Margot Friedländer, a Holocaust survivor whose life bore witness to the horrors of Nazi rule, has died at the age of 103, according to a report by The Associated Press on Friday.
Her passing, confirmed by the Margot Friedländer Foundation based in Berlin, coincided with the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II. No specific details regarding the cause of death have been made public.
Born as Margot Bendheim on November 5, 1921, in Berlin, she lived through the trauma of the Holocaust and survived imprisonment in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Columbia University has suspended more than 65 students and barred at least 33 others from campus, after dozens of anti-Israel protesters took over the Butler Library reading room on Wednesday and were later arrested by the New York City Police Department, a university official told JNS.
Claire Shipman, acting president of Columbia University, stated on Wednesday that the NYPD had to be called in to make arrests after the protest disrupted library operations and left two university public safety officers injured.

NY Governor Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders have come to terms on broadening a current initiative involving speed enforcement cameras in construction areas, with the extension now covering MTA-managed bridges and tunnels.
This proposed expansion is part of the state’s preliminary $254 billion budget framework and would enable the MTA to set up automated speed cameras at each of its seven bridges and both of its tunnels throughout New York City.
Under the revised system, vehicle owners caught speeding would face an initial $50 fine. A second offense within an 18-month span would cost $75, with any further violations climbing to $100 each.

David Steiner, a former CEO of the nation’s largest waste management company who currently serves on the FedEx board of directors, is poised to take over control of the U.S. Postal Service, becoming the nation’s 76th postmaster general. The announcement of Steiner’s appointment, which heightened concerns from postal unions over possible efforts to privatize the USPS, was made Friday by Amber McReynolds, chairperson of the USPS’ Board of Governors, during a meeting of the independent group that oversees the service. “We anticipate that Mr. Steiner will join the organization in July, assuming his successful completion of the ethics and security clearance processes that are currently underway,” McReynolds said.

Amid increasing speculation about a potential rift between the United States and Israel, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee took to Twitter to push back against the narrative.
“It’s reckless and irresponsible for press to allege that [US President Donald Trump] and [Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu] are not getting along,” Huckabee tweeted, addressing reports that suggested tensions were rising between the two leaders.
“Bibi has spent more time with [Trump] than I have in past three months, and I’m his ambassador! The relationship between US and Israel remains STRONG!” Huckabee added, insisting that ties between the two allies were still as solid as ever.
{Matzav.com}

A plan developed by Israel and supported by the United States to restart humanitarian aid deliveries in Gaza will, at the outset, only reach about 60 percent of the local population, according to a document sent by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to potential contributors.
The memo, which was reviewed by The Times of Israel on Thursday, concedes that civilians in Gaza are “enduring extreme deprivation.” However, it says the “Secure Distribution Sites” (SDS) designed to deliver the aid will initially only reach around 1.2 million people out of the approximately 2 million who live in the enclave.

After musing publicly and privately with the idea of raising the top tax rate for wealthy millionaires as Republicans draft his big bill in Congress, President Donald Trump early Friday backed off that call — sort of. Trump posted on social media that hiking taxes on anyone, even the rich, could stir a political backlash, reviving the “Read my lips: No new taxes” warnings of the Bush-era that helped topple a president. The post came days after he floated the idea of higher taxes on those single filers earning $2.5 million and above. But this time, the president, didn’t completely discourage GOP lawmakers from pursuing that option as they rush to finish their massive tax breaks and spending cuts package this weekend.

Retired Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, the ascetic bachelor and New Hampshire Republican who became a favorite of liberals during his nearly 20 years on the bench, has died. He was 85. Souter died Thursday at his home in New Hampshire, the court said in a statement Friday. He retired from the court in June 2009, giving President Barack Obama his first Supreme Court vacancy to fill. Obama, a Democrat, chose Sonia Sotomayor, the court’s first Latina justice. Souter was appointed by Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1990. He was a reliably liberal vote on abortion, church-state relations, freedom of expression and the accessibility of federal courts. Souter also dissented from the decision in Bush v. Gore in 2000, which effectively handed the presidency to George W.