This week, B’Chadrei Chareidim spoke to Ariel Eichbaum, the president of the Jewish community in Buenos Aires, about the situation of the Jewish community in Argentina during its prolonged lockdown due to the coronavirus crisis. The Jewish community in Buenos Aires, which has been in continuous lockdown since before Purim, has been dealing with closed shuls and inactive Jewish organizations for months, with a total lockdown reimposed this week until at least July 17 due to the continuous uptick of virus cases in recent weeks. Despite one of the longest lockdowns in the world, the province of Buenos Aires, which is home to about one-third of the country’s population, has one of the highest rates of infection in the country, and the number of cases has been rising.

Two Little Caesars employees were fired after a couple in Ohio discovered that the pizza they bought at a Little Caesars store had pepperonis placed on it in the shape of a swastika. Jason Laska bought the pizza at a Little Caesars store in Brook Park, Ohio over the weekend, only discovering the swastika when he and his wife opened the box later at home. Misty Laska posted a photo of the pizza on social media, writing: “So my husband stopped at Little Caesars for a quick bite, husband brings this home! I’m truly disappointed.

A fire broke out early Thursday at a building above Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, though officials said it did not affect its centrifuge operation or cause any release of radiation. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran sought to downplay the fire, calling it an “incident” that only affected an under-construction “industrial shed,” spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said. However, both Kamalvandi and Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi rushed after the fire to Natanz, which has been targeted in sabotage campaigns in the past. Kamalvandi did not identify what damaged the building, though Natanz governor Ramazanali Ferdowsi said a “fire” struck the site, according to a report by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.

There’s a new warning about a bizarre scam surrounding face masks. Federal officials say cards claiming that someone is exempt from wearing a mask in public are fake. One phony card claims businesses trying to enforce the rule by requiring the card carrier to wear a mask will face tens of thousands of dollars in fines. Investigators also say the FTBA, or Freedom to Breathe Agency, is not part of the government. Cards have surfaced in the New York area and other parts of the country. COVID-19 ALERT: Fraudulent Facemask Flyers, “Exempt” Cards not Authorized by U.S. Department of Justice https://t.co/pTa64ILFZK pic.twitter.com/4A1wKvDpCK — US Attorney MDNC (@USAO_MDNC) June 26, 2020 (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

An Israeli Arab in Lebanon attempted to recruit Israeli citizens to Hezbollah in order to carry out terrorist activities, the Shin Bet revealed on Tuesday. The Shin Bet discovered that Beirut Hamoud, an Israeli citizen living in Lebanon with her Lebanese husband, Bilal Bizari, has been working for Hezbollah and recruiting Israeli citizens as Hezbollah operatives. Hamoud and Bizari, both journalists for the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Akhbar newspaper, allegedly tried to recruit two female Israeli Arabs from Hamoud’s hometown of Majd al-Krum, a northern Arab town in the Galil. Hamoud met with the two Israeli-Arab women in Turkey in December. In May the women were arrested by Israeli security services and interrogated by the Shin Bet, on suspicion of contact with Hezbollah operatives.

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani was visitng the Whitehouse today, and on his way inside was asked about plans by Mayor DeBlasio to paint a giant “Black Lives Matters” on 5th Avenue – in front of Trump Tower. QUESTION: “The decision to paint Black Lives Matter on 5th Ave, do you agree with that?” RUDY GIULIANI: “No, Black Lives Matter is a Marxist organization, run by three avowed Marxists – go check – Black Lives Matter has been planning to destroy the police for 3 years. They’ve finally gotten stupid Democrat mayors to agree with them.” Rudy then went on to blast DeBlasio and the rising crime rate in NYC. Watch the video below: (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Emergency personnel are on the scene of a building collapse in Brooklyn. The incident was reported at 338 Court St. just after 4:30PM on Wednesday. A partial stop work order had been issued for failure to maintain the building and it appears to have been under construction. The building housed a gym called Body Elite on the first floor. The building is a three story building under construction. FDNY reports all workers have been accounted for. FDNY has pulled all members from conducting searches do to the possibility of a secondary collapse.   (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump criticized Mayor Bill DeBlasio Wednesday over the $1 billion NYPD funding cut, yet he says DeBlasio will use the money for a Black Lives Matter street “sign” in New York City. Trump showed his disapproval of the situation on Twitter by calling it “symbol of hate”. DeBlasio spoke about the plan in an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday, saying he intends to have the words painted on the street where Trump Tower sits. Trump said that would amount to “denigrating this luxury Avenue” and would “further antagonize” the police. ….horrible BLM chant, “Pigs In A Blanket, Fry ‘Em Like Bacon”. Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street.

A Jewish man was R”L killed in an early-morning fire in Los Angeles. The LAFD says they they discovered the approximately 60-year-old man while battling a house fire in the 100 block of Vista Street in the Fairfax District just before 3:00AM. When firefighters arrived, they found the one-room back house, located behind a single-story home, ablaze. It took them about 17 minutes to extinguish the flames. The victim lived alone at this home. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Misaskim of Los Angeles was working to ensure proper Kavod Haniftar. The family of the Niftar has been notified of the tragic incident. Additional information will be published when it becomes available to us. Boruch Dayan HaEmmes… (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A day after posting a $140 million loss in its first-quarter financial, El Al canceled all its flights until further notice amid heated labor disputes with its pilots’ union, Globes reported on Wednesday. Passenger flights from Paris and New York and four cargo flights scheduled for Wednesday were called off following a statement by the El Al pilots’ union that it would not fly any more flights due to the embattled company’s failure to reach an agreement with the finance ministry for a bailout plan, the report said. The union’s statement followed unsuccessful labor negotiations between the union and El Al on Tuesday night. El Al CEO Gonen Usishkin summoned all of the company’s airplanes to return to Israel and ordered the suspension of all ongoing cargo flights.