New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo visited the White House on Thursday in the hope he could persuade President Donald Trump to reverse a decision to boot New Yorkers from programs that allow travelers to avoid long lines at the U.S. border. The Democratic governor and Republican president met Thursday to discuss their dispute over New York’s new “Green Light” law, which lets unauthorized immigrants obtain state driver’s licenses and also bars federal immigration agents from accessing state motor vehicle records. The Trump administration said that cutoff from state records threatened public safety, and responded by blocking New Yorkers from enrolling in Global Entry and other “trusted traveler” programs. New York then sued over its expulsion.

A new religious versus secular debate arose in Israel this week when media outlets reported on Tuesday that the Tel Aviv municipality has banned stands, including tefillin stands, within 100 meters of publicly owned buildings which service minors, such as schools. The decision was led by the Green Secular party, part of Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai’s coalition, which is headed by Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Reuven Ladianski. The news was condemned by religious political parties, religious groups and even secular personalities. A secular television host fiercely attacked the municipality’s decision, saying: “I heard the deputy mayor of Tel Aviv saying that they’re banning stands outside schools. What type of stands!? Tefillin stands of the wonderful Chabad who work with such ahavas Yisrael.

The majority of individual taxpayers in the U.S. are eligible to file their taxes online for free, yet many may be unaware or confused by how to do so. The tax industry and the IRS have played a part in the problem. Together they run the IRS Free File system, which about 70% of taxpayers are eligible for but only a sliver use. It was designed to help low- and middle-income taxpayers find a reliable program to file at no cost and boost online filings. However, the IRS has long faced criticism for its failure to promote and support the program. And recent media reports uncovered efforts by the tax software preparation industry to misguide users of Free File and nudge them into paid products. Subsequently, improvements have been made and Free File should be easier to use in 2020.

McClatchy, the publisher of the Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star and dozens of other newspapers, has filed for bankruptcy protection as it struggles to pay off debt while revenue shrinks because more readers and advertisers are going online. McClatchy said Thursday that its 30 newspapers will continue to operate normally as it reorganizes under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, helped by $50 million in financing from Encina Business Credit. The company hopes to emerge from bankruptcy protection in a few months as a private company, with majority ownership by a hedge fund that’s currently McClatchy’s largest shareholder and debtholder, Chatham Asset Management. That would end 163 years of family control.

Pro-Trump groups raised more than $60 million in January and have more than $200 million on hand for this year’s general election, shattering fundraising records on the path toward a goal of raising $1 billion this cycle. The Republican National Committee and President Donald Trump’s campaign have raised more than $525 million since the start of 2019 together with two joint-fundraising committees. The RNC and the Trump campaign provided the figures to The Associated Press. The January haul coincided with most of the Senate’s impeachment trial, which resulted in the Republican president’s acquittal earlier this month.

It’s normal to target new voters ahead of Super Tuesday. Think volunteers holding clipboards at street festivals, malls or outside grocery stores. Democrats in Texas have made it a perennial focus, hoping they can end decades of losses by rousing more voters to the polls. Republicans here, meanwhile, never really needed to bother — but now that’s changing as worries deepen about their grip on the state in 2020. With their base not expanding and their margins of victory getting thinner, Texas Republicans have begun spending big on finding more conservatives to vote. And they’ve taken a different approach to it ahead of the Texas primaries on March 3.

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5TJT.com Four years ago, Klal Yisroel had lost an extraordinary Rosh Yeshiva, a world-class Posek, and a remarkable Tzaddik – Rav Yisroel Belsky, zichron tzaddik v’kadosh livracha. If you stayed in his home for just an hour one would see numerous Nitzrachim of Klal Yisroel, an Agunah here, an Ani there, the downtrodden and the forgotten.  He had an unmatched empathy for others.  And everyone saw his tzidkus. Just one small example of this tzidkus occurred two months before he passed away. Rav Belsky was very ill, in tremendous pain, and could barely walk.  And yet Rav Belsky arranged a Get for an Agunah whose husband had violated the trust of numerous young people. Rav Belsky’s remarkable personality was instrumental in arranging for this woman’s freedom.

A court in Moscow fined Twitter and Facebook 4 million rubles each Thursday for refusing to store the personal data of Russian citizens on servers in Russia, the largest penalties imposed on Western technology companies under internet use laws. The fines of nearly $63,000 are the first five-figure fines levied on tech companies since Russia adopted a flurry of legislation starting in 2012 designed to tighten the government’s grip on online activity. One provision required tech companies to keep servers in Russia for storing personal information they gather from Russian citizens. Russia’s internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, has tried unsuccessfully for several years to force large companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google to move Russian user data to Russia.

The Trump administration is transferring $3.8 billion in recently passed military funding to finance construction of the president’s long-sought U.S.-Mexico border wall, angering not just Democrats but also GOP defense hawks. Thursday’s move by the Pentagon would transfer money from National Guard units, aircraft procurement and shipbuilding to anti-drug accounts that can finance construction of new wall. The maneuver, announced in “reprogramming” documents provided to lawmakers, came in for harsh criticism by Rep. Mack Thornberry of Texas, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. Democrats slammed the moves as well, but Trump faced no consequences when making $2.5 billion in similar transfers last year.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu joined reporters Yinon Magel, Erel Segal and Shimon Riklin in singing “Shabichi Yerushalayim” as part of Magel’s “Niggun L’Shabbos” program. Magel learns Gemara and Parshas HaShavua every Shabbos with Harav Dovid Druk and also sings a “niggun Shabbos” together with Segal and Riklin and posts it on Twitter, according to a Kikar HaShabbos report.