N.J. man among Americans killed in Israel stampede - NJ.com

A 19-year-old Bergen County man was among multiple Americans killed in a stampede at a religious celebration in Israel, according to officials.

Donny Morris, of Bergenfield, died in the stampede that broke out late Thursday during festivities for Lag B’Omer held at Mount Meron in northern Israel, reports said. At least 45 people were killed and more than 150 left injured in the catastrophe.

“Along with so many in our community, we are heartbroken by the terrible tragedy at a Lag B’Omer celebration at Mt. Meron in Israel, which reportedly took the lives of at least 45 people, including one of my constituents, Donny Morris from Bergenfield, NJ, of blessed memory,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer said on Twitter.

“May God comfort these families together with all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem,” the congressman added.

Morris was studying in Israel during a gap year after graduating from Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy in New York City, according to the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey.

“Our deepest condolences go to the Morris family. May Donny’s memory only be for a blessing,” the organization said.

“Tammy and I are devastated by the terrible tragedy at Mount Meron during the celebrations of Lag Ba’omer. We are praying for the victims and their families, the injured, and the people of Israel,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a Twitter post.

Multiple U.S. citizens were among the casualties, a State Department spokesperson confirmed Friday. The U.S. Embassy was working with local authorities and providing support to affected U.S. citizens and their loved ones, the spokesperson said.

President Joe Biden said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offer condolences and support.

“The loss of life among worshipers practicing their faith is heartbreaking,” Biden said in a statement. “We are also working to confirm reports that American citizens may have lost their lives or been wounded during the religious observance of Lag B’Omer.”

“The people of the United States and Israel are bound together by our families, our faiths, and our histories, and we will stand with our friends,” the president said. “Our prayers are with those who were injured and all those who lost loved ones. May their memories be a blessing.”

Lag B’Omer marks the death of a second-century rabbi and is a normally celebratory event for Israel’s Orthodox community. The event attracted about 100,000 people to Mount Meron, the largest religious gathering in Israel since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Netanyahu, who visited the scene, announced a day of mourning Sunday and said authorities would “conduct a thorough, serious and in-depth investigation,” into the tragedy.

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Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com.

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Fierce Foes, Iran and Saudi Arabia Secretly Explore Defusing Tensions - The New York Times

Talks between the two regional powers, if successful, could start to lower the temperature on several conflicts across the Middle East.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a prime-time television interview four years ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia dismissed the idea that his kingdom could somehow find an accommodation with its archrival, Iran.

“How do we communicate?” he asked. “The mutual points that we can agree on with this regime are almost nonexistent.”

Now, Prince Mohammed is finding those points as he embarks on a diplomatic effort to defuse tensions between the two regional powers that have underpinned conflicts across the Middle East.

Last month, the chief of Saudi intelligence began secret talks with a senior Iranian security official in Baghdad to discuss several areas of contention, including the war in Yemen and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Iraqi and Iranian officials said.

And in a television interview this past week, Prince Mohammed cast the kingdom’s view of Iran in a new light, saying that his country objected to “certain negative behaviors” but hoped to “build a good and positive relationship with Iran that would benefit all parties.”

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia said in a television interview that he hoped to “build a good and positive relationship with Iran.”Saudi Royal Court

While concrete signs of a new understanding between Saudi Arabia and Iran have yet to emerge and could take a long time, if they happen at all, even a cooling of tempers between the adversaries could echo in countries where their rivalry fuels political feuds and armed conflicts, including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

“With negotiations and a constructive outlook, the two important countries in the region and the Islamic world can put their differences behind them and enter a new phase of cooperation and tolerance to bring stability and peace to the region,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said at a press briefing on Thursday in response to Prince Mohammed’s remarks.

The talks in Baghdad began against the backdrop of a wider reshuffling of relations in the Middle East as the region adjusts to changes in style and policy from President Trump to President Biden, changes that appear to have made Saudi Arabia more amenable to regional diplomacy.

While Mr. Trump closely allied himself with Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” aimed at squeezing concessions from Iran, Mr. Biden has cooled the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia and resumed diplomacy aimed at restoring the international agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program.

Mr. Biden harshly criticized Saudi Arabia’s human rights record during the presidential election campaign and vowed to reassess the American relationship with the kingdom. Once in office, he ordered the release of an intelligence assessment that found Prince Mohammed had likely ordered the killing of the dissident Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, although he declined to sanction the prince directly.

A symbolic funeral in Istanbul in 2018 for Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident Saudi writer killed inside Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate. Huseyin Aldemir/Reuters

Last month, the White House said it would suspend sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia in an effort to withdraw American support for Saudi Arabia’s catastrophic war in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia appears to have shifted its behavior to match the new tone.

As the new administration came in, Saudi Arabia released a number of high-profile prisoners and ended the four-year blockade it and other Arab countries had imposed on Qatar, another close United States partner that also maintains ties with Iran.

This past week, the Saudi king invited Qatar’s emir to visit Saudi Arabia, a powerful gesture of reconciliation.

Neither Iran nor Saudi Arabia, however, have publicly acknowledged the talks. Saudi officials have even publicly denied them. Their existence was confirmed privately by Iraqi and Iranian officials.

Analysts say the recent changes in U.S. administrations, on top of a longer-term reduction in Washington’s focus on the Middle East that has the Saudis questioning America’s commitment to its defense, have weakened Saudi Arabia’s hand, forcing it to take a less bellicose approach toward Iran.

“America is disengaging from the Middle East, drawing down troops and focusing on Asia, and having a balance of power between Saudi Arabia and Iran will make this exit easier,” said Ali Qholizadeh, a political analyst in Iran. “Iran is seizing this strategic opportunity.”

The two countries’ leaders claim legitimacy from rival branches of Islam — the Saudi royal family from the Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam, and Iran’s mullahs from Shiite Islam. Along the Sunni-Shiite divide, they exert influence far beyond their own borders.

They have long competed for influence across the Middle East, and the kingdom accuses Iran of using proxies to fight wars and weaken Arab states, destabilizing the region. Iran sees Saudi Arabia a key player in efforts by the United States and Israel to dominate the region and destabilize Iran.

The talks in Baghdad, hosted by Iraq’s prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, on April 9, began to address some of these issues. Iraqi and Iranian officials said the discussions touched on the activities of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and the war in Yemen, where a coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia is fighting a war against Iran-backed Houthis.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, center, with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi of Iraq, last week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Saudi Royal Palace

The talks, first reported by The Financial Times, brought together senior Saudi and Iranian security officials, according to two Iraqi officials, an Iranian official and an Iranian government adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide the information to the news media.

The Iranian government adviser said the talks included Khalid al-Homeidan, the Saudi intelligence chief, and Saeed Iravani, the deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

The officials said the countries had agreed to hold further talks in Baghdad in May, possibly between ambassadors.

Asked to comment, the Saudi government issued a statement saying it would “pursue any opportunity to promote peace and stability in the region,” provided that Iran “shows goodwill” and “ceases its malign activities.”

Each side is likely to make big requests of the other.

Iranian officials and analysts said that Iran wants to resolve the Yemen conflict, ensuring that the Houthis have a power-sharing role in the government. Iran also wants Saudi Arabia to back off its pressure campaign to remove Iran’s proxies in Iraq and Syria, stop lobbying for sanctions against Iran and not normalize ties with Israel as several other Arab countries have done.

The Saudis want to find a way to end the Yemen war and curb the provocations of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq that have attacked Saudi targets and launched drones against the kingdom from Iraq, according to Sajad Jiyad, a Baghdad-based fellow at the Century Foundation, an independent research group.

Eventually, the two sides could discuss restoring diplomatic relations, which ended in 2016 after Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shiite cleric and Iranians protesting the execution stormed two Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.

The Suweida camp for people internally displaced by conflict earlier this month, near Marib, in northern Yemen.Nabil Alawzari/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Yasmine Farouk, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who studies Saudi Arabia, said she expected the first priority to be reaching some sort of regional security arrangement like the two countries had in the past.

“They would have to do that before they could get to the point of talking about dividing up their influence around the region,” she said.

The mere decision to talk directly with Iran signaled a change in Saudi policy, she said, given that the Saudis had previously refused to discuss Yemen with Iran since they saw Iran’s involvement there as illegitimate.

“Now they are becoming more realist and mature and they feel that talking with the Iranians will be more beneficial than just saying they need to leave Yemen,” she said.

Prince Mohammed adopted a hard line on Iran after his father, King Salman, ascended the Saudi throne in 2015 and delegated tremendous power to his favorite son.

“We are a primary target for the Iranian regime,” Prince Mohammed said in a television interview in 2017, arguing that Iran’s revolutionary ideology made negotiating with its leaders impossible. “We won’t wait for the battle to be in Saudi Arabia. Instead, we’ll work so that the battle is for them in Iran.”

His tone was markedly different this past week. Even though he did not acknowledge the talks with Iran, he described it as “a neighboring country” that Saudi Arabia wanted “to prosper and grow.”

“We have Saudi interests in Iran, and they have Iranian interests in Saudi Arabia, which are to drive prosperity and growth in the region and the entire world,” he said in an interview broadcast Tuesday on Saudi state television.

Ben Hubbard reported from Beirut, Lebanon; Farnaz Fassihi from New York; and Jane Arraf from Amman, Jordan. Falih Hassan contributed reporting from Baghdad.

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The latest on Covid-19 and India's worsening crisis: Live updates - CNN

The German government could make a decision “by the end of next week” on how to lift Covid-19 restrictions for people who have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from an infection, Health Minister Jens Spahn said Friday. 

“This can be done within days,'' Spahn told reporters while visiting a new BioNTech vaccine factory in Reinbeck in Germany's state of Schleswig-Holstein. 

Spahn said that preliminary talks with Germany's lower house of parliament and the upper house of parliament about a proposal on easing restrictions are underway.

“Initial talks are being held – and if we reach a consensus very quickly in the process, then it will certainly be possible to reach a corresponding decision by the end of next week,” he went on to say. 

Crucial to this decision would be the willingness of all parties to agree on a proposal. "We as the federal government are ready for this,” he added.

Earlier on Friday, German chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesperson Steffen Seibert told reporters that the government wanted to implement an easing of restrictions “with great pressure and great ambition on timing.”

Germany's Federal Justice Ministry proposed granting exemptions to those who have had their Covid-19 vaccines or recovered from Covid-19, for example on private gatherings and the country's night-time curfew, which was introduced last Saturday in areas with high infection rates to curb the spread of the virus. 

As of Friday, nearly 27% of Germans have received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine – and nearly 8% received a second dose of a vaccine, the latest data from the country's agency for disease control prevention, the Robert Koch Institute shows. 

Health minister Jens Spahn on Friday tweeted: ''Over 2 million vaccinations have been administered in the last two days'', adding "there are only four other countries in the whole world that have vaccinated more than a million people a day."

Spahn also said he was pleased that German vaccine manufacturer BionNTech is seeking approval from the EU's medical regulator EMA to use the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children and teens aged 12 to 15.

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2021 NFL Draft grades: Analysis for every first-round selection from Trevor Lawrence to Joe Tryon - CBS Sports

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Want to know what I think of every pick made Thursday in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft? You can find it all below. You can also follow along throughout the rest of the draft on Days 2 and 3 for more grades and more analysis. Be sure to refresh this page throughout the weekend to get the latest grades. 

If you want to do all that plus track the best available prospects and get access to every pick in the draft on one page, you can in our draft tracker.

Grades: Round 1 • Round 2 • Round 3 • Round 4 • Round 5 • Round 6 • Round 7      

1. Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson

Grade: A+

Lawrence will change the dynamic of this franchise for the next decade. They will win a Super Bowl.

2. Jets: Zach Wilson, QB, BYU

Grade: B

I like him as a player, but I would have taken Justin Fields in this spot. Fields will be a better quarterback.

3. 49ers: Trey Lance, QB, NDSU

Grade: C-

I just don't see trading up with two first-round picks as the price to get a guy who is raw and needs time. Lance has skills, but he will need time.

4. Falcons: Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida

Grade: A

He is a can't-miss prospect. He is a mismatch nightmare. Great pick.

5. Bengals: Ja'Marr Chase, WR, Bengals

Grade:  B+

Love this player. He will be a big-time pass catcher as he joins former college teammate, Joe Burrow. But I would have taken an offensive tackle here.

6. Dolphins: Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama

Grade: B+

I think he has the Tyreek Hill type of ability. I think he will help Tua Tagovailoa a ton. It works.

7. Lions: Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon

Grade: B+

They probably thought he wouldn't be here, so they had to be happy he was. Sewell has a ton of talent and will upgrade that line in a big way.

8. Panthers: Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina

Grade: B

I liked Patrick Surtain more, but I get it. Horn is a feisty corner who will definitely be a good cover player.

9. Broncos: Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama

Grade:  A

I love his game. He is one of those corners who will be sound from the minute he steps on the field. He will be a star.

10. Eagles: DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama

Grade: B+

They needed to get another weapon to help Jalen Hurts, so I like the pick. When the corners went off, they had to be disappointed.

11. Bears: Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State

Grade: A

They gave up a lot, but they ended up with the second-best quarterback in the draft. It's a bold move, but necessary.

12. Cowboys: Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State

Grade: B

Do the Cowboys really need a linebacker? I know their linebackers didn't play as well last year, but this wasn't a major need.

13. Chargers: Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern

Grade: B

He will be an immediate starter at left tackle, which fills a major need. Justin Herbert will be happy.

14. Jets: Alijah Vera-Tucker, OL, USC

Grade: B+

They need to build the offensive line in front Zach Wilson. With Tucker, who can play guard or right tackle, they add to Mehki Becton from last year. Solid move to go get him.

15. Patriots: Mac Jones, QB, Alabama

Grade:  B

 It's the perfect situation for him. He fits in the Josh McDaniels' offense.

16. Cardinals: Zaven Collins, LB, Tulsa

Grade:  B+

He will add another big-time playmaker to a defense that needed it. He can run and chase or rush off the edge.

17. Raiders: Alex Leatherwood, OL, Alabama

Grade: B

I don't love this pick. They need line help, but he's more of a second-round pick in my mind.

18. Dolphins: Jaelen Phillips, EDGE, Miami

Grade: B

If his medical stays clean, it's a good pick. They address a need that had to be filled. He's loaded with talent.

19. Washington: Jamin Davis, LB, Kentucky 

Grade:  A

This is one of my favorite picks of the draft. He will be a special player on a talented front seven.

20. Giants: Kadarius Toney, WR, Florida

Grade: B

He has the tools to really add a big-play threat to the offense. Trading down and getting a playmaker and a first-round pick next year is a good move.

21. Colts: Kwity Paye, EDGE, Michigan

Grade: B-

This is a kid with a lot of raw talent, but didn't produce to that level. It will show better as he learns the tricks of the trade better. He fills a need.

22. Titans: Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech

Grade: B-

This is a boom-or-bust pick. If he's healthy, this is a great pick. But injury concerns are real.

23. Vikings: Christian Darrisaw, OT, Virginia Tech

Grade: A

I love this pick. I believe he will be the best tackle in the draft. It fills a need in a big way.

24. Steelers: Najee Harris, RB, Alabama

Grade: C

I don't like picking backs in the first round. Good player, but backs should come later.

25. Jaguars: Travis Etienne, RB, Clemson

Grade: C+

He's my favorite back in this class as a true air back. He will give them the speed they need in the backfield and help the passing game. But he's still a back in the first round.

26. Browns: Greg Newsome II, CB, Northwestern

Grade: B

They've spent a lot of draft capital at corner in recent years. Newsome is a good, solid player but they have bigger needs.

27. Ravens: Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota

Grade: C

I know they needed help at receiver, but there are better options down the line.

28. Saints: Payton Turner, EDGE, Houston

Grade: C

I know they need edge help, but there were better options.

29. Packers: Eric Stokes, CB, Georgia 

Grade:  B+

He has size and can run and addresses a major need. I like the pick a lot.

30. Bills: Gregory Rousseau, EDGE, Miami

Grade:  B-

The talent is there, but he didn't play last year and it hurt his stock. He is a big power player who fills a need.

31. Ravens: Jayson Oweh, EDGE, Penn State

Grade: B-

He is raw and has a ton of talent, but he didn't produce. He does fill a need.

32. Buccaneers: Joe Tryon, EDGE, Washington

Grade:  B

With the entire team back, it makes sense to draft another edge player with Jason Pierre-Paul getting up in the years.

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Texans draft quarterback Davis Mills in third round amid Deshaun Watson allegations - Yahoo Sports

The Houston Texans want to make sure they are covered at quarterback. With Deshaun Watson facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, the team selected Stanford quarterback Davis Mills in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft on Friday night.

While Davis was selected with the No. 67 overall pick, it was the Texans' first pick of this draft. The team traded away both its 2021 first- and second-round pick to acquire offensive linemen Laremy Tunsil from the Miami Dolphins in 2019.

Mills, 22, joins the team after three seasons at Stanford. He played in 14 games at Stanford, starting 11. In those games, Mills threw for 18 touchdowns against eight interceptions. Mills ranked No. 70 on the top 100 draft prospects list of Yahoo Sports draft analyst Eric Edholm. 

Mills has dealt with knee and leg injuries in high school and college. He's considered a developmental prospect who may need a year before he starts in the NFL, according to Edholm.

What does Davis Mills pick mean for Deshaun Watson?

With Watson facing allegations of sexual misconduct, his status in 2021 is up in the air. The NFL is conducting an investigation of the allegations and it could get involved before the offseason is over. League commissioner Roger Goodell has the power to suspend Watson — or place him on the commissioner's exempt list — depending on what the NFL finds from its investigation. 

Even before those allegations emerged, Watson wanted out of Houston. While he was adamant about a trade, both new general manager Nick Caserio and head coach David Culley expressed confidence Watson would remain with the team to start 2021. 

The Houston Chronicle reported that at least eight teams were interested in acquiring Watson before the allegations surfaced. Now, it seems unlikely any team will acquire Watson until — at the very least — the Houston police complete their investigation.

With that much uncertainty facing Watson, the Texans decided it was in their best interest to take a Mills in the third round.

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Packers trade up to select Amari Rodgers - NBC Sports

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There will be at least one ARod on the 2021 Packers.

Green Bay traded up from No. 92 to No. 85 overall to select Clemson wide receiver Amari Rodgers.

The son of former Steelers, Eagles, and Raiders quarterback Tee Martin, Rodgers caught 77 passes for 1,020 yards with seven touchdowns as a senior at Clemson. He contributed for all four years in his time at the program, winning a national championship in 2018.

The Packers are returning much of their wide receiving corps from last season, led by All-Pro Davante Adams. Devin Funchess will also return, after opting out of the 2020 season.

But the big question remains whether or not quarterback Aaron Rodgers — who reportedly wants out — will be there to throw them the ball. The Packers have also selected Georgia cornerback Eric Stokes and Ohio State center Josh Myers so far in the 2021 draft.

Green Bay traded its 92nd and 135th overall picks to the Titans to move up to No. 85.

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Biden calls Netanyahu to offer condolences over Mount Meron stampede - Yahoo News

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Israel stampede: Netanyahu vows to investigate

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for an annual day of mourning, after at least 45 people were crushed to death at an overcrowded religious festival in the early hours of Friday (April 29).Visiting the site hours later, he was heckled by angry protesters, but vowed to unearth the cause of the deadly incident:"We will carry out a thorough, serious and in-depth investigation in order to ensure that such a disaster does not reoccur."Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews had gathered at the Mount Meron tomb for the annual Lag B'Omer commemorations, which include all-night prayer and dance.Ecstatic crowds assembled despite warnings to maintain social distancing against COVID-19.A stampede ensued in the men’s section of the festival, according to medics, and casualties included children.Some victims were asphyxiated or trampled on in a tightly packed passageway, and some went unnoticed until the PA system sounded an appeal to disperse.Over 100 were wounded and videos on social media showed men trying to push through walls of iron to escape the crush.Bodies lay on stretchers in a corridor, covered in foil blankets.Hayim Cohen was among the attendees:"I was there exactly when it happened, down there on the side. It started when a few paramedics started to run, and then there was some kind of mess, police, screaming, a big mess, and after half an hour it looked like a scene of a suicide bombing attack, numerous people coming out from there on stretchers."A police spokesman said the overall capacity at Mount Meron was similar to previous years but that bonfire areas were partitioned off this time as a COVID-19 precaution.Israeli media said that may have created unexpected choke-points on foot traffic.The Justice Ministry said investigators would look into whether there had been any police misconduct connected to the tragedy.

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