A fire ripped through the “Paradise manor” Simcha hall in Boro Park, Tuesday evening. The fire started just after 7:00PM at the hall, located at 5802 New Utrecht Avenue near 58th Street. Shortly after the FDNY arrived, they requested a second alarm response, due to the heavy fire conditions inside the hall. Around 20 minutes later, a third alarm response was requested. A fourth alarm was requested at 8:20PM, as additional FDNY manpower was still needed to fight the blaze. The FDNY tells YWN that the structure is a “three story mix used building with two residential units and one commercial unit.” The fire originated on the second floor and extended onto the third floor. Boro Park Hatzolah and Boro park Shomrim were on the scene as well. No injuries were reported.

Is there anything she doesn’t lie about, deflect, or refer to someone else? White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made a doozy of a comment to reporters during a briefing Monday, claiming that “when it comes to illegal migration, you’ve seen it come down by more than 90 percent.” 90%! What an accomplishment. If only it were true. “False,” Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin commented on a clip of the remark. “There was a window of time earlier this year where encounters with Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Cubans did temporarily dip 90% after a policy change, but other countries, like China, shot up over 800%. Illegal crossings, including Venezuelans, back at peak highs now.” And in direct contradiction to her half-brained and obviously false comment, U.S.

Harav Mattisyahu Salomon shlit”a, the longtime mashgiach of Beth Medrash Govoha, was airlifted to a hospital in Pennsylvania, Tuesday afternoon. The mashgiach had been transported to MMCSC yesterday. Rav Mattisyahu shlit”a was previously airlifted to HUP, where he spent about a month before being released home on Shushan Purim. Rav Mattisyahu shlit”a has been the mashgiach of BMG since 1998, when he succeeded Harav Nosson Wachtfogel zt”l. Prior to that, he served as mashgiach in Gateshead Yeshiva for three decades. The tzibur is requested to be Mispallel for Matisyahu Chaim ben Etel bsoch sha’ar cholei Yisrael. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The coronation of King Charles III and his wife Camilla as king and queen of the UK is scheduled to take place this Shabbos, on May 6, at Westminister Abbey in London. Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal are flying to the UK on Thursday to represent the State of Israel at the ceremony. On Friday, Herzog will participate in a reception King Charles is holding at Buckingham Palace at 4 p.m. in honor of the heads of state, kings, presidents, prime ministers and royal families attending the coronation. In order to avoid chillul Shabbos, the Herzogs will walk to the official coronation ceremony – scheduled for 10 a.m. on Shabbos morning at Westminister Abbey – from their nearby residence.

After being hospitalized on Monday afternoon shortly after attending the levaya of Rav Meir Hershkowitz zt”l in Lakewood, doctors in Philadelphia have determined that Rav Shmuel Kamenetzky shlit”a suffered a stroke. The Rosh Yeshiva is completely alert and aware, and is fully communicative. However, although his cognitive function was not affected, his motor skills were. The situation is still evolving and doctors say the next 24 hours are critical. Rav Shmuel has specifically requested that people daven for his refuah sheleima. Please daven on behalf of Shmuel ben Itta Ettel.  YWN will continue providing updates as they become available. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

In the course of US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s visit to Israel this week, he was asked by Yisrael Hayom about President Biden’s reluctance to invite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the White House. “If that [a visit to the White House] doesn’t happen, I’ll invite the prime minister to come meet with the House,” McCarthy said. “He’s a dear friend, as a prime minister of a country that we have our closest ties with.” In response to how soon the visit should be, McCarthy said: “I think it’s too long now. He should invite him soon.” He added that he invited President Isaac Herzog to speak to a joint session of Congress in June to mark Israel’s 75th anniversary.

Hagon HaRav Shmuel Kamenetsky, the zkan roshei yeshiva in America and the leading authority in all matters relating to Yiddishkeit, was taken to a hospital in Philadelphia a short time ago after suffering a medical episode. Doctors are currently assessing his medical condition. YWN will provide updates shortly. The venerated R’ Shmuel, who has led the Philadelphia Yeshiva for decades, was at the Levaya of Rav Meir Herskowitz zt”l in Lakewood earlier today. Please say Tehillim for Shmuel ben Ita Ettel. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A man entered the Beis Medrash of HaMekubal HaRav Dov Kook in Tiveria on Sunday and was acting in a suspicious manner. When asked by the Gabbai if he needed help, the man responded that he was looking for HaRav Kook in order to harm him. When the Gabbai tried to escort the man out of the Beis Medrash, he pulled a knife out of his pocket and threatened to hurt him as well. Witnesses to the scene intervened and managed to grab the knife. The man fled ran out of the shul and fled the scene. Police officers who were called quickly located the man, a 49-year-old resident of the city, and arrested him. He is apparently mentally disturbed. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

An Israeli man who was feeling unwell on an El Al flight from Israel to Thailand on Monday morning collapsed in the bathroom and was pronounced dead shortly later. Passengers who were trained in emergency medicine tried to revive him but to no avail. ZAKA Tel Aviv volunteer Yosef Dorfman, who was on the flight, said: “It was traumatic for the passengers. During the flight, a man went into cardiac arrest, and together with another medic and a doctor, we performed CPR on him, which was unsuccessful.

Regulators seized troubled First Republic Bank early Monday and sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase Bank in a bid to head off further banking turmoil in the U.S. San Francisco-based First Republic is the third midsize bank to fail in two months. It is the second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history, behind only Washington Mutual, which collapsed at the height of the 2008 financial crisis and was also taken over by JPMorgan. First Republic has struggled since the March collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and investors and depositors had grown increasingly worried it might not survive because of its high amount of uninsured deposits and exposure to low interest rate loans.