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President Donald Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday with a cordial reception as the two sat down for an extended and high-stakes summit in Alaska, a meeting that could influence the course of the war in Ukraine.

Their discussions concluded at 6:20 p.m. ET, with a possible joint press briefing expected within the hour.

In a display of careful staging, both leaders arrived in their presidential aircraft and descended onto the tarmac of a military base. Trump applauded as Putin set foot on Western soil for the first time since launching the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Overhead, a U.S. B-2 stealth bomber passed in a show of force, while a reporter called out to Putin, “Will you stop killing civilians?”

Unfazed, Putin flashed a broad smile as Trump took the unusual step of personally accompanying him into “The Beast,” the fortified U.S. presidential limousine. The two proceeded to a meeting room where a screen behind them displayed the words—only in English—“Pursuing Peace.”

According to the White House, the presidents and their senior advisers continued talking after two hours, an indication the session was ongoing and not breaking down early, though Trump had previously stated he was ready to end the meeting if needed.

Putin appeared in good spirits, joking with members of the Russian press during the visit. His trip marks a notable moment for a leader under an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

‘Good respect level’ 

Recent Russian advances on the battlefield may give Putin more leverage in any ceasefire negotiations. However, as his plane landed, Ukraine announced it had recaptured several villages.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to Anchorage, Trump struck an optimistic tone. “There’s a good respect level on both sides and I think something’s going to come out of it,” he said.

Trump has maintained he will handle Putin firmly, mindful of the criticism he faced for seeming deferential during their 2018 Helsinki summit.

On Friday, the White House unexpectedly revealed that Trump had scrapped a planned one-on-one with Putin. Instead, he entered the meeting alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Plans were also in place for a working lunch with a larger group and for a joint news conference afterward.

The encounter drew intense scrutiny from European allies and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was excluded from the talks and has rebuffed Trump’s calls to relinquish land seized by Russia. “It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelenskyy posted on social media.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declined to speculate on what might result from the summit. “We never make any predictions ahead of time,” he told Russian state television after arriving in Alaska, notably wearing a shirt emblazoned with “USSR” in Cyrillic.

Trump has pledged to coordinate with European leaders and Zelenskyy, promising that any final settlement would come from a three-way meeting with Putin and the Ukrainian president to “divvy up” territory.

‘Severe’ consequences 

Trump has long touted his rapport with Putin, assigning blame for the war to Joe Biden and vowing that once back in the Oval Office he could secure peace within 24 hours.

Yet despite frequent phone calls with Putin and a public scolding of Zelenskyy during a Feb. 28 White House meeting, the Kremlin leader has shown no indication of softening his position.

Trump told reporters he “would walk” away from the table if the talks proved unproductive, adding he “wouldn’t be happy” without an immediate ceasefire.

The discussions took place at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the largest U.S. military site in Alaska and a key surveillance post during the Cold War.

Adding historical resonance, Alaska was purchased by the United States from Russia in 1867—a transaction Russian officials have occasionally cited when discussing land exchanges.

Neither Trump nor Putin is expected to venture into Anchorage, where demonstrators have set up signs supporting Ukraine.

This meeting represents a marked departure from the stance of Biden and Western European leaders, who have refused to negotiate with Moscow over Ukraine without Kyiv’s direct involvement.

{Matzav.com}

A two-year-old Ukrainian boy named Illia was taken from his homeland by a senior Russian military officer who allegedly selected him for his “good looks.” The child was later abandoned after health problems came to light — and has not been seen since.

Illia is just one among thousands of Ukrainian minors who, according to Kyiv, were seized by Russia during the ongoing war. Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, has made the fight to bring these children home a central cause.

Speaking exclusively to The NY Post from Kyiv on Thursday, Zelenska said that as discussions toward a potential peace agreement with Russia progress, ensuring the safe return of the missing children must be at the forefront.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine has faced immense challenges in tracking and recovering children taken during the chaos — many of them removed from schools, orphanages, and family homes in occupied areas.

Officials in Kyiv say that at least 19,500 children remain missing, though the true figure may be considerably higher. In 2023, Russian Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova claimed that 744,000 Ukrainian children had been relocated to Russia. Not long after, both she and President Vladimir Putin were indicted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges connected to these deportations.

“For all Ukrainians, this is one of the most heartbreaking consequences of this war,” Zelenska said. “We could not protect their rights when the Russians took them — without consent, without records, without any transparency.”

While Moscow has described these removals as “evacuations,” Ukrainian authorities say they were forced deportations. In some instances, entire boarding schools were emptied and the children bused away, never to be heard from again.

Ukraine’s social service agencies attempted to trace the missing, but the fact that large swaths of occupied territory remain under Russian control has left them with few answers.

“In the first weeks of the invasion, civilians couldn’t evacuate freely,” Zelenska said. “There were no green corridors. Anyone who tried to leave towards Ukrainian-controlled areas risked being shot, even families with children. The only direction open was towards Russia.”

Some of the missing were separated from their parents during so-called “filtration” — a network of checkpoints where fleeing civilians were interrogated, had their phones inspected, and even underwent body searches for pro-Ukrainian tattoos.

Human rights groups have documented numerous cases in which children were taken during these screenings and never returned.

Although about 1,500 children have been recovered so far, Ukrainian authorities describe the process as slow, dangerous, and emotionally draining.

International bodies, including the United Nations, have been helping compile lists of the missing. But identifying them is complicated by Russia’s practice of altering personal information, including names and birth details, in official records.

“A Ukrainian child named Mykyta may be renamed Nikita in Russian documents,” Zelenska said. “Dates of birth, places of origin, even names can be altered. That’s how these children disappear.”

With peace negotiations beginning to touch on territorial matters, Ukraine’s leadership insists that retrieving the abducted children must be non-negotiable.

“The longer these children stay there, the faster they lose their identity, their language, and their homeland,” Zelenska said. “Time is working against us, and against them.”

Kyiv continues to appeal to allied nations to pressure Moscow into allowing neutral observers to verify the children’s whereabouts and welfare, and to pave the way for their return.

For now, the futures of thousands of young Ukrainians remain in limbo, suspended between political maneuvering, diplomacy, and the enduring uncertainty of war.

”It’s very painful for us — for all Ukrainians and the Ukrainian state — because we were not able to ensure the rights of our children when they were violated by the Russians without their or their parents’ consent,” the first lady said.

The experiences of those taken vary. Some have reportedly been sent to Russian military training camps, even deployed to fight against Ukraine. Others have been used for labor or other forms of servitude.

Even those adopted into Russian households are not necessarily safe.

Zelenska recounted Illia’s ordeal: taken from occupied Kherson by a high-ranking Russian officer because of his “good looks.”

“There is a record of high-ranking Russian officials who come to select children for themselves, looking for the better-looking children as if it were a supermarket,” she said.

“Illia’s health issue was not obvious without a medical examination — which would have happened had he not been taken illegally — but when they found out, they took him to occupied Crimea and abandoned him. We don’t know what happened to him,” she continued.

”This story demonstrates how they treat children as if they were goods or things — they are not at all interested in children’s rights, and this is why Ukraine is fighting so hard for them.”

According to Zelenska, children in Russian custody are forbidden to speak Ukrainian, acknowledge their heritage, or communicate with relatives back home.

The psychological toll is severe. Many returnees have described being beaten for using their native language or expressing their cultural identity.

Some have taken their own lives in Russia, unable to bear the repression.

“The children who come back are subdued mentally — they’re broken,” she said. “Only after they return do they start coming back out of their shells.”

Once a child is adopted by a Russian family and their surname is changed, finding them becomes almost impossible. Ukraine has not yet managed to repatriate any child in this situation, Zelenska said.

Even locating the children does not guarantee their return.

“We have parents, grandparents and other relatives who are looking for the kids in Russia, but there is no answer to our requests for information,” she said.

“There are ways for international organizations [still working in Russia] to help, to be a mediator in these negotiations.

”If they could get information for us about these children, that would be a step forward.”

{Matzav.com}

and President Putin deplane in Anchorage, Alaska ahead of their historic summit.

Both U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin have yet to deplane at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, where their aircraft remain on the tarmac.

President Donald Trump voiced his backing for Israel’s military push to topple Hamas’ rule in Gaza, but cautioned that U.S. patience has its limits.

According to a report by Ariel Kahana in Yisroel Hayom, Trump spoke with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this week, expressing support for the IDF operation aimed at removing Hamas from power. However, a source close to the White House said Trump’s message was pointed: “Do it, but do it quickly.”

The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the conversation. But during a meeting of the security cabinet, Minister Ron Dermer warned ministers that the American administration’s tolerance is wearing thin. “We don’t have time,” Dermer told them, urging decisive action to prevent erosion of international backing.

As the IDF prepares for a ground offensive to capture Gaza City, mediators have intensified their efforts to block the operation. Mossad Director Dadi Barnea and Dermer relayed a clear message to those mediators: Israel will not accept a partial deal — only a comprehensive agreement that brings home all the hostages and ends the war.

This stance reflects the position of Netanyahu, Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, and Dermer, in contrast to ministers Gideon Sa’ar, Tzachi Hanegbi, and Aryeh Deri, who have argued for leaving open the possibility of a limited agreement.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yisroel Katz held a planning session with the IDF Chief of Staff to prepare for the Gaza operation, against a backdrop of reports about tensions between Katz, Netanyahu, and the chief of staff over the management of the campaign.

{Matzav.com}

Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have killed over 280 people in India and Pakistan and left scores of others missing, officials said Friday, as rescuers brought to safety some 1,600 people from two mountainous districts in the neighboring countries. In Pakistan, a helicopter carrying relief supplies to the flood-hit northwestern Bajaur region crashed due to bad weather, killing all five people on board, including two pilots, a government statement said. And devastating floods in India led to the suspension of an annual Hindu pilgrimage and the evacuation of thousands of pilgrims. Cloudbursts — sudden, intense downpours over small areas — are increasingly common in India’s Himalayan regions and Pakistan’s northern areas, and can wreak havoc by causing intense flooding and landslides. Top leaders in both countries offered their condolences to the victims’ families and assured them of swift relief. Dozens missing in remote Himalayan village In Indian-controlled Kashmir, rescuers searched for missing people in the remote Himalayan village of Chositi after flash floods a day earlier left at least 60 people dead and at least 80 missing, officials said. At least 300 people were rescued Thursday after a powerful cloudburst triggered floods and landslides, but the operation was halted overnight. Officials said many missing people were believed to have been washed away, and the number of missing could increase. Harvinder Singh, a resident, joined the rescue efforts immediately after the disaster and helped retrieve 33 bodies from under mud, he said. At least 50 seriously injured people were treated at hospitals, many of them rescued from a stream filled with mud and debris. Chositi, in Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, is the last village accessible to motor vehicles on the route of an annual Hindu pilgrimage to a mountainous shrine at an altitude of 3,000 meters (9,500 feet). Officials said the pilgrimage, which began July 25 and was scheduled to end Sept. 5, was suspended. The devastating floods swept away the main community kitchen for pilgrims, as well as dozens of vehicles and motorbikes. More than 200 pilgrims were in the kitchen at the time of the flood, which also damaged or washed away many of the homes clustered together in the foothills, officials said. Sneha, who gave only one name, said her husband and a daughter were swept away — the two were having meals at the community kitchen while she and her son were nearby. The family had come for the pilgrimage, she said. Authorities erected makeshift bridges Friday to help stranded pilgrims cross a muddy water channel and used dozens of earthmovers to shift boulders, uprooted trees, electricity poles and other debris. Nearly 4,000 pilgrims were evacuated, officials said. Photos and videos on social media showed household goods strewn next to damaged vehicles and homes in the village. Kishtwar district is home to multiple hydroelectric power projects, which experts have long warned pose a threat to the region’s fragile ecosystem. More heavy rain and floods were forecast for the area. Hundreds of tourists trapped by floods in Pakistan In northern and northwestern Pakistan, flash floods killed at least 243 people, including 157 people who died in the flood-hit Buner district in northwest Pakistan on Friday. Mohammad Suhail told The Associated Press that dozens of people were still missing, and rescue operations were underway. He said 78 bodies were recovered by midday Friday, and another 79 were […]

PHOTO: Inside the venue for the scheduled joint press conference between President Trump and President Putin.

BREAKING: President Trump has touched down in Alaska for peace talks with Russian President Putin.

The battle over the proposed draft law took on a personal dimension this week when the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Rashbi, Rav Meir Tzvi Bergman, responded pointedly to a group of bochurim who came to his home and shared that they had recently received military draft notices.

The visit took place on Thursday afternoon, when Rav Aryeh Kook, a senior rosh yeshiva at Maor HaTorah in Rechovot, arrived at Rav Bergman’s Bnei Brak residence together with his sons to receive a bracha. During the conversation, Rav Kook mentioned that the previous day, four of his sons had been served with draft orders.

Without hesitation, Rav Bergman asked them on the spot: “Have you already torn them up?”

Rav Kook replied in the affirmative, saying, “Of course — mosai yavo l’yadi v’akaymenah,” explaining that they had done so joyfully, with singing and dancing, in the merit of sanctifying Hashem’s Name.

When asked whether there was any reason to be afraid, Rav Bergman answered in Yiddish: “Ich halt az men darf nisht hoben moirah fun zei — I hold that you should not be afraid of them.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

On Friday afternoon, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe returned to Eretz Yisroel following medical treatment in Germany. He arrived at Ben Gurion Airport aboard the private plane of noted philanthropist and supporter of Torah R’ Dan Gertler.

Sources told Matzav.com that the doctors in Munich were pleased with the results of the treatment the Rebbe underwent earlier this week, and that the heartfelt tefillos of Klal Yisroel appear to have borne fruit.

The Rebbe will spend this Shabbos at the home of his late father, the Yeshuos Moshe of Vizhnitz zt”l, located at 15 Ahavas Shalom Street in Bnei Brak. The Shabbos will be a closed gathering limited to members of the family.

On Shabbos morning, the Rebbe is scheduled to serve as sandek at the bris of his great-grandson, a grandson of his son, Rav Yaakov Mordechai Hager, Av Beis Din of Vizhnitz Elad, and great-grandson of the Rebbe of Shatz.

All are asked to continue davening for Yisroel ben Leah Esther.

{Matzav.com}

Preliminary testing has determined that the white powder discovered Thursday at an ICE field office in Lower Manhattan did not contain any “dangerous substance,” Mayor Eric Adams said Friday in an interview with 1010 WINS.

“We are told the preliminary results indicate there was no dangerous substance that was involved,” Adams told WINS anchor Susan Richard.

“But let’s be clear,” the mayor continued. “This still is a serious crime, and the FBI is going to conduct their investigation, and anything we can do to assist, we will do so. This is a crime. It should not have happened. And we’re going to make sure the person responsible is brought to justice.”

Authorities said five envelopes containing the powder were discovered in the mailroom of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), a branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The location — 26 Federal Plaza — has been the site of frequent protests in recent months against President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies. The building also houses a detention facility for migrants awaiting removal proceedings.

“Our weapons of mass destruction and hazardous evidence response teams immediately responded to the scene,” said Christopher Raia, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, which is also located inside the same building.

Raia said the envelopes were sent to the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for additional analysis.

The FDNY reported that the building was promptly evacuated after the discovery, and while two individuals were exposed to the substance, no injuries occurred.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli demonstrators calling for a hostage release agreement held a Kabbolas Shabbos gathering on Friday evening outside the home of Defense Minister Yisroel Katz in Kfar Achim.

Among those who addressed the crowd was former hostage Sasha Troufanov, who spoke emotionally about friends still being held in Gaza — “people who no longer remember what freedom is, who would give anything to be here today and stand by me.”

“You have been denying them this right for 679 days. You are willing to sacrifice their freedom in order to achieve a victory that you yourself do not know how to define,” Troufanov said.

“We do not have time for any more attempts to exert pressure or to try different negotiation strategies. You made the promise to return them at the beginning of the war and promises must be kept. Bring them home. Give them their lives back. It is in your hands,” he added.

Critics of Prime Minister Netanyahu have charged that he is prolonging the conflict in pursuit of a “total victory” — a goal they argue lacks a clear definition beyond dismantling Hamas’s military and governing framework. Netanyahu has at times declared his readiness to fight “until the last gunman” and has recently described Gaza City as the final Hamas bastion that the IDF intends to capture, despite having used similar language about Rafah a year and a half earlier. In the meantime, Hamas has shifted to guerrilla warfare, continuing to recruit fighters, while Israel has avoided putting forward a practical alternative to the group — a stance shaped in part by the government’s resistance to involving the internationally-backed Palestinian Authority.

{Matzav.com}

Erin strengthened into a hurricane on Friday as it approached the northeast Caribbean, prompting forecasters to warn of possible flooding and landslides. The storm is expected to remain over open waters, although tropical storm watches were issued for Anguilla, Barbuda, St. Martin, St. Barts, Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten. Heavy rains were forecast to start late Friday in Antigua and Barbuda, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and southern and eastern Puerto Rico. Up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) are expected, with isolated totals of up to 6 inches (15 centimeters), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Forecasters also warned of dangerous swells. The storm was located about 460 miles (740 kilometers) east of the Northern Leeward Islands. It had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 18 mph (30 kph). Hurricane specialist and storm surge expert Michael Lowry said Erin is forecast to eventually take a sharp turn northeast that would put it on a path between the U.S. and Bermuda. “The forecasts for next week still keep the future hurricane safely east of the mainland U.S.,” he said. Erin, which is the Atlantic season’s first hurricane, is forecast to become a major Category 3 storm late this weekend. The hurricane center noted “there is still uncertainty about what impacts Erin may bring to portions of the Bahamas, the east coast of the United States, and Bermuda in the long range.” Dangerous surf and rip currents are expected to affect the U.S. East Coast next week, with waves reaching up to 15 feet (5 meters) along parts of the North Carolina coast that could cause beach erosion, according to Accuweather. “Erin is forecast to explode into a powerful Category 4 hurricane as it moves across very warm waters in the open Atlantic. Water temperatures at the surface and hundreds of feet deep are several degrees higher than the historical average,” said Alex DaSilva, Accuweather’s lead hurricane expert. Erin is the fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. This year’s season is once again expected to be unusually busy. The forecast calls for six to 10 hurricanes, with three to five reaching major status with winds of more than 110 mph (177 kph). (AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has touched down in Anchorage, Alaska for high-level peace talks with President Trump.

The IDF says Israeli Air Force jets recently targeted a Hezbollah facility and a tunnel near Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon.

The Kremlin announced on Friday that it anticipates the upcoming Alaska summit between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will run for no less than six to seven hours, according to reports on Russian state television.

“You can expect that it will take up a minimum of six to seven hours,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Russia’s Channel One, ahead of the high-profile talks. He added that Moscow is looking forward to what it believes will be a “productive” meeting.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump held a phone conversation with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko — a staunch supporter of Vladimir Putin — just hours before Trump’s scheduled summit with the Russian leader in Alaska.

Belarus has been one of Moscow’s firmest backers in the war against Ukraine, granting Russian forces access to its territory to launch the first wave of strikes in early 2022.

“I had a wonderful talk with the highly respected President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko. We discussed many topics, including President Putin’s visit to Alaska,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account while traveling aboard Air Force One to the meeting.

Trump said he expressed appreciation to Lukashenko for releasing political prisoners and noted that “the two sides were discussing the release of 1,300 additional prisoners.”

Belarus’s state news agency BELTA reported that “Lukashenko invited Trump and his family to visit Belarus, and he agreed.”

According to BELTA, their discussion also touched on bilateral ties and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, has steadily dismantled independent media and political dissent, tightening his grip on the country in an increasingly authoritarian fashion.

The Belarusian human rights group Viasna currently estimates that 1,186 political prisoners remain in detention, many of them arrested during the sweeping protests that erupted in 2020 after Lukashenko declared victory in an election widely viewed as fraudulent.

In late June, Lukashenko freed more than a dozen political prisoners — including prominent opposition leader Sergei Tikhanovsky — following a request from the White House.

{Matzav.com}

The Tiveriah Municipality confirmed on Friday that Captain Yosef Chaim Ashraf, an officer in the transport unit of the 99th Reserve Division, was the individual found deceased on Thursday in the Switzerland Forest near Ramat Poria. Authorities believe he took his own life.

Ashraf, a Tiveriah resident, had been serving in active reserve duty at the time of his death. As such, the military will recognize him as a fallen IDF soldier.

Following the incident, the IDF announced that the Military Police Investigations Unit has opened an inquiry. Once completed, the findings will be handed over to the Military Advocate General for review.

This case represents the 17th instance this year of an IDF soldier dying by suicide.

Just two days prior, the Knesset’s Subcommittee on Personnel held a meeting to examine the army’s measures for preventing suicides among its members.

During that session, Brig. Gen. Amir Vadmani, head of the IDF Personnel Directorate, acknowledged a rise in suicide cases but stressed that it does not reflect an “unusual spike” in numbers. He reported that since the start of 2023, 54 soldiers have taken their own lives. The annual breakdown, he said, was 17 suicides in 2023, 21 in 2024, and 17 so far this year.

When asked by both the committee chair and several Knesset members to disclose figures on former soldiers who died by suicide after their service and who had sought recognition as fallen soldiers, Vadmani declined to provide the information.

MK Yossi Stern voiced his frustration at the refusal, saying: “We have a question, and you can answer it so we can move forward. Do you have the number? I’m asking a simple question, and you have the answer.”

Knesset Member Keti Shitrit, who chairs the Knesset Lobby for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and initiated the discussion, expressed strong disapproval. “It is unreasonable that we do not receive concrete data from the army regarding the number of service members approaching military mental health assessment committees. I demand that the army establish a committee with clear authority and goals, fully transparent to us,” she said.

{Matzav.com Israel}