June 12, 2026
U.S., ISRAEL, IRAN WAR | UKRAINE | U.S. TARIFFS | U.S. WIND POWER | KENNEDY CENTER | U.S. RELIGION | U.S. AND CANADA | GLOBAL CLIMATE | G7 SUMMIT | EUROPEAN MIGRATION | EUROPEAN ECONOMY | SOUTH KOREA | BRAZIL | WALL STREET | WORLD CUP | HOCKEY | ENTERTAINMENT | R.I.P. | TODAY IN HISTORY
U.S., ISRAEL, IRAN WAR | Day 105.
- U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday that he was cancelling planned strikes on Iran in anticipation of a deal to end the Middle East war being signed as early as this weekend. Reports cite Iranian officials as saying that while peace talks are actively ongoing, no final agreement has been reached. [more]
- Reuters cites an unnamed Western source as saying U.S. and Iranian negotiators are attempting to finalize the language of a memorandum to halt the Middle East war with the goal of signing the agreement as early as Sunday. The report also notes that Geneva, Switzerland, has emerged as the most likely location for any potential signing of a deal. [more]
UKRAINE | Today is day 1,567 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here is your update:
- Reports say Ukraine is expected to ask its allies for an additional $20 billion in military funding next week at a meeting of the 50-plus-member Ukraine Defense Contact Group to further what Kyiv says is its current battlefield advantage over Russia. [more]
U.S. TARIFFS | Overturning a lower-court ruling, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ruled yesterday that the federal government can continue collecting a 10% worldwide tariff imposed by President Donald Trump in February while related court proceedings play out. [more]
U.S. WIND POWER | In a newly filed federal lawsuit, a coalition of renewable energy groups accuses the Department of Defense and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of effectively freezing the development of new wind farms on private land and putting billions of dollars in investments and thousands of jobs at risk by delaying related national security reviews. [more]
KENNEDY CENTER | The board of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted yesterday to challenge the recent federal court order requiring the Center to remove President Donald Trump's name from the venue. [more]
U.S. RELIGION | Delegates to the Southern Baptist Convention – the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. – voted overwhelmingly yesterday to advance a formal ban on membership for churches that have women pastors. The measure will require passage by a two-thirds majority at next year's convention to become part of the organization's constitution. [more]
U.S. AND CANADA | Reports say a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled to take place today for the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which connects Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, has been delayed by Canadian and U.S. authorities in order to resolve unspecified outstanding issues. The bridge, which is jointly owned by Canada and the U.S. state of Michigan and is expected ease trade-related traffic congestion, was scheduled to open next week. [more]
GLOBAL CLIMATE | A new study in the journal Nature Climate Change says data on extreme sea level changes since 1900 indicate that human-driven sea-level rise has made historical 1-in-100-year extreme coastal flooding events about 12-times more likely. [full study] [more]
G7 SUMMIT | France and Switzerland are implementing heightened road and airspace restrictions and deploying thousands of military and police personnel in the regions surrounding the French town of Evian-les-Bains on Lake Geneva ahead of next week's June 15-17 G7 summit, where the Middle East, Ukraine, and global economic imbalances are expected to be among the main topics of discussion. [more]
EUROPEAN MIGRATION | Following years of related negotiations, the European Migration and Asylum Pact – a wide-ranging collection of measures meant to modernize and standardize policies on irregular migration and asylum seekers among the E.U.'s 27 member states – takes effect today even as the European Commission admits that no members are completely ready. [more]
EUROPEAN ECONOMY | Citing price increases and other effects of the ongoing Middle East war, policymakers at the European Central Bank raised their benchmark interest rate today to 2.25% – up from 2% and the first such increase since 2023. [more]
SOUTH KOREA | Ousted former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to 30 years in prison today by the Seoul Central District Court after being convicted of flying drones over North Korea to heighten tensions as part of plans to justify a declaration of martial law in December 2024. Yoon previously received a sentence of life in prison from the same court on charges of rebellion associated with the martial law declaration – a conviction he has appealed. [more]
BRAZIL | Officials at Brazil's National Institute for Space Research and Ministry of Environment have reported a 61.4% decrease in the country's Amazon deforestation in May, compared to the same period last year. Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said the deforestation level was the lowest ever recorded for May. [more]
WALL STREET | SpaceX made its stock market debut this morning, with some 555 million shares going on sale for $135 each. Analysts say the IPO is likely to bring in about $75 billion for the Elon Musk-controlled company, making it the largest market debut ever. [more]
WORLD CUP | Mexico beat South Africa, 2-0, and South Korea beat Czechia, 2-1, in yesterday's opening matches of the FIFA men's World Cup. The United States and Canada, the hosts of this year's tournament along with Mexico, open play today against Paraguay and Bosnia and Herzegovina, respectively. [full schedule] [more]
HOCKEY | The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights, 4-2, last night to win Game 5 of the NHL's Stanley Cup Final and take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven championship series. Game 6 of the series is scheduled for Sunday night. [more]
ENTERTAINMENT | Pop superstar Taylor Swift was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame last night – the youngest woman, at 36 years of age, to ever receive the honor. Among others inducted into the Hall of Fame this year were Kenny Loggins, Alanis Morissette, and Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of the rock group Kiss. [more]
R.I.P. | British artist David Hockney – often described as one of the most influential artists of the modern era and particularly well-known for his swimming pool paintings – died yesterday at the age of 88. [more]
TODAY IN HISTORY | On this date in 1967, in Loving v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down a state law that banned interracial marriage, ruling that it was unconstitutional under the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. [more history]