NEW YORK NEWS
Mayor Eric Adams announced a new initiative to address New York City’s increasing homelessness problem. The city will begin hospitalizing people involuntarily if they are found to have severe, untreated mental illness. “The common misunderstanding persists that we cannot provide involuntary assistance unless the person is violent,” Mr. Adams said. “This myth must be put to rest. Going forward, we will make every effort to assist those who are suffering from mental illness and whose illness is endangering them by preventing them from meeting their basic human needs.” Training for police officers, EMS, and other medical personnel will begin immediately.
A 52-year old Monsey woman was found dead on the side of the road after a short disappearance. Mrs. Miriam Zussman, a member of the Chareidi community, was found by Chaveirim of Rockland County. Hatzalah arrived on the scene but were unable to revive her. Zussman is apparently the victim of what appears to be a hit-and-run accident, but there are no details as to whether the driver knew they hit her or was unaware of the accident.
The Buffalo supermarket shooter pled guilty to murder and hate-motivated terrorism charges, and will spend the rest of his life in prison. The shooting, which occurred in February, was intended “To kill as many African Americans as possible,” according to the manifesto posted by the shooter. The guilty charges come with the maximum sentence of life without parole. “Our hearts are broken over the devastation he caused to the innocent victims he killed and wounded, their families, and the African American community in Buffalo and beyond,” said the shooter’s parents in a statement. “With today’s plea of guilty, he will be held accountable for his actions.” The shooter used an illegally-modified assault rifle to carry out his attack, and the weapon usage became a rallying point for Albany to increase their gun control legislation.
Saadah Masoud pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges in three attacks on Jewish people. The 29-year-old from Staten Island was a co-organizer of a pro-Palestinian rally in June when he attacked Matt Greenman, a Jewish man with an Israeli flag who was part of a counter-protest. Masoud was connected to repeated physical attacks on Jewish victims throughout New York City between 2021 and 2022. Gerard Filitti, a senior counsel at the Lawfare Project who represented Greenman, said the conviction “sends a clear message that hate crimes against the Jewish community will not be tolerated and there are consequences.”
US NEWS
President Joe Biden called on Congress to step in to avert a railroad strike. With two weeks to go before the deadline and four railroad unions voting down the deal that his administration negotiated, Biden’s move is a last-ditch effort to prevent the strike, which would threaten the nation’s water supply, halt passenger rail travel, and trigger major disruptions to the U.S. supply chain during the height of the holiday season, potentially worsening inflation. “I am calling on Congress to pass legislation immediately to adopt the Tentative Agreement between railroad workers and operators – without any modifications or delay – to avert a potentially crippling national rail shutdown,” Biden said in his statement. The rail workers have said they are angry and frustrated that the deal lacked paid sick days or other substantial changes to an attendance policy that penalizes workers for taking time off while they are sick.
Elon Musk has drawn the ire of the media, government, and Big Tech. After conducting several Twitter polls which determined if banned accounts will be let back on the platform, The Washington Post issued an op-ed slamming the billionaire, saying that polls are not a real indicator of public opinion. The White House was asked if they’re “keeping an eye on” Musk, to which Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced that they are always warning tech platforms from pushing “misinformation.” Musk also announced that Apple is considering banning Twitter from its app store. Musk did say that he would “go to war” with Apple by making a phone that would compete with them and Samsung, and that between the Google and Apple app stores, these two corporations “control the internet.” Politically, Musk did say that he would back Florida Governor Ron DeSantis if he runs for President in 2024. Musk described DeSantis as a “sensible and centrist” choice.
President Donald Trump is in hot water over his dinner meeting with Kanye West, in which West brought along known anti-Semite Nick Fuentes. Trump claimed after the meeting that West is a “seriously troubled man” and that “he shows up with 3 people, two of which I didn’t know, the other a political person who I haven’t seen in years.” In addition to the media and Democrats’ reactions, many Trump supporters have lambasted the former President for having the dinner. Former Vice President Mike Pence said, “President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an antisemite and a Holocaust denier, a seat at the table and I think he should apologize for it.” A few weeks after honoring Trump, the Zionist Organization of America said, “The [ZOA] calls upon President Trump to live up to his own powerful words, to condemn in the strongest possible terms Jew-hater Kanye West and avowed Holocaust-denying, white supremacist, Jew-hater Nick Fuentes,” the organization’s president Morton Klein said in a statement. Top Republicans like Senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and Rick Scott have all made similar statements.
Aman in a Seattle airport was arrested after screaming Nazi slurs at passengers in a viral video. “Heil Hitler,” “you go to the gas chamber!” and “race war!” were among the numerous anti-Semitic statements he made as people were boarding the plane, all while doing a Nazi salute. Court records for the Seattle area show that the suspect was arrested in 2019 for domestic assault, but the case was dropped without prejudice by reason of incompetency. However, a mental health evaluation was sealed by the court. The suspect was also arrested in 2016 on suspicion of indecent assault, but this case was also dropped by reason of incompetency. In that case, a police report noted that he was shouting about the Cold War at the time of his arrest.
Tiger Woods issued a statement announcing he would not compete in the upcoming Hero World Challenge because of an injury he had sustained while practicing. Woods, 46, hosts the Hero World Challenge, which enables a small number of top-ranked golf pros to compete and serves as a benefit for the Tiger Woods Foundation. The tournament field is comprised of 20 players, including the most recent winners of the four major PGA tournaments, the top 11 available players from the Official World Golf Ranking, the defending champion of the tournament, and two special exemption players selected by the foundation. “In my preparations and practice for this week’s Hero World Challenge, I’ve developed plantar fasciitis in my right foot, which is making it difficult to walk,” Woods tweeted. “After consulting with my doctors and trainers, I have decided to withdraw this week and focus on my hosting duties. My plan is still to compete in The Match and PNC Championship.”
WORLD NEWS
Mass protests are occurring in China over extreme Covid policies. The “White Paper Revolution,” named because people are holding up pieces of white paper to signify China’s censorship, was prompted by an apartment building fire that killed 10 people. The fire would not have been as deadly had the doors not been welded shut by Chinese authorities because the building contained people who tested positive for Covid. There has been no official statement from the Biden administration, but an unnamed national security spokesperson put out the following: “As we’ve said, we think it’s going to be very difficult for the People’s Republic of China to be able to contain this virus through their zero Covid strategy,” the spokesperson said in the statement, adding that measures such as boosting vaccination rates were more useful. “We’ve long said everyone has the right to peacefully protest, here in the United States and around the world. This includes in the PRC.”
A female IDF soldier in her 20s was struck by a car at the Migron-Kochav Yaakov intersection in the West Bank in a terror attack on Tuesday morning. The soldier was seriously wounded with head injuries and evacuated in stable condition to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center by Magen David Adom medical services personnel in order to receive further medical treatment. The alleged attacker was shot and killed by police officers who were at the scene following a short chase. This is the latest in a series of terrorist attacks, including a bomb that killed two people. The past year has seen a marked increase in terrorism, with 281 serious terror attacks by Palestinians – 239 against soldiers and 42 against Israeli civilians.
Benjamin Netanyahu has struck a coalition deal with Avi Maoz of the Noam Party, which is seen as a far-right group. Maoz was part of the Religious Zionist faction during the election, but Netanayhu needed to negotiate with him and Itamar Ben-Gvir separately from the party leader, Betzalel Smotrich, when putting together the governing majority. For his support, Ben-Gvir was given the police ministry and a seat in the security ministry. “We took a big step tonight toward a full coalition agreement, toward forming a fully, fully right-wing government,” Ben-Gvir said in the statement.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the so-called “golden era” of relations with China was “over,” warning that Beijing’s move toward even greater authoritarianism posed a systemic challenge to Britain’s values and interests. His reference to the “golden era” for the U.K.-China relationship echoed comments made by former U.K. Finance Minister George Osborne in 2015, who had claimed Britain could be China’s “best partner in the West.” Sunak said it had been “naïve” to believe that closer economic ties over the previous decade could lead to social and political reform and accused Beijing of “conspicuously competing for global influence using all of the levers of state power.” He warned, however, that Britain could not rely on “simplistic Cold War rhetoric.”