Uncategorized
Yeshiva U. basketball team forfeits crucial game, citing inadequate warmup time after Shabbat
(JTA) — If Yeshiva University’s men’s basketball team had won its game Saturday night, it would have gone into the postseason ranked No. 1 in its division yet again. But it didn’t even play.
That’s because the Maccabees’ game against the Farmingdale State College Rams was canceled after its scheduled tipoff time, with Y.U.’s athletic director citing tight timing after Shabbat as the reason.
In a statement issued late Saturday, the athletic director, Greg Fox, said a promise to allow “adequate warmup time” after the Y.U. team traveled from its home in Washington Heights to Farmingdale State’s Long Island campus had been broken.
“It is sad for me to report that we chose to cancel tonight’s men’s basketball game against Farmingdale State College,” Fox said. “When we arrived at the game, as early as possible after Shabbat, we were not provided with sufficient time to warm up. In the interest of safety, we could not allow our student-athletes to proceed. Farmingdale had made a prior commitment to provide adequate warmup time, which was not honored.”
The stakes of the game were high: The winner would get the top ranking in the Skyline Conference and would get to play all of the postseason games at home.
The game was set for 8:30 p.m. But that time came and went without a starting whistle. Instead, the student broadcaster who has streamed Y.U.’s games since before the team’s improbable NCAA tournament run last year tweeted that the game would start closer to 9 p.m. Two minutes before that, he tweeted again: “The game has been canceled.” Fox’s explanation came hours later.
The incident marks a rare public collision in Y.U.’s unusual status as the only Modern Orthodox school in the NCAA. Last year, as the team extended its winning streak past league records, ultimately ending at 50 games, national news coverage focused on how players were able to balance religious observance and athletic commitments, and how their conference devised a schedule that would not require the team to play on Shabbat.
Saturday night’s schedule was tight. Shabbat, when travel is prohibited, ended at 6:15 p.m. at Y.U.’s campus in Washington Heights. Farmingdale State’s Long Island campus is just under 40 miles away, and travel by car or bus typically takes just under hour, suggesting that an hourlong warmup would not fit before the officially scheduled start time.
The two teams last faced off in November, during a Saturday night game at Y.U. Farmingdale State won that matchup 80-69, meaning that even though the two teams each had a 12-3 record during the regular season after Saturday’s cancelation, Farmingdale State will have the top seed in the postseason competition that begins on Tuesday. Y.U. is ranked No. 3 and will play Saint Joseph’s University-Long Island at home that night.
The championship game is also scheduled for next Saturday night. According to the Skyline Conference’s website, “The championship final will take place Feb. 25 (note: accommodations will be made for religious observances).”
—
The post Yeshiva U. basketball team forfeits crucial game, citing inadequate warmup time after Shabbat appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
UK Man in Court Charged With Arson at Former London Synagogue
Orthodox Jews stand by a police cordon, after a man was arrested following a stabbing incident in the Golders Green area, which is home to a large Jewish population, in London, Britain, April 29, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A British man charged over an arson attack at a former synagogue in east London last week was in contact with someone using an Iraqi phone number shortly before the fire, prosecutors told a London court on Tuesday.
Moses Edwards, 45, appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was remanded in custody until a further hearing next month. He gave no indication of any plea.
The fire at the former East London Central Synagogue was caused by wine bottles filled with an accelerant, which exploded damaging the outside of the building, prosecutors said.
The incident followed a series of arson attacks on Jewish targets in previous weeks, with police saying they were investigating possible Iran links to some of the fires.
Uncategorized
Israeli Para-Athlete Wins Gold at European Taekwondo Championships, Beats Opponent From Azerbaijan
Asaf Yasur, center, posing with his gold medal during the awards ceremony at the 2026 European Taekwondo Championships in Munich, Germany. Photo: Facebook/Israel Taekwondo Federation
Israeli Paralympic athlete Asaf Yasur took home the gold medal in the 2026 European Senior Taekwondo Championships being held this week in Munich, Germany.
The 24-year-old competed in the men’s under-58kg weight category, and on the first day of the championships he beat Azerbaijan’s Sabir Zeynalov 2-1 in the finals after being victorious over Turkish athlete Hamza Tehrani 2-1 in the semifinal. Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah,” played in the arena during the medal ceremony, as Yasur stood on the podium with his gold medal.
The Jerusalem native had both of his hands amputated when he was 13 years old following an electrocution accident. Earlier this year, Yasur won gold at the 2026 US Open Paralympic Taekwondo Championship. He previously took home gold medals at the 2024 Paris Paralympics — where he made his Paralympics debut – the 2024 European Championships, and the 2023 World Para Taekwondo Championships. He also won the 2021 and 2023 World Para Taekwondo Championships and silver at the 2023 European Para Championships.
The European Taekwondo Union organizes the European Senior Taekwondo Championships, which is held every two years. This year marks the fourth time the championship is taking place in Germany, after previous being held in Bonn in 2006, Stuttgart in 1984, and Munich in 1978.
Uncategorized
China and US Agree on Opposing Hormuz Tolls, State Department Says
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, May 8, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
Senior US and Chinese officials agree that no country can be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, the State Department told Reuters on Tuesday, in a sign that the two countries are trying to find common ground on efforts to pressure Iran to give up control of the vital waterway.
The statement by the State Department comes ahead of a high-stakes summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week, where Iran‘s chokehold on the strait will be on the agenda.
Iran‘s near-complete closure of the vital trade artery since the joint Israeli-US airstrikes on the country on Feb. 28 has sent shockwaves through global energy markets.
The State Department said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the issue in an April phone call.
“They agreed that no country or organization can be allowed to charge tolls to pass through international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz,” department spokesman Tommy Pigott told Reuters in response to questions about the call. The State Department has not previously provided a readout of the call in a break from its usual practice.
China’s embassy did not dispute the US account of the discussion, saying it hoped all sides can work together to resume normal traffic through the strait, which before the war handled one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply.
“Keeping the area safe and stable and ensuring unimpeded passage serves the common interest of the international community,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Reuters.
Tehran has demanded a right to collect tolls on shipping traffic as a precondition for ending the war. The US has imposed a naval blockade on Iran, and Trump has floated the possibility of imposing its own fees on traffic or working with Iran to collect tolls. After domestic and international pushback, the White House has since said Trump wants to see the Strait of Hormuz open up for traffic without any limitations.
Chinese officials so far have avoided direct mention of tolls, even while condemning the US blockade.
‘NORMAL AND SAFE PASSAGE’
Two sources briefed on the Wang-Rubio exchange said Rubio had raised the prospect of Chinese vessels paying tolls, which they said appeared aimed at encouraging Beijing to apply more pressure on Tehran to bring the conflict to an end.
China maintains ties with Iran and remains a major consumer of its oil exports. Trump has been leaning on China to use its influence to push Tehran to make a deal with Washington.
In a subsequent meeting with Iran‘s foreign minister, Wang said the international community shared a “common concern about restoring normal and safe passage through the strait” while reiterating that China supports Iran in “safeguarding its national sovereignty and security.”
China vetoed a US-backed resolution in the United Nations last month encouraging states to work together to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, arguing it was biased against Iran. That prompted US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, to argue that Beijing was tolerating Iran holding the global economy at gunpoint.
Washington together with Bahrain has drawn up another UN resolution demanding Iran halt attacks and mining in the strait, but diplomats say this is also likely to meet with Chinese and Russian vetoes if it comes to a vote.
That resolution also calls for an end to “efforts to exact illegal tolls” in the strait.
China has ordered its companies not to comply with US sanctions against Chinese oil refineries over purchases of Iranian crude, measures intended to isolate and pressure Tehran.