Rabbanim, Roshei Yeshivos, and the Degel Hatorah MKs on Tuesday evening gathered for an emergency meeting regarding the status of bnei yeshivos in the wake of the Attorney-General’s and Supreme Court’s war against Torah. The meeting was held at the home of HaGaon Harav Dov Landau in Bnei Brak and attended by the members of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah: HaGaon HaRav Dovid Cohen, HaGaon HaRav Shraga Shteinman, HaGaon HaRav Aviezer Piltz, along with the Roshei Yeshivos of leading yeshivos in Eretz Yisrael. HaGaon HaRav Landau said: “Everyone is aware of the severe situation we’re in after the judicial authorities revoked the status of bnei yeshivos.

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team on Tuesday signed an agreement to allow the Justice Department to conduct background checks on his nominees and appointees after a weeks-long delay. The step lets Trump transition aides and future administration staffers obtain security clearances before Inauguration Day to access classified information about ongoing government programs, an essential step for a smooth transiton of power. It also allows those nominees who are up for Senate confirmation to face the background checks lawmakers want before voting on them. Teams of investigators have been standing by to process clearances for Trump aides and advisers.

A tech billionaire who bought a series of spaceflights from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and conducted the first private spacewalk was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to lead NASA. Jared Isaacman, 41, CEO and founder of a card-processing company, has been a close collaborator with Musk ever since buying his first chartered flight with SpaceX. He took along contest winners on that 2021 trip and followed it in September with a mission where he briefly popped out the hatch to test SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits. If confirmed, Isaacman will replace Bill Nelson, 82, a former Democratic senator from Florida who was nominated by President Joe Biden. Nelson flew aboard space shuttle Columbia in 1986 – on the flight right before the Challenger disaster — while a congressman.

The body of Itay Svirsky HY’D, who was abducted by Hamas during the October 7 massacre, has been retreievd and brought to Israel. Forensic and legal teams concluded the identification process, and his family has been informed of the tragic news. Itay’s remains were brought back to Israel last night, where final confirmation of his identity was made. Svirsky, 38, was abducted from his parents’ home in Be’eri, where he was visiting to celebrate Simchas Torah. Both his parents, Orit Svirsky and Rafi Svirsky, were murdered by Hamas terrorists. His 96-year-old grandmother Aviva Sela managed to survive the attack. Svirsky had been featured in a pair of Hamas propaganda videos published earlier this year.

When SmileDirectClub shut down a year ago, scores of existing customers of the teeth-straightening company were left in limbo. Now, tens of thousands are set to get some relief. New York Attorney General Letitia James has announced that her office recovered $4.8 million to distribute nationwide to more than 28,000 consumers. SmileDirectClub illegally charged those customers after it ceased operations, James said. “Dental care is expensive and SmileDirectClub promised customers that they would provide affordable, quality care without the price tag, but instead, they extracted thousands of dollars from hardworking people,” James said in a prepared statement Monday.

Rescuers contemplated the safest way Wednesday to search for a woman who apparently fell into a Pennsylvania sinkhole while looking for her lost cat, saying a crumbling old coal mine was complicating efforts and endangering workers. Crews worked through the night in the Unity Township community of Marguerite to find Elizabeth Pollard, 64. A state police spokesperson said early Wednesday they were reassessing their tactics to avoid putting themselves at risk. “The integrity of that mine is starting to become compromised,” Trooper Steve Limani told reporters in the township near Latrobe, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh.

President-elect Donald Trump was joking when he suggested Canada become the 51st U.S. state during a dinner with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a Canadian minister who attended their recent dinner said Tuesday. Fox News reported that Trump made the comment in response to Trudeau raising concerns that Trump’s threatened tariffs on Canada would damage Canada’s economy. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who attended the Friday dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, said Trump’s comments were in jest. “The president was telling jokes. The president was teasing us. It was, of course, on that issue, in no way a serious comment,” LeBlanc told reporters in Ottawa.

Countering Iran is expected to dominate U.S. Middle East policy under President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, according to a report released Tuesday by the Middle East Forum. The report, titled Reasserting American Power in the Middle East, outlines a strategic blueprint for the administration’s early actions, focusing on reversing prior policies and ramping up pressure on Tehran. The report anticipates that within the first 100 days, the Trump administration will leverage executive orders to reinstate measures such as the travel restrictions widely referred to as the “Muslim ban.” “The administration will prioritize immediate actions to reinforce border security, expand deportation programs, and strengthen oversight mechanisms,” the report states.

The Justice Department is ramping up efforts to address a crisis of suicides and systemic failures in federal prisons and jails, announcing sweeping reforms aimed at overhauling how mental health care is provided behind bars. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco outlined the measures in a memo and report Tuesday, directing the Bureau of Prisons to update suicide prevention protocols, improve mental health assessments for inmates, and adopt data-driven strategies to reduce deaths in custody. The reforms will also apply to facilities overseen by the U.S. Marshals Service, a broader effort to address chronic shortcomings across the federal detention system.