For the thirteenth time, Democrats on Tuesday blocked a measure that would have reopened the federal government, prolonging a shutdown that threatens essential services across the country.
Speaking to The New York Post, Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed frustration over the stalemate, saying there was a straightforward solution to prevent millions of Americans from losing access to food assistance. “The simplest way to end it and the simplest way to make sure that people are getting the food assistance they need is to pick up the bill and give us five votes,” Thune said.
He added that once that happens, “And we’ll, we’ll send it to the president. It’ll be signed into law.”
Despite the urgency, the Senate failed to pass the measure in a 54-45 vote, extending the shutdown’s economic toll and leaving vulnerable families in limbo.
Roughly 42 million Americans rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for help buying groceries. Because of the ongoing government shutdown, their next monthly payments will be delayed and will not be distributed on Shabbos, Nov. 1.
{Matzav.com}
Amazon announced Tuesday that it will eliminate 14,000 corporate positions — one of the largest workforce reductions in the company’s history — as it continues restructuring under CEO Andy Jassy’s push for efficiency.
Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of people experience and technology, revealed the sweeping layoffs in a company blog post, describing the decision as part of the ongoing transformation to run Amazon “like the world’s largest startup.” She emphasized that while the company remains strong financially, the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence has fundamentally changed the way Amazon operates.
“This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones),” Galetti wrote. She explained that in order to keep pace, Amazon must be more agile, cutting through layers of management and redirecting resources toward areas with the most growth potential.
The restructuring will affect roughly 4% of Amazon’s corporate staff — about 14,000 out of its 350,000 white-collar workers — though the company will continue to employ over 1.5 million people worldwide. Galetti said that while some divisions will see cuts, Amazon will keep hiring in strategic departments focused on innovation and emerging technology.
The move reflects Jassy’s multi-year effort to make Amazon leaner, more disciplined, and faster to adapt. Since the pandemic-era surge faded, Amazon has been trimming costs, eliminating underperforming ventures, and restructuring management. Jassy’s initiatives have included tightening budgets, streamlining operations, reducing bureaucracy, and requiring employees to return to the office full-time.
Amazon’s cost-cutting campaign gained momentum after 2022, when demand normalized and profits tightened following the company’s aggressive expansion during the pandemic. Jassy had warned earlier this year that AI-related efficiencies would likely lead to workforce reductions. In June, he said Amazon’s adoption of advanced automation would “shrink certain functions,” foreshadowing the current layoffs.
The company’s retail and cloud divisions have already seen hiring freezes and job losses this year, part of a broader trend among major technology firms adjusting to the AI boom. Microsoft cut around 15,000 positions in 2025, with CEO Satya Nadella urging staff to “remain focused on its three core priorities: security, quality, and AI transformation.” Meta has also laid off employees, telling some departments that their roles are being replaced with automated systems.
Amazon’s internal memo to staff elaborated on the changes:
“I want to let you know that we’re making organizational changes across Amazon that will impact some of our teammates. There will be communications from leaders to those teams and individuals today, but we also wanted to share the broader context about what’s happening and why. Last year, Andy posted a note about strengthening our culture and teams — explaining how we want to operate like the world’s largest startup, the importance of having the right structure to drive that level of speed and ownership, and the need to be set up to invent, collaborate, be connected, and deliver the absolute best for customers. Many of you have put significant effort into that work of strengthening your organizations by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and helping reduce bureaucracy. We’re already seeing the results, with teams moving faster and many Amazonians feeling more ownership, and the S-team and I appreciate all the work you’ve done. The reductions we’re sharing today are a continuation of this work to get even stronger by further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers’ current and future needs. While this will include reducing in some areas and hiring in others, it will mean an overall reduction in our corporate workforce of approximately 14,000 roles. We’re working hard to support everyone whose role is impacted, including offering most employees 90 days to look for a new role internally (the timing will vary some based on local laws), and our recruiting teams will prioritize internal candidates to help as many people as possible find new roles within Amazon. For our teammates who are unable to find a new role at Amazon or who choose not to look for one, we’ll offer them transition support including severance pay, outplacement services, health insurance benefits, and more. Looking ahead to 2026, as Andy talked about earlier this year, we expect to continue hiring in key strategic areas while also finding additional places we can remove layers, increase ownership, and realize efficiency gains. Some may ask why we’re reducing roles when the company is performing well. Across our businesses, we’re delivering great customer experiences every day, innovating at a rapid rate, and producing strong business results. What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones). We’re convicted that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business. I don’t know of any other company with the breadth of Amazon, the number of exciting bold bets we’re making, and all the ways we can make customers lives better and easier around the world. I’m inspired by what I see across the company every day, and the S-team and I appreciate all that you do. Beth.”
{Matzav.com}
In a brazen act of defiance, the Hamas terror organization declared Tuesday night that it would not hand over the body of an Israeli hostage it had murdered, claiming its decision was a response to what it called Israel’s “violations” of the ceasefire.
Earlier in the day, Hamas gunmen broke the truce by firing on IDF forces stationed in Rafah, prompting Israeli troops to respond with gunfire and targeted artillery strikes against the terrorist group’s positions in southern Gaza.
After holding urgent security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the IDF to “immediately carry out forceful strikes” across the Gaza Strip, ordering a swift and powerful response to the renewed aggression and the terror group’s blatant breach of the ceasefire deal.
Just hours before the attack, Hamas had announced plans to return the body of a slain hostage at 8 p.m. that evening, in accordance with the terms of the temporary agreement. That promise, however, was abruptly rescinded following their new wave of hostilities.
Adding to the growing outrage, the IDF earlier on Tuesday released video footage revealing that Hamas terrorists had secretly buried body parts belonging to murdered hostage Ofir Tzarfati — whose body had already been brought back to Israel in a rescue operation two years prior. After burying the remains, the gunmen staged a fake “discovery” and passed them to Israel through the Red Cross to falsely suggest compliance with the deal.
Under the existing ceasefire arrangement, Hamas was obligated to return every hostage, living or deceased, within 72 hours. While the group has so far released 20 living captives, only 15 of the 28 murdered hostages have been returned. Thirteen bodies remain in Gaza, held by Hamas in ongoing violation of the agreement.
{Matzav.com}After years of warning that rising global temperatures could trigger an unprecedented global catastrophe, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has dramatically shifted his outlook, writing that climate change “will not lead to humanity’s demise.”
The billionaire philanthropist, who has poured billions of dollars into climate-related ventures, published a blog post this week urging environmental advocates to abandon what he called a “doomsday outlook” that relies on fear to convert skeptics.
“Although climate change will have serious consequences — particularly for people in the poorest countries — it will not lead to humanity’s demise,” he wrote. “People will be able to live and thrive in most places on Earth for the foreseeable future.”
Gates, now 70, has been one of the world’s most prominent voices on global warming, penning the 2021 bestseller How to Avoid a Climate Disaster and warning at the time that climate change “could be worse” than the COVID-19 pandemic. But in his latest comments, he emphasizes a shift in focus: “we should measure success by our impact on human welfare more than our impact on the global temperature.”
That recalibration represents a major break from his earlier rhetoric, when he declared that preventing a climate catastrophe “will be one of the greatest challenges humans have ever taken on — greater than landing on the moon, greater than eradicating smallpox, even greater than putting a computer on every desk.”
Through his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the centibillionaire has spent vast sums funding projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions — including research into controversial technologies designed to dim the sun and reflect its rays away from Earth.
Gates also addressed long-standing criticism of his personal carbon footprint. The tech mogul often flies to climate conferences aboard his $70 million private jet, which burns roughly 450 gallons of fuel an hour. He conceded the irony, writing that he compensates for those emissions “with legitimate carbon credits.”
{Matzav.com}
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu directed the IDF to unleash “immediate and powerful strikes” across Gaza on Tuesday, responding to what Israel described as a brazen Hamas attack on its forces.
Reports from The Times of Israel said Hamas fighters opened fire on Israeli troops positioned in Rafah early in the day, setting off intense exchanges of gunfire and heavy shelling in the southern part of the Strip.
According to Netanyahu’s office, “The attack from Hamas was a clear violation of the peace-deal secured by President Trump earlier this month, which demanded an immediate cease-fire within Gaza.” The statement accused the terror group of undermining the fragile agreement and reigniting hostilities that had barely paused.
The prime minister convened an urgent meeting with military and security officials, during which he authorized the latest wave of air and ground responses. Officials said the decision came after “Hamas’ repeated violations,” including its “failure to release the bodies of the 13 remaining hostages in Gaza — including Israeli-Americans Itay Chen, 19, and Omer Neutra, 21.”
{Matzav.com}
A newly unearthed video has ignited controversy around New York City mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani, showing the Muslim socialist anti-Semite comparing the NYPD to the Israeli military in a speech laced with conspiracy rhetoric.
“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” declared Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman, during his address at the 2023 Democratic Socialists of America national convention, where he served as keynote speaker.
Watch the video here.
The footage captures Mamdani speaking passionately about connecting international struggles to local grievances. “We are in a country where those connections abound. Especially in New York City, you have so many opportunities to make clear the ways in which that struggle over there is tied to capitalist interests over here,” he said.
He went on to insist that people will only care about world issues if they’re tied to their everyday realities. “For anyone to care about these issues, we have to make them connected,” he said, before repeating his inflammatory claim. “We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.” He concluded, “We have to make it materially connected to their lives.”
The statements came during a panel discussion titled “Socialist Internationalism: The Solution to the Crisis of Capitalism,” where Mamdani outlined his vision of tying “hyperlocal” politics to broader global movements.
Since launching his mayoral campaign, Mamdani has been trying to downplay his record of radical statements and mend fences with the NYPD. He now insists that his views have evolved since 2020, when he labeled the department “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety” and backed calls to “defund the police.”
In a bid to project moderation, Mamdani has even pledged that, if elected, he would retain current Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch — a move seen by many as a calculated attempt to reassure law enforcement supporters.
Yet, police leaders remain unconvinced. Veteran officers have dismissed his newfound friendliness toward the force as opportunistic. Among them is Ray Kelly, the longest-serving NYPD commissioner, who made headlines this week for endorsing ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo instead of Mamdani.
As Mamdani’s remarks continue to circulate, critics say the footage exposes his true ideology — one that paints New York’s police officers as villains trained by Israel’s army, and raises serious questions about what kind of leadership he would bring to City Hall.
{Matzav.com}