Two serious incidents occurred in Manhattan just blocks away from each other on Thursday. At around 4:30PM emergency personnel responded to 136 East 26th Street near Lexington Avenue for a scaffolding collapse. According to FDNY officials, one worker was killed and two others were injured. It did not appear that any pedestrians were hurt. The Fire Department said the injured people were taken to the hospital. It was unclear what led to the scaffolding collapse. The apartment building dates to the 1920s, city records show. Building manager Halstead Real Estate said it was saddened by the collapse, and that it was under investigation.

According to the National Weather Service, hot and humid weather will arrive in the NYC area on Shabbos and stick around until Tuesday. The heat index is expected to climb close to 100 Sunday and Monday, and could even reach 105. The NWS has issued a hazardous weather outlook from Friday through Wednesday. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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El Al Airlines is extending its suspension of all flights through the end of August, Globes reported on Thursday. It cited the mandatory two-week quarantine for Israelis arriving from abroad and the entry ban for foreign travelers as the key reasons behind the move. The beleaguered airline also stated that it has finalized its last streamlining agreement with its pilots’ union through the Histadrut labor union which paved the way to compliance with the Finance Ministry’s bailout plan. The ministry has demanded that El Al implement extreme cost-cutting measures as a condition for its bailout plan which involves about $400 million in cutbacks.

Israel’s Health Ministry reported a new high of 1,898 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, a number that has nearly reached the red flag of 2,000 daily cases that Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said would indicate the need for a full nationwide lockdown. The number of active cases has risen to 24,284, and the number of seriously ill patients has surged to 204, with 57 on ventilators. The death toll has risen to 380. The current daily doubling rate is 4% and if there is no improvement, the number of active patients can double within 16 days. In light of the new record number of daily cases, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏ held an emergency meeting of his new coronavirus advisory team at noon on Thursday with senior government officials and ministers.

President Donald Trump shook up his campaign staff Wednesday amid sinking poll numbers less than four months before the election, replacing campaign manager Brad Parscale with veteran GOP operative Bill Stepien. “I am pleased to announce that Bill Stepien has been promoted to the role of Trump Campaign Manager,” Trump said on Facebook. “Brad Parscale, who has been with me for a very long time and has led our tremendous digital and data strategies, will remain in that role, while being a Senior Advisor to the campaign.” Trump and Parscale’s relationship had been increasingly strained, with the president annoyed by the publicity Parscale had garnered in the role.

The United States on Thursday carried out its second federal execution this week following a hiatus of nearly two decades, killing by lethal injection a Kansas man whose lawyers contended he had dementia and was unfit to be executed. Wesley Ira Purkey was put to death at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. Purkey was convicted of kidnapping and killing a 16-year-old girl, Jennifer Long, before dismembering, burning and dumping her body in a septic pond. He also was convicted in a state court in Kansas after using a claw hammer to kill an 80-year-old woman who had polio. Purkey was strapped to a gurney inside the execution chamber. A prison official removed a mask from Purkey’s face and asked him if he wanted to make a final statement.

Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Shaul Alter, was hospitalized in Sha’are Tzedek Hospital for a medical procedure and while in the hospital contracted COVID-19. His procedure has been postponed and he is returning home. He will stay at his home until he tests negative for the virus. A person close to the Rosh Yeshiva said that he was supposed to have a blood test due to having suffered a recent inflammation. The result of the blood test showed that the inflammation is still present. He was summoned for a CT scan in order to determine the size of the inflammation. According to the source who was quoted by BChadrei Charedim, following the CT scan on Wednesday morning the cause of the inflammation was discovered and Rav Alter was supposed to undergo a surgical procedure to remove it.

Con artists on Wednesday apparently hacked into the Twitter accounts of technology moguls, politicians and major companies in an apparent bitcoin scam. The ruse included bogus tweets from Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg and a number of tech billionaires including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The fake tweets offered to send $2,000 for every $1,000 sent to a bitcoin address. Twitter put out a statement noting that it was aware of a “security incident impacting accounts on Twitter.” The company said it is investigating and working to fix it, and promised an update shortly. Bezos, Gates and Musk are among the 10 richest people in the world, with tens of millions of followers on Twitter.

At least four NYPD officers – including Chief of Department Terry Monahan – were attacked by violent protesters this morning. At least two NYPD officers, including a lieutenant and a sergeant, were injured in addition to Monahan, who had to be hospitalized with “non-life-threatening injuries,” according to police. The clashes erupted as protesters taking part in a “Stop the Violence” march across the Brooklyn Bridge ran into counter-protesters who have been camping outside City Hall calling for the NYPD to be defunded. At least 16 people are in custody. Charges against them are pending, including disorderly conduct. Watch the “protestor” with a giant metal cane come out of nowhere & beat the cops over the head, then tell me again how the NYPD is “escalating” these situations.

The violence is continuing in NYC, with shootings and other attacks continuing with no end in sight, turning the city into a live horror movie. Overnight, 6 people were shot in one incident in Crown Heights. Police say that at least two gunmen opened fire on six people in front of 1000 President Street. 4 victims were taken by EMS to the hospital, and another two victims were taken by private car. One of those victims was pronounced dead. An additional four shootings were reported in the past 24 hours as well. Meanwhile, on Tuesday evening, authorities found the dismembered body of a 33-year-old millionaire tech entrepreneur inside his luxury Manhattan condo. The victim was identified as Fahim Saleh.