Metro Voice is beginning a daily news brief to bring you the news in a paragraph or less. Here’s the news for Friday, May 24, 2025.
Israel recovers three more hostage bodies
The Israel Defense Forces recovered the bodies of three more hostages from the northern Gaza Strip during an overnight operation, the military announced on Friday. Orión Hernández Radoux, 30, Hanan Yablonka, 42, and Michel Nisenbaum, 59, were all killed on October 7, and then abducted by Hamas terrorists from the Mefalsim region. Last week, Israel recovered from the enclave the bodies of hostages Shani Louk, 22, Amit Bouskila, 28, Ron Benjamin, 53, and Itzhak Gelerenter, 56.
Settlement reached over Ohio derailment
According to the Washington Examiner, “Norfolk Southern agreed to spend an estimated $235 million for clean-up, $25 million for a 20-year community health program, $30 million for monitoring water quality, and $6 million for a “waterways remediation plan” to prioritize addressing historical pollution.” The deal was reached Thursday between the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice for a $310 million settlement with Norfolk Southern over a train derailment last year in East Palestine, Ohio.
National Park Service will allow Catholic service
After denying the Knights of Columbus a permit, the National Park Service has reversed its decision and will now allow the Knights to host a Memorial Day service at a National Park. The First Liberty Institute released a statement late Thursday announcing that NPS gave a permit for the Knights of Columbus Petersburg Council 694 to hold its annual Memorial Day Mass at the Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia. The Park Service had originally classified the mass a “demonstration” and denied it on those grounds.
Wreck of famous WWII submarine found
The wreck of one of one of the most famous US Navy submarines of World War II has been found 80 years after its last patrol. The USS Harder lies under 3,000 feet of water off the Philippine island of Luzon. Amazingly, the sub sits upright and is intact except for damage behind the conning tower. It was sunk by a Japanese depth charge on August 24, 1944. Its entire crew of 79 sailors was lost according to a press release from the Navy’s History and Heritage Command. It was only its sixth mission.
Ukrainian rescuers search for Russian missile victims
Rescue teams continue to search through rubble after a Russian missile strike killed at least seven in Ukraine’s second-largest city. More than a dozen were injured in Kharkiv in the country’s northeast region. At least two people remain missing after Russian forces struck the city at least 15 times. Residents of the city, which had 1.4 million residents before Russia invaded, have been advised to remain in shelters, including its subway system. Missiles apparently targeted the city’s busy railway stations and other transportation infrastructure. The attacks come as Russia renews its offensive. Ukraine’s population remains vulnerable as its military is stretched for a lack of supplies and personnel. The country has strengthened its draft to ensure the military can fill the positions of the tens of thousands lost in the defense of the country.
ICJ rules Israel must stop war
BREAKING NEWS: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive against Hamas military brigades in Rafah. It cited an “immediate risk” to the Palestinian people using data that has been questioned by Israel. The death toll in Gaza was recently reduced by 50% after Hamas admitted it inflated the numbers. The UN then reduced its numbers by the same amount as it had been relying on unverifiable information provided by the terrorist organization. The civilian-to-combatant death toll currently stands at 1:1, a number so low it has never been seen in modern warfare. Still, critics of Israel, including the ICJ, are demanding that Israel end the war which Hamas began on Oct. 7. Israel says it is doing everything it can to minimize civilian deaths, including texting Gazans about impending actions and dropping millions of leaflets. Israel has also set up a safe zone.
–Dwight Widaman and news services