An inspiring musical evening unfolded in Jerusalem with the guest appearance of world-renowned cantor Nissim Saal. The event featured acclaimed performer Rafi Biton alongside his powerful vocal ensemble the “Kolot Min HaShamayim” chior. Watch this incredible musical production that has gone viral over the past few days, with more than 200K views!

Virulently anti-Israel New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has catapulted into serious contention against former Governor Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic nomination for NYC mayor, slicing Cuomo’s once-commanding lead to single digits, according to a new PIX11/Emerson College poll. The ranked-choice voting simulation shows Cuomo narrowly edging out Mamdani 54.4% to 45.6% after ten rounds of vote redistribution. The result marks a dramatic shift from March, when Cuomo held a 28-point lead over Mamdani in the same pollster’s survey. “With four weeks to go, the question is whether Cuomo can run out the clock, or if he needs to win over second-choice voters to hold off Mamdani’s momentum,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling.

The Shin Bet announced the arrest of three Israeli citizens suspected of conspiring with ISIS operatives in Syria to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli forces. The suspects, all residents of the northern Israeli town of Ar’ara, allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and were in the early stages of planning attacks within Israel’s borders, according to a joint investigation by the Shin Bet and Israel Police’s Coastal District. Authorities say the plot began to take shape following a violent confrontation between the suspects and Border Police officers in January. In the wake of the clash, the men reportedly escalated their radicalization and began establishing contact with ISIS agents abroad—specifically operatives stationed in war-torn Syria.

The government on Monday approved the joint proposal of Health Minister Uriel Busso and Jerusalem Minister Meir Porush to establish an inter-ministerial team to formulate a plan to promote the integration of Charedim into medical studies. The proposal was formulated in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor. The team will be established under the leadership of the Directors-General of the Health and Labor Ministries, and in cooperation with the Jerusalem Ministry, the Authority for Economic-Social Development in the Chareidi sector, and the Council for Higher Education.

A high-stakes ceasefire framework proposed by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff has been tentatively approved by Israel, but is facing resistance from Hamas, which has expressed frustration with what it argues is a pro-Israel tilt in the deal. According to details published by Al Arabiya, the proposal calls for a 60-day ceasefire to begin once Hamas agrees, with President Donald Trump personally guaranteeing full Israeli compliance throughout the truce. Under the plan, 28 Israeli hostages—10 alive and 18 deceased—would be returned in two phases during the first week. On Day 1, Hamas would release five living hostages and nine bodies, followed by an identical release on Day 7.

A South African woman was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for selling her 6-year-old daughter. Kelly Smith was sentenced by a judge alongside two others, her boyfriend and another man, who also received life sentences. All three were convicted earlier this month on kidnapping and human trafficking charges. Smith’s daughter, Joshlin, went missing in February 2024 when she was 6, sparking a nationwide hunt by police in South Africa. She has still not been found. Smith, her partner Jacquen Appollis and their friend Steveno van Rhyn were sentenced to life terms for human trafficking and 10 years each for kidnapping. Their sentences were read out by Judge Nathan Erasmus at a sports center in the west coast town of Saldanha Bay.

President Donald Trump issued a series of pardons on Wednesday, awarding them to a former New York congressman, a Connecticut governor, a rapper known as “NBA YoungBoy,” a labor union leader and a onetime Army officer who flouted safety measures during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump’s actions mixed his willingness to pardon prominent Republicans and other supporters, donors and friends with the influence of Alice Marie Johnson, whom Trump recently named his pardon czar after he offered her a pardon in 2020. He commuted the sentence of Larry Hoover, a former Chicago gang leader serving a life sentence at a supermax prison in Colorado.

The typical compensation package for chief executives who run companies in the S&P 500 jumped nearly 10% in 2024 as the stock market enjoyed another banner year and corporate profits rose sharply. Many companies have heeded calls from shareholders to tie CEO compensation more closely to performance. As a result, a large proportion of pay packages consist of stock awards, which the CEO often can’t cash in for years, if at all, unless the company meets certain targets, typically a higher stock price or market value or improved operating profits.

A Jewish-owned business in the Stamford Hill neighborhood of London was vandalized overnight in an of antisemitism cloaked in pro-Palestinian activism. According to witnesses and security footage, a group of masked individuals shattered the storefront’s windows and splashed red paint across the exterior of the building—an act meant to symbolize the blood of Palestinians. The attackers also left behind graffiti referencing the British government’s ties with Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense company. However, the business in question has no known with Elbit or with UK defense contracts, sources confirmed to YWN. “This was not a protest. This was targeted hate,” said a local Jewish community representative.

A Defense Ministry civilian contractor was killed on Thursday by a powerful roadside bomb explosion in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF announced. He was identified as Dovid Libi, H’yd, 19, from the Malachei HaShalom yishuv in Binyamin. Libi was operating a heavy engineering vehicle when the bomb went off and was killed instantly. The Binyamin Regional Council stated: “With great sorrow, we announce the fall in battle in the Gaza Strip of Dovid Levi, H’yd, a resident of the yishuv Malachei HaShalom in Binyamin. Dovid, 19, a third-generation pioneer of settlement in Binyamin, a builder and lover of the land, is survived by his parents and seven siblings.” “He is the oldest son of Eliav and Sora Libi, settlement pioneers.