Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who represented Donald Trump during his 2024 criminal trial, has been appointed acting librarian of Congress, the Justice Department said Monday. Blanche replaces longtime librarian Carla Hayden, whom the White House fired last week amid criticism from conservatives that she was advancing a “woke” agenda. Also Monday, two other Trump appointments to the library attempted unsuccessfully to enter the Copyright Office, according to a source with knowledge of the incident. Brian Nieves, a deputy chief of staff and senior counsel in Blanche’s office, was named acting assistant librarian, Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin confirmed.

Poland’s foreign minister said Monday that he was ordering the closure of the Russian Consulate in the southern city of Krakow, after authorities blamed Moscow for a fire that destroyed a shopping center in Warsaw last year. The national prosecutor’s office also said Monday that it had pressed charges against two Ukrainian citizens who cooperated with the people who carried out the arson, identifying them only as Daniil B. and Oleksander V. The fire broke out May 12, 2024, in the Marywilska 44 shopping center that housed around 1,400 shops and service points, a budget marketplace in a warehouse-like structure in a northern district of Warsaw. Many of the vendors were from Vietnam, and it inflicted tragedy on many in Warsaw’s Vietnamese community.

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President Donald Trump opened his four-day Mideast trip on Tuesday by paying a visit to Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for talks on U.S. efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, end the war in Gaza, hold down oil prices and more. Bin Salman warmly greeted Trump as he stepped off Air Force One and kicked off his Middle East tour. The two leaders then retreated to a grand hall at the Riyadh airport, where Trump and his aides were served traditional Arabic coffee by waiting attendants wearing ceremonial gun-belts. The pomp began before Trump even landed. Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s provided an honorary escort for Air Force One as it approached the kingdom’s capital.

Israel was shocked when the US suddenly announced the halt of the military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, saying that a “ceasefire” had been reached and the Houthis agreed not to attack US ships. According to a New York Times report on Monday, President Donald Trump decided to halt the offensive against the Houthis in Yemen after realizing it was an expensive campaign that was not yielding significant results. The initial military plan against the Houthis was a months-long military campaign of powerful airstrikes to destroy Houthi air defenses, followed by targeted assassinations, largely modeled on Israel’s war agaist Hezbollah.

Disturbing details about the conditions that released hostage Edan Alexander endured in captivity in Gaza were revealed only hours after his release, Kan News reported. According to his initial testimony, Alexander endured severe torture in Gaza, mainly during lengthy interrogations, as well as physical violence and psychological terror. He was confined to a metal cage for an extended period of time, shackled by his hands and feet. When he was released, he required assistance to walk due to the long period he was shackled. He was deliberately starved while in captivity and endured extreme hunger. Iin recent months, as the Trump administration engaged in efforts for his release, he was provided with more food.

BEDMINSTER, N.J. — President Donald Trump on Monday endorsed Jack Ciattarelli for governor of New Jersey, delivering a key boost to the Republican frontrunner in a hotly contested primary.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Israeli military forces carried out a targeted operation against high-ranking Hamas operatives who were entrenched within the Nasser Hospital complex in Khan Yunis.
According to a statement issued by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the site functioned as a strategic base for planning and executing attacks aimed at Israeli citizens and soldiers.
The army further revealed that Ismail Barhoum, who succeeded the head of Hamas’ governing authority in Gaza and oversaw the group’s financial and institutional branches, had been directing operations from this very hospital until his elimination in a previous precision strike in March.

After Edan Alexander’s return from captivity in Gaza, Dr. Hagar Mizrachi, who oversees the medical division at the Health Ministry, voiced serious alarm regarding the physical and psychological state of those still being held hostage.
Speaking at Tel Aviv’s Sorousky Medical Center—where Alexander is currently receiving care—Dr. Mizrachi addressed the media to express her concerns.
“It is obvious to us that the terrorist organizations are denying the hostages medical treatment, holding them in subhuman conditions, and subjecting them to physical and mental abuse,” she said.
{Matzav.com Israel}