Ukrainian counterintelligence investigators said Tuesday that they thwarted a plan by Russian agents to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other high-level officials. Two colonels in the State Guard of Ukraine, which protects top officials, were arrested on suspicion of treason for enacting the plan, Ukraine's state security service said in a prepared statement, which added that the plot was drawn up by Russia's Federal Security Service. Moscow did not immediately comment on...

The rising costs of a floating pier off the coast of the embattled Gaza Strip – said to be aimed at enabling shipments of humanitarian aid to reach the civilian population trapped in the central and northern parts of the Palestinian enclave – has stoked controversy after it was revealed this week that the project will cost the U.S. upward of $320 million.  On Tuesday, the U.S. Central Command posted photographs on X of the pier under construction by U.S. soldiers in...

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s warning comes as the port off the coast of Gaza is expected to be ready sometime in early May. Speaking at a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Austin told lawmakers that it was “possible” U.S. servicemembers could be shot while operating the pier off the coast of Gaza. “Typically, all of the deployed service members carry guns and they have the ability to protect themselves if challenged,” Austin said. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) questioned if that...

As early as this weekend, some 90 trucks will roll off a metal causeway onto a beach in Gaza. Then the United Nations will deliver the much-needed food and medicine to Palestinians, some of whom are already suffering famine conditions. The United Nations said half of Gaza's more than 2 million people are starving. But questions remain about whether this will be a successful operation. Senior military officials say tens of thousands of desperate residents could cluster at the end of the...

The Medicare and Social Security trustees’ reports illustrate the same thing they do every year: These programs are not financially sustainable and will require reforms if they are to continue to exist. The insolvency date for Medicare was extended to 2036, rather than 2031 from last year’s report, leading some to conclude that the program has fundamentally improved. This conclusion is wrongheaded for two reasons. First, the insolvency date is only for Part A of Medicare, the hospital-...

A financial expert has warned that the Social Security program is "heading for trouble," despite a new report indicating the benefit program is doing well. On Monday, the Social Security Administration (SSA) published its annual Trustees Report, which found the government retirement and disability benefits program has fared better than expected over the last year due to the improving economy. The expected depletion date of the program's Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)...

President Biden and former president Donald Trump don’t agree on much, but both have pledged not to touch Social Security benefits. This is a reflection of political reality, which is that a lot of seniors, who tend to vote at high rates, depend on the programs, and that they are popular generally. Social Security has a broadly progressive impact on income distribution: The bottom half of earners rely on it to stay out of poverty in retirement. Financial reality, though, is that if the programs...

Many critics are displaying a combination of ignorance and mendacity, often with a significant dollop of anti-Jewish conspiracy theory. Some on both left and right have been up in arms about the Antisemitism Awareness Act (AAA) passed by the House of Representatives, which may get taken up by the Senate. Those on the left (and some on the right) argue that it will make criticizing Israel illegal. Others on the right claim it will outlaw Christianity. Tucker Carlson, for example, tweeted that...

A group of nearly 700 Jewish college faculty signed a letter to President Biden on Wednesday encouraging him not to back the controversial Antisemitism Awareness Act.  The academics took issue with the act’s use of the International Holocaust Awareness Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which has raised concerns that legitimate criticisms of the state of Israel could be seen as antisemitic under the bill. The bill easily passed the House last week, though 21 Republicans...

Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act. But American Jews who care about fighting antisemitism should be against it. HR 6090, the Antisemitism Awareness Act, passed 320–91. Seventy Democrats and 21 Republicans voted against it (including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who noted that she was against antisemitism but wanted to protect her Christian right to say that Jews killed Jesus). The legislation would see the adoption of the International Holocaust...