In a highly relevant Q&A session, Rav Aharon Lopiansky shlit”a delivered a pertinent message on the role of Daas Torah in medical decision-making. The discussion, moderated by Rabbi Sruly Fried of Chai Lifeline, centered around a question posed: Does Daas Torah have a place in medical advice and referrals, and if so, what is its role? Rav Lopiansky’s response was clear and unequivocal: One must differentiate between moral dilemmas and technical expertise. “If someone is building a structure and is unsure if the supports are strong enough, would anyone even have a hava amina to ask Daas Torah? Of course not. You ask an engineer,” he explained. The same applies to vaccines—why should a Rav be expected to be a medical expert?

Al Jazeera documentary on Hamas military commanders during the war includes exclusive footage provided by Al-Qassam Brigades of Muhammad Deif and Yahya Sinwar, along with an interview with military leader Izz al-Din al-Haddad. Qatari-owned Al Jazeera had exclusive access to Hamas’s top leadership—which should surprise nobody—because it serves as the terror group’s propaganda arm. This past Moztei Shabbos, YWN published footage of Sinwar during the war. This is additional footage not seen before. (YWN Worle Headquarters – NYC)

CNN’s Bakari Sellers unleashed a blistering attack on Democratic leadership Tuesday, slamming them for what he called a feeble and delayed response to President Donald Trump’s latest power moves in his second term. Arguing that government systems are crumbling and legal norms are under siege, Sellers warned that Democrats were failing to rise to the moment—allowing Trump and his allies to reshape the country unchecked. As of Tuesday afternoon, Medicaid reimbursement portals were down nationwide, leaving healthcare providers and vulnerable patients in limbo after the Trump administration issued guidance ahead of a sweeping and constitutionally dubious spending freeze.

For the second consecutive day, hundreds of kanoyim staged protests against Charedi enlistment, escalating their demonstrations in Yerushalayim and near the IDF recruitment office in Tel HaShomer. On Tuesday, protesters blocked Shazar Boulevard outside the International Convention Center in Yerushalayim, where an event honoring Charedi soldiers was taking place. Chanting slogans and distributing flyers, the demonstrators denounced enlistment as an existential threat to the Charedi way of life. Some flyers labeled Shas party leader Aryeh Deri a “murderer of neshamos” for his role in discussions on a new draft law aimed at regulating the status of yeshiva bochurim. Meanwhile, earlier Tuesday morning, protests erupted near the IDF’s Tel HaShomer recruitment center.

The IDF has released footage showcasing the establishment of temporary army posts on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, where troops have been stationed following the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime last month. To ensure soldiers are equipped to handle the extreme winter conditions, the IDF’s Technological and Logistics Directorate, in collaboration with the Northern Command and the Ministry of Defense’s Engineering and Construction Department, has implemented a comprehensive logistical effort. The military provided insulated structures, heating devices, and snow-specific clothing, including warming packs, insulated suits, storm gear, and winter boots.

The Prosecutor’s Office in Tehran filed an indictment on Monday against political commentator and academic Professor Sadegh Zibakalam for what they called “unfounded statements,” according to a report by Mizan, an Iranian news agency. The announcement comes after a video of a lecture by Prof. Zibakalam, a retired Professor of Political Science at the University of Tehran, was widely circulated on social media. The video shows him speaking in English at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha on January 20. During his lecture, entitled: “The Trump Presidency And The 46 Years Of Hostility Between Iran And The US,” he said that young Iranians detest the Palestinians because Iranian leaders support them and they view Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as a hero.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has criticized US President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to other nations, countering with the suggestion that Israelis should be resettled in Greenland. “My suggestion is different. Instead of Palestinians, expel Israelis and send them to Greenland so they can kill two birds with one stone,” Araghchi said in an exclusive interview with Sky News. President Trump has been very vocal about the United States acquiring Greenland. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Amit Soussana, a 40-year-old Israeli woman who spent 55 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza, returned to Israel as part of the hostage release deal in November 2023. On October 7th, Soussana hid inside a closet in her home on Kibbuz Kfar Aza but was dragged out by Hamas terrorists. She bravely resisted her abduction, fighting and kicking seven Hamas terrorists as they tried to drag her across a field to Gaza. “The abduction was very violent,” she told reporters after her release. “I kept resisting until they eventually tied me up by my arms and legs and dragged me on the floor. It took them over an hour to take me to the border. I was beaten up really badly.

A confrontation occurred on Monday morning in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee between families of hostages and Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir. Relatives of the hostages demanded that Ben Gvir express his support for the hostage deal but Ben Gvir responded: “This is a reckless deal and it will cost us blood.” After thousands of Gazans crossed the Netzarim Corridor on Monday morning and returned to the northern part of the Strip, where they were greeted by Hamas terrorists, Ben-Gvir stated: “This is not what ‘complete victory’ looks like – this is what complete surrender looks like… Heroic IDF soldiers did not fight and give their lives in the Strip (only for Palestinians to return north) and make these images possible.

A heinous act occurred late Sunday night when vandals broke into a shul located in a public bomb shelter on David Remez Street in Bat Yam. The perpetrators forced open the Aron Kodesh using electric tools, throwing a Sefer Torah to the floor and stepping on it in an appalling act of bizayon HaTorah. The scene of the desolation was discovered early Monday morning when mispallelim arrived for Shacharis. Police were called to the site, but according to witnesses, the responding officers showed indifference, staying only briefly and advising those disturbed to file complaints at the station. One of the mispallelim, Avichai Shalom, expressed his belief that the attack was driven by Palestinian nationalist motives.