ISRAEL (JNS) – Jerusalem confirmed on Thursday that Israeli and Turkish officials met the previous night in Azerba

Moscow freed a Russian American convicted of treason in exchange for a Russian-German man jailed on smuggling charges in the U.S., a prisoner swap that was completed Thursday as the two countries met to repair ties. Ksenia Karelina is “on a plane back home to the United States,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on social media platform X. She was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine. U.S. authorities have called the case “absolutely ludicrous.” Arthur Petrov was released as part of a swap in Abu Dhabi, United Araba Emirates, according to the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Russia’s main security and counterespionage agency.

U.S. egg prices increased again last month to reach a new record-high of $6.23 per dozen despite President Donald Trump’s predictions, a drop in wholesale prices and no egg farms having bird flu outbreaks. The increase reported Thursday in the Consumer Price Index means consumers and businesses that rely on eggs should not anticipate immediate relief. Demand for eggs is typically elevated until after Easter, which falls on April 20. Industry experts were expecting the index to reflect a drop in retail egg prices because wholesale egg prices dropped significantly in March. University of Arkansas agricultural economist Jada Thompson said the wholesale prices did not start dropping until mid-March, so there may not have been enough time for the average price for the month to decline.

U.S. inflation declined last month as the cost of gas, airline fares, and hotel rooms fell, a sign that price growth was cooling even as President Donald Trump ramped up his tariff threats. Consumer prices rose just 2.4% in March from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday, down from 2.8% in February. That is the lowest inflation figure since September. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.8% compared with a year ago, down from 3.1% in February. That is the smallest increase in core prices in nearly four years. Economists closely watch core prices because they are considered a better guide to where inflation is headed. The report shows that inflation is mostly cooling, for now.

Defense ministers from around 30 countries gathered on Thursday to press ahead with plans to deploy troops to Ukraine to police any future peace agreement with Russia. The meeting at NATO headquarters — the first between defense ministers representing the so-called coalition of the willing — comes after a visit to Kyiv last week by senior British and French military officers. It’s expected to work on fleshing out an agreement reached at an earlier meeting between leaders. As usual with coalition gatherings, the United States will not take part, but the success of the coalition’s operation hinges on U.S. backup with airpower or other military assistance. However, the Trump administration has made no public commitment to provide support.

The Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday afternoon confirmed that Israel and Turkey held direct talks in recent days about Syria, following multiple reports about such talks in recent days. According to the announcement, the head of the delegation is National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi.

President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that should it become necessary to take military steps against Iran’s nuclear development, Israel will be a key participant and may even spearhead the action.
“With Iran, if it requires military, we’re going to have military. Israel will be the leader of that. But nobody leads us, we do what we want to do,” Trump said during remarks from the Oval Office.
When asked how long he would give Iran to come to the table with a deal, Trump said, “I can’t really be specific, but when you start talks, you know if they’re going along well or not, and I would say the conclusion would be when I think they’re not going along well.”

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