Early Edition: June 15, 2026

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here.

A curated guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:

IRAN WAR – CEASEFIRE  

Yesterday morning, Hezbollah launched several drones at northern Israel; hours later, Israel struck a Hezbollah command center in Beirut, the Israeli army said. The Israeli military notified U.S. Central Command shortly before the Beirut strike, Israeli and U.S. officials say. It is not clear whether the White House gave it a green light, but hours later, Trump urged Israel and Hezbollah to exercise restraint, saying the strikes “should not have happened.” The escalation occurred hours before the United States and Iran were expected to sign a ceasefire agreement. Isabel Kershner and Christina Goldbaum report for the New York Times.  

Trump told Axios yesterday that the U.S.-Iran deal to end the war was still on track despite Israel’s strike in Beirut and Iranian threat to retaliate, saying, “It shook it up. It delayed the signing by a few hours. It was supposed to be now. Now it is scheduled for a few hours from now.” Trump added, “Why did [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] have to do a fucking attack? I was so pissed off. I let him know. He has no fucking judgment. I let him know that.” Barak Ravid reports.

The United States and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement yesterday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced, with an official signing ceremony expected on Friday and more detailed nuclear negotiations to follow. The deal is expected to extend the ceasefire by 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and launch talks over Iran’s nuclear enrichment and the disposal of its highly enriched uranium. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Jonathan Swan, Farnaz Fassihi, and Ronen Bergman report for the New York Times.  

Trump said on social media that the deal would reopen the strait, and that he had authorized “the immediate removal of the United States naval blockade” on Iranian ports. Earlier on Sunday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave conflicting explanations about when the Strait of Hormuz would reopen, first saying it would happen immediately after a U.S.–Iran agreement was signed, later suggesting the process could take anywhere from two weeks to 30 days while the U.S. blockade remains in place. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said in a statement that the agreement, which it described as a “memorandum of understanding,” called for an immediate end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon. Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, confirmed the agreement on state television but said Iran would not start implementing it until it is signed on Friday. Yan Zhuang, Farnaz Fassihi, and Adam Rasgon report for the New York Times; Cheyanne M. Daniels reports for POLITICO.  

The United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy said yesterday they were prepared to lift sanctions on Iran in response to steps ​on its nuclear program after they announced a deal to end their war. “Iran ‌must ⁠never acquire a nuclear weapon. We stand ready ​to work ​with ⁠the U.S., Iran, and ​the IAEA to ​this ⁠end,” the leaders of the ⁠countries ​said in ​a joint statement. Reuters reports. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement this morning that he and Netanyahu opposed the withdrawal of the country’s military from Lebanon. “If Iran attacks Israel due to events in Lebanon, we will strike it with full force,” he said. Katz added that Israel plans to stay “indefinitely” in lands it holds in Lebanon, as well as Syria and Gaza. Yan Zhuang, Farnaz Fassihi, and Adam Rasgon report for the New York Times; Jon Gambrell and Elena Becatoros report for AP News.   

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR 

Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least six Palestinians in Gaza yesterday, health officials said. Also yesterday, Hamas and other factions said they had given a written response to a 15-point blueprint presented to ​them by mediators and Trump’s Board of Peace, but ​did not ⁠provide details of their response. Sources said the factions agreed to 14 out of the 15 items. Disagreement remains over the disarmament of ⁠Hamas. Reuters reports. 

WEST BANK VIOLENCE 

Israel is building a military base in a part of the West Bank that the Oslo Peace Accords had put under the control of the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli military says the base is needed to ensure that what was for decades a stronghold of Palestinian militant activity in Jenin will not become one again. “They’re blowing up the Oslo accords,” said Kamal Abu al-Rub, the Palestinian Authority governor of Jenin. “They’re acting as if there are no agreements between us.” David M. Halbfinger and Adam Rasgon report for the New York Times. 

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR 

Russia overnight launched 73 missiles and more than 600 long-range drones in a raid that primarily targeted Kyiv, killing at least four people and damaging a 950-year-old cathedral, Ukraine’s air force and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Authorities said the strikes killed at least 10 people nationwide. The strikes came after a call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which they agreed that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would go to Russia soon, according to Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov. Zelenskyy said on social media that he also had a “very good conversation” with Trump. Fabrice Deprez reports for the Financial Times; Pavel Polityuk and Anna Voitenko report for  Reuters.

Russia said today that it did not strike the historic monastery and cathedral site in Kyiv in an overnight attack and that a U.S.-made Patriot air defence missile had damaged the religious ​site. Moscow said its attack had targeted and struck ​drone manufacturing facilities. Reuters reports.  

OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS 

Taiwan’s National Security Bureau yesterday launched a website to encourage Chinese nationals to report intelligence tips, saying that in recent ⁠years, China’s economy has faced growing difficulties, while political control has remained “tight.” “Coupled with a ​growing range of social and livelihood-related problems, these conditions have fuelled public discontent,” said a statement. “As a result, an increasing number of individuals have approached relevant agencies in Taiwan, wishing to provide various types of information.” Reuters reports.

Geneva police yesterday fired teargas at protesters who set fire to a Tesla vehicle and smashed windows at a U.N. agency ahead of a G7 summit set to begin in France today. Olivia Le Poidevin reports for Reuters. 

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the U.K. government’s proscription of Palestine Action as a terror organisation is lawful. Five judges overturned an earlier decision from the High Court that the ban had breached the right to protest and had been incorrectly taken by ministers. Dominic Casciani and Amy Walker report for BBC News.  

U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS

China’s Commerce Ministry on Saturday condemned the Pentagon’s decision to add major Chinese companies, including Alibaba, Baidu, and BYD, to its list of firms linked to China’s military, saying the decision “abused state power” and “disregarded the consensus” reached by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last month. The ministry threatened retaliatory measures unless the designation is reversed. Phelim Kine reports for POLITICO.  

U.S. CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC OPERATIONS 

A joint strike by the United States and Venezuela killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, a leader of the Tren de Aragua transnational gang, Trump and officials in both countries said on Friday. The strike took place earlier in the week alongside Venezuelan security forces, Hegseth said without providing a precise date. John Yoon reports for the New York Times.  

U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS 

White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf last year wrote two memos to Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, warning that the Trump administration’s consideration of suspending habeas corpus for unauthorized migrants and invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy troops domestically would likely be unconstitutional. The constitution, Scharf wrote in one memo, only allows the suspension of habeas corpus in cases of rebellion or invasion. Courts have almost uniformly held that only Congress can do it. Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan report for the New York Times.  

The Trump administration said on Friday that it would comply with a court order to restart processing asylum and other immigration applications. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it “strongly disagrees with the court’s order” but that it would “follow its terms pending possible further judicial review.” Madeleine Ngo and Zach Montague report for the New York Times.  

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office found that Daphy Michel, a Haitian woman, died from hypothermia on March 2, three days after she was released from ICE custody. The examiner’s office said the pathologist ruled her death a homicide, describing Michel as “a vulnerable adult, ⁠suffering from untreated severe mental health issues and a ​significant language barrier” when she was released from ​custody. Jasper Ward reports for Reuters.  

U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS 

ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit has begun requesting individual voter records directly from local election officials as part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to investigate alleged noncitizen voting. Webb County, Texas, and Forsyth County, North Carolina, have recently shared their voter files with HSI, according to emails reviewed by Axios.  

Trump’s name was removed from the facade of the Kennedy Center on Saturday. Gregory Svirnovskiy reports for POLITICO.  

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS

The Trump administration on Friday directed Anthropic to suspend access to Mythos 5, and its consumer version, Fable 5, for foreign companies, governments, and individuals. Hours later, Anthropic disclosed in a blog post that it had disabled access for all customers. Anthropic said the directive did not explain the national security concerns that prompted it. But the company added that the government had said that it became aware of a method to “jailbreak,” or bypass, security restrictions on Fable 5 intended to limit a customer’s ability to abuse the product for hacking or other potential harms. Anthropic countered that the fears about the jailbreak method were overblown. Dustin Volz, Julian E. Barnes, and Ana Swanson report for the New York Times. 

According to a source, the White House imposed export controls on Mythos partly over suspicions that a China-linked group had accessed it. An Anthropic spokesperson said the White House did not raise Chinese access to Mythos in its conversations around the Fable jailbreak and export controls. Another source said Amazon informed the government about the jailbreak, and its CEO, Andy Jassy, had been in contact with members of the administration about it. Others said multiple technology firms had spoken to the White House about the security issues. Reed Albergotti reports for SEMAFOR.  

A group of cybersecurity notables yesterday signed a letter calling for the administration to lift the export controls. “This action has taken the best models away from defenders, created market uncertainty, and risked America’s AI leadership without any real risk to justify it,” the letter said. Amrith Ramkumar and Robert McMillan report for the Wall Street Journal.  

Trump on Saturday said that he would nominate James M. McDonald to be the next U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, replacing Jay Clayton. Maggie Haberman, Benjamin Weiser, and Alan Feuer report for the New York Times.  

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION 

A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit against the federal government filed by a park ranger who was fired last year after helping to hang a large transgender pride flag in Yosemite National Park. The judge said she had no authority to reinstate the ranger. John S.W. MacDonald reports for the New York Times. 

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the National Park Service from removing or revising signs, films, and other materials at national parks across the country to comply with Trump’s executive order that called for removing or covering up materials that inappropriately disparage Americans. Maxine Joselow reports for the New York Times. 

A federal judge on Friday rejected a lawsuit seeking to block the UFC Freedom 250 events on the White House lawn. The events went ahead yesterday. Sabrina Lam reports for POLITICO.  

Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions.

If you enjoy listening, Just Security’s analytic articles are also available in audio form on the justsecurity.org website.

ICYMI: Last Week on Just Security