Feed aggregator

Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu visited the Pentagon for a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

President Donald Trump made it clear Tuesday that there will be no delay in implementing the new round of tariffs set to begin August 1, emphasizing that countries hoping to avoid them must act quickly to negotiate reduced rates.

“TARIFFS WILL START BEING PAID ON AUGUST 1, 2025.,” Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social. “There has been no change to this date, and there will be no change. In other words, all money will be due and payable starting AUGUST 1, 2025 – No extensions will be granted.”

During a Cabinet meeting later that day, Trump doubled down, saying that come August 1, the new “reciprocal” tariffs will be enforced across the board.

“The big money will start coming in on Aug. 1, I think that was made clear today,” Trump said to reporters. He turned to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who predicted that the U.S. could bring in over $300 billion from tariffs by year’s end—triple the $100 billion collected so far this year.

While Trump said he was open to individual trade agreements being finalized with some countries, he noted that his preferred method is to assign a tariff rate to a country and inform them directly, as he did with Japan, South Korea, and a dozen others earlier in the week.

As for the European Union, Trump suggested things could still go either direction.

“They’re very tough, but now they’re being very nice to us, and we’ll see what happens. We’re probably two days off from sending them a letter,” Trump said. “We are talking to them.”

Trump also maintained that sending a country its tariff notice is as good as having a formal trade deal in place, arguing that crafting official agreements can often be too drawn out and complex.

In April, Trump announced a sweeping plan to impose reciprocal tariffs—some reaching as high as 50 percent—on nearly 60 nations. He initially delayed implementation until July 9 to give countries a window to renegotiate their trade terms.

However, when asked Tuesday about pushing the start date to August 1, Trump claimed that was always the intended timeline.

“It’s always been Aug. 1. That’s all, paying it. A statement was being put out today, and I put it out just to make it clear. It wasn’t a change. It was Aug. 1,” Trump said, even though he had signed an executive order the day before to shift the deadline from July 9 to August 1.

Trump has previously issued multiple tariff deadlines as part of his broader trade strategy, only to walk some of them back at the last moment.

In fact, on Monday, Trump hinted to reporters that the August 1 date could still have a degree of flexibility.

“Because if they call up and say ‘we’d like to do it a different way,’ I’d be open to that,” he said.

The administration began distributing tariff notifications on Monday to various trading partners—copies of which were shared on Truth Social. In the messages, Trump signaled there might still be room for maneuvering.

“These Tariffs may be modified, upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your Country,” he wrote in the letter. “You will never be disappointed with the United States of America.”

On Monday, 14 countries received these letters. Trump said more would follow and warned that any nation imposing retaliatory tariffs would likely face even harsher penalties.

{Matzav.com}

President Trump calls for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates by 3 basis points, which would likely result in mortgages dropping back down to around 3%.

Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot has come under withering criticism after a recent coding change prompted it to begin spouting antisemitism and praise for Adolf Hitler.

Nvidia shares jumped Wednesday to make it the first company to reach $4 trillion in market valuation, powered by rising momentum for artificial intelligence.

The military says it has expanded its ground offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun. Troops of the Givati Brigade joined forces of the 99th Division in efforts to surround Beit Hanoun, where the military estimates dozens of Hamas operatives are holed up in tunnels.

A shipment from the United States of dozens of bulldozers for the Israeli army arrived in Israel this morning after months of delays.

A Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon last night, the IDF announces. The strike in the town of Babliyeh, south of Sidon, killed Hussein Ali Muzhir, who the IDF says was the commander of Hezbollah’s firepower in the Zahrani River area, under the terror group’s Badr regional division.

Israeli forces carried out special operations inside Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah weapons and positions. IDF continues to wipe out remaining terror assets in Lebanon, with no resistance from Hezbollah.

NYC: Officers stop a man for reckless driving on his BICYCLE…. happen to notice a gun in his bag.

Netanyahu gifted Trump a mezuzah shaped like a B-2 bomber. On his last visit, he gifted Trump a gold pager, which was a replica of the pagers used in the surprise attack against Hezbollah.

President Trump’s top immigration adviser, Tom Homan, issued a forceful rebuke to Democrats on Tuesday, urging them to stop vilifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and instead work through Congress to address policy disagreements.

Appearing on the “Cats & Cosby Show” with hosts John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby, Homan voiced serious concern over escalating hostility toward ICE agents and linked some of the blame to inflammatory political rhetoric. He said that left-wing extremists were being emboldened by these attacks.

“I’ve seen this film before, and I said, with this rhetoric, comparing ICE to Nazis and racists and terrorist groups, I said, the nuts on the left, it’s going to embolden them to do something stupid, and we’ve seen it,” Homan said. “So, I don’t think it’s over, unless Democrats, you know, shut the hell up and stop attacking ICE.”

He emphasized that ICE officers are simply upholding laws passed by Congress and urged critics to focus their frustration on legislation rather than law enforcement personnel. “They need to remember ICE is enforcing the laws that they wrote,” Homan continued. “If they don’t like what ICE is doing, then change the law.”

His remarks came just one day after a shooting incident at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, where a gunman opened fire and was ultimately shot by federal agents. Just days earlier, another violent episode unfolded outside an ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas, where a police officer was shot.

“I said over two months ago, if this rhetoric continues, that someone’s going to lose their life,” Homan said in the interview, “either a protester who is turning criminal or violent or it’s going to be an officer.”

{Matzav.com}

It was almost midnight when a truck driver resting in his cab heard the crackling of flames at a warehouse in east London storing equipment for Ukraine. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and leapt out — but realized the blaze was too big and retreated. When police arrived, they banged on the doors of a nearby apartment building, shouting at residents to evacuate. Parents grabbed children and ran into the street. About 30 minutes after the fire started, Dylan Earl, a British man who admitted to organizing the arson, received a message from a man U.K. authorities say was his Russian handler. “Excellent,” it read in Russian. On Tuesday, a British court found three men guilty of arson in the March 2024 plot that prosecutors said was masterminded by Russia’s intelligence services — part of a campaign of disruption across Europe that Western officials blame on Moscow and its proxies. Two other men, including Earl, previously pleaded guilty to organizing the arson. The fire is one of more than 70 incidents linked to Russia that The Associated Press has documented since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Four European intelligence officials told AP they’re worried the risk of serious injury or even death is rising as untrained saboteurs set fires near homes and businesses, plant explosives or build bombs. AP’s tracking shows 12 incidents of arson or serious sabotage last year compared with two in 2023 and none in 2022. “When you start a campaign, it creates its own dynamic and gets more and more violent over time,” said one of the officials, who holds a senior position at a European intelligence agency. The official, like two others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss security matters. The Kremlin did not reply to a request for comment on the British case. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov previously said the Kremlin has never been shown “any proofs” supporting accusations Russia is running a sabotage campaign and said “certainly we definitely reject any allegations.” Recruiting young amateurs Most of the saboteurs accused of working on behalf of Russia are foreign, including Ukrainians. They include young people with no criminal records who are frequently hired for a few thousand dollars, the intelligence officials said. The senior official said Russia has been forced to rely increasingly on such amateurs since hundreds of Moscow’s spies were expelled from Western countries following an operation to poison former Russian intelligence officer Sergey Skripal in the U.K. in 2018. That led to the death of a British woman — and a major response from the West. Russia “had to change the modus operandi, from using cadre officers to using proxies, making a more flexible, deniable system,” the official said. Documents shared during the London warehouse trial offered a rare glimpse into how young men are recruited. Among those were transcripts of messages between a man prosecutors said was a Russian intelligence operative and his recruit, Earl, who was active on Telegram channels associated with the Wagner group — a mercenary organization whose operations were taken over by Russia’s Defense Ministry in 2023. Russian military intelligence — acting through Wagner — was likely behind the plot, said Kevin Riehle, a lecturer in Intelligence and National Security at Brunel University in London. The recruiter — who used the handle Privet Bot — posted multiple times in a Telegram channel asking for people to […]

FOR FREE!  THE OHR HACHAIM HAKADOSH!We have had many requests for this at Yad L’Achim, and now we offer to you a special tefillah at the resting place ofthe holy Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh – אור החיים הקדושRav Chaim Ben Attar zt”l on the day of his Yahrtzeit – THIS Friday! Tefillos can be for Shidduchim, Children, Health, Parnassah and all personal requests.  To Submit names for this special tefillah CLICK HERE or visit www.YadLAchim.orgor call 1-718-690-2944[There is no minimum donation required to give in names for tefillah] CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR NAMES Share the free tefillah with friends Yad L’Achim – Pidyon Shvuyim 4018 18 Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11218

[COMMUNICATED]

FOR FREE!  THE OHR HACHAIM HAKADOSH!
We have had many requests for this at Yad L’Achim, and now we offer to you a special tefillah 
at the resting place of
the holy Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh – אור החיים הקדוש
Rav Chaim Ben Attar zt”l

on the day of his Yahrtzeit – THIS Friday!

Tefillos can be for Shidduchim, Children, Health, Parnassah
and all personal requests. 

To Submit names for this special tefillah

CLICK HERE or visit www.YadLAchim.org
or call 1-718-690-2944
[There is no minimum donation required to give in names for tefillah]

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR NAMES

Share the free tefillah with friends

Yad L’Achim – Pidyon Shvuyim

4018 18 Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11218

Vice President JD Vance delivered sharp criticism of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, slamming him for his July 4 comments and questioning his sense of gratitude toward the United States. “Who the h— does he think that he is?” Vance asked during a speech that drew enthusiastic applause.

Mamdani, who is the Democratic nominee for mayor and was born in Uganda, shared a message on Independence Day that described America as “beautiful, contradictory, unfinished.” His post concluded with the phrase “No Kings in America,” referencing the left-wing “No Kings” demonstrations that took place last month across the country.

While addressing the Claremont Institute’s Statesmanship Award dinner in Rancho Santa Fe, California, on Saturday evening, Vance used the opportunity to draw attention to Mamdani’s remarks. He framed them as lacking appreciation for the nation that provided his family refuge.

“Today is July 5, 2025, which means, as all of you know, that yesterday we celebrated the 249th anniversary of the birth of our nation,” Vance began. “You know, the person who wishes to lead our largest city had, according to multiple media reports, never once publicly mentioned America’s Independence Day in earnest, but when he did so this year, this is what he said — and this is an actual quote.”

Mamdani’s full statement read: “America is beautiful, contradictory, unfinished. I am proud of our country even as we constantly strive to make it better, to protect and deepen our democracy, to fulfill its promise for each and every person who calls it home. Happy Independence Day. No Kings in America.”

After reciting Mamdani’s message, Vance responded sharply. “There is no gratitude in those words, no sense of owing something to this land and the people who turned its wilderness into the most powerful nation on Earth.”

He went on to recount Mamdani’s background, noting the violence that his Indian-heritage family fled in Uganda under the dictatorship of Idi Amin. Vance highlighted that Mamdani’s family escaped ethnic persecution and found refuge in the United States, a nation he believes Mamdani now takes for granted.

“Zohran Mamdani’s father fled Uganda when the tyrant Idi Amin decided to ethnically cleanse his nation’s Indian population. Mamdani’s family fled violent racial hatred, only for him to come to this country — a country built by people he never knew, overflowing with generosity to his family, offering a haven from the kind of violent ethnic conflict that is commonplace in world history, but it is not commonplace here — and he dares, on our 249th anniversary, to congratulate it by paying homage to its incompleteness, and to its as he calls it, ‘contradiction.’”

Vance questioned whether Mamdani had ever reflected on the sacrifices made by Americans throughout the country’s history. “I wonder, has he ever read the letters from boy soldiers in the Union Army to parents and sweethearts that they’d never see again? Has he ever visited the gravesite of a loved one who gave their life to build the kind of society where his family could escape racial theft and racial violence? Has he ever looked in the mirror and recognized that he might not be alive were it not for the generosity of a country he dares to insult on its most sacred day?”

“Who the h— does he think that he is?” Vance repeated, prompting a wave of applause from the crowd.

{Matzav.com}

France’s top intelligence official revealed Tuesday that American and Israeli strikes had succeeded in eliminating part of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, though uncertainty remains over the whereabouts of the rest.

In an interview with LCI TV, Nicolas Lerner, the director of France’s DGSE foreign intelligence agency, stated that Iran’s entire nuclear operation had suffered a setback of several months as a result of the joint air campaign. Lerner added that although France had some information about the locations of Iran’s remaining uranium, a full accounting wouldn’t be possible until international nuclear inspectors returned to Iran.

His comments overlap only partially with Washington’s perspective. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell recently stated that Iran’s nuclear program was likely pushed back by a year or two following the Israeli and American strikes. He confirmed that core nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan, and the heavily fortified Fordow facility had been hit and rendered inoperative.

This U.S. assessment came after days of conflicting narratives about how extensive the damage was, particularly at Fordow, widely considered Iran’s most secure nuclear site.

On the night of the attack, President Trump declared that the targeted nuclear installations had been “completely destroyed,” describing the operation as having “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. However, hours later, Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, adopted a more reserved tone, stating the sites were severely damaged but refraining from calling them fully destroyed.

Further muddying the picture, CNN and The New York Times later cited unnamed U.S. intelligence sources who believed the strikes may have only caused a short-term disruption—perhaps just a few months’ delay. That report reportedly provoked frustration within the White House, with Trump and his aides accusing the media of playing down the mission’s success for political purposes. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reinforced the president’s message, repeating that the facilities were “obliterated” and accusing critics of downplaying a significant military achievement.

President Trump has continued to assert that the nuclear sites were taken out completely, saying that Israeli agents had already examined Fordow and would soon provide further assessments. However, Aryeh Deri, leader of the Shas Party and a key ally of Prime Minister Netanyahu, cast doubt on that claim.

A report by the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission released following the conflict stated that the U.S.-Israeli offensive had rolled back Iran’s nuclear development “many years.” Nonetheless, CNN later reported that Israeli intelligence insiders estimated the setback to be closer to two years and that the damage to Fordow was “less than expected.”

At a Tuesday evening meeting with Netanyahu at the White House, Trump reiterated that Iran’s nuclear network had been “wiped out.” When asked whether another strike was on the table, he responded, “I hope we don’t need to. I don’t imagine we will. They want to talk. They’re in a different place than two weeks ago. We’ll do everything to ensure Iran doesn’t go nuclear.”

Trump also disclosed that Iran had expressed interest in resuming nuclear negotiations. “When this happened, I said—what’s the point? Everything’s already destroyed. But they asked to meet, and I will. If we can sign something, great. I think they gained a lot of respect for us—and for Israel too.”

While he acknowledged that a written agreement would be preferable, Trump said he believed the results of the strikes may have rendered a formal document less necessary. “I think it’s best to put it in writing, but after the incredible outcome of the strike, I’m not sure we need to. That spoke louder than any paper.”

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is currently facilitating talks between Israel and Hamas, also serves as the lead negotiator in U.S. discussions with Iran. He indicated that new talks could resume “within the coming week.”

{Matzav.com}

A “click-to-cancel” rule, which would have required businesses to make it easy for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions and memberships, has been blocked by a federal appeals court just days before it was set to go into effect. The Federal Trad Commission’s proposed changes, adopted in October, required businesses to obtain a customer’s consent before charging for memberships, auto-renewals and programs linked to free trial offers. The FTC said at the time that businesses must also disclose when free trials or other promotional offers will end and let customers cancel recurring subscriptions as easily as they started them. The rule was set to go into effect on Monday, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said this week that the FTC made a procedural error by failing to come up with a preliminary regulatory analysis, which is required for rules whose annual impact on the U.S. economy is more than $100 million. The FTC claimed that it didn’t have to come up with a preliminary regulatory analysis because it initially determined that the rule’s impact on the national economy would be less than $100 million. An administrative law judge decided that the economic impact would be more than the $100 million threshold. The court decided to vacate the rule. “While we certainly do not endorse the use of unfair and deceptive practices in negative option marketing, the procedural deficiencies of the Commission’s rulemaking process are fatal here,” the court wrote. The FTC declined to comment on Wednesday. (AP)

[COMMUNICATED]

Autographed letter by Rabbi Chaim HaLevi Soloveitchik of Brisk, one of the foremost Torah giants of recent generations.

The letter was sent to to Rabbi Shabsi Wallach, Av Beis Din of Rozinay, “renowned for his Torah and fear of Heaven, ” requesting that he assist to the fullest extent possible the emissary of Yeshivas Ohr Chadash of Jerusalem who had arrived in his town.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams pledged to stand firmly with the Jewish community as he seeks another term in office, facing off against Zohran Mamdani, a mayoral contender known for his staunch anti-Israel positions.

During a Jewish heritage celebration at Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side, Adams likened the rising tide of antisemitism to the familiar allegory of a frog in slowly heating water.

“That is what I feel has happened over the last few years. We have turned the antisemitism up one degree at a time and many of us have stood there and watched the hatred boil,” he told the predominantly Jewish audience gathered for the event.

“The heat of antisemitism has gotten too hot in our country and it cannot continue to rise,” he said. “I’m here to turn off the flame, to get the frog out of the pot and make sure that we don’t allow hate in our city.”

Adams has longstanding relationships with Jewish communities throughout the five boroughs and has consistently voiced his strong support for Israel, earning him broad approval from mainstream Jewish voters.

The crowd erupted into cheers and chants of “Four more years,” voicing strong support for his reelection. Though Adams is a Democrat, he will appear on the ballot as an independent in November. Mamdani, who secured the Democratic nomination, enters the race as the frontrunner due to the city’s Democratic leanings.

Though Adams avoided naming Mamdani directly, he seemed to allude to the controversial candidate’s recent proposals. “You don’t tax communities based on ethnicity,” he said, likely referencing Mamdani’s recent comment about imposing higher taxes on “whiter neighborhoods.”

“You have the right to be in this city and anywhere in this country,” Adams reassured his audience. “This city belongs to you as with all groups in this city. Don’t live in fear, don’t live in anxiety. This city belongs to you as it belongs to every group that lives in this city.”

{Matzav.com}