Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs in the U.S. remain low despite uncertainty about how tariffs will impact the economy. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims for the week ending June 28 fell by 4,000 to 233,000, less than the 241,000 that analysts forecast. Applications for unemployment aid are considered a proxy for layoffs. In a separate report Thursday, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added 147,000 jobs in June, a sign that the American labor market continues to show surprising resilience despite uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s economic policies. The job gains were much bigger than expected and the unemployment rate ticked down 4.1% from 4.2% in May.

The Knesset’s State Control Committee, chaired by MK Mickey Levy, convened yesterday for the ninth time to discuss the enforcement of core curriculum studies in chareidi educational institutions, amid ongoing tensions between government oversight bodies and the chareidi school system.

A federal judge on Wednesday ended an order blocking the deportation of the family of the man charged in the fatal firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado, noting government lawyers say the man’s relatives are not being rushed out of the country as the White House originally stated. Hayam El Gamal and her five children were detained by immigration agents on June 3, two days after her husband Mohamed Sabry Soliman was accused of throwing two Molotov cocktails at people demonstrating for awareness of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Prosecutors announced Monday that an 82-year-old woman who was injured in the attack had died. U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garica dismissed the family’s lawsuit challenging their detention by immigration authorities.

As optimism grows in Israel over the possibility of a breakthrough in ceasefire talks and a hostage release deal, key details of the proposal currently on the table have been revealed. Under the plan, Hamas would release 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 others in five separate phases. In return, Israel would agree to a two-month ceasefire and to the release of high-level Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli officials said Thursday morning that a sense of cautious optimism surrounds the negotiations. According to those close to the process, Hamas appears to be showing signs of “flexibility,” and should the terror group respond positively to the revised proposal, an Israeli delegation is expected to travel to Qatar by the weekend to begin direct negotiations.

Fifteen people were taken to the hospital after a skydiving aircraft radioed it was having engine trouble after takeoff and crashed on landing near an airport in southern New Jersey on Wednesday, according to authorities. The single engine Cessna 208B was carrying 15 people when it crashed at about 5:30 p.m. at the Cross Keys Airport, about 21 miles (34 kilometers) southeast of Philadelphia, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. “The plane did try to circle back and attempt a landing we are told but was unsuccessful in that attempt,” Andrew Halter, with Gloucester County Emergency Management, said during a news conference Wednesday night. The injuries ranged from minor to critical and the plane was severely damaged, Halter said.

U.S. employers added 147,000 jobs in June as the American labor market continues to show surprising resilience despite uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s economic policies. The unemployment rate ticked down 4.1% from 4.2% in May, the Labor Department said Thursday. Hiring rose modestly from a revised 144,000 in May and beat economists expectations of fewer than 118,000 new jobs and a rise in the unemployment rate. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. The steady slowdown in U.S. hiring likely continued in June as President Donald Trump’s trade wars, federal hiring freeze and immigration crackdown weighed on the American job market.

A French couple, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who have been detained in Iran for more than three years, are now facing new charges of espionage on behalf of Israel and conspiring to overthrow the regime, according to reports by the AFP news agency citing a Western diplomatic source. The source emphasized there is “no basis” for the allegations.
The French Foreign Ministry issued a swift and strong condemnation, calling the couple’s detention “completely arbitrary” and demanding their release.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
After parshiyos that discussed the tragic accounts of the meraglim and Korach, this week’s parsha begins with an elevated vision of life steeped in Torah. “Zos chukas haTorah, adam ki yomus ba’ohel.” This is the way of Torah: spiritual living demands sacrifice. Those who seek to bind themselves to Torah shed the layers of material life, dedicating themselves to growth, meaning, and eternity. Their lives revolve around Torah, and they steer away from pursuits that distract from their spiritual ascent.