Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he has met with Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the head of Sudan’s sovereign council, and that they have begun the process of normalization. “We agreed to begin cooperation that will lead to normalization of relations between the two countries,” Netanyahu tweeted. “History!” In recent years Netanyahu has pushed to improve ties with African countries that have long had cool relations with Israel over the conflict with the Palestinians. Sudan is keen to escape the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism as it struggles to rebuild its economy following the popular uprising that toppled Omar al-Bashir last year.

The first patients arrived Monday at a 1,000-bed hospital built in 10 days as part of China’s sweeping efforts to fight a new virus that is causing global alarm. Huoshenshan Hospital and a second 1,500-bed facility due to open this week were built by construction crews who are working around the clock in Wuhan, the central city where the outbreak was first detected in December. Some 50 million people are barred from leaving Wuhan and surrounding cities. The Wuhan treatment centers mark the second time Chinese leaders have responded to a new disease by building specialized hospitals almost overnight. As severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, spread in 2003, a facility in Beijing for patients with that viral disease was constructed in a week.

Reports of a new city is being planned on the outskirts of Gush Dan near Moreisha Junction have been revealed to the Israeli media. The city, which is set to be called Dorot Illit, is being built on privately owned land that spreads across hundreds of dunam. The city is being planned specifically for newlyweds and young couples with children and it is being planned as a Chareidi city from the outright, which has proven in the past to make city planning easier and more population friendly in cities such as Beitar Illit, Modi’in Illit, and Elad. The city planning is incorporating space for Shuls, Yeshivos, Shteiblech, Schools that cater to the Chareidi populace and is opening itself up to Sephardim and Ashkenazim alike.

Peleg Yerushalmi began another protest on Monday afternoon in Bnei Brak to object to the arrest of a Yeshiva Bochur named Gamliel Mahadani for failing to register for the IDF. Instead of carrying out the protest in their usual spot at the Jabotinsky intersection, they gathered at the Coca-Cola Junction – the other main entrance to the city, where the police would not be expecting them. A large number of police were prepared for the protest, including water canons, horses and police in riot gear if needed. The protest began with the closure of the highway by Coca-Cola. As can be seen in the attached videos, police used physical force to remove try and remove the boys from the highway, which was inconveniencing tens of thousands of people.

A Democratic campaign that has cost more than $1 billion, dashed the ambitions of veteran politicians, forced conversations about race, gender and identity and prompted fierce debate over health care and taxes crests Monday in the Iowa caucuses. By day’s end, tens of thousands of Democrats will have participated in the famed Iowa caucuses, the premiere of more than 50 contests that will unfold over the next five months. The caucuses will render the first verdict on who among dozens of candidates is best positioned to take on President Donald Trump, whom Democratic voters are desperate to beat this fall. It is a moment thick with promise for a Democratic Party that has seized major gains since Trump won the White House in 2016.

Rabbi Shea Deitsch, a Chabad shaliach who manages the Sha’arei Tzedek center in Moscow was a bulwark of support for the Issachar family from the time Naama was arrested last erev Pesach. He visited Naama every week in prison, brought her kosher food and parsha sheets for Shabbos and most importantly, provided constant words of encouragement to Naama and her family. He was such an important source of encouragement for the Issachar family that they dubbed him “the malach.” In a special interview with COL, he spoke about his experiences.  “I remember the day that we got the message about her arrest,” Rabbi Deitsch said. “My wife and I went to the prison on erev Pesach – we visited her, encouraged her and brought her kosher food.

Following an exposé by the investigative program Uvda on Israeli television revealing IDF intelligence officers using special agents for non-military operations, including being sent to a village in Judea and Samaria to buy techina for a gift, the officers in question were severely reprimanded. IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi accepted the recommendations of the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Tamir Heyman, and stripped a lieutenant colonel of his rank for using an Arab undercover agent to deliver techina as a gift to a senior officer. The officer initiated the operation and also was not completely honest during his investigation and will be discharged from the IDF.

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5TJT.com Everyone pretty much knows the routine already: Yeshiva elementary (finish at 13 or 14), then Yeshiva high school (finish at 17 or 18), followed by two years in a good post high school yeshiva (finish at 19 or 20), then two years in Eretz Yisroel (finish at 21, or […]

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri made a statement on Sunday at a campaign launch party for Shas, that claimed that Yisrael Beitenu party chairman Avidgor Lieberman has cut a deal with the Blue and White party. According to the claim, Lieberman has agreed to help form a left-wing government after the March 2nd Knesset election with the Blue and White party that would see the Arab Joint-List Arab party in the government. The accusation came as Deri explained that this is what Lieberman meant by his recent comments where he stated that he has a plan to prevent Israel from heading to a fourth election. “So now Lieberman is telling the truth this time.

A Palestinian Arab brandishing a knife was apprehended by Israeli soldiers near Highway 60 by the Efrat North intersection on Sunday evening. The incident took place just after 5:00 p.m. when an 18-and-a-half-year-old approached a group of soldiers while holding an exposed knife in his hand. Soldiers, who saw the young man approaching with the knife ordered him to stop and drop his weapon while they aimed their guns at him. One soldier from the lookout radioed for backup and security forces as well as the police, and emergency medical forces from MDA and United Hatzalah in the area were dispatched to the scene. The Palestinian man saw the weapons and adhered to the soldiers’ orders and dropped the knife. He was taken into custody and brought in for questioning.