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A curated guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
IRAN WAR – LAKE LUCERNE SUMMIT
The first round of high-level U.S.-Iran talks under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding concluded early Monday after marathon weekend negotiations at Bürgenstock, with Qatar and Pakistan saying in a joint statement that the talks produced “encouraging progress.” Vice President JD Vance led the U.S. team alongside Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi represented Tehran. Technical talks are expected to continue in Switzerland this week. Humeyra Pamuk, Dave Graham, and Tala Ramadan report for Reuters; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
The Qatar-Pakistan joint statement said the parties agreed to create a “High Level Committee” to provide political oversight of the mediation, with chief negotiators reporting to working groups on nuclear issues, sanctions, monitoring, dispute resolution, and other matters. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Deva Lee reports for CNN.
The joint statement also said the parties agreed to create two implementation channels: a communication line to prevent incidents and miscommunication in the Strait of Hormuz, and a Qatar and Pakistan facilitated deconfliction cell involving Lebanon to help ensure the end of military operations there. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Deva Lee reports for CNN.
The progress came after a near breakdown over President Trump’s public threats on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s foreign ministry said Tehran refused to continue the four-party format after Trump said he had warned Iranian officials that if they closed the strait, “you won’t have a country,” while U.S. and mediation sources told Axios and CNN that talks nevertheless continued through mediators and into the night. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Lex Harvey reports for CNN; Reuters reports. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Deva Lee reports for CNN.
Araghchi said after the talks that Iran had secured waivers for oil and petrochemical exports, the release of some frozen assets abroad, and the launch of a reconstruction and development plan. He did not provide details, and U.S. officials had not confirmed the claim. Lex Harvey reports for CNN; Reuters reports; Benoit Faucon, Alexander Ward, and Summer Said report for the Wall Street Journal.
IRAN WAR – LEBANON
A new Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire announced Friday appeared to falter within hours, with Israeli strikes killing at least 20 people Saturday after Israel said Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight. Hezbollah said it remained committed to the ceasefire but acknowledged an ambush of Israeli infantry near Nabatieh. Laila Bassam, Jana Choukeir, and Emily Rose report for Reuters; Abdi Latif Dahir, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, and Alan Yuhas report for the New York Times.
By Saturday, Israel’s military said it had received “updated” political “directives” to cease fire in Lebanon, halt proactive strikes, and operate defensively within its security zone in southern Lebanon. The military said it remained committed to the truce but would respond to attacks on Israeli civilians or troops. Laila Bassam, Jana Choukeir, and Emily Rose report for Reuters; Isabel Kershner reports for the New York Times.
By Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli troops would remain in Israel’s declared security zone in southern Lebanon and were free to act without restriction to eliminate threats. Hezbollah told Reuters it would uphold the ceasefire if Israel did the same. Laila Bassam and Steven Scheer report for Reuters.
Lebanon appeared to have its quietest day in some time Sunday, with no reports of major violence by nightfall after two days of heavy Israeli strikes and Hezbollah fire. Humeyra Pamuk, Dave Graham, and Tala Ramadan report for Reuters; Laila Bassam and Steven Scheer report for Reuters.
IRAN WAR – STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed sharply Sunday after Iran said it had again closed the waterway, citing Israeli and U.S. violations of the interim peace deal, with Kpler data showing five vessels passing through, down from 26 a day earlier. The data may miss ships traveling with transponders off, while the U.S. military said commercial vessels were still operating. Florence Tan reports for Reuters; Humeyra Pamuk, Dave Graham, and Tala Ramadan report for Reuters.
Four Qatar controlled LNG tankers entered the Strait of Hormuz Monday through the Iranian route, the first such movement since the U.S. Israeli war with Iran began, despite a broader slowdown in shipping after Tehran again said it had closed the waterway. Florence Tan and Emily Chow report for Reuters.
President Trump said Saturday there would be “NO TOLLS” for passage through the Strait of Hormuz during or after the 60-day U.S.-Iran ceasefire period, unless talks fail and Washington imposes its own fees. Trump said any future toll would be “by and for the United States of America” for its role as “Guardian Angel” to Middle Eastern countries. Reuters reports.
IRAN WAR – OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
U.S. intelligence agencies warned the Trump administration that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to take steps that could undermine Iran peace efforts, including by continuing operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon despite the U.S.-Iran memorandum’s call for an end to hostilities there, current and former U.S. officials told the Washington Post. A recent assessment said Netanyahu’s political survival before fall elections is linked to showing Israeli voters that he will not withdraw from Lebanon and is prepared to escalate against Hezbollah, while Israeli officials view the agreement as constraining Israel’s defense options and weakening pressure on Tehran. Ellen Nakashima, John Hudson, Gerry Shih, and Warren P. Strobel report.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards has set up secretive cells in Iraq that report directly to it, bypassing established militia networks, to attack Gulf states hosting U.S. forces, eight Iraqi sources told Reuters. Three or four cells of about 10 elite Iraqi Shiite fighters launched at least seven drone attacks from areas near Basra and Samawa against sites in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE between Apr. 20 and May 17, three sources said. Iraqi officials said the structure appeared designed to preserve plausible deniability as pressure grows on Baghdad to disarm Iran-backed groups. Reuters could not independently verify the accounts.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least nine people in Gaza on Saturday, including a child and Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed Wishah, health officials said. The Israeli military said it killed a Hamas militant who also worked as an Al Jazeera photojournalist but did not provide evidence; Al Jazeera condemned the killing and said 12 of its journalists have been killed by Israel in Gaza since Oct. 2023. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries have left more than one-fifth of Russia’s refining capacity offline, according to outside analyst estimates cited by the Wall Street Journal, as fuel-sale restrictions spread across 53 regions of Russia and occupied Ukraine. Crimea halted private fuel sales Sunday and limited supplies to essential government services, while repeated strikes on a Moscow refinery that supplies more than one-third of the capital region’s fuel have added pressure far from the front. Alexander Osipovich reports for the Wall Street Journal.
Moscow said it shot down 84 drones headed for the capital over 24 hours and temporarily suspended flights at major airports, while Ukraine said it struck the Dubna satellite communications center near Moscow. Russian attacks in Ukraine killed at least six people, including a child and his father, and Russian drones hit three merchant vessels, killing an Egyptian crew member on a Turkish operated dry cargo ship. Reuters reports.
Four people were killed and 28 wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian-controlled Crimea, the Russian-installed governor said Sunday, while a separate Ukrainian drone strike on an oil transport facility in Russia’s Krasnodar region killed one person and set an oil terminal ablaze. Crimea’s fuel stations suspended sales to the public and businesses, limiting supplies to government agencies responsible for essential services and security. Reuters reports.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned Saturday that Russia was preparing a “massive attack” on Ukraine and urged residents to heed air-raid warnings, as Russian strikes killed at least six people across several regions. Zelenskiy separately confirmed that Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Tyumen region in western Siberia, more than 2,000 km from Ukraine, and said Ukraine had deployed upgraded drones capable of reaching targets 3,000 km away; Tyumen’s governor said Russian air defenses had repelled the attack, with no preliminary reports of refinery damage. Reuters reports; Reuters reports; Reuters reports.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
President-Trump endorsed right wing candidate Abelardo De La Espriella won Colombia’s presidential runoff by a narrow initial count, with 49.66 percent to leftist Senator Iván Cepeda’s 48.70 percent, according to the national registrar. Cepeda said he would await final verification, while the closeness of the race and a divided Congress are likely to constrain De La Espriella’s agenda. Nelson Bocanegra, Luis Jaime Acosta, Alexander Villegas, Carlos Vargas, and Julia Symmes Cobb report for Reuters.
Bolivia’s crisis showed signs of easing Sunday after lawmakers overwhelmingly approved President Rodrigo Paz’s state of emergency decree and major protest roadblocks were cleared for the first time in weeks, with the highways authority reporting 28 blockades still in place. Daniel Ramos reports for Reuters.
India is in early talks to sell the UAE flagship defense systems including the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile and the Akashteer air defense system, four Indian sources told Reuters. The discussions follow the Iran war and the UAE’s push to diversify suppliers and strengthen defenses around the Strait of Hormuz, though any BrahMos sale would require Russian approval because the missile is jointly developed by India and Russia. Saurabh Sharma and Aftab Ahmed reports.
Sudan’s army affiliated government is integrating high level Rapid Support Forces defectors from Darfur, including commanders who spent years fighting the army, in a move survivors and activists fear could let former RSF figures evade accountability for alleged atrocities. Analysts say the army is trying to exploit ethnic divisions inside the RSF, while legal activists warn the issue cannot be handled case by case and needs broader transitional justice. Eltayeb Siddig reports for Reuters.
Paris police made numerous arrests Saturday after hundreds of demonstrators defied a ban on a rally against political executions in Iran, organizers said. The Paris police prefecture had cited a risk of clashes between opposing activists, while the NCRI Iranian opposition group called that rationale “bogus;” a Paris court upheld the ban earlier Saturday. Reuters reports.
TECH/AI – ANTHROPIC
In 2026, Anthropic and CEO Dario Amodei used language about risk, regulation, and restrictions at about eight times the rate of OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, according to a Financial Times analysis, a finding that has become politically charged amid the Mythos/Fable export-control dispute with the Trump administration. The FT found Anthropic used those terms at roughly five per 1,000 words, compared with 0.6 for OpenAI, and counted far more uses of “risk,” “safeguard,” and “vulnerability” in Anthropic communications. The analysis also found Anthropic’s risk- and regulation-related language has roughly halved since 2023, though its public communications remain less positive in tone than OpenAI’s. Clara Murray reports.
Asked in a Thursday Axios interview whether Anthropic or Amodei still posed a national security threat, President Trump said, “not now, but a week ago, maybe,” and said Amodei responded “very quickly” and “responsibly” to the administration’s concerns. Trump did not rule out using Defense Production Act powers, saying, “I have the power to use a lot of things,” though he was “not sure” he needed to. Maria Curi reports for Axios.
TECH/AI – INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
Several U.K. rape convictions are under review after a detective was suspended amid an investigation into allegations that he used an AI chatbot to prepare case paperwork slanted toward police-preferred outcomes, the Financial Times reports. The alleged use included victim impact statements and prosecutor briefings, with prompts said to seek stronger impact statements and help secure charging decisions; no evidence has yet emerged that AI hallucinations occurred. Robert Wright reports.
A New Delhi court on Friday rejected Telegram’s challenge to India’s temporary June 16–22 block on the app, ruling that the government acted lawfully to protect the integrity of a medical-school entrance exam. Free-speech groups warned the decision sets a broad precedent for blocking messaging platforms, while the government argued Telegram posed unique enforcement problems because channels can be easily recreated and users can obscure identities. Arpan Chaturvedi reports for Reuters.
Abu Dhabi-backed AI investor MGX is exploring a potential acquisition of Singapore-based data center operator DayOne, which had been planning a U.S. IPO targeting a $20 billion valuation. A deal, which may not proceed, would mark MGX’s first Asia acquisition and deepen the UAE’s push into AI infrastructure and data centers. Amy-Jo Crowley, Federico Maccioni, and Kane Wu report for Reuters.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
President Trump said Thursday that “it’s possible” a future Cuba operation could resemble the January mission that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, contrasting Cuba’s proximity, which he called “a hopscotch,” with the distance and scale of the Iran conflict. Josephine Walker reports for Axios.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Secretary of State Marco Rubio used a foreign-policy deportation power under U.S. immigration law in what appears to be its first foreign-election application, approving a deportation determination tied to ICE’s Tuesday arrest of a Colombian activist who opposed a Trump-endorsed presidential candidate in Colombia, the New York Times reported Friday after obtaining Rubio’s memo. The memo, invoking the Immigration and Nationality Act’s foreign-policy deportability provision, said Franklin Humberto “Beto” Coral Garrido’s activity against Abelardo De La Espriella undermined U.S. interests in Colombia’s democratic process. Earlier Rubio memos focused largely on immigrants who protested Israel. DHS said Coral overstayed a tourist visa and remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. Hamed Aleaziz and Annie Correal report.
Vietnamese national Tuan Phan, who was deported by the Trump administration to South Sudan under its third-country deportation program, was repatriated to Vietnam on Friday after more than a year in detention, South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said. Phan was one of eight men sent to Africa in 2025 after serving U.S. prison sentences. Joseph Falzetta and Deng Machol report for AP.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Alan Greenspan, former U.S. Federal Reserve chair, has died at the age of 100. The Financial Times Sam Fleming reports.
The Washington Post reported that it obtained more than 25,000 pages of documents, including hundreds of memos from 2011 to 2017, that appear to show political and policy guidance for Tulsi Gabbard during her early congressional career circulated through accounts linked to Chris Butler’s Science of Identity Foundation. The Post said the memos showed close parallels to Gabbard’s legislation, public statements, and television talking points, while Gabbard’s team dismissed the reporting as an anti-Hindu attack and SIF declined to answer specific questions. Jon Swaine reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
CNN identified at least 77 federal rulings since Jan. 20, 2025 in which judges sharply criticized Trump administration policies or their execution, including rulings by judges appointed by both parties and 11 Trump appointees. CNN said the criticism clustered around abuse of power, bad faith, and suspected retaliation, with immigration cases making up the largest share after Operation Metro Surge; Steve Vladeck called the problem “systemic.” Amy O’Kruk, Isa Mudannayake, Dejania Oliver, and Byron Manley report.
Trump administration political appointees shut down an early-stage federal investigation into whether improper payments helped secure David Gentile’s commutation, after Brooklyn prosecutors had gathered jailhouse communications in which Gentile discussed payments of $2.5 million or more to people or companies involved in the clemency effort, the New York Times reports. The Times notes there is no indication Trump was a target, and it remains unclear whether charges would have resulted. Kenneth P. Vogel, Nicole Hong, and William K. Rashbaum report.
New acting director of national intelligence Bill Pulte moved Thursday to identify about 300 National Counterterrorism Center employees for possible firing, a day before formally taking over the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and after predecessor Tulsi Gabbard had already cut the office’s workforce by about 40 percent. Pulte also asked for a list of every ODNI employee to assess possible firings. Kristen Holmes, Sean Lyngaas, Zachary Cohen, Manu Raju, and Annie Grayer report for CNN; John Sakellariadis and Gregory Svirnovskiy report for POLITICO.
White House officials have delayed an ODNI report warning of significant voting machine vulnerabilities before the November midterms, despite six months of briefings, Reuters reported Friday. The report, based on open-source and classified intelligence, says many states use outdated voting systems, including machines that can connect to the internet, but found no evidence of changed votes. A second unpublished Puerto Rico contractor report found no hacking but recommended emergency remediation that has not been implemented. Erin Banco, Phil Stewart, and Jonathan Landay report.
President Trump unveiled a converted, formerly Qatari-owned Boeing 747 as the new Air Force One on Friday, saying he would use it for next month’s NATO summit in Ankara while delayed Boeing-built replacement aircraft remain slated for 2028. The administration accepted the luxury jet from Qatar last year as an interim presidential aircraft despite ethics and legal concerns over the foreign government gift. The Air Force has said the plane met security requirements, was ready to start “initial commissioning flights,” and would cost less than $400 million to modify. Seung Min Kim and Manuel Balce Ceneta report for AP; Lawrence Hurley reports for NBC News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
The Justice Department declined Friday to submit sworn declarations from senior administration officials confirming that the proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund will not proceed, after Judge Leonie Brinkema said she would otherwise set a litigation schedule and require a responsive pleading by July 17. DOJ argued that declarations from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward were “unnecessary,” that compelling statements from senior executive officials “implicates serious separation of powers concerns,” and that Blanche’s congressional testimony and DOJ court filings already carried serious penalties for falsity. Tierney Sneed reports for CNN; Sophie Brams reports for The Hill.
The en banc D.C. Circuit on Friday left in place a bar on mass Consumer Financial Protection Bureau terminations, denying DOJ’s bid to immediately implement a revised reduction-in-force plan that would cut the agency’s workforce by about two-thirds. The court granted only a limited remand for the district court to reconsider the preliminary injunction in light of the revised plan. Kenrick Cai reports for Reuters.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions.
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