or truly end the grief that has followed her family since 1988.

“There’s no such thing as closure,” she said. “This pain doesn’t go away … The question is can you find more peace?”

The bombing claimed 270 lives in all, including 11 residents of Lockerbie on the ground. Among those killed were 190 Americans.

The attack remains the second-deadliest terrorist attack against Americans, behind only the Sept. 11 attacks, and the deadliest terrorist attack ever carried out in the United Kingdom.

Another of those killed was 20-year-old Alexia Tsairis, a Syracuse University student who was returning home after participating in a study-abroad program. Her mother, Aphrodite Tsairis, has carried the loss for nearly four decades.

“We were left with holes in our hearts,” said Tsairis, 83, of New Jersey. “There will always be an empty seat at our table.”

Al-Marimi is only the third person to have been criminally charged in connection with the bombing.

Two other suspects, Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, went on trial in 2001 before a panel of Scottish judges convened in the Netherlands over their alleged involvement in the attack.

Al-Megrahi was found guilty, while Fhimah was acquitted. In an unexpected development this week, Libyan Airlines announced Tuesday that Fhimah had died, according to the BBC.

Tsairis said the timing of Fhimah’s death caught her attention, particularly because the new evidence emerged at roughly the same time and resulted in the postponement of Al-Marimi’s trial. She wondered whether the two developments could somehow be connected.

“I’m wondering if there’s a connection,” she said. “Maybe he had a change of conscience before his death. Maybe he left a note.”

Tsairis had intended to travel by train to Washington to attend the proceedings. With the case now postponed, the trial is expected to be delayed until approximately January.

“I’d like to see a conviction — but what I really want I can never have back,” she said of losing her daughter.

For Tsairis, the trial offers the possibility of learning more about the people behind the bombing and the motives that led to one of the deadliest terrorist attacks involving Americans.

“My hope is that the trial is going to answer more of the ‘who and why.’ It puts a period at the end of the sentence,” she said.

“I think the world has to know the American justice system will follow you wherever you go.”

If convicted, Al-Marimi faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.

{Matzav.com}

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was “deeply saddened” by the death of a Rikers Island inmate who was awaiting prosecution for allegedly murdering a Bronx laundromat owner in a seemingly random meat-cleaver attack.

“I am deeply saddened by the death of a New Yorker in City custody at a jail on Rikers Island early this morning,” Mamdani said. “My thoughts are with his family and loved ones as they grieve this loss.”

The mayor said authorities have not yet established what led to the inmate’s death, while pointing to the broader history of fatalities at the troubled jail complex.

“We do not yet know the cause of death, but we do know that too many New Yorkers have died on Rikers Island,” he said.

Mamdani said the Department of Correction, together with its oversight partners, will conduct an investigation into the death. He also reiterated his administration’s pledge to address conditions in the city’s jails and shutter Rikers Island “as quickly as possible.”

The inmate, Clarence Woodward, was a 39-year-old homeless parolee who had been arrested in connection with the Aug. 8, 2024, killing of 45-year-old Jose Miranda at the 303 Laundromat in the Bronx. Woodward faced charges of murder, manslaughter and assault.

According to police, Woodward entered the 24-hour laundromat at approximately 2:40 a.m. and attacked Miranda and another man without any apparent provocation.

Authorities alleged that Woodward stabbed Miranda in his legs and upper body with a meat cleaver and also wounded the second victim, a 47-year-old man, in the back before escaping from the scene.

Both injured men were rushed to Lincoln Hospital. Miranda succumbed to his wounds, while the second victim survived the attack.

Woodward had reportedly been released from prison approximately one month before the deadly attack.

Mamdani’s statement mourning Woodward’s death quickly drew criticism on X, where users questioned whether the mayor had similarly expressed condolences for Miranda and his grieving family.

{Matzav.com}

The amount of sugar consumed during the earliest years of life may have consequences that extend well into adulthood, with new research linking lower early-life sugar exposure to reduced rates of several cancers, slower biological aging and healthier eating habits decades later.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in early August, examined 64,761 people born in Britain between 1951 and 1956. During part of that period, Britain was still rationing sugar and other foods in the aftermath of World War II.

Researchers drew on information from the UK Biobank to examine the long-term health of people whose first 1,000 days of life occurred while sugar rationing was in place and compared them with individuals born after those restrictions ended.

The first 1,000 days encompass the period beginning at conception and continuing through a child’s second birthday, a relatively short window that is considered especially important for growth and development.

It is also during these early years that dietary tastes and preferences begin taking shape, raising the possibility that the foods available during infancy and early childhood could influence eating patterns — and potentially health — many decades later.

Researchers uncovered particularly striking differences when examining cancer rates. Those who experienced sugar rationing during their first 1,000 days had substantially lower risks of developing several forms of cancer compared with those who did not.

The study found a 69 percent lower risk of liver cancer, a 52 percent reduction in prostate cancer risk, a 41 percent lower risk of lung cancer, a 40 percent reduction in rectal cancer risk and a 36 percent lower risk of breast cancer among those exposed to early-life sugar restrictions.

The apparent benefits were not limited to cancer. Researchers also found evidence suggesting that people exposed to sugar rationing early in life experienced slower biological aging.

As part of the analysis, scientists examined telomeres, the protective structures at the ends of chromosomes that have been associated with aging and longevity. Participants who experienced sugar rationing during their first 1,000 days had longer telomeres than those who did not, with researchers estimating that the difference corresponded to slightly more than two additional years of life expectancy.

The study also suggested that the effects of the early dietary environment could be seen in eating behavior more than half a century later. Adults who had been exposed to sugar rationing early in life tended to consume less sugar, eat smaller portions and follow healthier and more varied diets.

Britain’s postwar sugar rationing has previously provided researchers with a natural experiment for examining how sugar consumption during early development might affect health later in life.

In another recently published study, researchers found that individuals who experienced sugar rationing during their first 1,000 days had significantly lower rates of anxiety and depression as adults.

Other research using the same historical circumstances has also linked early-life sugar rationing with lower rates of chronic illness, decreased odds of developing Alzheimer’s disease and improved cardiovascular health.

Despite the substantial differences identified between the groups, researchers emphasized that the findings do not establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Because the study was observational, it cannot prove that reducing sugar intake during the first years of life was itself responsible for the better health outcomes seen decades later.

{Matzav.com}