The Biden administration has frozen a planned arms shipment to Israel, according to a report Sunday, raising concerns among Israeli leaders of a major shift in American policy vis-a-vis the Jewish state.

Two Israeli officials told Axios and Walla that the Biden White House last week froze a weapons shipment to Israel, which includes ammunition and other American-made arms.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Friday that the U.S. military intends to deploy fighter jets, reconnaissance planes and armed drones to the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar. The move is reportedly designed to circumvent restrictions on airstrikes conducted from an airbase located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

An unnamed Emirati official explained the restrictions on U.S. aerial strikes in the region.

The United Methodist Church, one of the largest Protestant denominations in the U.S., has voted to repeal its ban on LGBTQ clergy as well as prohibitions on its ministers from officiating at same-sex weddings.

Delegates overwhelmingly approved the changes, 692 to 51, during the United Methodist Church's General Conference.

(April 30, 2024 / JNS) Saudi Arabia has decided to normalize relations with Israel and is debating the timing of the announcement, a foreign diplomat familiar with the details told Haaretz on Monday.

According to the source cited in the article by the daily’s diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Lis, Riyadh is discussing whether to make the move in the coming weeks or after the U.S. presidential election this November, in which either Democrat Joe Biden will continue to lead the country or his challenger Republican Donald Trump will return to the White House.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday blasted the latest package of U.S. military assistance to Taiwan on Wednesday, saying that such funding was pushing the self-governing island republic into a “dangerous situation.”

The U.S. Senate late Tuesday passed $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars. China claims the entire island of Taiwan as its own territory and has threatened to take it by force if necessary.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — On a recent morning at a hospital in the heart of gang territory in Haiti’s capital, a woman began convulsing before her body went limp as a doctor and two nurses raced to save her.

They stuck electrodes to her chest and flipped on an oxygen machine while keeping their eyes on a computer screen that reflected a dangerously low oxygen level of 84%.

(April 22, 2024 / JNS) Iran is in contact with the Biden administration about restarting moribund talks on a new nuclear agreement amid a direct military confrontation between Tehran and U.S. ally Israel, the dpa German news agency reported on Sunday, citing a report in the Iranian Shargh newspaper.

Knowledgeable sources told Shargh that the Islamic Republic’s U.N. mission is coordinating the talks with the Americans and that Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri is no longer leading the negotiations. Instead, Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani is doing so.

US President Joe Biden released a Passover message on Sunday night that began well, focusing on the Biblical aspect of the Jewish holiday. It stayed focused on Jews and Israel, condemning the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Hamas. But Biden strayed off course, claiming that he was working to bring about a ceasefire and humanitarian aid to Gaza, both of which benefit Hamas.

“Tomorrow night, Jews around the world will celebrate Passover, recounting their miraculous Exodus story from hundreds of years of enslavement in Egypt and their journey to freedom,” the statement read. “This holiday reminds us of a profound and powerful truth: that even in the face of persecution, if we hold on to faith, we shall endure and overcome.”

Saudi Arabia, a country that was on the verge of normalization with Israel before the October 7th massacre, helped not only with intelligence but may have also assisted in neutralizing missiles fired from Iran overnight on Saturday according to one report.

Many of the drones and missiles had to travel through Jordanian and Saudi airspace to reach Israel.

A greater proportion of young Americans sympathize with the Palestinian people and government than with the Israeli people and government, while almost one in five sympathize with Hamas and a growing number want the US to end or reduce its alliance with the Jewish State, according to a new poll.

The national poll — released by the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School — was of Americans aged 18-29. It found that while 52 percent of young people sympathize with Israelis, 56 percent sympathize with the Palestinian people.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — By mid-2024, Claudia Sheinbaum will most likely become Mexico’s first female president. She would also be its first leader with a Jewish background in a country that’s home to nearly 100 million Catholics.

On June 2, voters will choose a new president, 628 congressmen and thousands of local positions — Mexico’s largest election ever, according to the National Electoral Institute.