Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-General of terror organization Hezbollah, said on Wednesday that he was happy to hear about U.S. President Donald Trump’s “humiliating downfall.” However, Nasrallah isn’t relaxing his guard yet and warned regional allies to watch out for U.S. or Israeli “folly” during Trump’s remaining term, in a speech broadcast on television. Nasrallah added that Trump’s administration was “among the worst, if not the worst” in U.S. history but lamented the fact that he doesn’t expect the pro-Israel policy in the U.S. to be changed under a new president. Nasrallah is not the only regional leader to be elated by Trump’s “downfall,” joining Iran,  the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Federal health officials have reached an agreement with pharmacies across the U.S. to distribute free coronavirus vaccines after they are approved and become available to the public. The goal eventually is to make getting a COVID-19 vaccine like getting a flu shot. Thursday’s agreement with major chain drug stores, grocery market pharmacies and other chains and networks covers about 3 in 5 pharmacies in all 50 states and U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico. It looks ahead to a time next spring when yet-to-be-approved vaccines will start to become available beyond priority groups such as health care workers and nursing home residents.

The Jerusalem Municipality approved the construction of 108 new housing units in the “east Jerusalem” neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo, Kan News reported on Thursday. The Kan report said that the construction plans will be swiftly advanced “hopefully before the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden.” The announcement is fraught with symbolism as during a visit of then vice-president Joe Biden to Israel in 2010, an announcement of 1,600 new housing units in Ramat Shlomo caused a major crisis in relations between Israel and the Obama administration.

President Trump reportedly wants to start a digital media company to “wreck” Fox News. The president has been speaking with friends about starting a digital media channel to rival the network, which he has had a falling out with, sources told Axios in a report Thursday. “He plans to wreck Fox. No doubt about it,” one source told the outlet. Trump was enraged after Fox News called President-elect Joe Biden’s win in Arizona before other networks. While there’s been speculation Trump might start a cable channel, that would be a pricey and drawn-out endeavor, so instead Trump is thinking about a channel that would stream online. The channel could compete against the Fox Nation streaming service. Like that service, Trump’s channel could charge a monthly fee to users. READ MORE: AXIOS

Scammers impersonating the Internal Revenue Service are perfecting the art of fraud, according to a new report. Scams posing as official IRS communication have been around for years — the problem is they become more credible every year, according to research from Abnormal Security, an email security company. The news was first reported by cybersecurity news site Bleeping Computer. This time, a fake IRS email targeting users of Microsoft’s Office 365 is making the rounds, estimated to have reached as many as 70,000 inboxes, according to a blog summarizing the research. The fake email claims it has been sent to collect payments. It also threatens to press legal charges. What makes it more convincing than the usual scam is the attacker’s spoofing technique and language.

Warning that 1,000 more Chicagoans could die by year’s end, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday issued a stay-at-home “advisory” and slapped a mandatory, 10-person lid on social gatherings to control a second surge of coronavirus cases that’s worse than the first. The stay-home advisory takes effect at 6 a.m. Monday. Chicagoans are urged to leave home only for work, school, medical appointments, groceries, take-out food and pharmaceuticals. The 10-person limit on meetings and social events also takes effect at 6 a.m. on Monday. It impacts everything from weddings, birthday parties and business dinners to social events and funerals.

Israel’s Health Ministry reported 734 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours on Thursday morning, with tests showing a positivity rate of 1.6%. There are currently 305 seriously ill patients, of whom 131 are ventilated. The death toll has risen to 2,700. Israel’s Defense Ministry on Thursday banned Israelis from entering the Palestinian Authority in an effort to reduce the soaring infection rate in the Arab-Israeli sector. The ban, which went into effect on Thursday morning for a month’s time, applies to Area B, in which Israel oversees security and the PA administers civilian affairs.

As COVID cases continue to rise in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio says there is still time to prevent a second wave of coronavirus but warns restrictions could be coming. Se Blasio said Tuesday that if the city’s seven-day average positive test rate exceeds 3%, schools will return to remote learning. The seven-day average Wednesday stood at 2.52%, according to de Blasio. De Blasio said that there are no current plans for new restrictions but cautioned that they could be coming in the days or weeks ahead and include businesses and schools. He said that people need to avoid indoor gatherings and to wear masks at all times in public. “This is our LAST chance to stop a second wave,” de Blasio wrote on Twitter Wednesday afternoon.

Dr. Luca Cabrini was certain his hospital in the heart of Lombardy‘s lake district would reach its breaking point caring for 300 COVID-19 patients. So far, virus patients fill 500 beds and counting. Italy, which shocked the world and itself when hospitals in the wealthy north were overwhelmed with coronavirus cases last spring, is again facing a systemic crisis, as confirmed positives pass the symbolic threshold of 1 million. “We are very close to not keeping up. I cannot say when we will reach the limit, but that day is not far off,” said Cabrini, who runs the intensive care ward at Varese’s Circolo hospital, the largest in the province of 1 million people northwest of Milan. The hospital expanded its 20-bed ICU ward to 45 beds during Italy’s deadly spring peak.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was hospitalized after testing positive for the coronavirus earlier this week, a government official said on Thursday. “He first went home, but decided to move to Feofania (hospital). To accurately isolate and not expose anyone,” the official told Reuters. The official added that Zelensky’s condition is “nothing serious” but “there are better conditions for patients in the hospital.” Three other senior Ukrainian government officials were also reported this week to be infected with the virus, the finance minister, the defense minister, and one of Zelensky’s senior aides. YWN does not currently have information on Zelensky’s Hebrew name but his name for tefillah in English is Volodymyr ben Rimma b’toch shaar cholei Yisrael.