Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn, the renowned maggid, bestselling author, and decades-mohel, is in need of tehillim and rachamei shamayim after suffering a stroke on Friday evening, just as Shabbos began. Rabbi Krohn was attending the Agudath Israel of America convention at the Armon Hotel and Conference Center in Stamford, Connecticut, when the medical emergency occurred. Waterbury Hatzolah paramedics were on the scene immediately and transported him to a local hospital in Stamford, where he is currently undergoing treatment. Earlier on Friday, Rabbi Krohn delivered an inspiring session at the convention and was scheduled to address attendees again later that evening. PLEASE SAY TEHILLIM FOR PAYSACH YOSEF BEN HINDA (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A gunman killed UnitedHealthcare’s CEO on Wednesday in a “brazen, targeted attack” outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding its investor conference, police said, setting off a massive search for the fleeing assailant hours before the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting nearby. Brian Thompson, 50, was shot around 6:45 a.m. as he walked alone to the New York Hilton Midtown from a nearby hotel, police said. The shooter appeared to be “lying in wait for several minutes” before approaching Thompson from behind and opening fire, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. Police had not yet established a motive.

President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria amid an opposition offensive that has reached the capital’s suburbs, declaring in a social media post, “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT.” Trump’s first extensive comments on the dramatic rebel push came while he was in Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral. He argued that Syrian President Bashar Assad did not deserve U.S. support to stay in power. Assad’s government has been propped up by the Russian and Iranian military, along with Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied militias, in a now 13-year-old war against opposition groups seeking his overthrow.

Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the U.S. but was unknown to millions of people his decisions affected. Then Wednesday’s targeted fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk thrust the executive and his business into the national spotlight. Thompson, who was 50, had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group Inc for 20 years and run the insurance arm since 2021 after running its Medicare and retirement business. As CEO, Thompson led a firm that provides health coverage to more than 49 million Americans — more than the population of Spain. United is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run versions of the U.S. government’s Medicare program for people age 65 and older.

Bob Fernandez thought he’d go dancing and see the world when he joined the U.S. Navy as a 17-year-old high school student in August 1941. Four months later he found himself shaking from explosions and passing ammunition to artillery crews so his ship’s guns could return fire on Japanese planes bombing Pearl Harbor, a Navy base in Hawaii. “When those things go off like that, we didn’t know what’s what,” said Fernandez, who is now 100. “We didn’t even know we were in a war.” Two survivors of the bombing — each 100 or older — are planning to return to Pearl Harbor on Saturday to observe the 83rd anniversary of the attack that thrust the U.S. into World War II.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Donald Trump to Paris on Saturday with a full a dose of presidential pomp and they held an impromptu meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymr Zelenskyy on a day that mixed pageantry with attention to pressing global problems. Trump, the once and future American president, said when he arrived at the Elysee Palace for a face-to-face meeting with Macron — soon expanded to include Zelenskyy — that the two would be discussing a world that’s gone “a little crazy.” Trump’s visit to France, part of a global a celebration of the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral five years after a devastating fire, came as Macron and other European leaders are trying to win Trump’s favor and persuade him to maintain support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion.

Opposition fighters are closing in on Syria’s capital in a swiftly developing crisis that has taken much of the world by surprise. Syria’s army has abandoned key cities in the west and south with little resistance. Nervous residents in Damascus describe security forces on the streets. The state news agency has been forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad has left the country. Who are these opposition fighters? If they enter Damascus after taking two of Syria’s largest cities, what then? Here’s a look at the stunning reversal of fortune for Assad and his government in just the past 10 days, and what might lie ahead as Syria’s 13-year civil war reignites. The aim?

An IDF soldier was seriously injured in a ramming attack near Chevron on Motzei Shabbos. A large number of IDF forces arrived at the scene following the attack and launched a manhunt for the terrorist who fled the scene. The soldiers set up roadblocks and enforced a military closure around Chevron. The terrorist later turned himself into the IDF. The soldier was treated at the scene by an IDF medical unit and evacuated by military ambulance to Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva. According to MDA reports, he suffered from severe injuries to his limbs. During the attack, a civilian vehicle was also hit by gunfire, and a man was lightly injured by shattered glass. He was treated at the scene and evacuated to Soroka Hospital.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Belarus on Friday to sign a treaty offering security guarantees for Moscow’s closest ally, including the possible use of Russian nuclear weapons to help repel an aggression. The signing of the document follows the publication of a revised version of Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which for the first time placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella amid the tensions between Moscow and the West over the Ukrainian conflict. Speaking alongside Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin emphasized that the new document includes the potential use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus in response to an aggression. “I’m sure that the treaty will ensure the security of Russia and Belarus,” Putin said in televised remarks.

The sale of the Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper and a bastion of liberal values in Britain’s media landscape, was approved Friday despite two days of strike action from journalists this week. The Scott Trust, the owner of the Guardian Media Group, which includes the Observer and its sister paper the Guardian, said the sale to Tortoise Media is expected to be signed in the coming days. The Scott Trust said it will invest in Tortoise Media, becoming a key shareholder, and take a seat on both its editorial and commercial boards. Under the terms of the deal, Tortoise will invest 25 million pounds ($32 million) in the Observer, and has committed to continue its Sunday print edition and build up its digital brand.