The U.S. envoy helping to broker peace talks with the Taliban said that the current round of negotiations have been the “most productive” so far.
Taliban negotiators have been meeting with Khalilzad to try to reach a deal that would have the U.S. military withdraw from Afghanistan in return for various guarantees.
“These six days have been the most productive of the rounds we’ve had…we made progress on all the issues that we have been discussing,” Zalmay Khalilzad was quoted as saying.
Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s office in Qatar, said they were also pleased with the discussions, writing on Twitter, “We are happy with progress and hope the rest of the work is also done. We have not faced any obstacles yet.”

President Trump in a tweet Sunday morning knocked Joe Biden after the 2020 Democratic front-runner apologized for his recent remarks about his ability to work with segregationists when he was a senator.
“Sleepy Joe Biden just admitted he worked with segregationists and separately, has already been very plain about the fact that he will be substantially raising everyone’s taxes if he becomes president,” Trump tweeted. “Ridiculously, all Democrats want to substantially raise taxes!”
Biden on Saturday maintained he had done the right thing by working across the aisle with people whose views he found “repugnant,” but apologized if he gave the impression he was praising the senators.

President Trump reportedly praised Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) for having a “certain talent,” going so far as to compare her to the former first lady of Argentina, Eva Perón.
Trump reportedly said in an interview for the book that he first came across Ocasio-Cortez during her primary race against former Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) and told Politico’s Tim Alberta that he saw a “young woman” on the television “ranting and raving like a lunatic on a street corner, and I said: ‘That’s interesting, go back.’”
“She’s got talent,” Trump said according to the soon-to-be released book, “American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump,” The Guardian reported.

Three Gaza residents were arrested early Sunday morning attempting to illegally enter Israel with a fragmentation grenade and “arson materials,” according to a statement by the Israel Defense Forces.
The suspects were transferred to Israeli authorities for questioning.
The incident comes during a reported lull in violence on the Gaza border, following renewed agreements between Israel and Hamas. Threats along the border were still present on Friday, however, with an estimated 7,000 Gazans taking part in rioting, including burning tires and throwing explosive devices and rocks at soldiers.

President Trump’s approval rating has surged to the highest level of his presidency, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The survey, which was released Sunday, found that 47 percent of registered voters approve of the job Trump is doing in the White House, a figure that represents a 5-point increase from April. Fifty percent of registered voters disapprove of Trump’s performance as president, however.
The survey’s release comes as the 2020 Democratic primary race begins to heat up, as candidates such as Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) gain ground on former Vice President Joe Biden in the polls.

An 11-year-old boy died Sunday more than two months after he was critically injured in a hit and run traffic accident.
Chaim Binyamin Biegeleisen was struck by a car on Golda Meir Boulevard in Yerushalayim in April. He was rushed to Shaare Tzedek Medical Center in the capital, where he died Sunday.
The driver who struck the boy initially fled the scene, but later turned himself in to the police after an extensive search and was charged with fleeing the scene.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
{Matzav.com}

Ora Namir, who following the death of Golda Meir became known as the ‘First Lady’ of Israel’s Labor Party, died on Sunday in Tel Aviv. She was 88 years old.
Born on September 1, 1930 in Hadera as Ora Toib to immigrant parents from the Ukraine, Namir joined the Israel Defense Forces during the War of Independence and became an officer.
After the war, Namir eventually went into politics, joining the Knesset on January 21, 1974, and over the years chaired the Education and Culture Committee, the Joint Committee on Juvenile Delinquency, the Labor and Welfare Committee and the Subcommittee for Sport. She was also a member of several other committees.
President Reuven Rivlin said that Namir’s passing was “very sad indeed.”

An elderly woman from the coastal city of Ashkelon died on Sunday, succumbing to injuries she suffered two months ago during a rocket attack on the city.
Rivka Jamil, an 89-year-old resident of Ashkelon, was injured during the last major escalation between Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in May of this year, when the terror group launched hundreds of rockets at Israeli territory. Jamil was hurt when she fell on her rush to get shelter during an air raid siren.
After roughly two months in the hospital, however, Jamil’s condition deteriorated, and on Sunday she was nifteres, hospital officials announced.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
{Matzav.com}

Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, joins Dana Perino on ‘Fox News Sunday.’
WATCH:

https://matzav.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/lEPlGwhWl03lP_Nn.mp4
A daycare manager from central Israel was indicted on Sunday on 18 counts of child abuse of nearly a dozen toddlers and infants who were under her care, days after shocking footage of the violence sparked protests across the country.
Carmel Mauda, 25, who ran the Baby Love center in Rosh Ha’ayin, was accused of systematic violence against 11 children, three months to three years old, between May 27 and June 16.