California banned insurers from canceling or not renewing residential property policies in the Los Angeles neighborhoods that were affected by the blazes that destroyed swaths of the city this week.
The state’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, issued a one-year mandatory moratorium to shield those in the neighborhoods or adjoining ZIP codes of the Palisades and Eaton fires, whether they suffered a loss or not, according to a statement published late Thursday Los Angeles time.
This order applies to all residential property policies in force as of Jan. 7, when Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency.
The California Department of Insurance may extend the moratorium to other ZIP codes that could become affected by the wildfires.

The Biden administration delivered a parting blow to Russia’s economy Friday, targeting two of its largest oil companies and 183 oil tankers in what a senior official called the “most significant sanctions yet against the Russian energy sector, the largest source of revenue for the Kremlin’s war machine.”
The sweeping new sanctions also include measures against a long list of other entities involved in virtually all sectors of Russia’s energy business and what officials described as a “narrowing” of the U.S. Treasury Department license that has allowed Russia to be paid in dollars for its energy exports.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), the head of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, is urging U.S. airlines to resume flights to and from Israel. These flights were suspended last summer due to the increased violence between Israel and Hezbollah. Cruz, who has been monitoring this issue closely since October 7, spoke about it during an interview on the “Nothing But The Truth” podcast, which is hosted by Trudy Stern, co-president of NORPAC New York.

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On Thursday, billionaire Elon Musk posted a video on his social media platform, X, where he discussed the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. In the video, Musk emphasized, “I mean, obviously you cannot have people who, if they want to slaughter everyone in Israel, you gotta stop that. Those people either need to be killed or incarcerated or they will simply try to kill more Israelis. This is what it amounts to,” referring to Hamas.
He went on to say, “And they want to kill Americans too, by the way,” adding, “Generally, Israel is referred to as the Little Satan, and America, we are the Big Satan. That’s what the Ayatollah calls us.”

A Colombian national who had been residing in Israel illegally for more than four years was apprehended in Petach Tikva while posing as a chareidi Jew, according to Israeli sources.
The man, who had been in the country on a tourist visa since 2019, would frequent local shuls dressed in traditional chareidi attire, actively participating in davening and even being called to the Torah for an aliyah.
The Population and Immigration Authority reported that the individual originally entered Israel on a three-month tourist visa. Despite having his application for political asylum in 2020, as well as a subsequent request for humanitarian status, both being rejected, he chose to remain in Israel without legal authorization.

ILLINOIS (VINnews) — After more than two years of dedicated advocacy, Agudath Israel of Illinois (AIOI) has successfully championed the passage of SB457, a signific

Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the Israel Defense Forces to urgently develop a plan for a decisive victory over Hamas in Gaza if a hostage deal is not finalized before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated for a second term on Jan. 20.
“If the hostage deal does not materialize by the time President Trump takes office, Hamas in Gaza must face complete defeat,” Katz stated in a release issued by his office on Friday.