World News
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Simchat Torah in Hostages Square lays bare divide over just how much to celebrate yet
(JTA) — Rabba Anat Sharbat, the unofficial “rabbi of Hostages Square,” wept as she recited the Shehechiyanu blessing after lighting the candles to mark the beginning of Simchat Torah holiday on Monday evening, hours after all 20 living hostages returned to Israel. Two years before, the same holiday had been marked by silence and fear…
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Brown U’s Jewish president turns down Trump’s ‘Compact’ deal for campuses
A second university — like the first helmed by a Jewish woman — has rejected the Trump administration’s offer of special funding in exchange for an array of concessions. Brown University’s president, Christina Paxson, announced the decision on Wednesday, releasing the letter she sent to Education Secretary Linda McMahon and her staff. In the letter,…
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Gaza Needs Massive Boost in Emergency Aid After Ceasefire, UN Relief Chief Says
A satellite image shows trucks with aid waiting by the Egypt-Gaza border, October 15, 2025. Photo: Satellite image ©2025 Vantor/Handout via REUTERS The United Nations is seeking a dramatic boost in humanitarian aid for Gaza, saying the hundreds of relief trucks cleared to enter the devastated enclave under a ceasefire were nowhere near the thousands…
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Syrian Leader Ahmed al-Sharaa Meets with Russia’s Putin at Kremlin
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa attends an interview with Reuters at the presidential palace, in Damascus, Syria, March 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in Russia on Wednesday for an official visit, his first since taking office in December 2024, according to a Reuters report. The visit marks…
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War strained the Israel-Vatican bond. Will the pope use the ceasefire to heal those wounds?
As the ceasefire took hold this weekend, Pope Leo XIV called it “a spark of hope in the Holy Land.” To understand the new pope’s approach to Israel, after he came into his role at a time of unusually strained relations between the Vatican and Israel, a bit of history helps. The Catholic narrative when…
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US News Outlets Reject Pentagon Press Access Policy
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump’s budget request for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz At least 30 news organizations declined to sign a new Pentagon access policy for journalists, warning of the potential for…
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‘It never goes away’: A former hostage describes the paradox of freedom for Israelis who returned home from Gaza
Barry Rosen knows what it means to wait for freedom. He spent 444 days as a hostage, one of 52 Americans held prisoner at the U.S. embassy in Iran from 1979 to 1981. He described when he was reunited with his family as “one of the greatest moments” of his life. But Rosen also knows…
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Trump on Mamdani: ‘He hates Jewish people and yet he’s got Jewish people supporting him’
This piece first ran as part of The Countdown, our daily newsletter rounding up all the developments in the New York City mayor’s race. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. There are 20 days to the election. Trump turns up the heat on Mamdani and NYC President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on…
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War battered their Berlin hummus bar. But the Israeli-Palestinian partners behind Kanaan see a way forward.
(JTA) — BERLIN — At a hummus restaurant in Berlin’s leafy neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg, war has come knocking many times over the last two years. Recently, it came with the threat of closure. Jalil Dabit, a Palestinian, and Oz Ben David, an Israeli, have run the business together for 10 years. The last two…
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Why is everyone laughing at Anne Frank?
It’s hard to explain exactly what Slam Frank is. It’s a musical about Anne Frank in the hip-hop style of Lin-Manuel Miranda, but also with a touch of Bob Fosse. Anne is Latina and queer; her mother, Edith, is Black. This is not race-blind casting. It’s very much on purpose, a way to leverage Anne…
