Convoys of charedi anti-draft protesters are set to snarl traffic nationwide today, with locals vowing to block their access to the IDF prison near Kfar Yona where draft-evading yeshiva students are jailed (protests already departed 19 cities — Bnei Brak, Beit Shemesh, Jerusalem, Ashdod, Arad, Safed). ~80,000 charedi men 18–24 are eligible but unenlisted; the High Court ruled the blanket exemption illegal in 2024. The Knesset's exemption bill was just panned by the Deputy AG as creating "negative incentives" that discourage enlistment. [JNS · Times of Israel · 972mag]
The PM concluded his testimony in the corruption trial after 98 sessions over a year and a half. [Times of Israel]
Over 250 female officers are decrying rabbinic pressure to exclude women from combat, calling it "harming national security." [Times of Israel]
Netanyahu, Katz, and Chief of Staff Zamir reaffirmed Israel's military presence in southern Lebanon won't change; the talks' main dispute is the Hezbollah-disarmament mechanism. Separately, Sec. of State Rubio is reassuring Gulf allies (UAE) about the US–Iran memorandum after the spring war. The IDF says 240+ weapons were seized in the West Bank since early 2026. [Times of Israel · JPost]
The two largest frum news sites announced they're combining — a major shift in the Torah-Jewry media landscape. [Matzav.com]
Bobov-45 chassidim gathered in large numbers in London to greet the Rebbe. [Yeshiva World News]
Socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani saw several of his backed candidates win Democratic primaries Tuesday night — worth watching given the direct impact on the NY frum community. [Yeshiva World News]
Yaakov Shwekey has an album in the works (produced by Doni Gross) of 100+ Shabbos songs, paired with an ArtScroll book co-authored with Yisroel Besser. [The Jewish Insights]
No specific new single/concert for this week surfaced in the news feeds — track new drops at Mostly Music / Aderet.
Local frum news runs weekly, not on the wires: The Jewish Home (Thursdays, 165+ shuls), 5 Towns Jewish Times, and The Mevaser. No specific Five Towns headline broke nationally today — if you want, I can pull this week's Jewish Home/5TJT issue into the next briefing. [5TJT · fivetownsjewishhome.com]