By Rabbi Yair Hoffman Imagine working hard to build your dream business – an arcade filled with the games you lov, that offers hourly or daily rates instead of quarters – only to have it brutally ransacked during Thanksgiving weekend. This is exactly what happened to Will Luna, the owner of Extraordinaire Arcade in San Bernardino, California. In a shocking turn of events, thieves executed a clever but devastating plan. While Luna was closing up for the holiday, unbeknownst to him, a woman had been hiding in the building’s attic. Once everyone left, she crept down and unlocked the door, disabled the security system, let in some 18 fellow thieves and unleashed a wave of destruction that would last two devastating days.

A California lawmaker said he will introduce a bill Monday that would give admission priority to the descendants of slaves at the University of California and California State University, the state’s two large public university systems. Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a Democrat who represents parts of Los Angeles, told The Associated Press he will introduce the bill as lawmakers meet in the Capitol to swear in new members for a new legislative session. They also will convene a special session to consider ways to protect the state’s progressive policies ahead of another Trump administration. The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is expected to make dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs a priority.

It is the world’s rarest whale, with only seven of its kind ever spotted. Almost nothing is known about the enigmatic species. But on Monday a small group of scientists and cultural experts in New Zealand clustered around a near-perfectly preserved spade-toothed whale hoping to decode decades of mystery. “I can’t tell you how extraordinary it is,” said a joyful Anton van Helden, senior marine science adviser for New Zealand’s conservation agency, who gave the spade-toothed whale its name to distinguish it from other beaked species. “For me personally, it’s unbelievable.” Van Helden has studied beaked whales for 35 years, but Monday was the first time he has participated in a dissection of the spade-toothed variety.

Consumers in the United States are scouring the internet for online deals as they look to take advantage of the post-Thanksgiving shopping marathon with Cyber Monday. Even though e-commerce is now part and parcel of many people’s regular routines and the holiday shopping season, Cyber Monday — a term coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation — has become the biggest online shopping day of the year, thanks to the deals and the hype the industry has created to fuel it. Adobe Analytics, which tracks online shopping, expects consumers to spend a record $13.2 billion on Monday, 6.1% more than last year. That would make it the season’s — and the year’s — biggest — shopping day for e-commerce.

Fifty-six people were killed and several injured in a stampede at a soccer stadium in southern Guinea, following clashes between fans, Guinea’s government said Monday. Authorities are conducting an investigation to establish those responsible for the stampede on Sunday, Communications Minister Fana Soumah said in a statement read on national television. Among the victims are several children according to local media and a coalition of political parties. The stampede broke out on Sunday afternoon at the stadium in the city of Nzerekore during the final of a local tournament between the Labe and Nzerekore teams in honor of Guinea’s military leader, Mamadi Doumbouya, Guinea’s Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah said on the X platform.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than 2 1/2 years Monday, just weeks after he was criticized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. That call came at a time of widespread speculation about what the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump will mean for Ukraine as the incoming president has promised to end the conflict. In a major shift, Zelenskyy signalled Friday that an an offer of NATO membership to territory under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage of the war” in Ukraine. Scholz’s visit comes ahead of an early German election expected in February.

The 13-year civil war in Syria has roared back into prominence with a surprise rebel offensive during which they seized Aleppo, one of Syria’s largest cities and an ancient business hub. The push is among the rebels’ strongest in years in a war whose destabilizing effects have rippled far beyond the country’s borders. It was the first opposition attack on Aleppo since 2016, when a brutal air campaign by Russian warplanes helped Syrian President Bashar Assad retake the northwestern city. Intervention by Russia, Iran and Iranian-allied Hezbollah and other groups had allowed Assad to remain in power within the 70% of Syria under his control.

The Supreme Court will hear a vaping case on Monday, weighing federal regulators’ decisions blocking sweet vaping products after e-cigarette use spiked among kids. The high court is taking up an appeal from the Food and Drug Administration, which has denied more than a million applications to sell candy- or fruit-flavored products that appeal to kids. Those decisions are part of a crackdown that anti-tobacco advocates say helped drive down youth vaping to a decade low after an “epidemic level” peak in 2019. But vaping companies pushed back in court, arguing that agency unfairly disregarded arguments that their sweet e-liquid products aren’t a big draw for kids but would help adults quit smoking traditional cigarettes.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) could emerge as a formidable contender in the 2028 presidential race, according to Monica Crowley, a former Trump administration official, who highlighted the congresswoman’s media savvy and grassroots appeal during a Friday appearance on Fox News. Speaking with guest host Lisa Boothe on The Ingraham Angle, Crowley analyzed Ocasio-Cortez’s outreach efforts, including her use of Instagram to connect with voters. “She’s an early adopter of social media, and it’s allowed her to connect directly to voters,” Crowley said, noting that Ocasio-Cortez’s accessibility and engagement mirror tactics employed by Donald Trump.

Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant excoriated former Defense Minister Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon for claiming that Israel is carrying out “ethnic cleansing” in the northern Gaza Strip. “Ya’alon’s words are lies that aid our enemies and harm Israel,” Gallant stated on Sunday. “I saw the IDF soldiers and commanders up close when I led the difficult war against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. The IDF operated according to the highest standards applicable in the complex and difficult war forced on us. Orders and directives were always given in accordance with the law and the spirit of the IDF.” “I suggest to Ya’alon not to disgrace his security past, learn the facts, retract his statements, and apologize to the IDF soldiers,” Gallant concluded.