The Trump administration canceled $188 million in federal grants meant to reimburse New York City for sheltering migrants, saying the money was being spent to support illegal immigration and leading the city’s mayor to vow to fight the clawback. In a letter sent April 1 and shared with The Associated Press on Tuesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency informed city officials that it was canceling the grants, which included roughly $80 million that the agency withdrew from city’s bank account in February. The latest move would require the city to return an additional $106 million that officials said was used to house and care for migrants.

What was President Donald Trump’s motive when he requested that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu fly straight to Washington from Budapest, refusing a suggestion to delay the meeting until after Pesach? On the surface, the meeting was ostensibly about the 17% tariff the Trump administration imposed on Israel, with Netanyahu holding great hopes that he could negotiate a reduction. But Trump surprised Netanyahu, revealing to him the real reason for his urgent summons to Washington: not the tariff but the beginning of direct high-level negotiations between the US and Iran. Ynet reported that Trump wanted to personally inform Netanyahu about his intention to initiate direct talks with Tehran.

As President Donald Trump faces some defections from some of his most steadfast supporters over his tariffs, he can still rely on one group to sing his praises: Russian state media. According to Daily Beast columnist Julia Davis, who closely follows Russian state-sponsored outlets, analysts on the popular program “The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov” recently expressed enthusiastic approval of Trump’s tariff policies. Political scientist Dmitry Kulikov, a guest on the show, commended Trump’s apparent desire “to break everything,” suggesting that the president’s actions signal “the end of the global system” that has existed for roughly fifty years.

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has voted to extend the mandate of Francesca Albanese, a figure widely denounced for her antisemitic rhetoric and open hostility toward Israel, as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories through 2028. The decision was finalized during a session in Geneva last Friday, where formal complaints filed against Albanese by multiple democratic nations were brushed aside without investigation or action. Despite a growing body of documented inflammatory and conspiratorial remarks, Albanese was reappointed without conditions. Albanese has accused Israel of “genocide,” repeatedly referred to it as an apartheid state, and has called for the Jewish state’s suspension from the UN altogether.

Several of Iraq’s most powerful Iranian-backed militias are now preparing to lay down their arms for the first time in nearly two decades—not out of reconciliation, but out of fear. Faced with the threat of direct U.S. military retaliation under the Trump administration, the commanders of key Shiite militia groups say they are ready to dismantle their armed networks, multiple senior Iraqi officials and militia leaders told Reuters. These groups, once considered untouchable power brokers, now appear shaken by the specter of American airstrikes and rising regional instability. The decision follows private ultimatums from U.S. officials warning Baghdad: disband the militias—or Washington will do it by force. The U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security is offering buyouts and early retirement options to staffers, as the Trump administration pushes forward with efforts to reduce and reshape the federal workforce, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. In the email, titled “Reshaping of the DHS Workforce,” Secretary Kristi Noem said the department would give staffers who want to leave three options: deferred resignation, early retirement and a voluntary separation payment. The email, which was sent Monday night, said the last option offers a lump-sum payment of up to $25,000 in some cases. Staff have until April 14 to decide on whether to apply for the offer.

A groundbreaking study has upended a foundational principle of forensic science, revealing that fingerprints may not be as unique as long believed. Researchers from Columbia University, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), have demonstrated that prints from different fingers of the same person can share striking similarities, challenging over 100 years of law enforcement practice and raising profound legal implications. For more than a century, the belief that every fingerprint—from every finger of every individual—is entirely distinct has underpinned criminal investigations worldwide. This assumption has been a bedrock of forensic identification, linking suspects to crime scenes with what was thought to be unassailable precision.

A day care facility in a Texas county that’s part of the measles outbreak has multiple cases, including children too young to be fully vaccinated, public health officials say. West Texas is in the middle of a still-growing measles outbreak with 505 cases reported on Tuesday. The state expanded the number of counties in the outbreak area this week to 10. The highly contagious virus began to spread in late January and health officials say it has spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico. Three people who were unvaccinated have died from measles-related illnesses this year, including two elementary school-aged children in Texas. The second child died Thursday at a Lubbock hospital, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Viznitzer Rebbe, HaRav Yisroel Hager Shlita, of Bnei Brak, who is currently in California undergoing medical treatment, was originally scheduled to return to Eretz Yisroel in time for Pesach. However, due to health concerns the Rebbe will now remain in Los Angeles for Yom Tov. Sources close to the Rebbe’s court tell YWN that doctors have advised against any long-distance travel at this time. As a result, plans for his return to Eretz Yisroel have been canceled, and the Rebbe will conduct the Pesach Sedarim and Yom Tov from his current location in Los Angeles. This unexpected change has altered the plans of many Chassidim both in Eretz Yisroel and abroad who had hoped to be with the Rebbe for Yom Tov.

Nearly 200 family members of Americans slain in the October 7 Hamas massacre have filed a bombshell federal lawsuit against Bashar Masri — a celebrated Palestinian-American developer — accusing him of knowingly aiding and abetting the terrorist group behind the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Masri, long hailed in elite diplomatic circles as a “moderate” visionary and touted by 60 Minutes as a beacon of hope in the West Bank, is now facing explosive allegations that he helped build the very infrastructure Hamas used to wage war — including tunnels, rocket launch sites, and command centers hidden beneath his luxury hotels and industrial parks in Gaza. Filed in D.C.