After a meeting due on Friday in Switzerland between the US and Iran to hammer out details of a peace plan was cancelled because of renewed violence in Lebanon, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to renew their ceasefire.<\/p>\n
The diplomatic back-and-forth between Washington and Tehran about a Middle East peace deal has sent energy prices soaring and threatened global economic chaos. Clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have threatened to damage Donald Trump\u2019s efforts to extricate the US from the Middle East war.<\/p>\n
Trump has defended the deal with Iran in the face of criticism at home, including from some of his Republican allies in Congress, about whether the US president has conceded too much to end a war unpopular with most Americans before November\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe War has diminished Iran!\u201d he wrote in social media posts on Friday. \u201cWe didn\u2019t meet out of desperation, Iran did. They are FINISHED! We\u2019ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel and Hezbollah agree to renew ceasefire after flareup of violence<\/p>\n
Israel and Hezbollah<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> and the Bekaa valley that killed at least 47 people.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n US-Iran talks called off after Israel and Hezbollah trade deadly attacks<\/p>\n JD Vance\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n The White House then announced that the vice-president, who is leading the peace negotiations for the US, would not be flying to Switzerland.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s nuclear programme, and getting shipping moving in the strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Trump unveils new Air Force One, a converted Qatari 747<\/p>\n Donald Trump has unveiled the new, temporary Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.<\/p>\n Designated VC-25B, it was given to Trump by the Gulf emirate of Qatar<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Bill Pulte assumes role of US acting director of national intelligence<\/p>\n 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<\/a> and Washington lawmakers about the short-term future of the cabinet intelligence post.<\/p>\n Tulsi Gabbard, the outgoing DNI, initially planned to leave her post on 30 June, but Trump shortened her tenure to Friday.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Barack Obama says US is \u2018worse off\u2019 than before war with Iran<\/p>\n Barack Obama<\/a> has said that after 15 weeks of war with Iran<\/a>, the US is now \u201cworse off\u201d than before the conflict started in February.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve 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\u2019re back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little bit worse off,\u201d the former US president told NBC News<\/a> in an interview that aired on Friday.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n DoJ says it will investigate MLB amid Pride hats controversy<\/p>\n The US justice department has launched a civil rights investigation into Major League Baseball after the league criticized three San Francisco Giants<\/a> players who wrote Bible verses on their hats during the team\u2019s Pride Night.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Comparison to Hitler, Mao, Stalin? Trump says: \u2018Sounds good to me!\u2019<\/p>\n Donald Trump<\/a> has enthusiastically agreed with a public assessment by a man he met while golfing that the \u201coverwhelming difference\u201d between the current US president and historical figures who incited fear \u2013 such as Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Stalin, Mao and Hitler \u2013 is that Trump is more powerful.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n What else happened today:<\/p>\n