Two Syrian sources told Reuters that there is a very high probability that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may have been killed in a plane crash. In the wake of the rebel takeover of Damascus in the early hours of Sunday morning, Assad boarded a plane for an unknown destination after 24 years in power. His whereabouts – and those of his wife and two children – are now unknown. According to data from the Flightradar website, a Syrian Air Plane took off from the Damascus airport early Sunday morning and initially flew to Syria’s coastal area, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect. But the plane then made a sudden U-turn and briefly flew for a few minutes before disappearing off the map.

The IDF announced it has bolstered its presence in the buffer zone along the Syrian border following recent developments, including the entry of armed personnel into the demilitarized area. The deployment, which includes forces in strategic locations, aims to safeguard the Golan Heights communities and Israeli civilians. “This move is in accordance with the situational assessment and is necessary to ensure the safety of the region,” the IDF stated. Despite the increased military activity, the IDF emphasized it is not intervening in Syria’s internal affairs. “The IDF will continue to operate as long as necessary to preserve the buffer zone and defend Israel and its citizens,” the statement added.

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, infamous for deploying chemical weapons against his own population, has fled Damascus as rebels seized control of the capital. According to reports from Reuters and Syrian state television, Assad, his wife Asma al-Assad, and their three children have left the country. Their destination remains unknown. FOLLOW REAL-TIME UPDATES ON YWN’S LIVE BLOG Assad’s departure marks the apparent end of over five decades of rule by the Assad family, beginning with his father, Hafez Assad, in 1970. The civil war that has gripped Syria since 2011, claiming over 500,000 lives, reached a turning point with the fall of Damascus and key cities like Aleppo, Hama, and Homs to rebel forces.

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman There are tens of thousands of former talmidim of Rabbi Meir Fendel who will be mounring this remarkable man who passed away over this weekend It was 1953 and Long Island, New York had no Jewish school.  It had a burgeoning Jewish community, but no Torah education whatsoever. It was something that a young Rabbi Meir Fendel wished to rectify. And with a handful of families and  just 30 children, Rabbi Fendel founded HANC – the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County.  Rabbi Fendel’s pivotal role in conceiving, founding, and shepherding the growth of HANC over many years has left an indelible mark.

Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn, the renowned maggid, bestselling author, and decades-mohel, is in need of tehillim and rachamei shamayim after suffering a stroke on Friday evening, just as Shabbos began. Rabbi Krohn was attending the Agudath Israel of America convention at the Armon Hotel and Conference Center in Stamford, Connecticut, when the medical emergency occurred. Waterbury Hatzolah paramedics were on the scene immediately and transported him to a local hospital in Stamford, where he is currently undergoing treatment. Earlier on Friday, Rabbi Krohn delivered an inspiring session at the convention and was scheduled to address attendees again later that evening. PLEASE SAY TEHILLIM FOR PAYSACH YOSEF BEN HINDA (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A gunman killed UnitedHealthcare’s CEO on Wednesday in a “brazen, targeted attack” outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding its investor conference, police said, setting off a massive search for the fleeing assailant hours before the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting nearby. Brian Thompson, 50, was shot around 6:45 a.m. as he walked alone to the New York Hilton Midtown from a nearby hotel, police said. The shooter appeared to be “lying in wait for several minutes” before approaching Thompson from behind and opening fire, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. Police had not yet established a motive.

President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria amid an opposition offensive that has reached the capital’s suburbs, declaring in a social media post, “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT.” Trump’s first extensive comments on the dramatic rebel push came while he was in Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral. He argued that Syrian President Bashar Assad did not deserve U.S. support to stay in power. Assad’s government has been propped up by the Russian and Iranian military, along with Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied militias, in a now 13-year-old war against opposition groups seeking his overthrow.

Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the U.S. but was unknown to millions of people his decisions affected. Then Wednesday’s targeted fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk thrust the executive and his business into the national spotlight. Thompson, who was 50, had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group Inc for 20 years and run the insurance arm since 2021 after running its Medicare and retirement business. As CEO, Thompson led a firm that provides health coverage to more than 49 million Americans — more than the population of Spain. United is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run versions of the U.S. government’s Medicare program for people age 65 and older.

Bob Fernandez thought he’d go dancing and see the world when he joined the U.S. Navy as a 17-year-old high school student in August 1941. Four months later he found himself shaking from explosions and passing ammunition to artillery crews so his ship’s guns could return fire on Japanese planes bombing Pearl Harbor, a Navy base in Hawaii. “When those things go off like that, we didn’t know what’s what,” said Fernandez, who is now 100. “We didn’t even know we were in a war.” Two survivors of the bombing — each 100 or older — are planning to return to Pearl Harbor on Saturday to observe the 83rd anniversary of the attack that thrust the U.S. into World War II.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Donald Trump to Paris on Saturday with a full a dose of presidential pomp and they held an impromptu meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymr Zelenskyy on a day that mixed pageantry with attention to pressing global problems. Trump, the once and future American president, said when he arrived at the Elysee Palace for a face-to-face meeting with Macron — soon expanded to include Zelenskyy — that the two would be discussing a world that’s gone “a little crazy.” Trump’s visit to France, part of a global a celebration of the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral five years after a devastating fire, came as Macron and other European leaders are trying to win Trump’s favor and persuade him to maintain support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion.