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CNN data analyst Harry Enten shows how the narrative that President Trump is losing GOP support over the Jeffrey Epstein saga is completely false.

The Senate gave its approval early Thursday morning to President Donald Trump’s proposal to slash billions in funding allocated for foreign aid and public broadcasting, marking a legislative victory for the Republican leader.

In a 51-48 vote, senators backed Trump’s initiative to cancel $9 billion in already-authorized government expenditures.

Among the 53 Republicans in the Senate, only Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine broke ranks to oppose the measure, siding with Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who earlier this week voted against bringing the bill forward—requiring a tiebreaker vote from Vice President JD Vance—ultimately supported it when it came up for a final vote.

The bulk of the proposed cuts are aimed at international assistance programs that support regions afflicted by illness, conflict, and environmental catastrophes. Additionally, the package erases the full $1.1 billion in anticipated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting over the next two years.

Trump and many Republicans have long contended that taxpayer funding for public media is wasteful and have been critical of its editorial stance, which they say displays bias against conservative viewpoints.

It’s highly unusual for rescission bills—proposals to revoke previously authorized spending—to pass, as lawmakers are generally reluctant to relinquish their constitutional authority over the federal purse.

Though $9 billion is a minuscule fraction of the overall $6.8 trillion federal budget, the rescissions are part of a broader strategy by the Trump administration to drastically scale back spending. Many of these efforts have been led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created under billionaire Elon Musk’s direction.

According to data compiled by Democratic lawmakers monitoring budget holds, as of mid-June, the administration had frozen $425 billion in congressionally approved funds.

Nevertheless, Trump and his allies have vowed to introduce more rescission requests, arguing that pulling back previously allocated money is essential to shrinking the size of government.

Last month, the House narrowly passed the measure 214-212, with four Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against it.

In response to concerns among Senate Republicans regarding cuts to international health initiatives, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought announced earlier this week that the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)—a flagship anti-AIDS program initiated in 2003 under George W. Bush—would be spared from the cuts.

That concession reduced the total amount of the proposed rescissions from $9.4 billion to $9 billion, prompting the need for a second House vote before the package can head to Trump’s desk for final approval.

Under the law, Congress has until Friday to pass the rescissions measure. If the deadline is missed, the request will lapse, and the executive branch will be obligated to follow the existing spending framework enacted by Congress.

Senators Murkowski and Collins maintained their opposition to the bill during the final vote.

“You don’t need to gut the entire Corporation for Public Broadcasting,” Murkowski said in remarks on the Senate floor.

She voiced concern that the administration had failed to guarantee continued support for global disease eradication campaigns, citing malaria and polio. More fundamentally, Murkowski emphasized, Congress must not abandon its constitutional power over fiscal decisions.

Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota characterized the initiative as a “small, but important step toward fiscal sanity.”

Democrats disagreed sharply, highlighting that earlier this month Republicans supported a sweeping tax and spending package estimated by independent analysts to increase the national debt by more than $3 trillion, which currently stands at $36.2 trillion.

They accused the GOP of relinquishing legislative power over spending.

“Today, Senate Republicans turn this chamber into a subservient rubber stamp for the executive, at the behest of Donald Trump,” charged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

“Republicans embrace the credo of cut, cut, cut now, and ask questions later,” Schumer added.

The rescissions would override recent bipartisan budget agreements, including the comprehensive funding bill passed in March. Democrats warned that this partisan maneuver could make it harder to reach consensus on the broader budget legislation that must be passed by September 30 to avert a government shutdown.

While most Senate legislation requires a 60-vote threshold to advance, rescission packages only need a simple majority—allowing Republicans to pass it even without a single Democratic vote.

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s Health Ministry on Thursday warned of a severe heatwave that is expected to last from Thursday until Sunday. Heavy to extreme heat is expected throughout the country, with the highest temperatures measured in recent weeks. The ministry calls on the public to minimize exposure to the sun as much as possible, to drink large amounts of water regardless of activity level, and to stay in air-conditioned places. Unnecessary physical exertion should be avoided. The ministry recommends that the elderly and those with chronic diseases avoid staying outdoors during this period. Whenever outdoors, it is recommended to wear a wide-brimmed hat, wear light and comfortable clothing, and apply sunscreen with SPF of 30 or higher. The ministry reminds the public not to leave infants, children, the elderly, and animals in vehicles unattended for even a short period of time. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Zohran Mamdani openly admits he wants to get rid of private property.

The Boro Park community celebrates as the Boro Park Jewish Community Council (BPJCC) proudly opens its new Community Center at 5102 13th Avenue marking a monumental occasion for Boro Park’s growing and vibrant neighborhood. The center is already bustling with activity, having hosted nearly 100 participants Tuesday, July 15, at the second workforce class on premises as the BPJCC prepares to roll out an expanded array of programs that promise to further benefit, uplift and unite the community. This extraordinary new facility, made possible by the generous donation of a spacious, ground-level walk-in site from Metropolitan Commercial Bank (MCB), stands as a testament to the Bank’s deep-rooted commitment to Boro Park. This generous donation, one of the most significant in recent Boro Park memory and has already sparked immense appreciation among residents. The BPJCC, a cornerstone of the Boro Park community for decades, has long provided critical services including career assistance, SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare, SSI, senior, parenting courses and Holocaust survivor programs from its present location at 1310 46th Street. Now, thanks to MCB’s remarkable generosity, the organization has a second, spacious headquarters in the heart of Boro Park, made available under a generous 10-year, rent-free lease for a considerable portion of MCB’s property. This act of giving, announced on July 14, 2025, HERE: is part of MCB’s “Committed to Boro Park” campaign, launched in November 2023 when the Bank opened its stunning new Boro Park Banking Center. “When we purchased 5102 13th Avenue to create a new and improved banking center for our Boro Park clients, we knew we wouldn’t need the entire building,” Mark R. DeFazio, Founder, President & CEO of Metropolitan Commercial Bank tells YWN. “Donating this space to BPJCC—an organization that does so much good—was a natural next step.” MCB’s donation is nothing short of historic. The adjacent bank, widely admired for its artistic design, has become a standout landmark in Boro Park. The Bank has not only invested in its own creatively designed banking center which boasts incredible artistic décor including a full-color, wall mural of the Western Wall  and a monochrome mural of Chassidim dancing but, by providing the BPJCC with rent-free space, MCB has also invested in the future of Boro Park itself. Led by Market Sales Manager Rus Levi, along with a dedicated and outstanding team, the banking center reflects MCB’s strong commitment to both its clients and the broader community. “We are deeply grateful to Metropolitan Commercial Bank for this extraordinary act of generosity,” Avi Greenstein, CEO of the Boro Park Jewish Community Council tells YWN. “A new home in the heart of Boro Park allows us to serve more families, more effectively. MCB’s commitment to our community goes far beyond banking; they are true partners in strengthening Boro Park.” The new BPJCC Community Center is a masterpiece for the community. It is easily accessible and features high ceilings, a beautiful front-and-center space, and full ADA compliance to ensure all residents, seniors, families, and individuals with disabilities, can access its resources with ease. The center is already alive with activity, and the BPJCC looks forward to hosting workforce development classes, parenting workshops, mentoring sessions, and programs tailored for seniors in the spacious space. The center will also serve as a venue for large neighborhood meetings and events, further fostering community connection. […]

Did you know that if you start Masechta Pesachim this week with the Amud HaYomi, you can complete the entire masechta before the coming Pesach?! Yes, with a relatively small investment of time and effort every day, you can be koneh a masechta and know it well! HaGaon HaRav Isamar Garbuz, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Orchos Torah, recalled that there had once been a kollel that put an emphasis on retaining what the avreichim learned in previous years. They devoted a certain amount each day to chazering the previous masechtos that they had learned. They decided to do an entire blatt daily. Initially, it worked but as time went on, many avreichim had difficulty keeping up. They went to consult with HaGaon HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, zt”l, and Rav Shteinman told them that they should chazer only an amud each day, because at times a daf a day is too much. “I too,” Rav Garbuz proclaimed, “think that many will be able to benefit greatly from learning an amud each day. With perseverance they will finish and retain Shas.” As the Amud HaYomi completes Masechta Eruvin and embarks on Masechta Pesachim, lomdei Dirshu recall a siyum on Eruvin held by Dirshu twelve years ago at exactly this time of the year, the period of the Three Weeks, at the Binyanei Haumah Convention Center in Yerushalayim when Klal Yisrael was at a similar crossroads. At that time, Gedolei Yisrael, led by the great senior Rosh Yeshiva, HaGaon HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, zt”l, who was nearly one hundred years old and HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Auerbach, zt”l, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Maalos HaTorah, attended.  At that siyum, Rav Aharon Leib said, “Just like a person can’t live without air, so to a Jew cannot live spiritually without Torah. The world cannot exist without Torah. A Jew cannot exist without Torah. If a person chalila does not have an esrog on Sukkos, he can still be a Yid. If he doesn’t have Torah, however, the world DOES come to an end.  Hashem makes air the easiest commodity to obtain because without it we would cease to live. Without Torah, a person would cease to live. So too, Hashem infused in the creation the ability for a person who cannot learn Torah or cannot learn a sufficient amount of Torah to connect with the Torah through supporting it. Thus, everyone can have a chelek, a part of Torah.”  The Amud HaYomi is scheduled to begin Masechta Pesachim this coming Monday, 25 Tammuz/July 21. The program will complete the entire Masechta Pesachim, all one-hundred-and-twenty-one dafim, before Pesach. Anyone who has ever had the zechus to learn a Masechta in its entirety before a Yom Tov, can attest to the fact that the entire Yom Tov is different after having been immersed in all aspects of that Yom Tov for the better part of the year preceding it. Learning the masechta before the Yom Tov truly transforms the Yom Tov into a different spiritual experience.  With the Amud HaYomi there are so many ways to learn. Lomdei Amud HaYomi can avail themselves of shiurim now being given in hundreds of different communities worldwide. There are also shiurim one can access on the phone and on various Torah platforms with some of the best, world renowned maggidei shiurim. […]

Dear Matzav Inbox, 

I write this letter to you having firsthand knowledge. It’s something I live with every day.

It’s time we stop whispering about a crisis that’s already roaring through the hallways of our mosdos hachinuch. The financial collapse of our yeshivos and Bais Yaakovs isn’t a looming threat. It’s here. Mosdos that carry the burden of raising the next generation of bnei Torah, bnos Yisroel, and committed ovdei Hashem are suffocating under the weight of deficits, mounting debts, and impossible expectations.

Speak to any administrator off the record and you’ll hear the same grim truth: they don’t know how they’ll meet payroll the next month. Teachers are waiting on delayed checks. Office staff are fielding desperate phone calls not just from vendors, but from parents, drowning in financial anxiety. Building repairs are being deferred, programs cut, and class sizes ballooning, all because the money just isn’t there.

Let’s be honest. The vast majority of parents in our communities simply cannot pay full tuition. Many can’t even meet discounted obligations. The cost of living in the frum world continues to soar—housing, groceries, health insurance, simchos, etc.—and then comes tuition, often the largest and most relentless expense of all. Multiply that by three, five, seven or more children, and the math doesn’t work. No financial planning course in the world can make it add up.

We can’t ignore the reality that the current tuition model is broken. It is built on the unspoken assumption that a minority of full-paying families, along with heroic fundraising efforts, will somehow carry the rest. But those full-pay families are shrinking in number. The donor class is already stretched thin, being pulled in ten directions by countless communal needs. And the askanim fundraising for schools are burning out, facing rejection after rejection, year after year, while being expected to perform financial miracles.

Meanwhile, families who request discounts are often made to feel ashamed or judged, forced to disclose personal financial details to justify their need. The process is invasive, humiliating, and in many cases, completely detached from the real financial stressors families face—credit card debt, unstable income, and so on. We are expecting mothers and fathers, already overwhelmed with life, to defend their right to educate their children.

Mosdos are constantly teetering on the edge, unable to pay their rebbeim and moros adequately or on time.

We can no longer afford to treat this crisis as “someone else’s problem.” We need real solutions—and I honestly don’t know what those solutions are. And no, the ECCA bill is not the answer. It might help a bit, but it won’t solve the problem.

Don’t say you didn’t know. You heard it here. Our mosdos are drowning.

Sincerely,

S. T.

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{Matzav.com}

Travelers giddy about being able to keep their shoes on while walking through TSA checkpoints at the airport again may have something else to look forward to: changes to how much liquid they can carry. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday during a conference hosted by “The Hill” that she is questioning “everything TSA does” and spoke of possible changes to the amount of liquids travelers can tote in their carry-on baggage. “The liquids, I’m questioning. So that may be the next big announcement is what size your liquids need to be,” Noem said. “We have put in place in TSA a multilayered screening process that allows us to change some of how we do security and screening so it’s still as safe.” She gave no details about precisely what those changes might be or how quickly travelers could expect to see them. Under the Transportation and Security Administration’s current guidance, travelers can carry liquids in travel-sized containers 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) or less per item in their carry-on bag. Those containers must be placed in a one-quart resealable plastic bag. Bigger containers must go in checked baggage, though there are exceptions for medications and baby formula. Noem announced on July 8 that travelers were no longer required to take their shoes off while going through screening after a pilot program showed TSA had the equipment needed to keep airports and aircraft safe while allowing people to keep their shoes on. That policy had been in place since 2006, several years after “shoe bomber” Richard Reid’s failed attempt to take down a flight from Paris to Miami in late 2001. The limits on liquids were triggered by a 2006 incident where authorities foiled a plot to used liquid explosives smuggled aboard carry-on luggage to blow up planes. Ever since the guidelines were put in place TSA checkpoints have been the scene of travelers quickly guzzling water, digging through luggage to find and discard a too-large tube of hair gel and chucking jars of everything from jam to bottles of coffee that didn’t meet the size requirement. The guidance also triggered discussions — sometimes arguments — over what constitutes a liquid. Yogurt? Peanut butter? Jam and jelly? All are currently restricted to containers no bigger than 3.4 ounces as detailed on an extensive list that TSA maintains on its website titled “What can I bring?” Noem also laid out her vision for the future of airport travel during the talk Wednesday. “Hopefully, the future of an airport, where I’m looking to go is that you walk in the door with your carry-on suitcase, you walk through a scanner and go right to your plane,” Noem said. “It takes you one minute.” (AP)

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signed a landmark treaty on Thursday that pledges to tighten defense ties and boost law-enforcement cooperation against criminal people-smuggling gangs using the English Channel. “This is a historic day for German-British relations,” said Merz, making his first official visit to Britain since taking office in May. “We want to work together more closely, particularly after the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. It is overdue for us to conclude such a treaty with each other.” Starmer said the agreement — signed at London’s V&A Museum, which is named after Queen Victoria and her German husband, Prince Albert — was a “statement of intent, a statement of our ambition to work ever more closely together.” Starmer has made it a priority of his center-left Labour Party to curb the gangs behind cross-Channel people smuggling. About 37,000 people were detected crossing the English Channel from France in small boats in 2024, and more than 20,000 people made the crossing in the first six months of 2025. Dozens have died trying to make the crossing. Berlin agreed last year to make facilitating the smuggling of migrants to the U.K. a criminal offence, a move that will give law enforcement more powers to investigate the supply and storage of small boats to be used for the crossings. Merz is expected to commit to adopting the law change by the end of the year. “Chancellor Merz’s commitment to make necessary changes to German law to disrupt the supply lines of the dangerous vessels which carry illegal migrants across the Channel is hugely welcome,” Starmer said. The treaty builds on a defense pact the U.K. and Germany, two of the biggest European supporters of Ukraine, signed last year pledging closer co-operation against a growing threat from Russia. It includes a promise to come to one another’s aid in the event of an attack — though as NATO members, they are already committed to that. The leaders’ talks over lunch at 10 Downing St. included ways to boost European support for Ukraine, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a plan to bolster Kyiv’s stockpile by selling American weapons to NATO allies who would in turn send arms to Kyiv. They announced that German defense startup Stark, which makes drones for Ukraine, will open a factory in England. They are also expected to agree to jointly produce defense exports such as Boxer armored vehicles and Typhoon jets, and to develop a deep precision strike missile in the next decade. Starmer has worked to improve relations with Britain’s neighbors, strained by the U.K.’s acrimonious departure from the European Union in 2020. He has sought to rebuild ties strained by years of ill-tempered wrangling over Brexit terms, an worked to reduce trade barriers and to strengthen defense cooperation. But Starmer has ruled out rejoining the 27-nation bloc’s single market or customs union, and has been cool to the idea of a youth mobility agreement with the EU. The two countries agreed on a more limited arrangement that will make it easier for schoolchildren to go on exchange trips. “I am glad we were able to reach an agreement so that schoolchildren and students can come to Britain more easily in the future, and the other way round can […]

During a staff meeting, BBC News CEO Deborah Turness made comments distinguishing the political leadership of Hamas from its military faction, sparking criticism. Her remarks, captured on video and released by The Telegraph on Wednesday, were made in the context of ongoing fallout from a controversial documentary that aired earlier this year.

Turness made the distinction while discussing the backlash to the BBC’s documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, which faced widespread condemnation. The program aired on February 17, 2025, and was narrated by 13-year-old Abdullah Al-Yazouri, a boy living in Gaza. Soon after the broadcast, it was revealed that Abdullah’s father is Ayman Alyazouri, a deputy minister in Gaza’s Hamas-led government, prompting the BBC to launch a formal review.

The broadcaster issued its findings this week, in a report overseen by Peter Johnston, director of editorial complaints and reviews at the BBC. The investigation concluded that the network had violated its editorial standards by not disclosing Alyazouri’s official position. According to the report, “to disclose in the program the information about the narrator’s father’s position as deputy minister of agriculture in the Hamas-run government in Gaza was a breach of the BBC’s editorial guidelines.”

In her video remarks to staff, Turness stated: “I think it’s really important that we are clear that Abdullah’s father was a deputy agriculture minister, and therefore was a member of the Hamas-run government, which is different to being part of the military wing of Hamas.” She added, “Externally, it’s often simplified that he was in Hamas, and I think it’s an important point of detail that we need to continually remind people of the difference.”

However, The Telegraph emphasized that the UK government does not make such a differentiation. In the eyes of British law, Hamas is outlawed in its entirety, without distinction between its branches.

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, Dr. Amira Halperin, an academic expert in Middle Eastern affairs, weighed in on Turness’ remarks. Referring to a section of the BBC’s internal review, Dr. Halperin noted it claimed the production company believed the father held a civilian role, not a political or militant one. “This is problematic because Hamas’ military wing, ‘Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades’, was proscribed by the UK in March 2001,” she said. “In 2021, the Home Office assessed that the distinction between Hamas’s military and political wings is artificial. The Home Office decided to ban Hamas in its entirety.”

She further clarified that under UK law, expressing support for Hamas is a criminal offense that can carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years. “A Hamas Deputy Minister of Agriculture is a minister in a government that has been banned in the UK as a terrorist organisation in its entirety,” she stressed.

Dr. Halperin also reflected on the conflicted views held by some Palestinians she has interviewed. “The Palestinians I interviewed told me that they do not always want to declare that they are affiliated with the Hamas party and consume Hamas’ websites, as the Hamas party is, on one hand, a legitimate political power – the party that won the Palestinian legislative elections, but, on the other hand, Hamas is classified as a terrorist organisation by a few Western governments,” she said.

Following the leak of Turness’ internal comments, Andrew Gilbert, Vice President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, released a public response expressing deep dismay. “I am extremely concerned that within days of the BBC’s damning report… Turness appears to be obfuscating and minimising the BBC’s failings.” He continued, “Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organization, and this so-called distinction between political and military wings has been categorically dismissed as artificial by the British government.”

Gilbert warned that Turness’ statements signaled the BBC had failed to absorb the lessons of its recent missteps.

{Matzav.com}

Over four days of clashes and airstrikes in Syria, 516 people were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The dead include 233 from As-Suwayda—71 civilians and 83 reportedly executed by regime forces—along with 261 from Syrian security forces, 15 killed in Israeli airstrikes, 3 in a strike on the Defense Ministry, and 1 journalist.

The IDF also released a video showing a drone strike targeting a Hamas operative armed with an RPG.

The IDF has released footage of an 800-meter-long Hamas tunnel being demolished in Gaza City’s eastern Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods. The tunnel, located about 18 meters underground, was destroyed by combat engineers from the elite Yahalom unit.

Senator Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

Only one of the three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran (Fordo) struck by the US last month sustained significant damage, five current and former U.S. officials familiar with a recent US assessment told NBC News. According to the assessment, the other two sites (Natanz and Isfahan) were not severely damaged, and it is believed that if Iran wishes to, it could resume nuclear enrichment at the sites in the next several months.

Israel’s Defense Ministry has signed a large-scale deal with Israel Aerospace Industries for a significant increase in Arrow air defense system interceptors, with plans to rapidly accelerate their serial production.

During a Ukrainian military, training session, a fish jumped right into a Ukrainian IFV.

NATO has confirmed it is transferring additional Patriot missile systems to Ukraine as quickly as possible, with General Alexus Grynkewich noting that active preparations and close coordination with the German government are underway to ensure rapid deployment.

The IDF has released new photos of Izz al-Din Haddad, the de facto leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Haddad, who commands Hamas’ Gaza City Brigade, assumed leadership of the group in the Strip following the death of Muhammad Sinwar in May.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Air Force Secretary Troy Meink announce $10 billion in savings.