Republicans and Democrats alike on Wednesday questioned the deep staffing cuts, research funding freezes and drastic policy changes that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made in a few short months at the helm of the nation’s health department. Kennedy, who was to sit before the Senate’s health committee later in the day, appeared at a House appropriations hearing to defend the White House’s requested budget for his agency. The request includes a $500 million boost for Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative to promote nutrition and healthier lifestyles while making deep cuts to infectious disease prevention, medical research maternal health, low-income heat assistance and preschool programs.

As Lag Ba’omer approaches and crowds begin to ascend to Meron for the annual hilula of Rav Shimon bar Yochai, Hilula Project Coordinator Yossi Deutsch gave an in-depth interview in Hebrew to Kikar HaShabbat, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the intense preparations, major upgrades, and the unique challenges facing this year’s event, particularly the shortened time window due to it falling on Erev Shabbos. Matzav.com provides some highlights of the interview.

TEHRAN – A top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader says Tehran is open to reaching a nuclear agreement with the United States, provided that all economic sanctions are removed — a development that could mark a significant

As concerns grow over reports that the IDF is preparing to arrest yeshiva students who failed to report to draft offices, the Rishon L’Tzion, Rav Yitzchak Yosef, issued a powerful warning: if such a crackdown is carried out, the chareidi public will have no choice but to leave Eretz Yisrael.
Speaking at an event in Bnei Brak, Rav Yosef said, “If they force us to go to the army—if they come into yeshivos and arrest bochurim—we have no right to remain here. We will all leave for abroad. We will not stay here.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian issued a sharp response to remarks made by US President Donald Trump during his recent visit to the Gulf region, declaring that Tehran will stand firm and not be intimidated.
Speaking in a televised address carried live on Iranian state television, Pezeshkian rebuked Trump’s approach, stating, “He (Trump) thinks he can come here, chant slogans and scare us. For us, martyrdom is far sweeter than dying in bed. You came to frighten us? We will not bow to any bully.”
The Iranian leader’s defiant tone comes as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to simmer, with Pezeshkian emphasizing that threats and rhetoric would not shake Iran’s resolve.
{Matzav.com}

I write with disbelief regarding a policy recently introduced in a local frum school: a “Free Pass” initiative that exempts students from a final exam if they raise or donate $550 to a designated organization. Encouraging chesed and tzedakah among our children is admirable. But linking a mitzvah to an academic incentive is, at best, misguided and, at worst, a distortion of the very values we claim to uphold. Tzedakah is not a bargaining chip. It is not a ticket to privilege or a means to bypass accountability. It is one of the foundational mitzvos of a Torah life, meant to be done lishmah, out of a pure desire to help Klal Yisrael—not in exchange for skipping an exam. This policy does more than blur the lines between ruchniyus and reward—it erases them.

Amid renewed diplomatic momentum to end the Gaza war and secure the release of Israeli hostages, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff has introduced a new framework aimed at achieving a ceasefire and removing Hamas from power, according to reports from Israel’s Channel 12. The proposed plan, reportedly presented during President Trump’s high-profile visit to Saudi Arabia this week, has garnered support from international mediators involved in the ongoing negotiations. Israeli officials say Witkoff, a close ally of President Trump, is “personally invested” in the effort to bring the hostages home.

Bill de Blasio, former mayor of New York City, has agreed to pay a $329,794 penalty to resolve allegations brought by the city’s ethics panel, which accused him of improperly using public money to fund his security team’s travel during his brief attempt to secure the Democratic nomination for president.
The resolution, announced Wednesday by the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board, marks the largest settlement ever reached by the board. Although the original fine totaled $475,000, officials said the amount was reduced based on de Blasio’s “financial situation.”

A billboard seen tonight in the Syrian capital of Damascus, featuring U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with the words, “Thank you from the heart” in Arabic and “Thank you, Saudi Arabia, United States of American” in English.