President Trump announces he is invoking the D.C. Home Rule Act to place the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control and deploy the National Guard. “This is Liberation Day in D.C. — and we’re going to take our capital BACK.”
The Qatari Foreign Ministry issued a statement welcoming Australia and New Zealand’s announcement that they plan to, or are considering, recognizing a Palestinian state during the upcoming U.N. General Assembly in September.
More than 70 million Americans sweated through the muggiest first two months of summer on record, an Associated Press data analysis shows. And that meant uncomfortably warm and potentially dangerous nights in many cities the last several weeks, the National Weather Service said. Parts of 27 states and Washington, D.C., had a record amount of days that meteorologists call uncomfortable — with average daily dew points of 65 degrees Fahrenheit or higher — in June and July, according to data derived from the Copernicus Climate Service. And that’s just the daily average. In much of the East, the mugginess kept rising to near tropical levels for a few humid hours. Philadelphia had 29 days, Washington had 27 days and Baltimore had 24 days where the highest dew point simmered to at least 75 degrees, which even the the weather service office in Tampa calls oppressive, according to weather service data. Dew point is a measure of moisture in the air expressed in degrees that many meteorologists call the most accurate way to describe humidity. The summer of 2025 so far has had dew points that average at least 6 degrees higher than the 1951-2020 normals in Washington, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Columbus and St. Louis, the AP calculations show. The average June and July humidity for the entire country east of the Rockies rose to more than 66 degrees, higher than any year since measurements started in 1950. “This has been a very muggy summer. The humid heat has been way up,” said Bernadette Woods Placky, chief meteorologist at Climate Central. Twice this summer climate scientist and humidity expert Cameron Lee of Kent State University measured dew points of about 82 degrees at his home weather station in Ohio. That’s off the various charts that the weather service uses to describe what dew points feel like. “There are parts of the United States that are experiencing not only greater average humidity, especially in the spring and summer, but also more extreme humid days,” Lee said. He said super sticky days are now stretching out over more days and more land. High humidity doesn’t allow the air to cool at night as much as it usually does, and the stickiness contributed to multiple nighttime temperature records from the Ohio Valley through the Mid-Atlantic and up and down coastal states, said Zack Taylor, forecast operations chief at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. Raleigh, Charlotte, Nashville, Virginia Beach, Va., and Wilmington, N.C., all reached records for the hottest overnight lows. New York City, Columbus, Atlanta, Richmond, Knoxville, Tennessee and Concord, New Hampshire came close, he said. “What really impacts the body is that nighttime temperature,” Taylor said. “So if there’s no cooling at night or if there’s a lack of cooling it doesn’t allow your body to cool off and recover from what was probably a really hot afternoon. And so when you start seeing that over several days, that can really wear out the body, especially of course if you don’t have access to cooling centers or air conditioning.” The area east of the Rockies has on average gained about 2.5 degrees in summer dew point since 1950, the AP analysis of Copernicus data shows. In the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and part of the 1990s, the eastern half of the […]
A rare signature of the saintly Rabbi Avraham Dov of Avritch, author of the ‘Bas Ayin’. A deed of sale and possession of a designated seat in the revered synagogue of the Arizal in the holy city of Tzfas, certified and confirmed in the holy handwriting and with the signature of Rabbi Avraham Dov of Avritch, author of the holy sefer ‘Bas Ayin’.
BDE: HaGaon HaRav Baruch Shmuel HaKohen Deutsch, z’tl, who served for 40 years as one of the Roshei Yeshivos of Kol Torah and in more recent years as the Rosh Yeshivah of Be’er Mordechai and one of the leaders of the Bnei Torah movement (Peleg Yerushalmi), was niftar on Monday.
The IDF reported arresting a weapons dealer in the village of Taranjeh in southern Syria. Following his interrogation, troops found and confiscated weapons stored in the area. According to Syrian media, Israeli forces detained a local civilian, marking the fourth arrest in the village in the past two months.
A Chinese Navy ship collided with a China Coast Guard vessel 10.5 nautical miles east of Scarborough Shoal, causing severe damage that left the CCG ship unseaworthy.
An infuriating scene unfolded in Haifa, where two contractor workers were caught on camera using a poster calling for the release of hostages to collect garbage — stepping on the faces in the images as they did so.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomed Jordan’s King Abdullah II to Neom Palace for talks focused on regional issues, with particular emphasis on the situation in the Palestinian arena.
As nations began a second week of negotiations Monday for a global accord to end plastic pollution, an artist heaped piles of plastic waste onto a large sculpture in front of the United Nations office. Delegates to the treaty talks pass by the sculpture daily in a reminder of their responsibility to solve the plastic pollution crisis. The talks are scheduled to conclude Thursday. Benjamin Von Wong, a Canadian artist and activist, designed the nearly 6 meter (18 foot) sculpture called the “Thinker’s Burden” and built it with a team. It’s his take on the famous sculpture by Auguste Rodin, “The Thinker” in Paris. There is a male figure in deep thought, like Rodin depicted. But instead of sitting atop a rock, Von Wong’s figure sits atop Mother Earth while cradling a baby and clutching plastic bottles. A strand of DNA intertwines them to highlight the health impacts of plastic pollution. With the help of volunteers, Von Wong is adding plastic waste to the installation over the course of the negotiations to reflect the growing cost of inaction. He climbed a ladder Monday to reach the top of the sculpture and weave plastic bottles through the DNA. He put a plastic toy car in front. “By the end of this week, we should have a sculpture almost completely drowned in plastics, however, the hope is, a strong and ambitious plastics treaty means that we can solve this problem once and for all,” he said. The Minderoo Foundation, an Australian philanthropic organization, was the largest donor for the project. Local nonprofits and community groups collected the plastic trash. Standing by the sculpture, Maria Ivanova, an expert in international environmental governance, said it “wakes you up.” Ivanova is the co-director of the Plastics Center at Northeastern University in Boston. “People don’t change their minds because of facts. They do because of feelings,” she said. “And this is where I think art is absolutely critical to shift the needle on policy.” Delegates and tourists stopped to ask Von Wong about his work and pose for photos in front of it. Michael Bonser, head of the Canadian delegation, called the artwork “extraordinarily profound.” “It gives us a sense, every day, of what we need to be doing inside the room, what we need to walk out with. And that’s a deal that allows us to reverse the trend,” he said. “That’s going to be challenging, but I think it’s possible.” About 3,700 people are taking part in the talks, representing 184 countries and more than 600 organizations. They are crafting the first global, legally binding treaty on plastics pollution. Many agree the pace of the negotiations needs to speed up. They arrived in Geneva with hundreds of disagreements to be resolved. The number of unresolved issues grew last week, instead of shrinking. European Commissioner Jessika Roswall said she’s concerned about the lack of progress, and “it’s time to get results.” Roswall is commissioner for environment, water resilience and a competitive circular economy. United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen told reporters it’s still possible to agree on a treaty this week that ends plastic pollution. “This is within grasp,” Andersen said. “The window remains open to leave Geneva with this treaty.” (AP)
HaGaon HaRav Baruch Shmuel HaKohen Deutsch, z’tl, who served for 40 years as one of the Roshei Yeshivos of Kol Torah and in more recent years as the Rosh Yeshivah of Be’er Mordechai and one of the leaders of the Bnei Torah movement (Peleg Yerushalmi), was niftar on Monday at the age of 82. The niftar was born in 1942 to his father, HaGaon HaRav Rabbi Binyamin Ze’ev HaCohen Deutsch, z’tl, who was a trusted member of the household of the Ponevezher Rav, HaGaon HaRav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, z’tl, during the establishment of Yeshivas Ponevezh and its institutions in Eretz Yisrael. As a teen, he began learning in Ponevezh, where his name spread as a tremendous illui and masmid. For years, he learned continuously from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. without taking a break between the two sedarim, learning 11 consecutive hours day after day. During his time at the yeshivah, he developed a close relationship with HaGaon HaRav Elazar Menachem Man Shach, zt’l. He later attended Yeshivas Brisk in Jerusalem, where he became a pillar of the yeshivah and was widely known as a baki in Gemara, both Bavli and Yerushalmi. When he reached marriageable age, he married the daughter of HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Kibelwitz, z’tl, and was appointed as a Rosh Mesivta at the Tchebin yeshivah. In 1982, he was appointed as one of the Roshei Yeshivos of Kol Torah Yeshiva, a position he held with boundless dedication to his talmidim for nearly 40 years. His name became widely known to the public when the Degel HaTorah movement was established, as HaGaon HaRav Shach, z’tl, relied on him implicitly to assist in leading the community. A source told B’Chadrei Chareidim: “The connection between HaRav Shach and HaRav Baruch Shmuel is something that cannot be described in words to those who did not see it. There was a feeling that HaRav Shach relied on his opinion as a pure and clear Daas Torah. HaRav Shach would call HaRav Baruch Shmuel on almost every public matter and clarify the issue with him before issuing a ruling to the public. Incidentally, it is also known that during HaGaon HaRav Elyashiv’s leadership, he would call HaRav Baruch Shmuel to hear his opinion on the matter before any significant public decision.” Interestingly, after the petirah of HaRav Shach, z’tl, HaRav Deutsch sought to be less involved in leadership matters and even refused HaRav Elyashiv’s request to become a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Degel. Following the petirah of HaGaon HaRav Elyashiv, z’tl, and the division in the Litvish community, HaRav Deutsch left Kol Torah and opened Yeshivas Be’er Mordechai and became one of the leaders of Peleg Yerushalmi. Five years ago, HaRav Deutsch became seriously ill and never fully recovered. During this time, he moved back to Bnei Brak, and in the last month he was in and out of care at Mayanei Hayeshua Hospital. His petirah comes less than a year after the petirah of his younger brother, the leader of Peleg Yerushalmi, HaGaon HaRav Asher Deutsch, z’tl. The levaya is scheduled to leave from his home in Sanhedria Murchevet to his nearby Beis Medrash and then continue until Har HaMenuchos. תהא נשמתו צרורה בצרור החיים (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
A Colombian senator and presidential hopeful whose shooting at a political rally in June recalled some of the darkest chapters of the country’s drug-fueled violence died Monday. The family of Miguel Uribe Turbay said the politician died at a hospital in the capital, Bogota, more than two months after the attack. Uribe, 39, was shot three times, twice in the head, while giving a campaign speech in a park and had remained in an intensive care unit in serious condition with episodes of slight improvement. “Rest in peace, love of my life. I will take care of our children,” his wife, María Claudia Tarazona, wrote in a social media post confirming his death. “I ask God to show me the way to learn to live without you.” A teenage suspect was arrested at the scene of the June 7 attack in a working-class Bogota neighborhood and authorities have since detained several other people. But it is still unclear who ordered the assassination or why. The shooting, which was caught on multiple videos, alarmed Colombians who have not seen this kind of political violence against presidential candidates since Medellin drug lord Pablo Escobar declared war on the state in the 1990s. Uribe’s own mother, well-known journalist, Diana Turbay, was among the victims of that period when she died during a police rescue after being kidnapped by a group of drug traffickers led by Escobar seeking to block their extradition to the United States. “If my mother was willing to give her life for a cause, how could I not do the same in life and in politics?” Uribe, who was just 5 when his mother was killed, said in an interview last year with a Colombian news outlet. Uribe, a lawyer with a masters degree in public administration from Harvard University, entered politics as a councilman for Bogota when he was 26. In 2022, he was the biggest vote-getter in the conservative Democratic Center party led by former President Alvaro Uribe. “Evil destroys everything,” the ex-president, who is not related to the senator, said on social media. “They have killed hope. May Miguel’s struggle be a light that illuminates Colombia’s path.” Authorities have floated several hypotheses about what led to the attack, while allies of the candidate have complained that the government ignored repeated requests to reinforce his state-provided security detail. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, tens of thousands poured into the streets dressed in white and waving the Colombian flag to reject the violence. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among the politicians who lamented the senator’s death. “The United States stands in solidarity with his family, the Colombian people, both in mourning and demanding justice for those responsible,” he posted on X. (AP)
Nvidia and AMD agreed to share 15% of their revenues from chip sales to China with the U.S. government, a U.S. government official has confirmed. President Donald Trump’s administration had halted the sale of advanced computer chips to China back in in April, but Nvidia and AMD revealed in July that Washington would allow them to resume sales of the H20 and MI308 chips, which are used in artificial intelligence development. The official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss a policy not yet formally announced, confirmed to The Associated Press the revenue sharing terms of the deal, and said the broad strokes of the initial report by The Financial Times were accurate. The FT reports that Nvidia and AMD agreed to the financial arrangement as a condition for obtaining export license to resume sales to China. “We follow rules the U.S. government sets for our participation in worldwide markets. While we haven’t shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide,” Nvidia wrote in a statement to the AP. “America cannot repeat 5G and lose telecommunication leadership. America’s AI tech stack can be the world’s standard if we race.” AMD did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Restrictions on sales of advanced chips to China have been central to the AI race between the world’s two largest economic powers, but such controls are also controversial. Proponents argue that these restrictions are necessary to slow China down enough to allow U.S. companies to keep their lead. Meanwhile, opponents say the export controls have loopholes — and could still spur innovation. The emergence of China’s DeepSeek AI chatbot in January particularly renewed concerns over how China might use advanced chips to help develop its own AI capabilities. (AP)
The heatwave that engulfed Israel over the weekend intensified this week, with meteorologists saying that the temperatures this week may be the highest in over 80 years. The week’s forecast in Jerusalem is 101°F (38.3°C) on Monday, 102°F (38.9°C) on Tuesday, 104°F (40°C) on Wednesday, and 103°F (39.4°C) on Thursday. Extreme heat stress is expected throughout the country, with the most extreme heat loads expected in the mountains and eastern areas. The forecast for the valleys surrounding the Kinneret and the Jordan Valley are expected to be the highest since 1942, with temperatures near the Kinneret expected to reach 118–120°F (47.8–48.9°C) and the temperatures in the Jordan Valley expected to reach 122–124°F (50–51.1°C). In addition to the heavy heat, Israel’s Health and Environmental Protection Ministries on Monday issued a warning about extremely high air pollution levels in Jerusalem, Yehudah and Shomron, and the Jordan Valley. According to the ministries, the cause of the hazardous pollution levels is increased cloud cover over Jordan, which created powerful winds that blew the dust from the east into Israel. The video below was taken in Ma’aleh Adumim, near Jerusalem: The Health Ministry recommends that vulnerable populations, including patients with heart, blood vessel, or respiratory diseases, the elderly, pregnant women, and children, avoid strenuous physical activity outdoors. The general population is also advised to minimize strenuous activity outdoors until air quality improves. (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Turkey’s northwestern province of Balikesir on Sunday, killing at least one person and causing more than a dozen buildings to collapse, officials said. At least 29 people were injured. The earthquake, with an epicenter in the town of Sindirgi, sent shocks that were felt some 200 kilometers (125 miles) to the north in Istanbul – a city of more than 16 million people. An elderly woman died shortly after being pulled out alive from the debris of a collapsed building in Sindirgi, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters. Four other people were rescued from the building. Yerlikaya said a total of 16 buildings collapsed in the region – most of them derelict and unused. Two mosque minarets also tumbled down, he said. None of the injured were in serious condition, the minister said. Television footage showed rescue teams asking for silence so they can listen for signs of life beneath the rubble. Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency said the earthquake was followed by several aftershocks, including one measuring 4.6, and urged citizens not to enter damaged buildings. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement wishing all affected citizens a speedy recovery. “May God protect our country from any kind of disaster,” he wrote on X. Turkey sits on top of major fault lines and earthquakes are frequent. In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkey and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces. Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighboring Syria. (AP)
Ukraine and its backers in Europe insist that the United States and Russia cannot decide on land swaps behind their backs at a summit this week, but the Europeans concede that Moscow is unlikely to give up control of Ukrainian land it holds. Ahead of the summit in Alaska on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that a peace deal could include “some swapping of territories,” but the Europeans see no sign that Russia will offer anything to swap. Europeans and Ukrainians so far are not invited to the summit. European Union foreign ministers are meeting on Monday following talks on Ukraine among U.S. and European security advisers over the weekend. They are concerned that President Vladimir Putin will try to claim a political victory by portraying Ukraine as inflexible. Concerns have mounted in Europe and Ukraine that Kyiv may be pressed to give up land or accept other curbs on its sovereignty. Ukraine and its European allies reject the notion that Putin should lay claim to any territory even before agreeing to a ceasefire. “As we work towards a sustainable and just peace, international law is clear: All temporarily occupied territories belong to Ukraine,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ahead of the ministerial meeting. “A sustainable peace also means that aggression cannot be rewarded,” Kallas said. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said “it must be obvious to Poland and our European partners — and I hope to all of NATO — that state borders cannot be changed by force.” Any land swaps or peace terms “must be agreed upon with Ukraine’s participation,” he said, according to Polish news agency PAP. On Sunday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany would not accept that territorial issues be discussed or decided by Russia and the United States “over the heads” of Europeans or Ukrainians. Still, it’s hard to ignore the reality on the ground. Russia in 2022 illegally annexed the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Ukraine’s east, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south, even though it doesn’t fully control them. It also occupies the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized in 2014. On the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, Russia’s bigger army has made slow but costly progress with its summer offensive. The relentless pounding of urban areas has killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to U.N. estimates. “In the end, the issue of the fact that the Russians are controlling at this moment, factually, a part of Ukraine has to be on the table” in any peace talks after the Alaska summit, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on CBS on Sunday. Rutte said Ukraine’s Western backers “can never accept that in a legal sense,” but he suggested that they might tacitly acknowledge Russian control. He compared it to the way that the U.S. hosted the diplomatic missions of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from 1940 to 1991, “acknowledging that the Soviet Union was controlling those territories, but never accepting (it) in a legal sense.” Giving up any territory, especially without a ceasefire agreement first, would be almost impossible for Zelenskyy to sell at home after thousands of troops have died defending their land. Ultimately, Putin is seen by some analysts as being not so much interested in land itself, but rather in a more “Russia-friendly” Ukraine with a malleable government […]
