New York
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s $30 million Strategy to Combat Antisemitism includes a $6.4 million increase for Partners Against the Hate, doubling funding for the taxpayer-backed grant program launched in 2021.
The program works with six groups, including the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Arab American Association of New York, which was led for more than a decade by Linda Sarsour, identified as Mamdani’s mentor, who cheered Columbia encampments and other protests after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack. OpenTheBooks data cited by the Post showed the association received $3.3 million in city funding between 2017 and 2024. The 33-page plan does not mention Zionism and makes only a passing reference to Israel. More than two dozen Jewish leaders criticized the report and asked the administration to reissue a plan that addresses Zionism. NYPD figures in the article showed an 8 percent rise in antisemitic attacks through August.
Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a State Disaster Emergency for all of New York as measles cases continued to rise, with 108 confirmed infections this year—seven in New York City and 101 elsewhere. The executive order, effective through Nov. 4 unless extended, cites 92 cases since July 15, largely among under-immunized rural communities in 18 counties. The order lets paramedics, advanced EMS personnel, midwives, and pharmacists give the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine under non-patient-specific orders and allows nurses to order testing.
Actress Debra Messing, a past Democratic donor known for Will & Grace, endorsed Republican Bruce Blakeman for New York governor, passing over incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul. At a Manhattan fundraiser hosted by dietitian Tanya Zuckerbrot, the Brooklyn-born Jewish actress said, “You are what we need more than anything.” She called four years of decline “exponential and devastating—economically, socially and on every level,” said, “It’s not the city I love anymore,” and told Blakeman, “You are the answer.” Messing, who backed Hillary Clinton, Cynthia Nixon, and Andrew Cuomo against Mamdani, pointed to living costs and Blakeman’s support for Israel. Blakeman called her “iconic” and said she is working to keep New York “safe for Jewish people.” He has pledged to end taxes on the first $50,000 of income for single filers and $100,000 for married couples.
New York City will begin moving more than 10,000 children off the Child Care Assistance Program voucher waitlist, Mayor Mamdani said, the first such enrollments in 15 months. The vouchers cover licensed care for low-income children from 6 weeks to 13 years old, and through age 19 for children with special needs. The expansion is backed by $1.2 billion in state funding Gov. Hochul committed to the city’s child-care push, including $475 million for vouchers. More than 29,000 children are on the list, which began growing in May 2025 after demand outran the budget. Families will be invited to apply on a rolling basis over the coming months, with priority for those under 300 percent of the federal poverty line, those who are unhoused, and those with a child with special needs.
NYC Ferry fares will rise on Oct. 19, while discounted weekday trips to and from school will be open to middle school students citywide, the New York City Economic Development Corporation said. The base one-way fare will go from $4.50 to $5, and the 10-trip pass from $29 to $30, keeping the per-trip cost at $3, the same as the subway and local bus. The reduced one-way fare, used by seniors, people with disabilities, Fair Fares participants, and eligible students, will rise from $1.45 to $1.50. The two-day unlimited ticket, introduced as a temporary product, will become permanent at $15. Grades 6 through 8 at public, private, and charter schools are now eligible, adding about 200,000 students to a discount already available to high schoolers.
A Brooklyn public school teacher wrote “Long live Yahya Al-Sinwar” in a Signal chat tied to the Park Slope Food Coop’s campaign to boycott Israeli goods, according to a lawsuit filed by Jewish members. Damien Neva, 48, a special-education teacher who started this year at P.S. 77 in Park Slope, sent the November 2024 message about the late Hamas leader, the complaint says, and wrote that opponents “do not have the votes to block our campaign.” The National Jewish Advocacy Center sued the co-op in Kings County Supreme Court on behalf of five members, alleging leaders changed voting rules to pass the boycott, which won about 67 percent in a May vote, and that Jewish members faced harassment. The city Department of Education said the allegation had been referred for investigation. The suit asks the court to void the boycott and the voting changes.
U.S.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recommended, and President Donald Trump approved, death by U.S. Army firing squad for Nidal Hasan, the former Army major and psychiatrist convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. Hasan was sentenced to death in 2013 after a military jury found him guilty of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others at a soldier readiness center on the Texas base. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Hasan opened fire “while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar.’” “The Secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution,” Parnell said. “Judgement day for Hasan has finally come.” A military death sentence cannot be carried out until the president approves it. If the sentence is imposed, it would be the first U.S. military execution since 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged, and the Army’s first firing-squad execution since World War II.
The U.S. military is sending roughly 9,000 troops aboard a group of ships to the Middle East, as President Trump again warned that new strikes on Iran could follow. The ships carry more than 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines. A third carrier could be in the region by the end of October, joining the USS George H.W. Bush and USS George Washington, which are already there with the USS Boxer group. The added force would lift the naval presence above 20,000 sailors and Marines and hundreds of aircraft. “Oh, they’ll be hit very hard, don’t worry,” Trump said.
Federal prosecutors charged two Muslim brothers from Louisiana with helping move money to Hamas through online campaigns presented as humanitarian aid for Gaza. Abdel Adhami, 35, and Omar Adhami, 33, were accused of sending about $94,000 and $11,000, respectively, between roughly February 2021 and September 2026 to Saleem Alzaq, whom the Justice Department identified as a Hamas member and a battalion deputy in the al-Qassam Brigades. Prosecutors said Alzaq raised more than $1.7 million since January 2020 through social-media appeals that donors were told would help Gaza, then directed the money to Hamas. The case drew on the NYPD after Alzaq contacted an undercover detective on Snapchat in November 2025 and later discussed transfers. Both brothers face material-support, wire-fraud conspiracy, and money-laundering conspiracy counts and were detained pending a hearing. Alzaq, believed to be in Gaza, remains at large.
President Trump signed an executive order temporarily allowing off-road dyed diesel on highways and deferring the federal excise tax on that fuel through the end of the year, with no interest or penalties. Dyed diesel, colored red so inspectors can tell it from taxed highway fuel, is normally limited to off-road uses such as farming, construction, and heating. The order directs the Treasury secretary, in consultation with the secretary of war, to defer the tax and to study whether the deferred amount can be eliminated. Transportation is to coordinate with states, industry, and labor on access, and Agriculture is to protect farmers’ supply in high-demand areas. The White House said the step could save truckers more than $100 a refill. The federal on-road diesel tax is 24.4 cents a gallon, and the obligation is deferred rather than canceled unless officials later waive it.
President Trump announced a Super Intelligence Force to coordinate federal work on artificial intelligence, which he has directed agencies to call “super intelligence.” Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton will lead the group. It will report to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Trump said the force is tasked with ensuring America “continues to lead the World in Super Intelligence” and will engage consumers, public-interest groups, religious organizations, critical-infrastructure providers, and technology companies. The charter calls for plans against AI-enabled threats while avoiding overregulation, and the group is expected to deliver a report on risks and opportunities within 120 days.
U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun said the Trump administration has revoked more than 250,000 visas under a stricter vetting process, a figure he tied to the administration’s broader campaign against antisemitism. The State Department had already put the total above 250,000, citing crimes, visa violations, threats, fraud, abuse of the immigration system, and national-security concerns. Kaploun said the department has pressed foreign governments, including Saudi Arabia, to remove antisemitic material from school curricula. “We have been involved with the Saudi government to have their curriculum changed to remove unprecedented levels of antisemitic questions, and that is a priority of this office,” he said.
Israel
An Omani co-pilot tried to take over a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv and was subdued by the Indian captain and Israeli passengers before the plane landed in Saudi Arabia. Flight FZ1073, carrying about 174 people, most of them Israeli, sent emergency and hijacking codes and dropped thousands of feet. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that as the aircraft approached Israel, “one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and apparently attempted to crash the plane.” The wounded captain, Smit Machchhar, fought back; passengers entered the cockpit and restrained the attacker, identified as Hamam al-Hammami. The United Arab Emirates attorney general later called it a terrorist act carried out with a cockpit axe. Both pilots were hospitalized in Saudi Arabia. A second Flydubai aircraft later flew the passengers to Ben Gurion Airport.
Flydubai co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami told investigators he planned to seize Flight FZ1073 and crash it into Ben Gurion Airport, according to Israeli media. He intended to continue the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight as normal after attacking the captain, obtain landing clearance, and then hit a building or aircraft at the airport so the deviation would come too late for interception. He told investigators, “I looked into which airline flies to Tel Aviv. That’s why I chose Flydubai. I planned it even before I was accepted.” He had visited the airport on earlier flights, focused on planning during a June trip, and dropped a July attempt because he was friends with a crew member.
IDF troops destroyed a 1.5-kilometer underground tunnel route in northern Gaza, east of the Yellow Line. Soldiers from the Northern Brigade, which serves under the 99th Division, carried out the work with engineering forces from Southern Command in territory Israel holds under the ceasefire. The IDF said the route was uncovered and then dismantled as part of continuing operations to clear terrorist infrastructure from the Israeli-held area. Forces remain deployed in line with the ceasefire agreement to deal with immediate threats.
The IDF said an extensive review found that 170 Gazans killed in the war and presented internationally as journalists or media workers were also military operatives, mainly in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It counted 118 in Hamas’s military wing, 49 in Islamic Jihad, two in the Popular Resistance Committees, and one in the Mujahideen Brigades. Seventeen took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Some had also worked for outlets including Reuters, CNN, the BBC, AFP, and the Associated Press. The IDF posted the names, photos, civil and military identification numbers, and roles on a dedicated website, along with what it called verified documents and visual material recovered in Gaza or issued by the groups themselves. Roles listed include snipers, commanders, trainers, and intelligence operatives.
World
Britain’s Conservative Party proposed a £10 billion integrated air and missile defense system called Britannia Shield, to be funded over a decade if the party wins the next election. The plan would combine advanced radar, upgraded command-and-control systems, interceptor missiles, counter-drone technology, and larger stockpiles. Shadow Defense Secretary James Cartlidge said the next Conservative government would deliver “the most significant upgrade to UK air defence for generations,” and that a £10 billion budget would make it “one of Britain’s most significant military programmes since the Cold War.” The party said the shield would cover military bases, critical infrastructure, and overseas territories, including the Falklands, with a minimum deployable capability in a first term and expansion over the following five years. Party materials compared it to Israel’s Iron Dome, though one official later said it would not be an exact copy and would be designed for threats facing Britain.
High school students clashed with police in Sartrouville, near Paris, as nationwide protests over overcrowded classrooms, deteriorating buildings, and staff shortages entered a third week. France’s Education Ministry said 413 schools were disrupted, including full and partial closures. Student groups and teachers’ unions backed another day of demonstrations, and the High School Students Union later said about 1,800 high schools were blockaded or closed. Police fired tear gas in Strasbourg, Lyon, and Rennes as some protesters lit fires and threw objects. The Interior Ministry said 6,100 people had been arrested since the protests began, most of them minors, and the Justice Ministry said more than 1,800 were being prosecuted. At least 715 officers and 215 teenagers have been injured. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu ordered ministers to address teacher replacements and the length of the school day.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan said they will immediately begin implementing the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, including the rapid deployment of agreed military forces and capabilities to the kingdom. The decision came at an emergency meeting of the alliance’s Strategic Political and Defense Committee in Riyadh. The three countries said each member’s security is part of their collective security and that the deployments will follow approved arrangements and national law in order to strengthen deterrence and readiness. The pact, signed Aug. 7, treats an armed attack on one member as an attack on all.
A failed asylum seeker who tried to climb the fence of the Israeli Embassy in London while carrying two knives was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 20 years. Abdullah Sabah Albadri, 34, a Kuwait-born man of no fixed address, was convicted of preparing terrorist acts under the Terrorism Act 2006 and of possessing two bladed articles. Armed diplomatic-protection officers stopped him at the Kensington embassy on April 28, 2025, before he entered the grounds. He had arrived in Britain by small boat 16 days earlier, after a previous illegal entry. Police found two blades and a note titled “the benefit of martyrdom.” He told officers, “I want to make a crime inside there.” Officers prevented him from breaching the perimeter.
Brazilian right-wing Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro and leftist incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will meet in an Oct. 25 runoff after neither cleared 50 percent in the first round. With the count complete, Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party had 47.03 percent to 45.16 percent, a gap of less than two points. Bolsonaro, 45, is the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is barred from office and serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest over a coup plot after his 2022 defeat.