Judith Raanan, a former hostage released by Hamas, met with President-elect Donald Trump on Monday at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. Raanan, the first female hostage released following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on southern Israel, shared her harrowing experience and urged the incoming administration to prioritize the release of those still in captivity. Raanan, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen from the Chicago area, presented Trump with a drawing she had created during her captivity. She also spoke about the trauma she endured after being abducted from Kibbutz Nachal Oz during the Hamas-led terrorist attacks.

WhatsApp is currently experiencing severe outages, leaving millions of users unable to send or receive messages. Reports indicate that other Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, are also suffering from sporadic downtime since 1 PM. These outages have been ongoing intermittently and are reportedly affecting users across the globe, leading to widespread frustration and disruption. Meta, the parent company of all three platforms, has yet to release an official statement addressing the root cause of these outages. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Remember what you searched for in 2024? Google does. Google released its annual “Year in Search” on Tuesday, rounding up the top trending queries entered into its namesake search engine in 2024. The results show terms that saw the highest spike in traffic compared to last year — ranging from key news events, notably global elections, to the most popular songs, athletes and unforgettable pop-culture moments that people looked up worldwide. Sports — particularly soccer and cricket — dominated Google’s overall trending searches in 2024. Copa América topped those search trends globally, followed by the UEFA European Championship and ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, the U.S. election led news-specific searches worldwide.

The Hillel building at San Francisco State University was defaced with graffiti referencing an ancient battle in which Muslim forces defeated Jewish fighters, in what is being called an antisemitic attack. Vandals spray-painted the word “Khaybar” on the building’s sign late Sunday or early Monday, according to the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of the Bay Area. The term “Khaybar” is often chanted at protests against Israel and refers to a 7th-century battle on the Arabian Peninsula that ended in the slaughter of Jewish tribes. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) notes that it has become a rallying cry for antisemitic sentiment in modern protests.

Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a healthcare executive in New York City, apparently was living a charmed life: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and with degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities. Friends at an exclusive co-living space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Hawaii where the 26-year-old Mangione once lived widely considered him a “great guy,” and pictures on his social media accounts show a fit, smiling, handsome young man on beaches and at parties.

Eager to preserve President-elect Donald Trump ’s hush money conviction even as he returns to office, prosecutors are suggesting various ways forward — including one based on how some courts handle criminal cases when defendants die. Trump’s spokesperson called the ideas “pathetic.” In court papers made public Tuesday, the Manhattan district attorney’s office proposed an array of options for keeping the historic conviction on the books. The proposals include freezing the case until Trump is out of office, or agreeing that any future sentence wouldn’t include jail time. Another idea: closing the case with a notation that acknowledges his conviction but says that he was never sentenced and that his appeal wasn’t resolved because of presidential immunity.

Former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner has filed to run for a seat on the New York City Council, launching a potential political comeback after his once-promising career was destroyed by scandals and later a criminal conviction for having online contact with a child. Campaign finance records list a campaign committee that was set up on Friday for Weiner called Weiner 25, in addition to listing him as a candidate for a council seat in lower Manhattan. In a phone conversation Tuesday with The Associated Press, Weiner, a Democrat, said he is “still exploring” whether to actually campaign for the office. He said he opened the committee late last week so he could participate in a forum held by the Downtown Independent Democrats later this week.

In a stunning revelation, Congressman Jeff Van Drew has alleged that Iran has stationed a “mothership” off the U.S. East Coast, reportedly deploying drones now flying over New Jersey. The claim comes amid thousands of reports in recent weeks about drones spotted over New Jersey and other areas. “These drones should be shot down,” Van Drew stated, adding, “the military is on full alert with this.” Van Drew, whose district includes the Jersey Shore, elaborated, “I’m going to tell you the real deal. Iran launched a mothership that contains these drones. It’s off the east coast of the United States of America.

The New South Wales (NSW) government has vowed to address rising antisemitic incidents after a shocking attack in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, in which multiple properties were vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti, and a stolen Toyota Corolla was torched. Emergency services were called to Magney Street, where they found a burned-out car and graffiti targeting another car, two buildings, and the footpath. Police confirmed the Toyota Corolla had been stolen and driven to the scene by vandals. Images from the area showed graffiti featuring apparent anti-Israel slogans. The incident comes on the heels of an antisemitic arson attack against the Adas Shul in Melbourne last Friday, which severely damaged it.

President Joe Biden said Tuesday he was “stupid” not to put his own name on pandemic relief checks in 2021, noting that Donald Trump had done so in 2020 and likely got credit for helping people out through this simple, effective act of branding. Biden did the second-guessing as he delivered a speech at the Brookings Institution defending his economic record and challenging Trump to preserve Democratic policy ideas when he returns to the White House next month. As Biden focused on his legacy with his term ending, he suggested Trump should keep the Democrats’ momentum going and ignore the policies of his allies.