Family getting up: Sunday (5/18/25)Morning Mrs Menna LibermanWife R` Yehuda LibermanBrother R` Moshe LibermanSon R` Chaim LibermanSon Mrs. Miriam KleinDaughter

There were 30,000 fewer U.S. drug overdose deaths in 2024 than the year before — the largest one-year decline ever recorded. An estimated 80,000 people died from overdoses last year, according to provisional Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released Wednesday. That’s down 27% from the 110,000 in 2023. The CDC has been collecting comparable data for 45 years. The previous largest one-year drop was 4% in 2018, according to the agency’s National Center for Health Statistics. All but two states saw declines last year, with Nevada and South Dakota seeing small increases. Some of the biggest drops were in Ohio, West Virginia and other states that have been hard-hit in the nation’s decades-long overdose epidemic.

President Donald Trump’s trip to Qatar is off to a flying start. Like Saudi Arabia a day earlier, Qatar didn’t bother waiting for Trump to land before setting out to impress him with a fighter jet escort. As Trump flew in to Riyadh on Tuesday and then in to Doha on Wednesday as part of his Middle East trip, he received ceremonial escorts from each country’s F-15 fighter jets, exceptionally rare sights. A White House official, Margo Martin, posted videos of the escorts online. “Saudi F-15’s providing honorary escort for Air Force One!” she wrote on Tuesday. The Royal Saudi Air Force has the world’s largest fleet of American-made F-15s after the U.S. Air Force.

After arriving in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, President Donald Trump indicated he was ready to hold talks with Ahmed al-Sharaa, a onetime high-ranking member of both al-Qaeda and ISIS, who now leads Syria following the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime in December.
President Trump announced his willingness to lift economic restrictions that had long targeted Syria. According to officials, Sharaa had been eager to secure a meeting with Trump, offering sweeping incentives including energy agreements with the U.S., diplomatic recognition of Israel, and even permits for a Trump Tower project in Damascus. The White House confirmed that Sharaa was expected to fly into Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to sit down with the president.

The United States is weighing reviving a controversial arms deal with Turkey, and Israeli officials are raising quiet but pointed objections to the possible sale of advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets to a government they now view with growing suspicion—and no small measure of alarm. According to senior Israeli officials, Jerusalem has conveyed diplomatic messages to the Trump administration opposing any move to approve the sale, citing concerns over the erosion of Israel’s qualitative military edge in an increasingly volatile region. The messages, which have not been made public, reflect mounting unease within Israel’s security establishment as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey sharpens his rhetoric against the Jewish state.

A young Lakewood resident is currently undergoing a very serious surgery. Please daven for Mordechai ben Esther Bluma for a refuah sheleima.

President Trump and the Emir of Qatar sign a joint declaration of cooperation between the two countries.

President Trump was greeted by a dramatic display of military honor on Wednesday when Air Force One entered Qatari airspace, with eight fighter jets flanking the presidential aircraft as it made its descent into Doha — the second destination on his current diplomatic tour through the Middle East.
Observers noted that the aerial reception seemed to be a deliberate gesture intended to surpass the welcome offered by Saudi Arabia a day earlier, where only six fighter jets had accompanied the president’s arrival.
Members of the press traveling with the president observed four Qatari jets flying alongside the starboard side of Air Force One, while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a video clip showing four additional jets on the port side.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told lawmakers

Wild CCTV footage captured the moment of the assassination attempt on Muhammad Sinwar yesterday in the Gaza Strip.

*WATCH:* Qatari F-15’s providing honorary escort for Air Force One as it arrives in Qatar. One Qatari pilot was seen snapping a photo of AF1! (See end of clip)

Emir of Qatar to President Trump: “You are the first American President to officially visit Qatar, so we’re very honored.”

President Trump says he had a “very good” meeting with the new Syrian leader: “Young, attractive guy, tough guy. Strong past, very strong past — fighter. He’s got a real shot at holding it together.”

POTUS on potential peace talks between Presidents Putin and Zelensky in Turkey tomorrow: “Tomorrow, we’re all booked … That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do it to save a lot of lives and come back … I don’t know that [Putin] would be there if I’m not there.”

Lior Suchard, the world’s best mentalist and one of the world’s most famous Israelis, brings his dramatic sell-out show to Los Angeles on June 18. World-renowned master mentalist Lior Suchard, whose inexplicable feats have astounded sold-out audiences from India, and Russia to Australia and New York City, is preparing to unveil dramatic new material at his first-ever West Coast shows—at Los Angeles’ Saban Theatre on June 18 and San Francisco’s San Mateo Performing Arts Center on June 16. As one of the world’s most famous living Israelis, Suchard has never been shy about his roots. But since October 7th, he’s stood even taller. Appearing on the world’s premier late-night shows and television sitcoms, Lior used his international presence to advocate for Israel in the tragedy’s aftermath.

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