Preparations for the upcoming Lag BaOmer celebration in Meron have reached a new milestone, as the Ministry of Yerushalayim and Jewish Tradition has completed the paving of “Derech Hillel,” a new exit path behind the Tziyon of Rav Shimon bar Yochai.
The new route, which includes stairways and safety railings, is designed to ease crowd flow and reduce congestion at the sacred site.

According to a new NYT report, new details show the female pilot of the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines flight at Reagan National Airport ignored her co-pilot’s warning and made multiple critical errors.

Border Czar Tom Homan on the completely locked down border President Trump secured in just seven weeks: “We got the most secure border in the history of this nation, and President Trump was able to accomplish that in seven weeks.”

President Donald Trump can’t stop contradicting himself on his own tariff plans. He says he’s on a path to cut several new trade deals in a few weeks — but has also suggested it’s “physically impossible” to hold all the needed meetings. Trump has said he will simply set new tariff rates negotiated internally within the U.S. government over the next few weeks — although he already did that on his April 2 “Liberation Day,” which caused the world economy to shudder. The Republican president says he’s actively negotiating with the Chinese government on tariffs — while the Chinese and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have said talks have yet to start. What should one believe?

Rav Dov Landau, Rosh Yeshiva of Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, who was hospitalized on Thursday, was released this morning from Maayanei Hayeshua Medical Center and has returned to his residence on the Slabodka Yeshiva campus in Bnei Brak.
The Rosh Yeshiva had been admitted on Thursday morning and underwent surgery to repair a fractured hip.
He then remained at the hospital for Shabbos.
According to those close to him, Rav Landau continues to gain strength and is steadily recovering. He has resumed his daily learning schedule, and, with Hashem’s help, is expected to begin receiving visitors again in the coming days.
All are asked to daven for Rav Efraim Dov ben Devorah.
{Matzav.com Israel}

Russia launched a sweeping drone assault and airstrikes across Ukraine overnight into Sunday, killing at least four people, officials said, after U.S. President Donald Trump cast doubt over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to end the war. Three people died and four were wounded Sunday morning in airstrikes on Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region, the regional prosecutor’s office said. Another person died and a 14-year-old girl was wounded in a drone attack on the city of Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which was hit for the third consecutive night, local Gov. Serhii Lysak said. The attacks came hours after Russia claimed to have regained control over the remaining parts of the Kursk region, which Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion last August.

A fierce wildfire broke out Sunday in the Nachal Prat area, near the community of Nofei Prat in the Binyamin region, prompting an urgent rescue operation for dozens of hikers trapped by the flames.
Firefighters from the Yehuda and Shomron District, supported by four firefighting planes and an aerial rescue unit, have been working intensively to evacuate the hikers who found themselves stranded due to the sudden blaze.
According to a statement from Israel’s Fire and Rescue Authority, as of this time, the fire has been largely contained. There is currently no immediate danger to either the hikers or local residents. Approximately 100 hikers are still in the area, divided into three groups, all of whom are situated in safe zones.

Another angle of the IDF strike in Beirut. It is reported that the building targeted stored Hezbollah missiles.

Following the IDF’s warning, an airstrike is reported in Beirut’s southern suburbs, targeting Hezbollah positions.

With one-fifth of states seeing active measles outbreaks, the U.S. is nearing 900 cases, according to figures posted Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC’s confirmed measles cases count is 884, triple the amount seen in all of 2024. The vast majority — 646 — are in Texas, where an outbreak in the western part of the state that’s approaching the three-month mark. Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses in the epicenter in West Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness. Other states with active outbreaks — defined as three or more cases — include Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

At Camp Shura’s National Center for Casualties of Israel’s Defense Forces, hundreds of body bags have remained untouched since the devastating events of October 7. These bags hold both partial human remains and other matter requiring burial, including blood.
Despite extensive work over the past several months, a significant number of these remains have still not been conclusively identified.
As reported by Yediot Achronot, the military rabbinate sought authorization to perform an additional round of DNA testing on all of the body bags. However, their request was turned down by the Ministry of Religious Services.

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