New York
Police are investigating a suspected hate crime after someone spray-painted swastikas and antisemitic messages on four Jewish school buses in Williamsburg early in the morning.
The vandalism occurred at approximately 5 a.m. near Bedford Avenue and Williamsburg Street West. The buses belong to the Satmar, Sanz-Klausenburg, and Tiferes Yisrael communities. The graffiti included swastikas, vulgar anti-Jewish and anti-Israel messages, as well as the phrases “America First” and “Free Palestine.” The NYPD’s 90th Precinct and Hate Crime Task Force are investigating. Williamsburg Shomrim is assisting police in efforts to obtain surveillance footage and identify the individual responsible.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has canceled plans for a $225 million joint public safety training facility in College Point, Queens, that would have consolidated instruction for police, correction officers, and personnel from more than a dozen other city law enforcement agencies. City Hall said the agencies have distinct responsibilities and training needs, determining that consolidating their existing facilities was unnecessary and not a good use of taxpayer money. The project, which would have been built next to the existing NYPD academy, was expanded under former Mayor Eric Adams after earlier funding plans dating to the de Blasio administration earmarked money for a new Department of Correction training facility.
New York City has begun installing more than 700 large, rat-resistant trash containers along Brooklyn streets, replacing piles of garbage bags on sidewalks. The rollout covers Brooklyn Community District 2, including Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, and Fort Greene, with the Department of Sanitation placing the stationary Empire Bins outside buildings of more than 30 units and some smaller properties that opted in. The containers occupy former parking spaces and are designed to limit access for rats while clearing sidewalks for pedestrians.
The New York State Department of Labor has temporarily suspended unemployment insurance services as it replaces its decades-old system with a modernized platform. The upgrade is expected to take 9 to 12 days. During this period, unemployment payments will be delayed, and residents cannot file new claims, certify for benefits, or access online and phone services. State officials say eligible recipients will receive all benefits owed once the system is restored and they complete the required filings.
A man was arrested after allegedly spray-painting red graffiti across the engraved names of 9/11 victims at the North Pool of the World Trade Center Memorial in Lower Manhattan. He faces charges of criminal mischief and making graffiti. Port Authority police said the vandalism was captured on surveillance cameras, and a security officer detained him at the scene. The 9/11 Memorial & Museum confirmed the paint was quickly removed and no permanent damage occurred. The graffiti caused more than $2,500 in damage.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who was overseeing the federal prosecution of ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in New York, died at age 92. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1998, Hellerstein served on the Manhattan federal bench for nearly three decades and handled major cases involving President Trump as well as extensive civil litigation arising from the September 11 attacks. He presided over a hearing in Maduro’s case just two weeks earlier, during which the former Venezuelan leader and his wife were arraigned on additional charges.
General Motors will pay New York more than $12 million as part of a $220 million multistate settlement over allegations that the automaker illegally sold drivers’ private driving and location data to brokers, who then provided the information to insurance companies that could use it to adjust premiums. New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the agreement following an investigation conducted with a bipartisan coalition of 35 other states and the District of Columbia. The claims center on GM’s Smart Driver program, which tracked habits such as hard braking and speeding from 2016 until its discontinuation in 2024.
U.S.
An Orlando man was arrested after allegedly posting social media threats targeting Lakefront Estates, a newly established Orthodox Jewish community in Glades County, Florida. The investigation began after he shared photos of the neighborhood’s location along with a firearm and threatening messages directed at the Jewish community. When agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office took him into custody, he was found in possession of the same firearm pictured in the posts. The man faces charges of written or electronic threats to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism, as well as unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
A Learjet crashed into a Palm Beach County neighborhood, leaving a large crater, scattered debris, and significant damage. The aircraft, which had departed Austin, Texas, bound for the Bahamas, plunged nearly vertically and erupted into a fireball, killing all nine people on board. No deaths among people on the ground were reported. The impact forced road closures and prompted the evacuation of roughly 600 residents from a nearby mobile home community whose entrance was blocked by the wreckage. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the scene as a cataclysmic plane crash, saying, “It looked like a missile going down.” Federal investigators continue examining the cause, including reports of ice and turbulence before the rapid descent.
The Federal Trade Commission has ordered nine major companies, including Walmart, Target, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, Delta, United, and JetBlue, to provide information on whether they use customers’ personal data, including browsing history, location, and income, to set individualized prices or worker compensation. The investigation will examine whether consumers are charged different prices for the same goods or services based on their personal information and whether gig workers receive varying pay based on similar data. Companies have 45 days to respond.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired the Pentagon’s top military planner, the latest in a series of generals to be ousted as President Trump weighs renewed strikes on Iran in the eight-month-long war. Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia was removed as head of strategy, plans, and policy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is the second general to be ousted from the post, known in military circles as the J5, under Hegseth. His predecessor, Lt. Gen. Joseph McGee, was forced to retire last October. Pentagon officials have accused Sylvia of leaking classified information related to military operations against Iran and the Russia-Ukraine war and said he failed three polygraph examinations. The investigation has been referred to the Justice Department, and no immediate replacement has been named.
Alaska’s governor is ordering an investigation into Democrat Mary Peltola’s Senate campaign over an alleged scheme to confuse voters by recruiting a Senate candidate with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Gov. Mike Dunleavy cited new reporting suggesting an organized effort to misdirect votes and directed the Department of Public Safety to determine whether any laws were broken or charges are warranted. The move followed a report detailing alleged involvement by Peltola’s campaign and national Democratic groups in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan to run and siphon support from the incumbent. Peltola’s campaign has denied involvement in recruiting the candidate. State election officials previously examined the second Sullivan’s candidacy, though the Alaska Supreme Court allowed him to remain on the ballot.
A Minnesota man who helped orchestrate a fraud scheme involving a federal food program was sentenced to 30 years in prison for falsely claiming to have fed needy children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Salim Said, who operated Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, was accused of inflating meal counts to obtain payments. Prosecutors said he was responsible for $44 million in fraud, including schemes involving people he recruited. He was convicted last year of 21 counts, including wire fraud and bribery, alongside Feeding Our Future leader Aimee Bock, who is serving nearly 42 years. Dozens have been convicted in the sprawling case, which President Trump has cited in criticizing Minnesota’s Democratic governor and justifying an immigration crackdown.
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, was hospitalized after suffering a stroke while attending his son’s hockey game. He is awake, alert, and responding well. Murphy, first elected to the Senate in 2012, has been viewed as a potential 2028 presidential candidate and had been campaigning for Democratic candidates ahead of the midterm elections.
Google parent Alphabet suffered its largest single-day stock decline since going public in 2004, plunging 12.64 percent and erasing roughly $500 billion in market value. The sell-off followed third-quarter results that missed Wall Street expectations, with revenue of $127.6 billion falling short of forecasts and free cash flow turning sharply negative at $9.07 billion. Investors focused on the company’s accelerating artificial intelligence spending, which drove capital expenditures to $51.4 billion in the quarter, more than double the year-earlier level. Search advertising growth slowed to 12 percent, missing estimates and raising concerns that AI features are pressuring the company’s core business. Alphabet maintained its full-year capital spending forecast of $195 billion to $205 billion. The drop ranked among the largest one-day market-value losses in U.S. history.
The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5 to win the 2026 World Series four games to one, capturing the franchise’s first championship in its 57-year history. Milwaukee clinched the title at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Catcher William Contreras. Contreras was named World Series MVP. “It’s the best feeling ever,” captain Christian Yelich said. “We’re so happy to bring it home to them.” The victory ended a drought that dated to the team’s origins as the Seattle Pilots in 1969.
Israel
Israel’s Central Elections Committee has completed the vote count from the recent Knesset elections, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition bloc securing 53 seats and Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc winning 48. Arab-led parties took 19 seats, an all-time high. Neither of the two main blocs reached the 61 seats required to form a government on its own, leaving the results short of a clear majority in the 120-member Knesset. Likud finished as the largest single party with 27 seats, followed by Eisenkot’s Yashar with 21. Voter turnout stood at 77.9 percent, the highest in decades, with more than 5.7 million ballots cast.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party has accused Arab political parties of stealing the recent Knesset election through alleged bribery, voter intimidation, violence, double voting, forgeries, and the use of illegal software to mobilize voters. In a statement, Likud declared that “the elections in Israel were stolen by Arab parties that support terror and the elimination of the Jewish state.” The party said it is submitting hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence, including claims of cash envelopes paired with Ra’am ballot slips, to Israeli police, the Shin Bet security agency, and the Central Elections Committee, demanding an immediate investigation.
Israeli authorities have imposed new security requirements on airlines operating flights to and from the country following last month’s thwarted terrorist attack on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Under the rules, carriers must submit flight crew information 48 hours before departure, report any changes no later than two hours before takeoff, and provide a final crew list upon departure. The directives apply to all Israeli and foreign airlines serving Ben Gurion Airport and are intended to give security agencies additional time for background checks.
Israeli security forces have arrested six terror suspects, including a Hamas affiliate, during ongoing counterterrorism operations in Judea and Samaria following the shooting attack in Hebron that killed Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem. The suspects are accused of planning or assisting terrorist attacks. Forces also seized an M16 rifle, knives, a tactical vest, and a replica firearm during the raids. The operation is part of broader efforts launched after the attack at a checkpoint near Hebron, in which the two gunmen were eliminated and three additional soldiers were lightly wounded.
IDF troops from Battalion 8208 demolished the homes of terrorists Ibrahim and Zakaria Daoud in the village of Beita, south of Nablus in Judea and Samaria. According to the military, the two were responsible for three explosive-device attacks in 2024 and 2025 that injured Israeli soldiers. The demolitions followed judicial approval and form part of Israel’s longstanding policy of destroying the homes of terrorists as a deterrent against further attacks. Forces entered the village, ordered families to evacuate, and used explosives on one structure while a bulldozer leveled the other. The men have been held in Israeli custody since their arrest earlier this year.
An IDF soldier has been charged with spying for Iran after providing sensitive military information to Iranian operatives for approximately a year in exchange for cryptocurrency payments. According to the indictment filed by military prosecutors, the soldier shared details about his unit’s activities, IDF operational readiness, and emergency mobilizations, including his own call-up at the start of Operation Roaring Lion. He also passed coordinates of military bases and photographed missile interceptors, military vehicles, and American refueling aircraft parked at an Israeli airport. Investigators said he knew the identity of his Iranian handler and used encrypted communications and coded messages. The handler offered him $200,000 to travel to Iran. The soldier was arrested in September.
A large wind-driven wildfire broke out in Israel’s Ben Shemen Forest in central Israel, spreading rapidly toward Highways 1, 6, and 444 and forcing major road closures near the Ben Shemen interchange. Highway 6 northbound and Highway 444 in both directions were shut to traffic as the flames advanced from the Hadid cemetery area eastward toward Neot Kedumim. Approximately 400 hikers were evacuated from the forest, while authorities urged the public to avoid the region and use alternative routes. Israel Fire and Rescue Services initially deployed 12 crews to battle the blaze, supported by several firefighting aircraft conducting water drops. Fire Commissioner Eyal Caspi ordered a nationwide mobilization, sending roughly 50 additional crews from across the country.
Surgeons at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem have performed Israel’s first spinal correction surgery using Medtronic’s Stealth AXiS robotic system, one of the technology’s earliest uses worldwide. Led by Dr. Joshua Schroeder, director of spine surgery, the five-hour procedure corrected severe, complex scoliosis in an 18-year-old woman who had been diagnosed at age 11 and had waited years for her bones to stabilize. The system combines artificial intelligence, advanced surgical planning, and precise navigation, giving surgeons a wider working range and greater accuracy than earlier robotic platforms. Less than a week after the operation, the patient was pain-free, walking upright, and discharged home.
World
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired a surface-to-air missile from Qeshm Island at a U.S. aircraft operating over the Strait of Hormuz, prompting an American fighter jet to destroy the launcher in self-defense. The limited strike targeted the air-defense site on the strategically located island at the mouth of the vital shipping lane. U.S. officials described the response as a defensive measure against Iranian forces using surface-to-air missiles against American assets and said it did not signal the start of broader combat operations. Iranian state media reported several explosions on Qeshm, with residents describing aircraft overhead. The incident forms part of a series of quiet U.S. strikes in recent weeks aimed at protecting shipping and U.S. aircraft in the strait amid ongoing tensions. Qeshm hosts significant Iranian military infrastructure, including missile facilities and a naval base.
Serbian police shot and killed a knife-wielding minor outside the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade after he attacked an elite Gendarmerie officer guarding the mission. The assailant shouted “Allahu Akbar” before lunging at the officer with two knives and striking him in the face. The officer returned fire and killed the attacker in self-defense, sustaining only minor injuries. Serbia raised the terror threat level to its highest red alert and increased police presence at key sites.
A 46-year-old man was charged in Sydney with falsely claiming he was injured in the December 2025 Chanukah massacre at Bondi Beach in order to obtain crime-victim compensation. The man, identified in some reports as an Indian national, submitted a fraudulent claim stating he had been wounded by shrapnel during the attack, though investigators say he was uninjured and not even present at the beach. He faces charges of publishing false or misleading material to obtain an advantage and making a false representation that triggered a police investigation. Separately, proceedings against the surviving alleged perpetrator of the attack were postponed until February after he appeared on 78 charges, including 15 counts of murder. The December 14, 2025, shooting by father-and-son gunmen inspired by the Islamic State killed 15 people aged 10 to 87 and wounded around 40 others at a Chanukah celebration. New South Wales offered payments of up to AU$5,000 for injured victims.