Smoke rises from the hills around southern Lebanon after an Israeli military strike. Israel and Hezbollah have now renewed a ceasefire agreement.
Israel and Hezbollah Agree to Renew Ceasefire After Flareup of Violence
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to renew a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon after 24 hours of intense violence that posed an early challenge to the new agreement between the US and Iran to end their conflict. A meeting that was scheduled to take place on Friday between Washington and Tehran in Switzerland to discuss implementation of the new deal was cancelled when Hezbollah killed four Israeli soldiers and Israel carried out a wave of retaliatory airstrikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley that killed at least 47 people.
US-Iran Talks Called Off After Deadly Attacks
JD Vance’s staff were at an airbase ready to fly to the Middle East peace summit in Switzerland when their trip was suddenly cancelled after the Hezbollah-Israel exchanges. The White House then announced that the vice-president, who is leading the peace negotiations for the US, would not be flying to Switzerland. The talks were due to begin two days after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran that opened a 60-day window to negotiate a permanent understanding about Iran’s nuclear programme, and getting shipping moving in the strait of Hormuz.
Trump Unveils New Air Force One, a Converted Qatari 747
Donald Trump has unveiled the new, temporary Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Designated VC-25B, it was given to Trump by the Gulf emirate of Qatar, provoking strong political protest because the $400m jet exceeds the limit on unsolicited gifts of $50 in value in a single calendar year from the same source.
Bill Pulte Assumes Role of US Acting Director of National Intelligence
Bill Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director, became the acting director of national intelligence on Friday, after a tug-of-war between Donald Trump and Washington lawmakers about the short-term future of the cabinet intelligence post. Tulsi Gabbard, the outgoing DNI, initially planned to leave her post on 30 June, but Trump shortened her tenure to Friday.
Barack Obama Says US Is ‘Worse Off’ Than Before War with Iran
Barack Obama has said that after 15 weeks of war with Iran, the US is now “worse off” than before the conflict started in February. “We’ve now fought a war, spent billions and billions of dollars, you know, put enormous strain on our military. A lot of people have died. And it feels like we’re back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little bit worse off,” the former US president told NBC News in an interview that aired on Friday.
DoJ Says It Will Investigate MLB Amid Pride Hats Controversy
The US justice department has launched a civil rights investigation into Major League Baseball after the league criticized three San Francisco Giants players who wrote Bible verses on their hats during the team’s Pride Night.
Comparison to Hitler, Mao, Stalin? Trump Says: ‘Sounds Good to Me!’
Donald Trump has enthusiastically agreed with a public assessment by a man he met while golfing that the “overwhelming difference” between the current US president and historical figures who incited fear – such as Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Stalin, Mao and Hitler – is that Trump is more powerful.
What Else Happened Today
- Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has said Donald Trump “totally invented” a story about her after the US president claimed she begged him to take a photo with her during the G7 summit.
- A federal judge rejected Joe Biden’s attempt to block the Trump administration from releasing to a conservative group the recordings that Biden made with a ghostwriter.
- The small town of Social Circle in rural Georgia has announced that the Department of Homeland Security has cancelled plans to turn a warehouse into what would have been one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country.
