A fire ripped through the dormitory of Yeshiva Mercaz HaTorah of Belle Harbor on Friday morning, causing serious damage. The FDNY tells YWN that the fire started at around 10:00AM in the top floor of the three-story dormitory located at 512 Beach 130th Street near Beach Channel Drive. Bichasdei Hashem, all occupants of the dormitory were not injured. Unfortunately, a firefighter sustained injuries and was being treated by Paramedics on the scene. The high winds and frigid temperatures caused issues for firefighters battling the blaze, and a second alarm was requested for additional manpower to extinguish the fire. The cause of the fire was unknown. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The story of a London-based Auschwitz survivor’s recovery from COVID-19 at the age of 97 went viral after her frum great-grandson Dov Forman shared it on Twitter. It was retweeted almost 17,000 times, ultimately reaching 14 million people. Lily Ebert survived Auschwitz and 75 years later she again battled for her life when she contracted the coronavirus in December (several weeks after she received her first vaccination dose.) Her family didn’t want to hospitalize her and fortunately, they were able to obtain home treatment for her, including oxygen treatment, IVs, and doctors’ visits. Ebert survived the ordeal and her elated great-grandson’s tweet about her recovery quickly went viral.

Joe Biden just signed two health-related executive orders in the Oval Office. He said the best way to describe the actions was “to undo the damage Trump has done.” He said there is nothing new in the orders. “This is going back to what the situation was prior to the [former] president’s executive orders,” Biden said. The two actions: End the Mexico City policy, also known as the “global gag rule”. This policy bans foreign non-government groups that receive US funding from providing abortions or from providing information about abortions. Open the health insurance market on the federal government’s healthcare.gov from 15 February to 15 May.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo lifted COVID restrictions in the state’s orange and yellow zone micro-clusters. A few yellow zones remain in the Bronx, Washington Heights, Queens, and Newburgh. But in New York City, Cuomo said a plan for NYC restaurants remains in the works. He is talking to political officials and the health department. The governor said he will have a plan for city restaurants by the end of the week. “We will have an announcement at the end of the week, but we are looking at going back to the 25%, that would be the question. How and when we do you do that,” Cuomo said. Cuomo also said he is also looking at the 10 p.m. closing time, but did not have an announcement yet. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Residents of Bnei Brak were surprised to see tons of fresh fruit and vegetables delivered to the halls of Be’er Miriam in the city which were earmarked for free distribution to the residents. The benefactor of the delivery was a secular woman named Ricki Levitt, who had heard about the recent demonization of the residents of the city due to the Covid-19 controversy that has been plaguing the city this past week. Levitt decided to do something to show some Ahavas Chinam. The way that the residents of the city have been portrayed over the past week in the media hurt Levitt, so she enlisted the help of farmers from Kibbutz Alumim, Sa’ad, and the city of Netivot, who all donated huge amounts of produce to be distributed to families who have been blessed with lots of children in the city.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calls Senator Dick Durbin ‘Yosel’ due to his middle name being Joseph. “Yosel, as they say in Brooklyn.”
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As YWN has reported, at least 16 women in Israel who contracted the coronavirus while pregnant are now critically ill, a phenomenon attributed to the British variant. Some of the women had their babies delivered by emergency C-section and the babies are also in serious condition. The women are all Chareidi as the British variant has rapidly spread through the Chareidi sector in Israel. Israel’s Health Ministry has recommended that pregnant women get vaccinated, a move approved by both HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky and HaGaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein. Rav Elyakim Levanon, the director of Bonei Olam, and Prof. Adrian Shulman, the chairman of the Israel Fertility Association, visited the home of HaRav Chaim on Monday to consult with the Gadol HaDor about the situation. Prof.

The Senate tabled an effort by Sen. Rand Paul to force a vote on Tuesday on the constitutionality of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, but the vote offered an indicator for support among Republican senators who have been sworn in as jurors for the trial. Paul’s motion was killed on a 55-45 vote, with five Republicans joining all Democrats, meaning 45 Republicans voted for Paul’s effort. The Senate then voted 83-17 to adopt the impeachment pretrial organizing resolution. The Senate will convene again for the trial on February 9 – two weeks from now. 67 votes needed to convict Trump, and more than 34 Republicans just voted to dismiss the trial. The trial will still occur, barely a month after the attack on the Capitol, but the outcome has been presaged.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said Monday evening he was extremely worried by former President Donald Trump’s dangerous April suggestion that ingesting disinfectant could possibly be used to treat Covid-19. “I just said, ‘Oh my goodness gracious.’ I could just see what’s going to happen,” Fauci told CNN’s Erin Burnett on “Out Front” of Trump’s suggestion. At an April White House news conference, Trump had mused about whether disinfectants could be used to treat the virus in humans — asking whether there is “a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning.” (Source: CNN)

White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced today, that beginning Tuesday, travelers to the United States “must provide proof of a negative test within three days of travel to airlines prior to departure,” which includes all people boarding planes, including US citizens, coming from overseas. The need for negative test for international travelers entering US includes US citizens as well. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)