An appointee to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Fiscal Sustainability Working Group, Ishan Daya, resigned just hours after his selection was announced, following criticism over a 2023 video showing him tearing down posters of Israeli hostages. Daya, a community organizer focused on public safety and mental health, was one of 20 appointees to the mayor’s advisory committee tasked with addressing Chicago’s fiscal challenges. However, his appointment sparked immediate outrage from Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Chicago Jewish Community Relations Council, as well as Alderman Debra Silverstein, the city’s only Jewish alderwoman.

A new Senate report released by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) alleges that U.S. health officials were aware of the risks of myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation, linked to COVID-19 vaccines but delayed informing the public, potentially jeopardizing the health of young Americans. According to the report, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was notified by the Israeli Ministry of Health in February 2021 of multiple reports of myocarditis, particularly in young people, following administration of the Pfizer vaccine. By April 2021, CDC officials were discussing “safety signals” for myocarditis linked to mRNA vaccines, based on data from the U.S. Defense Department and Israel. Despite this, the report claims, no immediate steps were taken to warn the public.

A horrific tragedy unfolded early Friday morning in Lakewood, when a vehicle carrying five bochurim crashed and erupted into flames on Hope Chapel between Clearstream and New Central, tragically resulting in the petirah of two of the occupants. Preliminary reports indicate that the vehicle, a Toyota Sienna, was traveling along Hope Chapel Road when it struck a deer, causing the driver to lose control. The minivan veered off the roadway and crashed, bursting into flames. A passerby who came upon the harrowing scene reportedly saw the vehicle engulfed in flames and immediately called 911. Emergency services were dispatched, with Hatzolah being called in for backup. Two of the bochurim were tragically niftar at the scene.

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman It is rainy. You are travelling upstate for a Shabbos, or a retreat or Shabbatone. The roads are slippery.

The brutal murder of two Israeli embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night has been met with a bloodcurdling response from pro-Hamas groups, who have hailed the killings as a “heroic attack.” The victims, a young couple on the cusp of engagement, were gunned down by 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez as they left an American Jewish Committee (AJC) event aimed at fostering dialogue on the Gaza crisis. Rodriguez, who shouted “Free Palestine” during his arrest, fired 21 shots at the couple, killing them in a targeted act of antisemitic terrorism. Yet, instead of universal condemnation, pro-Hamas groups have repulsively glorified the attack.

The Trump administration has terminated Harvard University’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), effectively barring the institution from enrolling international students for the 2025-2026 academic year. The decision, announced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday, requires current international students at Harvard to transfer to other institutions or face loss of their legal status in the United States. The move follows a series of disputes between the Trump administration and Harvard, centered on allegations of noncompliance with federal demands for records related to student protests and disciplinary actions.

An inman in the heart of Oklahoma told his congregation that throughout history, “the cowardly Jews just want to attack women and children.” “This is how they were and this is how they will aways be,” he said during a Friday sermon in Norman, the third most populous city in the state. MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, which often translates similar videos from Arabic to English, published the video with subtitles—no translation needed in this case. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Democrats chairman Yair Golan was videoed on Thursday evening in a physical confrontation with a resident of Kiryat Shmona, during a conference in the city. In the footage, residents of the city are seen condemning Golan for the statements he made on Tuesday, implying that “IDF soldiers kill babies as a hobby.” Golan started yelling back at one of the protesters who called on him to remove his military ranks. Golan then approached the elderly man and pushed him. Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich stated: “Yair Golan’s true and violent face continues to be revealed.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is launching a sweeping crackdown on billing practices across all Medicare Advantage (MA) plans—an aggressive move that could ripple through the nursing home industry and reshape how skilled nursing operators navigate federal reimbursement. In a major policy shift announced Wednesday, CMS revealed plans to dramatically scale up audits of all MA plans to recover billions in alleged overpayments. Nursing home operators that contract with these plans—and rely on timely, predictable reimbursements—could soon find themselves in the crosshairs of intensified federal scrutiny. Until now, CMS has been auditing only about 60 MA contracts a year.

Cleveland Heights Mayor Khalil Seren is facing mounting public outrage after explosive allegations of antisemitism surfaced against his wife, Natalie McDaniel. Last week, the law firm Sobel, Wade & Mapley, LLC filed a formal complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission alleging that McDaniel used antisemitic slurs in private text messages referring to city officials, including members of the Jewish community. The complaint, which includes messages reportedly sent to Mayor Seren and a former aide, accuses McDaniel of referring to Jewish Planning Commission Chair Jessica Cohen as a “broodmare” — a term allegedly used to disparage Orthodox Jewish families for having large numbers of children.