The HaShomrim hotline in Bnei Brak received an interesting phone call on Wednesday during which a man admitted that he had stolen several bikes in the city in recent weeks. He added that he made a decision to do teshuvah after seeing the organization’s reports about their recent arrest of bike thieves and he wishes to return the objects he stole. Sure enough, the man returned a number of bikes, including an electric bike, and HaShomrim returned them to their grateful owners. The man thanked HaShomrim for “helping him” to do teshuvah. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Two Chasidic men were assaulted in Montreal in January, and now Montreal police have obtained footaged of the incidents and are reaching out to the public for assistance in locating the individual responsible for the attacks. The hate-crimes unit of the Montreal police is investigating the assaults and has obtained a video which captured the incident. The footage shows an individual walking along a sidewalk who then notices a chasidic man about to cross the street. Without warning, the individual sprints towards the Jewish man and shoves him to the ground, causing him to fall into a lane where a vehicle had just passed. Another incident occurred about 30 minutes later at the corner of Bernard and Outremont Aves when another Jewish man was assaulted.

Thousands of frum Jews take the I-95 down to Florida each Pesach. For some, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime getaway; for others, it’s a yearly pilgrimage aimed at rejuvenating their spirits in the Sunshine State. But for all, the trek is the ultimate example of frum yidden looking out for one another. More than a dozen years ago, Moshe Wulliger, a young but ambitious man, noted the massive numbers of community members traveling south each Pesach season and devised a plan to assist those who require help over the course of their trip. It was named “United 95.” And by “help” he meant any type of assistance one could require when encountering difficulties over the long haul to Florida.

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a warning about a new type of scam that could trick people into sending money to criminals. For years, scammers have pretended to be authority figures, like police officers, to demand money to help a friend or family member in trouble. Now, the FTC has warned that criminals are using voice cloning technology to impersonate loved ones and con people into sending them money. According to the FTC, scammers only need a short audio clip of someone’s voice to generate a clone using artificial intelligence. When the scammer calls, they’ll sound just like the loved one, making it difficult for people to detect the fraud.

Socialist New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has accused Mayor Eric Adams of “defunding safety” in New York City by increasing police wages instead of investing the money into public schools and violence prevention programs. Speaking on “The Daily Show,” the Democratic representative argued that Adams’ decision to increase police officer salaries was a mistake, claiming that most officers were now paid more than a teacher with a master’s degree serving the same children. Ocasio-Cortez claimed that cutting investments into community programs and increasing funding for the “militarized” NYPD meant that leaders were “defunding safety.” She argued that this was evident in the fact that resources were being taken away from public schools, pools, parks, and libraries.

The moments of the terror attack on Tuesday morning which injured two Brelover chassidim can be seen in footage from security cameras. The terrorist walked up to the car, stopped at the light, and shot at the car from point-blank range. In a huge neis, the terrorist’s gun apparently jammed, preventing him from continuing to fire. The victims of the attacks were regular mispallelim at Kever Shimon HaTzaddik. One of them is a well-known figure at the tzion who has been delivering a shiur in Kabbalah at the tzion for the past 20 years. In another neis, seconds before the attack, the chavrusah of the victim passed by the site riding a bike. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

When a flight with dozens of frum passengers was repeatedly delayed at Orlando Internation Airport, Chabad was there to lift spirits and nourish the hungry souls stranded at the airport. The issues began Sunday morning when a JetBlue flight was delayed multiple times due to a technical issue with the airplane. By the time the issue was resolved, FAA regulations barred the scheduled JetBlue crew from flying, further delaying the passengers. A new crew was assigned, but when they boarded the aircraft, a second issue came up, delaying the flight once again. By the time that problem was fixed, the second flight crew was barred by FAA regulations from flying. This left hundreds of passengers stranded, and many of them were religious Jews who could not eat food found at the airport.

Rabbi Leo Dee, an Israeli-British rabbi whose wife and two daughters were killed in a terror shooting on a Gush Etzion road on Chol Hamoed Pesach, has stated that he harbors no hatred towards the perpetrators of the attack. In an interview with Channel 12, he expressed his desire for the terrorists to be apprehended and punished, not out of hatred, but to prevent further acts of violence. Dee’s wife, Leah Dee, and their daughters Maya Dee and Rina Dee HY”D were fatally shot by Palestinian terrorists on April 7 while on their way to Teveriya for a vacation. Despite promises from officials to bring the suspects to justice, they remain at large.

More than a dozen vehicles were damaged or destroyed in a big fire at the parking lot of the Armon Hotel in Stamford Connecticut where the “Chop A Nosh” Pesach program was held. Fire alarms began ringing at around 5:00AM, forcing more than 1,000 guests out of the hotel and into the street. Fire officials said the structure had been compromised and firefighters were ordered to get out of the garage, according to the fire department. They fought the fire from outside. A guest at the hotel told YWN the following: “Attendees were evacuated to the front lobby outdoors, including elderly and newborns. Everyone was well behaved, and Davening started outdoors at 8:00AM when the building was deemed safe. By 10:30AM, guests were allowed back to their rooms.

According to a recent national survey conducted by Fox News, former President Donald Trump has increased his lead in the Republican primary race while President Joe Biden continues to face uncertainty among Democratic primary voters. The survey asked Republican primary voters to choose from a list of 15 potential candidates for the 2024 nomination. The results showed that Trump has doubled his lead since February and is currently up by 30 points over Ron DeSantis. Last month, Trump was up by 15 points. Mike Pence comes in third with 6%, Liz Cheney and Nikki Haley receive 3% each, and Greg Abbott comes in at 2%. All others receive 1% support or less, and just 3% are unsure.