Mediators from Pakistan and Qatar say the U.S. and Iran made “encouraging progress” during 18 hours of negotiations in Switzerland, where the two sides agreed to a roadmap toward reaching a final deal within 60 days. Last week, the U.S. and Iran officially signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war in Iran, which Trump began in late February. Vice President JD Vance headed the U.S. delegation. Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf led the Iranian delegation. On Sunday, Vance said the U.S. wants to turn over a new leaf with Iran.

Vice President JD Vance: “What the president has asked us to do is turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran and to extend an outstretched hand that says to the people of Iran that if your leadership is willing to give up being a driver of regional instability, if they are willing to give up nuclear weapons ambitions for the long term, then the United States is willing to fundamentally transform our relationship with that country. That is certainly our goal.”

The talks took place despite new threats from President Trump. On Sunday, Trump posted a message online reading, “Iran must immediately ​stop their ​highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon ⁠from causing trouble. If ​they ​don’t, ⁠we’ll hit Iran very ​hard again, ​just ⁠like we did last ⁠week, ​only harder!!!”

On Saturday, Iran announced it was closing the Strait of Hormuz again after Israel killed 83 people in Lebanon. On Friday, Israel said it would agree to a new ceasefire in Lebanon, but Israel is refusing to end its occupation of southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah killed four Israeli soldiers on Friday.
Residents of southern Lebanon have decried the ongoing Israeli attacks. This is Abbas Ezzedine in the town of Barish, where Israel struck a three-story building.

Abbas Ezzedine: “There was an airstrike this morning on this house. It was targeted by Israeli warplanes at 8:30 a.m. People were sleeping inside: children, a woman, her two children and her husband, and a young civilian. They were all civilians sleeping peacefully in their home. It was supposed to be a ceasefire yesterday from the Israeli enemy.”

In other news from Lebanon, the acclaimed conservationist Mona Khalil has died after being wounded in an Israeli strike on her home two weeks ago. The 76-year-old spent years trying to protect endangered sea turtles and Lebanon’s Mediterranean coastline.

Israel is continuing to attack Gaza despite the so-called ceasefire. Earlier today, an Israeli drone killed a high school student who was on her way to take a test in Gaza City. On Saturday, Israeli strikes killed at least six people, including two children and Ahmed Wishah, a cameraman with Al Jazeera. Wishah’s brother Mohammed also worked for Al Jazeera and was killed in an Israeli strike in April. Since October 2023, Israel has killed over 260 journalists in Gaza, including at least 12 working for Al Jazeera. On Sunday, mourners gathered in Deir al-Balah to remember Ahmed Wishah. This is Al Jazeera correspondent Talal al-Arouqi.

Talal al-Arouqi: “The Israeli occupation deliberately assassinates journalists, largely and directly, during its war of extermination in a clear attempt to suppress images, prevent the dissemination of the message, and to conceal the massacres and atrocities committed against the Palestinian people here in the Gaza Strip.”

In Britain, Keir Starmer has resigned as prime minister and leader of the Labour Party over mounting pressure from within his own party. Starmer spoke earlier today.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer: “The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election. I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace. Every decision I’ve taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party.”

Starmer’s announcement paves the way for Britain to have its seventh leader in 10 years. Former Manchester mayor and newly elected Labour MP Andy Burnham is widely expected to become the next prime minister.

In Colombia, a Trump-backed far-right lawyer has declared victory in Sunday’s presidential runoff to replace Gustavo Petro. With over 99.9% of the vote counted, Abelardo de la Espriella has 49.7% of the vote; the leftist Senator Iván Cepeda has 48.7%. Abelardo de la Espriella is a political novice who rose to prominence representing right-wing paramilitary groups. Cepeda is a prominent human rights defender and legislator. His father was assassinated by right-wing, U.S.-backed paramilitary groups in 1994. Cepeda spoke to supporters on Sunday.

Iván Cepeda: “Once the official canvass takes place and its final result is produced, and the corresponding verifications have been carried out, we will recognize the official result that emerges from that scrutiny process.”

If the election results are confirmed, Colombia would become the latest Latin American country to shift to the right, joining Argentina, El Salvador, Chile, Bolivia and possibly Peru, where Keiko Fujimori appears on track to win the recent election.

Bolivia’s right-wing President Rodrigo Paz has declared a state of emergency and has deployed the military to end weeks of Indigenous and union-led protests. Protesters had set up road blockades across the country calling for Paz’s resignation and an end to austerity measures. Former Bolivian President Evo Morales has backed the protest movement.

Evo Morales: “In my view, this is a rebellion by the Indigenous movement against the neoliberal model and against the neocolonial state. As time goes by, the government has moved faster. It has tried to implement it, even without authority. In December, it already issued a supreme decree to put the entire neoliberal model in place.”

In news from Cuba, lawmakers have passed sweeping economic changes that could lead to the privatization of much of Cuba’s socialist economy. The move comes after intense U.S. pressure and threats by President Trump to take over Cuba. In recent months, the U.S. has blocked nearly all oil shipments from reaching Cuba. This is on top of the U.S. embargo that dates back to the early 1960s. Cuba’s Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz spoke on Thursday.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz: “These are proposals to confront the crisis, opening a transformative window that, if not implemented now, could bring irreversible political and social consequences. But I want to reiterate that these transformations do not represent a departure from the socialist project. On the contrary, they follow the logic of its own development.”

In other news from Cuba, former Vice President Ramiro Valdés Menéndez has died at the age of 94. He was a close ally of Fidel and Raúl Castro and was a key figure in the Cuban Revolution.

Salah Sarsour, the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest mosque, has been released from an ICE jail in Indiana after being detained for nearly three months. Sarsour is a Palestinian-born community leader. He spoke to supporters on Thursday.

Salah Sarsour: “Because of great people like you and people of freedom that stood with justice, that’s why I’m back. I owe this to my community, to, again, people of freedom, like JVP and other organizations, who did great work standing for justice.”

In Newark, New Jersey, a Father’s Day vigil was held outside the privately run ICE jail known as Delaney Hall on Sunday. Families and supporters held signs reading “Free the dads, close the camps.” The vigil was disrupted when a red sports car entering the facility struck a female protester who was waving an upside-down U.S. flag. Demonstrators said they believe the driver of the car was an employee of the GEO Group, the for-profit private prison company that operates the ICE jail. Soon after, ICE agents deployed pepper spray and mace on the crowd.

The U.S. State Department has announced it will stop funding HIV and AIDS programs in South Africa, where more than 8 million people live with HIV — the highest number of any country in the world. A State Department official justified the decision by citing “South Africa’s failure to make demonstrable progress on policy requests by the administration.” President Trump has falsely claimed there is a “white genocide” taking place in South Africa. Trump has also overhauled U.S. asylum policy by pausing all asylum requests except for white South Africans.

President Trump, without offering any evidence, has claimed that vandals are responsible for turning the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool green instead of dark blue. Last week, The Washington Post reported that the reflecting pool contained more algae than at any recorded point in June over the past five years. In addition, a newly painted blue liner has begun to peel.
In recent days, authorities have arrested several people for touching parts of the reflecting pool, including David Hearn, a 67-year-old former Olympic canoe racer, who was arrested, handcuffed and held for five hours after stopping by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride. Hearn denied committing vandalism and described his arrest as “arbitrary, capricious prosecution.”