August 20 2026 News

For nearly two thousand years, in every synagogue in the world, the shofar has fallen silent whenever Rosh Hashanah lands on Shabbat. A beit din (rabbinic court) of three, led by Rabbi Yisrael Ariel on behalf of the nascent Sanhedrin, announced this week that it has renewed a ruling permitting the shofar to be blown on Shabbat when Rosh Hashanah falls on the seventh day of the week. Rabbi Ariel founded the Temple Institute in Jerusalem and has for years taken part in efforts to revive a modern rabbinical assembly modeled on the historical Sanhedrin. The body stated it will convene next Rosh Hashanah at the Temple Institute in Jerusalem’s Old City to carry out the practice, a ruling its members say rests directly on the Mishnah and on Maimonides. The timing gives the ruling immediate relevance. Rosh Hashanah 2026 begins at sundown on Friday, September 11, and ends at nightfall on Sunday, September 13, marking the start of the Jewish year 5787. Because the first day of the holiday falls on Shabbat, the question the beit din addressed is not theoretical. It is the exact circumstance to which the ruling was issued.

Israel has begun work on building a gallows, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir revealed this week, months after the passage of a new death penalty law for West Bank Palestinians convicted of deadly acts of terrorism. In a video filmed at an undisclosed location, Ben Gvir pointed to a construction site where he declared “terrorists will be executed” by hanging. He said the facility would include viewing booths so the families of terror victims can watch them hang.

U.S. President Donald Trump has pivoted to “economic warfare” against the Islamic Republic, announcing a new economic strategy targeting Iran, after the expiration of the Memorandum of Understanding earlier this week and amid stalled negotiations with the Iranian regime. In a post to his Truth Social account, Trump announced “the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY!” saying, “This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale.” The announcement, which Trump referred to as “an ECONOMIC D-DAY,” represents the latest strategy shift announced by the president via social media. The move comes just days after Trump reversed his previous course, in which he had claimed ongoing negotiations between his administration and the Iranian regime, declaring on Tuesday that “There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.” In his Truth Social post on Wednesday night, Trump highlighted the economic impact of existing U.S. sanctions on Iran, while threatening “TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences” for any nation trading with the Islamic Republic.

Comcast is offering a service called Wi-Fi Shield to Xfinity Internet users at no extra cost. So, what’s the catch? It includes a feature called Wi-Fi Motion, which uses Xfinity Gateway intelligence to provide “an added layer of awareness without recording video, capturing images or identifying individuals.” In other words, it is home monitoring without cameras and can identify exactly who is in the room or, for example, walks past a café with Wi-Fi enabled, whether their personal devices (e.g. phone) are connected to Comcast’s Wi-Fi router or not, and even when a person is not carrying any digital devices at all. It turns every router into a potential method of surveillance without people’s knowledge or consent.

Israel’s Jewish birth count is rising again in 2026, extending a striking demographic rebound even as the country grapples with war, political turmoil, and elevated emigration. New data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) show that 66,753 babies were born to Jewish mothers in the first six months of 2026, up 2.6 percent from 65,091 during the same period last year. The increase was not confined to a single month. Jewish births rose year-over-year in March, April, May, and June, with the latter jumping more than 4 percent compared with June 2025.

The United States Department of Defense has funded an effort by SUNY Polytechnic Institute scientists to use artificial intelligence to evaluate complex defense scenarios before they unfold, including real-time predictive analysis of multiple potential scenarios in a concerted effort to predict the future on the battlefield. DoD and SUNY Poly officials said the ‘landmark’ $61.8 million award, which will directly support the U.S. Army Transformation Decision Analysis Center (TDAC), will use advanced, data-driven analytical tools to offer the U.S. Army an unprecedented tactical advantage, improving preparedness and reducing uncertainty in high-stakes decision-making battlefield environments. The first phase of the effort to use AI to predict the future will focus on synchronizing military operations in several critical domains, including land, air, space, and cyberspace. The team, which includes researchers from the University of South Florida and the University System of Maryland, said this phase will emphasize integrating generative AI, foundation models, and advanced inference systems to “simulate complex operational scenarios and provide predictive insights.”

Meta has taken a bold step toward always-on personal surveillance with a newly published patent for AI-powered camera glasses that can automatically identify people nearby, analyze their expressions, and decide which moments are worth capturing and saving. According to a report from Tom’s Guide, the patent filing outlines camera-equipped smart glasses capable of using facial recognition, expression analysis, and data about a wearer’s personal relationships to recognize individuals in the field of view and generate curated highlights without constant manual input.

There have been plenty of headlines about Flock’s license plate-scanning technology lately, but that’s not its only controversial business. The company says its Drone as First Responder, or DFR, tech – which can also read license plates from the air – is its fastest-growing segment. Flock is best known for the roadside cameras now operating in more than 6,000 US communities. But the company is increasingly betting on drones that can be dispatched to emergency scenes before police officers arrive.A Flock spokesperson said the firm has secured more than 200 DFR customers, including police departments and private companies. It’s also ramping up production of its US-designed drones, which will be built in Georgia. In an interview with the All-In podcast, CEO Garrett Langley explained that the drones sit in climate-controlled rooftop docks, usually on police precincts or fire departments. “When a 911 call happens, instead of sending an officer first, you can send a drone,” he said.

Students across the country are using AI models to complete assignments and write entire essays. Some of this constitutes cheating, but in many cases schools are allowing students to make some use of AI tools. This is a slippery slop. As some experts argue, any intrusion of automation into the writing process isn’t just threatening students’ composition skills, but their entire ability to think.