Health officials are warning that this year’s flu season is being shaped by a particularly transmissible and hard-hitting strain that is rapidly gaining ground across the country.
The surge is being linked to a newly identified offshoot of influenza A (H3N2), known as subclade K. Public health monitoring shows that this mutation has become dominant in recent samples, both internationally and within the United States.
In a recent update, the World Health Organization described subclade K as a significant shift in the evolution of H3N2 viruses, raising concerns among researchers about how closely this season’s flu vaccine matches the circulating strain.
Doctors say patients infected with the K variant are often experiencing more pronounced symptoms than usual. Reported complaints include high fever, shaking chills, head pain, exhaustion, persistent cough, sore throat, and nasal congestion.
Data from the CDC indicates that nearly 90% of 216 recently analyzed H3N2 samples collected since late September were identified as subclade K, underscoring how quickly the variant has taken hold.
Respiratory illness activity is especially elevated in parts of the Northeast and several other regions. Surveillance tracking outpatient visits — not limited to confirmed flu cases — shows very high levels in New York City, New York State, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Louisiana, and Colorado. High activity has also been reported across multiple additional states and in Washington, D.C.
So far this season, federal estimates attribute at least 4.6 million illnesses, roughly 49,000 hospital admissions, and approximately 1,900 deaths to influenza.
Speaking with Fox News Digital, Dr. Neil Maniar, a professor of public health practice at Northeastern University, said early patterns suggest an unusually severe flu season. He noted that areas overseas where subclade K circulated earlier saw substantial illness, a trend that now appears to be emerging domestically as well.
Maniar described the current situation as a “perfect storm,” pointing to a combination of lower overall vaccination rates and uncertainty about how precisely this year’s vaccine targets the mutation. While the vaccine remains strongly recommended, he explained that a less-than-ideal match could be contributing to the intensity of cases being reported.
Despite these concerns, Maniar emphasized that getting vaccinated remains worthwhile, even now. Peak flu activity has not yet arrived, and the vaccine still offers important protection against severe outcomes linked to the K variant.
He also cautioned that flu complications are not limited to high-risk groups. Healthy individuals can become seriously ill, particularly as colder weather and indoor gatherings increase exposure risks. According to Maniar, partial immunity can begin developing within days of vaccination, with full protection generally reached within two weeks — making this an important window for those who have not yet received their flu shot.
{Matzav.com}
Mahmoud Abbas has openly acknowledged that the Palestinian Authority remains loyal to terrorists who murder and attack Jews, publicly affirming support that Israeli officials say confirms long-standing allegations about covert financial assistance to terrorists and their families.
The remarks came after reports revealed that the Palestinian Authority continues to transfer money to terrorists through indirect and concealed channels. In a statement he issued, Abbas did not deny the practice and instead expressed pride in it, writing: “I affirm, with absolute clarity, that loyalty to the sacrifices of our righteous martyrs, the prisoners who stand with them, the wounded, and their families is a deeply rooted national and moral duty.”
Abbas added that this obligation, in his words, “is not subject to political bargaining or exploitation, and cannot be used as a tool for incitement, division, or harm to the legitimate institutions of our national state.”
In Israel, the response was swift and sharp. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that Abbas had now openly admitted what Israel has been saying for years. “Mahmoud Abbas admits that loyalty to the ‘martyrs,’ to imprisoned terrorists, to terrorists who were wounded, and to their families is a Palestinian national commitment,” Sa’ar said.
Sa’ar accused the Palestinian Authority of continuing to deceive the international community by claiming it had ended its policy of paying salaries to terrorists. “He does this while continuing to lie about ending the distorted policy of the Palestinian Authority of paying salaries to despicable terrorists and their families,” Sa’ar said. “The international community must hold the Palestinian Authority accountable for the payment of salaries to terrorists.”
Israeli officials noted that Sa’ar recently exposed how the Palestinian Authority allegedly continues these payments by disguising them as pension transfers to retirees of the Palestinian security services, a method Israel says is designed to bypass international scrutiny while maintaining financial support for convicted terrorists and their families.
{Matzav.com}Knesset Speaker Amir Ochana of the Likud voted Wednesday in favor of an opposition-sponsored bill promoting civil marriage in Israel, despite clear coalition opposition to the legislation. Ochana’s vote triggered sharp condemnation from the chareidi parties, which accused him and Likud of violating long-standing agreements to preserve the religious status quo.
According to chareidi officials, Ochana’s support for the bill directly contradicted understandings reached between Likud and the chareidi factions, particularly commitments to block legislation seen as undermining marriage conducted according to das Moshe v’Yisroel. Senior figures in Degel HaTorah issued an unusually harsh response, calling Ochana’s move “an act that should never have been done.”
In an official statement, Degel HaTorah said that Ochana backed an opposition bill “in direct violation of the agreement between Likud and United Torah Judaism to safeguard the status quo.” The party added pointedly that “the mistake we made in agreeing to Likud’s request and supporting him as Knesset speaker will not be repeated.”
The Shas party also released a formal protest, stating that it “expresses strong objection to the Knesset speaker’s vote in favor of a law that harms the institution of marriage according to Jewish law, in complete contradiction to the position of the coalition.”
Chareidi leaders went further, warning that the civil marriage bill represents a serious breach in Israel’s Jewish character. In another statement, Degel HaTorah described the legislation as “a grave breach in the vineyard of Israel, liable to undermine the foundations of the Jewish identity of the State of Israel,” and said that Ochana’s decision to side with the opposition on such a sensitive issue amounted to a provocation demonstrating that he is “unfit to serve as Knesset speaker for the faith-based camp.”
United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf also weighed in, accusing the government of repeatedly violating agreements with the chareidi sector. “The Government of Israel, headed by Binyomin Netanyahu of Likud, continues to breach all the understandings and commitments made to the chareidi public,” Goldknopf wrote.
Referring specifically to Wednesday’s vote, Goldknopf added that Ochana “went even further” by supporting legislation that he described as “a blatant trampling of our holy Torah,” carried out in defiance of prior agreements and of what he called the historic alliance between Likud and the chareidi parties—an alliance built, he said, on safeguarding the values of Jewish tradition within the Knesset.
{Matzav.com}
Federal prosecutors say four California activists who allegedly prepared a coordinated bombing campaign also repeatedly voiced violent threats toward Israel and openly embraced Hamas, according to an indictment unsealed this week, Times of Israel reports.
Authorities say the suspects—Audrey Illeene Carroll, Zachary Aaron Page, Dante Gaffield, and Tina Lai, ages 24 to 41—were part of a clandestine offshoot known as the Order of the Black Lotus, described in court papers as a radical faction within a network calling itself the Turtle Island Liberation Front.
The indictment alleges that Carroll authored a planning document titled “Operation Midnight Sun,” which laid out a New Year’s Eve attack across Southern California. Prosecutors say the plan called for striking offices tied to technology and logistics firms and targeting federal immigration agents, with the stated aim to “pulverize” selected sites.
Investigators say Carroll recruited the other defendants into the scheme and that the group began gathering bombmaking components, including PVC pipes, potassium nitrate, sulfur powder, gasoline, electronics, and pistol primers. The materials were allegedly taken to a remote desert campsite for testing, where the FBI moved in and made arrests before any devices were fully assembled.
As the alleged preparations progressed, the indictment says the defendants exchanged messages expressing extreme hostility toward Israel and the United States. Using encrypted messaging, Page wrote to the group, “death to israel death to the usa death to colonizers death to settler-coloniasm [sic.].”
Carroll responded, “Death to them all, burn it all down,” followed by three emojis of a burning heart.
In subsequent exchanges cited by prosecutors, Carroll wrote, “I identify as a terrorist,” and, “I am a Hamas fangirl.” Gaffield later told the group, “I am here to destroy Zionism by any means necessary.”
“Real Activism = Destroying Zionism By Any Means, even if it’s risky. If you aren’t willing to die for or lose your freedom, then you’re just another toy in the machine,” he added.
Carroll replied, “Glory to the martyrs and death to Israel.”
The indictment further alleges that Carroll argued the collapse of the United States would hasten Israel’s downfall. Prosecutors say images recovered from her home show posters marked with inverted red triangles—a symbol associated with Hamas—and slogans including, “Death to America, long live Turtle Island and Palestine.”
The Turtle Island Liberation Front, described by authorities as far-left, anti-Israel, anti-government, and anti-capitalist, also surfaced publicly during the same period. Prosecutors say the group promoted and joined a heated protest outside a Los Angeles synagogue, where demonstrators reportedly entered the building to disrupt a private event.
On social media, the group advertised the demonstration with incendiary language, calling synagogue members “genocidal monsters.”
“These genocidal war criminals have no place in our city, and no place in Palestine. Never let them live in peace,” the post said.
Photos released by prosecutors from the arrest scene show bomb components laid out alongside signs reading “Free Palestine,” reinforcing, they argue, the ideological motive behind the alleged plot.
The charges include providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists, possession of unregistered firearms, and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. Carroll and Page face potential life sentences if convicted, while Gaffield and Lai could each receive up to 25 years in prison.
{Matzav.com}
Speaking publicly months after his release from Gaza, Segev Kalfon accused Israel’s leadership of prosecuting the war against Hamas while leaving him to pay the personal price.
In an interview aired Wednesday on Kan public radio, Kalfon — who spent 738 days in Hamas captivity before being freed in October — said he was seized from inside Israel and questioned why he was left behind as the fighting continued. Hamas, he said, “took me from within the country’s borders. Why did I have to sit and pay the price? Why did I have to bear the cost of this war?”
Kalfon claimed the decision-making at the top treated the war effort as more important than the lives of captives. “If they’d gotten me out, they’d have had to stop the war — they didn’t want to get me out, because they made [the war] their first priority, above human lives,” he said.
Appealing to religious and ideological values, he challenged lawmakers on the right. “Where is [the religious obligation of] redeeming captives?” he asked. “You’re a right-wing government. Where are all the religious people who sit in the Knesset?”
Describing the dangers he faced while being held, Kalfon said Israeli airstrikes repeatedly put his life at risk. The army, he said, “bombed me so many times,” leaving him convinced that death could come from either side. “I got to a place where I said, ‘Great, if I don’t die at [Hamas’s] hands, maybe I’ll die by accident, at the hands of my own army.’”
He recounted being pulled alive from debris more than once. “Twice, I emerged from ruins. They bombed me eight, nine times. Think of it. It came to where I wanted to go down into a tunnel,” he said, adding that he was eventually taken underground.
Beyond the battlefield, Kalfon criticized the state for what he described as inadequate financial support for former hostages. He argued that even the most limited period of captivity should entitle survivors to full, lifelong care. “Even someone who spent just one day in captivity, is entitled to sit on a beach in Mexico with a coconut in their hand for the rest of their life — and for the government to pay for it all,” he said.
His remarks followed a coalition vote last month that blocked opposition-sponsored legislation to provide a one-time NIS 4 million ($1.2 million) assistance package to released hostages and their families.
Kalfon also reiterated a claim he has made before: that statements by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir during the war worsened his treatment in captivity. According to Kalfon, when Ben Gvir publicly boasted about tightening conditions for Palestinian security prisoners, his Hamas guards responded by beating him more severely.
He said that during his imprisonment in Gaza he was sometimes allowed to listen to the radio, and that about 16 months into captivity he heard his mother’s voice advocating for his release. That moment, he said, transformed his resolve to stay alive.
“For the first year and four months, I lost hope many times. I got to a place where I thought I’d commit suicide, because I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of killing me,” he said.
“But then, after a year and four months, I received the sign from my mom, and I understood that at the end of the day it wasn’t just a sign from my mom, but from God, who wanted me to keep surviving despite the hardship.”
Since returning home, Kalfon said the psychological toll remains heavy. “I wake up a lot in the middle of the night; I don’t sleep much,” he said, noting that he is in therapy. “I’m in therapy — I have a therapist — but no one’s been through what I’ve been through.”
He described giving himself space each night to confront the memories. “I give myself an hour, two hours, at night, to fall apart if I need to. My eyes saw things, my ears heard things, my body felt things that you can’t erase,” he said.
Kalfon, a resident of Dimona, was abducted on October 7 after fleeing the Nova music festival as Hamas terrorists attacked the area, killing more than 360 people and kidnapping dozens amid a broader assault that left about 1,200 dead and 251 taken hostage. While trying to escape, he crossed Highway 232, where the gunmen spotted him and dragged him into Gaza.
{Matzav.com}