Facebook said it had removed more than 3 billion fake accounts between October and March, a spike in inauthentic activity that the tech giant attributed to “unsophisticated” bad actors that are caught while creating scores of fake profiles in batches.
Facebook revealed the new figure Thursday as part of its updated transparency report, which offered fresh insight into the social-networking company’s ongoing battle to stop the spread of hate speech, graphic photos and videos, and other abusive content on its platform.

President Trump on Thursday escalated his attacks on Speaker Nancy Pelosi by questioning her mental stability and arguing that she does not understand his revision of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Trump fired back at Pelosi hours after she questioned his fitness for office, accusing her of making “a nasty-type statement” by saying he needs a family or staff “intervention” for the good of the country.
“I have been watching her for a long period of time. She’s not the same person. She’s lost it,” Trump said during an event announcing a $16 billion aid package for farmers hurt by his trade war with China.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}

Rav Shlomo Kanievsky, currently on a whirlwind trip to the United States in an effort to save his yeshiva, Yeshiva Kiryas Melech in Bnei Brak, will spend this coming Shabbos, Parshas Behar, in the Passaic, NJ, community.

In 2016, the United States Treasury under the Barrack Obama Administration announced plans to replace the portrait of Andrew Jackson on the $20 USD bill with noted abolitionist, Harriet Tubman. The redesigned bill was scheduled to release next year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. Tubman was a firm supporter of the women’s suffrage movement.
Now, the Trump Administration is postponing the currency’s launch for nearly a decade as announced by the secretary of treasury Steve Mnuchin this past Wednesday.

Justice Department officials on Thursday announced 17 additional felony charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
A grand jury in Alexandria, Va., returned the superseding indictment charging Assange with conspiring with former Army intelligence officer Chelsea Manning to obtain, receive and disclose “national defense information,” in violation of the Espionage Act.
Assange is also charged with publishing a select range of the classified documents that revealed the names of low-level, local sources utilized by the U.S. government, including Afghan and Iraqi nationals, as well as journalists, human rights activists, and religious leaders.

Theresa May is expected to announce the date of her departure from thePrime Minister position on Friday, senior cabinet ministers have told the BBC.
Sources say they expect the PM to give a timetable for her successor to be chosen, with 10 June likely to be the start of the official leadership race.
May has been under pressure to resign, after an angry backlash by her own MPs against her latest Brexit plan.
Read more at BBC.
{Matzav.com}

Hate speech written on a shul wall was discovered early Thursday morning in Staten Island.
The words “synagogue of Satan” were visible from Bradley Avenue, written on the Chabad of Staten Island shul, located on Harold Street. Across the street, the letters “SOS” were written with spray paint on the Yeshiva Zichron Paltiel of Staten Island, referencing the aforementioned phrase.
Mendy Katzman, the associate director of Chabad of Staten Island, said that police believe the graffiti was written around midnight.
Read more.
{Matzav.com}

The man charged in the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre still wants to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence, his lawyer said Thursday.
Judy Clarke told a judge she hopes the case against Robert Bowers can be resolved without a trial. The 46-year-old truck driver wasn’t in court.
Authorities say Bowers killed 11 people and wounded seven at Tree of Life synagogue last October. It was the deadliest attack on Jews in US history. He has previously pleaded not guilty.
Read more at Times of Israel.
{Matzav.com}

Prime Minister Netanyahu directed the Foreign Ministry to reach out to nearby countries for “immediate” assistance in putting out the hundreds of fires that were ravaging the country Thursday evening, destroying dozens of houses and forcing the evacuation of some 3,500 from their homes.
Later, the Foreign Ministry said Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Croatia had agreed to send help, but the aircraft would only be able to depart for Israel on Friday morning.
Hours earlier, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan held a situational assessment and instructed fire authorities to prepare for the possibility that a national emergency be declared, with Friday’s temperatures expected to eclipse 100° F throughout the country.