NEW YORK (AP) — Stragglers beware: U.S.

Israel’s top-level security cabinet reportedly held a confidential vote last week, approving the creation of 22 new communities in the West Bank, as first revealed by various Hebrew-language outlets.
According to the reports, the proposal was jointly introduced by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, both of whom have been vocal supporters of expanding Israeli infrastructure and presence in the region.
Yisroel Hayom reported that the primary objective behind the move is to reinforce Israeli control along Route 443—a critical thoroughfare linking Yerushalayim with Tel Aviv via Modiin. Parts of the highway cut through territory within the West Bank.

WATCH: A storm chaser captured a tornado swirling across a field and road near Floyd, New Mexico, over the Memorial Day weekend.

Kingsley Wilson, a Defense Department official who has come under scrutiny for sharing antisemitic content on social media, has been appointed as the Pentagon’s new press secretary, according to a formal announcement.
“Kingsley’s leadership has been integral to the DoD’s success & we look forward to her continued service to President Trump!” wrote Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson and a senior aide to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a post on X Friday.
Wilson shared the news on her own X account, stating that she was “Honored to serve President Trump and our warfighters.”
{Matzav.com}

Welfare Minister Ya’akov Margi slammed the politicization of the recruitment of Chareidim in a fiery speech at the Sderot Conference for Society and Education in Be’er Sheva on Tuesday. “I served in the army, my two children served in the army, and my eldest son has been in continuous reserve duty since October 7th,” Margi said, adding that lawmakers are cynically using the issue of Chareidi enlistment for political purposes. “It’s possible to resolve this crisis if you remove the political slant from the equation. Don’t buy tall tales, don’t buy headlines and slogans.” “Those who oppose the law don’t really want to enlist Chareidim.

A new, highly transmissible COVID-19 variant, NB.1.8.1, linked to a significant spike in hospitalizations in China, has been detected in the United States, raising concerns among health officials. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the variant has been identified in multiple states, including New York, California, Washington, Virginia, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Hawaii, primarily among international travelers arriving from countries such as China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, France, the Netherlands, and Spain. The strain, first noted in the U.S. in March 2025, is now showing signs of local spread, with cases reported in communities across the country.

The Trump administration has decided to temporarily freeze the issuance of student visas to foreign nationals and is weighing new guidelines that would include evaluating applicants’ social media history.
An internal cable obtained by Politico revealed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed all American embassies and consulates around the world to halt scheduling any further interviews for student or exchange visitor visas, pending new directives.
“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor … visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued [separate telegram], which we anticipate in the coming days,” the cable read.

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the passing of Rav Yitzchok Meir Brim z”l, one of the elder and most respected members of the Boyan-Ruzhin chassidus in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Yerushalayim. He was 84 years old.
Born in Eretz Yisroel, Rav Yitzchok Meir was the son of Rav Yehoshua Heschel Brim, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Tiferes Yisroel—Ruzhin-Boyan, and Rebbetzin Rivkah.
Rav Yitzchok Meir was a staunch chossid of Boyan, deeply connected with the Rebbe as well as his brothers-in-law, the Rebbes of Bohush and Vasloi, with whom he shared a close kesher.
After marrying a daughter of Rav Chaim Uri Rosenberg, he built a home firmly rooted in Torah and chassidus.