NEW YORK (AP) — Tesla sales declined in the first three m

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels this week to a gathering of top diplomats from NATO countries and is sure to find allies that are alarmed, angered and confused by the Trump administration’s desire to reestablish ties with Russia and its escalating rhetorical attacks on longtime transatlantic partners. Allies are deeply concerned by President Donald Trump’s readiness to draw closer to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who sees NATO as a threat, amid a U.S. effort to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. Recent White House comments and insults directed at NATO allies Canada and Denmark — as well as the military alliance itself — have only increased the angst, especially as new U.S. tariffs are taking effect against friends and foes alike.

China conducted military drills around Taiwan for a second day Wednesday, focusing on the Taiwan Strait — a crucial conduit for international trade separating the self-governing island democracy from China. The Strait Thunder-2025A drills were held in the middle and southern areas of the strait, a People’s Liberation Army spokesperson said. Taiwan’s military said that it was closely monitoring the drills, but there was nothing unusual on the island of 23 million people that China claims as its own territory.

The Honenu legal aid organization expressed outrage at the Supreme Court’s decision this week to reduce the sentences of two Palestinians convicted of participating in a violent lynching of a Jewish family that mistakenly entered an Arab village in northern Israel during Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021. One of the terrorists was originally sentenced to seven years in prison, and the Supreme Court reduced his sentence to three years and four months. The sentence of another terrorist, which was initially four years in prison, was shortened to two years and nine months. According to the indictment, the Jewish family got lost and mistakenly entered the village, where they were brutally attacked by a mob of dozens of Arabs who threw stones at their vehicle.

The Skverer chassidus is reeling after the sudden and tragic passing of Rav Yitzchok Spitzer zt”l, one of the prominent dayanim of the Skverer kehillah in New Square. He was 67 years old.
Rav Spitzer collapsed in the midst of his avodas hakodesh of certifying the kashrus of a private mikvah in the community. Despite immediate efforts to revive him, he was niftar on the spot, leaving behind a devastated family and a community in mourning.
The levayah was held on Tuesday, departing from the main Skverer Beis Medrash. Rav Spitzer will be laid to rest in the beis hachayim of New Square.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett officially filed paperwork on Tuesday to register a new political party, currently listed under the provisional title “Bennett 2026.”
A spokesperson on Bennett’s behalf clarified, “if and when it is decided to actually run in the elections, an announcement will be made on the matter.”
Bennett appears to be laying the groundwork for a return to the political arena, targeting the upcoming Knesset elections. He has already begun forming a strategic team of advisors to guide his potential campaign. Recent internal polling, which shows his prospective party securing over 20 Knesset seats—primarily drawing support from the center-left—has further bolstered his efforts.

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