In Japan, Trump appears to make light of Russian interference during meeting with Putin
President Donald Trump on Friday appeared to make light of Russian election interference during a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin, telling him “don’t meddle in the election” with a grin only after reporters shouted questions about the topic.
Trump met with Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit here, but he did not initially raise the topic during brief remarks in front of reporters, calling their relationship “very, very good.” He said the two would discuss “trade, including some disarmament, some little protectionism perhaps – in a very positive way.”

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) went directly after Joe Biden’s record on civil rights Thursday night in one of the most dramatic moments of the presidential debate as Democratic rivals seek to claw into the former vice president’s front-runner status in the race.
Biden and Harris clashed sharply over Biden’s record on civil rights after Harris interjected to bring up his controversial recent remarks about working with segregationist Sens. John Eastland (D-Miss.) and Herman Talmadge (D-Ga.) early in his Senate career.
Harris, breaking into the conversation out of turn over the objection of NBC moderator Chuck Todd, said she didn’t think Biden was racist himself but said him invoking the names of two senators who built their careers on segregation was “hurtful.”

Incendiary balloons launched from Gaza on Thursday caused at least 30 fires, including 17 substantial ones, in southern Israel, according to estimates by Israeli authorities.
“The rash of arson attacks put Thursday on pace to see the largest number of fires started by Gazan balloons in a single day since Palestinians began launching airborne incendiary devices over a year ago,” reported The Times of Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces, the Jewish National Fund, the Parks Authority and local volunteers also assisted in the effort to extinguish the flames.
There have been roughly 100 fires started by arson balloons since Sunday, according to a local fire department.
No injuries have been reported.
(JNS)
{Matzav.com}

Rav Shimon ben Gamliel, Rav Yishmael ben Elisha Cohen Gadol, Rav Chanina S’gan Cohanim, of the Ten Martyrs killed by the Romans (115 CE), commemorated in the Kinah “Eileh Ezkera” we say on Yom
Kippur, and “Arzei Halevanon” we say on Tisha B’Av (Megillas Taanis). Once a fast day, (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 580:2).
Rav Shmuel of Bros, son of the Pnei Yehushua (1821).
Rav Dov Berish Landau of Biala (1876), son of Rav Avraham Landau of Tchechinov  and father of Rav Elimelech Menachem Mendel Landau of Strikov.

Israeli airline Israir Airlines is launching a new route from Tel Aviv to the Ukrainian city of Odessa, the company announced last week. The direct flights will operate twice-weekly on Mondays and Wednesday starting July 15. Odessa is Ukraine’s third most populous city and sits on the Black Sea.
A subsidiary of IDB Development Corporation, a holding company controlled by Argentinian businessman Eduardo Elsztain, Israir offers international flights to Europe as well as domestic flights from Tel Aviv to southern resort town Eilat.
Calcalist reported in January that the airline is being acquired for $70 million by Israeli boutique hotel chain Brown.
Adi Pick / CTech
{Matzav.com}

MK Yair Lapid, one of the leaders of the center-left Kachol Lavan party, on Wednesday in a conference on war crimes hosted by the Shurat Hadin organization.
“I understand that people have trouble accepting or understanding, so I’ll say it slowly and clearly: We will not sit with [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu.”
“We have no problem sitting with the Likud in a national unity government, but we will not sit with Netanyahu. They can choose who they like – Gideon [Sa’ar], Yuli [Eidelstein], Yisrael [Katz].”
Lapid’s remarks come as reports have come out that Netanyahu is considering cancelling the upcoming elections and settling on a merger with left wing parties instead.

The Supreme Court on Thursday put on hold the Trump administration’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census form sent to every household, saying it had provided a “contrived” reason for wanting the information.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the splintered opinion. In a section agreed with by the court’s liberals, he said the Commerce Department must provide a clearer explanation.
Agencies must offer “genuine justifications for important decisions, reasons that can be scrutinized by courts and the interested public,” Roberts wrote. “Accepting contrived reasons would defeat the purpose of the enterprise. If judicial review is to be more than an empty ritual, it must demand something better than the explanation offered for the action taken in this case.”

France warned Iran on Thursday not to violate the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
“Tensions are growing, and for me, the first element is that there is no exit from the framework,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters. “The second thing, and I will discuss it with [U.S. President Donald Trump] tomorrow, is to do everything to avoid a military escalation.”
“I had a conversation with [Iranian] President [Hassan] Rouhani a couple of days ago, and I indicated that any exit from the accord would be an error, and any signals in that direction would be an error,” he added.

According to a report by the independent New York-Israel Business Alliance, Israeli-founded companies operating in New York City contributed $18.6 billion in revenue in 2018, and a whopping $33.8 billion—two percent of the New York gross domestic product—when accounting for spending on local goods and services.
Data on the 506 Israeli companies was published Thursday in step with the arrival in Israel of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
According to the report, there are five Israeli “unicorn companies”—valued at $1 billion or more—in New York today: WeWork, Taboola, Payoneer, Lemonade and Compass.
In total, the companies directly employ 24,850 New York residents and indirectly employ another 27,502.