Frayed by tariff wars and political battles, the academic ties between the U.S. and China are now facing their greatest threat yet as the Trump administration promises to revoke visas for an unknown number of Chinese students and tighten future visa screening. In a brief statement Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. will “aggressively” revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party or studying “critical fields.” Rubio’s statement threatened to widen a chasm between the two nations, building on a yearslong Republican campaign to rid U.S. campuses of Chinese influence and insulate America’s research from its strongest economic and military competitor.

The U.S. Justice Department has formally moved to dismiss a criminal fraud charge against Boeing and has asked a judge to cancel an upcoming trial connected to two plane crashes that killed 346 people off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia, according to court documents filed Thursday. The deal, announced last week, will allow the American aircraft manufacturer to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before the planes crashed less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019. The “agreement in principle” will require the company to pay and invest more than $1.1 billion, including an additional $445 million for the crash victims’ families, in return for dismissing the criminal case, according to court documents.

President Trump presents Elon Musk with a gold White House key as a gift for his service as a special government employee.

Former President Joe Biden in first public appearance since announcement of cancer diagnosis: REPORTER: “How are you feeling?” BIDEN: “I’m feeling good.” REPORTER: Have you decided on your treatment options?” BIDEN: “Yeah, we have. They’re under way. All the folks are very optimistic…It’s all a matter of taking a pill…”

Joe Biden admitted he’s mentally incompetent, can’t walk, and that he would have won the 2024 election: “I’m mentally incompetent, and I can’t walk, and I can beat the hell out of both of them! Why didn’t they run against me then, I woulda’ beaten them!”

President Trump praises Elon Musk’s work on DOGE: “Elon’s delivered a colossal change in the old ways of doing business in Washington.”

At a pre-Shavuos gathering in Ra’anana, the noted posek and member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein, delivered powerful words of chizuk to a group of Brazilian olim, expressing wonder and gratitude over the miraculous survival of the Jewish people in Eretz Yisroel despite overwhelming odds.
The remarks were delivered following Rav Zilberstein’s regular Thursday evening shiur for doctors from hospitals across the country, held at Mayanei HaYeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak.

An Alaska man who was pinned facedown in an icy creek by a 700-pound (318-kilogram) boulder for three hours survived the ordeal with only minor injuries, thanks in part to his wife’s quick thinking and lots of luck. Kell Morris’ wife held his head above water to prevent him from drowning while waiting for rescuers to arrive after Morris was pinned by the boulder, which crashed onto him during a hike near a remote glacier south of Anchorage. His second stroke of luck came when a sled dog tourism company that operates on the glacier overheard the 911 dispatch and offered up its helicopter to ferry rescuers to the scene, which was inaccessible to all-terrain vehicles.

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu underwent a scheduled colonoscopy on Friday morning at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Yerushalayim.
His office later issued a statement confirming that the procedure had gone smoothly. Netanyahu expressed gratitude to the medical professionals involved in the exam, naming Professor Eran Goldin, Professor Yaakov Gozal, Dr. Ariel Benson, and nurse Galit Peres for their care.
The Prime Minister’s personal doctor, Dr. Herman Berkovitz, was also present during the examination to oversee the process.