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An investigation by the Yerushalayim District Fire and Rescue Service has concluded that children playing with an open flame accidentally started the fire that tore through a supermarket in Ramat Beit Shemesh last month. Investigators also found that the business was operating without required fire safety approvals or fire protection systems that could have limited the damage.

According to the findings, the July 19 blaze began inside one of the supermarket’s rooms while the store was open and conducting business as usual. Investigators determined that children playing with fire inside the building ignited the blaze.

The supermarket was located on the ground level of an eight-story residential building. Firefighters succeeded in bringing the fire under control before it spread into the apartments above, preventing what could have become a far more serious tragedy. No injuries were reported.

The investigation further determined that the supermarket was operating without a permit from the Israeli Fire and Rescue Service. Officials also found that the building lacked fire detection and fire suppression systems, which they said could have contained the flames, prevented the fire from spreading, and significantly reduced the damage.

Fire officials said the incident highlights the ongoing problem of businesses and buildings that fail to comply with mandatory fire safety regulations, stressing that meeting those standards is essential to safeguarding both lives and property.

The Fire and Rescue Service also urged parents to educate their children about the dangers of playing with fire and to ensure that matches, lighters, and other ignition sources are kept out of their reach. Officials warned that the combination of children playing with fire and inadequate safety measures can easily lead to catastrophic consequences.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is simultaneously pursuing a long-term agreement to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program while also working on a separate, short-term arrangement aimed at keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and safe for international shipping.

Speaking about the ongoing negotiations, Rubio emphasized that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remains the administration’s overriding objective.

“I think there’s two things to talk about when there’s a deal,” Rubio said. “There’s the big deal, which is the one that has to do with their nuclear ambitions.”

Rubio reaffirmed President Donald Trump’s position that Iran must never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

“They can never have a nuclear weapon. The President’s been clear about that. So the denuclearization of Iran is the ultimate deal,” Rubio stated.

At the same time, he explained that the administration is giving immediate attention to protecting maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important waterways for global energy shipments.

“I think the immediate deal, the one that you see a lot of focus on, is the Straits,” he said. “There are ships moving through the Straits. There’s oil moving right now through the Straits, and the Straits are open.”

Rubio said the United States is participating in discussions involving Oman and Iran that are intended to improve the security of commercial vessels passing through the strait while negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program continue.

“I think that there’s a conversation and a negotiation that we are involved in between Oman and Iran on how more ships can be able to go through there safely in the short term as we move towards these longer-term talks about denuclearization,” he said.

While cautioning that no agreement has been finalized, Rubio said the negotiations have moved in a positive direction.

“There’s been progress made in those talks, but not finality yet. We’re hoping that will happen very shortly.”

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s bus fleet now numbers 25,962 vehicles, with Swedish manufacturer Volvo remaining the country’s largest supplier. However, Chinese manufacturers continue to expand their presence, accounting for a significant share of both the overall fleet and new bus registrations.

According to newly released figures, Volvo leads the market with 4,802 buses, representing approximately 18.5% of Israel’s total fleet. Mercedes-Benz ranks second with 4,197 buses, or about 16.2%.

Chinese manufacturers also hold a substantial share of the market. Golden Dragon ranks third with 3,358 buses, followed by Higer with 2,611, underscoring the growing role of Chinese-built buses alongside long-established European brands.

A total of 2,229 new buses entered service during 2025. Higer led all manufacturers with 578 new registrations, followed closely by Mercedes-Benz with 551. Volvo added 258 new buses, while Golden Dragon registered 222. Other Chinese manufacturers also posted notable figures, including Yutong with 135 new buses and BYD with 70.

Of Israel’s nearly 26,000 buses, 24,124 are classified as public transit buses, accounting for almost 93% of the country’s fleet. The remainder includes 1,092 privately operated buses and 746 tour buses.

The average age of Israel’s entire bus fleet is approximately 5.2 years. Public transit buses are slightly newer, averaging about five years old, while privately operated buses have an average age of 6.1 years. Tour buses are the oldest segment, with an average age of more than 10 years.

By seating capacity, the largest category consists of buses with 51 seats or more, totaling 12,308 vehicles, or roughly 47.4% of the fleet. Another 8,609 buses have between 21 and 40 seats, while 3,309 buses accommodate up to 20 passengers.

Among the major manufacturers, Higer has the youngest fleet, with an average vehicle age of less than two years. Golden Dragon also maintains a relatively young fleet. In contrast, buses produced by MAN and Yutong have average ages exceeding seven years.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has invited former Special Counsel Jack Smith to testify before the committee next month as Republicans intensify their investigation into Smith’s handling of Operation Arctic Frost and what they describe as the weaponization of the Justice Department against President Donald Trump.

Grassley announced Monday on X that he has asked Smith to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 22, saying the American public deserves a full accounting of the investigation.

“Im inviting Jack Smith 2 testify before Senate Judic Cmte on Sept 22,” Grassley wrote. “American ppl deserve nothing less than full transparency+ accountability for Arctic Frost and special counsel lawfare.”

According to Politico, Smith has agreed to testify, provided the Justice Department gives its approval.

In a letter, Smith’s attorneys, Lanny Bruer and Peter Koski, defended his record as special counsel, saying he carried out his responsibilities in accordance with department rules and legal standards.

They wrote that Smith “steadfastly followed Justice Department policies, observed applicable legal requirements, and took actions based on the facts and the law” while serving as special counsel.

The attorneys also said Smith welcomes the opportunity to testify publicly in order to “correct the many mischaracterizations” regarding his work.

Grassley has spent months leading a Senate inquiry into Operation Arctic Frost, the federal investigation that examined efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Republicans have become increasingly critical of the investigation after learning that Smith’s team secretly obtained telephone records and text messages involving Republican lawmakers and other GOP figures.

According to Grassley, investigators subpoenaed the phone toll records of approximately a dozen Republican senators, collected text messages from more than 40 members of Congress, and obtained private communications and financial records involving hundreds of Republican individuals and organizations.

“In the process of a deeply flawed, weaponized investigation, Jack Smith subpoenaed phone toll records from a dozen senators, scooped up text messages from over 40 members of Congress, and subpoenaed the private communications and financial records of hundreds of other Republican entities and individuals,” Grassley said in a statement.

“He needs to answer directly to Congress for his actions,” the Iowa Republican added. “Smith must be honest and forthcoming in his answers, because the American people deserve nothing less than full transparency and accountability.”

The Hill previously reported that Grassley revealed last year that Smith’s investigation sought the phone records of 10 Republican senators and at least one member of the House of Representatives.

Grassley has since disclosed that the Justice Department informed him communications involving 44 lawmakers and White House staff members were also reviewed during the course of the investigation.

Smith last appeared before Congress in January, when he testified before the House Judiciary Committee and defended the criminal investigations into Trump, maintaining that the evidence justified the charges that were brought.

Those federal prosecutions were later dismissed after President Trump won the 2024 election, consistent with longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.

The Sept. 22 hearing is expected to become another major confrontation over the Justice Department’s investigations into Trump, with Republicans preparing to challenge Smith’s investigative methods while Democrats are expected to argue that the former special counsel acted in accordance with DOJ policy and the rule of law.

Tuesday’s Democratic Senate primary in Michigan is shaping up as a defining moment for the Democratic Party, with a victory by Abdul El-Sayed poised to deliver one of the most significant victories yet for the Democratic Socialists of America and the party’s progressive wing.

If El-Sayed prevails, he would become one of the movement’s most prominent elected officials and could wield considerable influence in the Senate should Democrats regain control of the chamber next year. In a battleground state narrowly won by President Donald Trump in 2024, his nomination would also suggest that the party’s leftward shift has expanded well beyond coastal strongholds and into the Midwest.

Recent surveys indicate El-Sayed, the former public health director for Detroit and Wayne County, has established a sizable advantage over four-term Rep. Haley Stevens. An Emerson College poll found him leading 54% to 39%, while Mitchell Research showed a 52% to 38% edge. The RealClearPolitics polling average places him ahead by roughly 10 percentage points, and prediction markets have also made him the clear favorite.

Much of El-Sayed’s support comes from younger voters and progressive Democrats, while Stevens has maintained stronger backing among older voters and many Black voters.

El-Sayed has secured endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, every member of the congressional “Squad,” the United Auto Workers, and organizers affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, who have invested significant resources in the race.

Although El-Sayed has participated in DSA events and embraces many of the organization’s domestic policy priorities—including Medicare for All, universal childcare, a higher federal minimum wage, and eliminating the Senate filibuster—he has maintained that he is “not technically or practically DSA” and says he supports a regulated capitalist system rather than socialism.

That distinction has done little to quiet critics or diminish enthusiasm within the DSA, whose leaders view the Michigan contest as another test of their strategy of winning Democratic primaries and reshaping the party from within.

One of the campaign’s most contentious issues has been Israel. El-Sayed has repeatedly characterized Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as genocide, described the Israeli government as “as evil as Hamas,” called for an immediate and comprehensive arms embargo against Israel, and has declined to explicitly affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. He has also argued that U.S. aid to Israel should instead be directed toward domestic priorities such as education and healthcare.

Those positions earned him the first-ever U.S. Senate endorsement from Jewish Voice for Peace Action.

Stevens, meanwhile, has received strong backing from pro-Israel organizations, including substantial independent expenditures from a super PAC affiliated with AIPAC. The heavy spending has helped make the Michigan contest the third most expensive Senate primary in U.S. history.

Many establishment Democrats and centrist independents argue that El-Sayed’s positions could prove politically damaging in a closely divided swing state. Former Rep. Cheri Bustos warned that nominating a “far-left socialist candidate” could cost Democrats another key election.

Jonathan Cowan, president of the centrist group Third Way, argued that El-Sayed would need to distance himself from the Democratic Socialists of America, affirm Israel’s right to exist, and abandon his previous support for “defund the police” policies if he hopes to defeat Republican Mike Rogers, who is running unopposed for the GOP nomination.

Stevens has also attracted endorsements from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the Congressional Black Caucus, all of whom argue she represents the party’s strongest option in the general election.

Polling for a potential November matchup generally shows Stevens running even with Rogers, while El-Sayed has often trailed the Republican in hypothetical head-to-head surveys.

Should El-Sayed capture both the nomination and the Senate seat—and Democrats regain control of the chamber—he would emerge as one of the most prominent national advocates for the Democratic Socialists’ agenda, including Medicare for All, wealth taxes, and an anti-Zionist foreign policy, mirroring the influence New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has built in New York.

Democratic leaders worry that such an outcome could further distance moderate voters and independents from the party. Supporters of the Democratic Socialists, however, see the Michigan primary as an opportunity to demonstrate that their movement can win not only in traditionally liberal urban centers, but also in one of the nation’s most competitive battleground states.

Michigan Democrats will decide Tuesday which vision of the party they want to carry into November.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing accusations of hypocrisy after his administration said its proposed city-run grocery stores may use a customer card system to prevent abuse of subsidized food prices, prompting critics to contrast the idea with Democrats’ longstanding opposition to voter ID requirements.

The issue arose after Mamdani was asked how the city would prevent shoppers from purchasing large quantities of discounted groceries and then reselling them for profit.

The mayor said the city’s request for proposals makes clear that the program is intended to help New Yorkers afford food—not create an opportunity for resellers to make money—and invited New York City Economic Development Corporation President Jeanny Pak to explain how the safeguards would work.

Pak said the city is considering a system similar to a library card to ensure the program serves its intended purpose.

“[W]e are looking to make sure that we target New Yorkers, whether it be a sort of a library card-esque thing, and also we manage who’s buying and that is focused on everyday New Yorkers,” Pak said.

“So, we are mindful of that, and so we’re going to make sure that we have all the things in place to ensure that that does not happen.”

The comments immediately drew comparisons from critics to voter ID laws, which Mamdani and many Democrats have opposed. In response, a spokesperson for the mayor rejected the comparison, arguing that the proposed grocery card would not function as an identification system.

“Comparisons to voter ID laws or the SAVE Act simply do not apply. This is not an identification system, nor is it a mechanism to verify who someone is, where they live, or how much they earn,” the spokesperson said.

“It is a practical inventory management tool to ensure affordable groceries remain available for the people who need them instead of being cleared off shelves for resale.”

The spokesperson said the reporter’s question centered on preventing bulk purchases for resale—not restricting shoppers based on where they live—and emphasized that the stores would remain open to everyone.

“To be absolutely clear: NYC Grocery stores will be open to everyone,” the spokesperson said.

“There will be no system to verify identity, residency, or income, and no one will be asked to show ID to shop.”

Instead, the administration said the stores could offer a voluntary customer card similar to loyalty programs used by supermarket chains. According to the mayor’s office, the card would be created by the private company operating the stores and used only to monitor purchases and discourage large-scale reselling of discounted products.

Officials added that shoppers would not need to apply through City Hall or any other government agency to obtain the card.

Critics, however, remained unconvinced.

“ID for government cheese,” Philadelphia radio host Rich Zeoli wrote.

“After all, we have to make sure no one crosses the border and if they do, the police will be called. So it’s good to see Mamdani now supports ID (just not for voting), border control, and law enforcement,” Zeoli tweeted.

Former Texas congressional candidate Nick Plumb also criticized the proposal, writing on X, “Mamdani wants to protect taxpayer funded grocery store[s] from non-NYC residents they’ll need an ID card to enter. You can[t] make this up.”

Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares likewise argued the policy reflected a double standard.

“So let me get this straight: Taxpayer-funded grocery store? Better show a valid ID or you can’t buy milk,” Miyares said.

“Voting for the people who decide how those taxes get spent? A valid ID is somehow ‘racist’ and ‘oppressive’. Unbelievable,” he said.

When asked whether the customer card amounted to a form of identification, the mayor’s office pointed to language in the city’s request for proposals, which states:

“The Operator(s) will create a voluntary free-to-access membership card program to monitor sales activity, and implement the discount program and any associated demand management measures. The savings card shall not be required for physical access to N.Y.C. Groceries site(s) and shall be made easily available to any individual requesting one,” the section read.

Fox News host Sean Hannity also weighed in, writing, “Make it make sense.”

New York Rep. Claudia Tenney echoed the criticism, saying, “So ID for government grocery stores to stop people abusing the system is fine, but requiring ID to vote not? Got it.”

Sen. Jim Banks, a supporter of the SAVE Act, added on X: “Democrats: Are fighting to ensure you don’t have to show an ID before voting in our elections. Also Democrats: Want you to show an ID before entering a supermarket.”

X CEO Elon Musk also commented on the controversy, writing, “Oh, the irony is too much.”