U.S. and Iran give it another try

Trump’s comments ‘astonish’ Giorgia Meloni

Stay informed with Reuters. Subscribe for $1/week. Weekend Briefing Weekend Briefing From Reuters Daily Briefing   By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor Thanks for joining me this weekend. I recommend this story about the business empire of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and how they stand to gain if the U.S. and Iran reach a peace deal. Also: free soda refills and chicken wings dipped in ranch dressing are doing their best to make World Cup fans visiting the States worry less about visa worries and gun violence. U.S. and Iran give it another try   REUTERS/Stringer Connections: Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon will test the chances of any interim agreement to end the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran. Israel will keep forces in southern Lebanon, an official said, challenging the terms of the putative peace deal. Locals are returning to find their villages destroyed. Segues: Hard work vaulting countless roadblocks went into getting the interim U.S.-Iran deal together, and there’s a lot more to accomplish to turn it into a permanent agreement. While its backers call it the deal of the century, Tehran’s adversaries say it’s a curse. Signs point to Ebola’s rapid spread in Congo Unprecedented death rate: At least 30 people have died in a camp for displaced civilians since the beginning of May. More than 70 medics in the Democratic Republic of Congo have caught the deadly virus. The World Health Organization lacks personnel, ambulances and construction supplies for building isolation wards. Africa: Zimbabwe’s parliament voted to extend presidential terms from five to seven years, a move that benefits President Emmerson Mnangagwa, also known as the Crocodile. Lawmakers from more than a dozen countries said they would push for new legislation to restrict LGBT rights. What happened to Meloni and Trump? Love on the rocks: Donald Trump used to call her “a fantastic leader and person” and a “beautiful young woman.” Now ties have deteriorated. In their latest salvo, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denied that she had begged the president for a photo of them together, leading Italy’s foreign minister to cancel a visit to the U.S. Cad on the tracks: Prosecutors are investigating a WhatsApp group in which tram drivers in Milan exchanged comments on images of female passengers captured by onboard security cameras. U.S. wants more power for AI data centers Feed me: The federal energy regulator ordered electric-grid operators to consider new protocols to quickly connect large energy users such as artificial-intelligence data centers without raising costs and the risk of blackouts. It also said it would no longer automatically consider cumulative environmental impacts in its rulemaking. I need you, the bots need you: AI will lead to labor shortages rather than replacing human workers, Jeff Bezos said. His remarks come as companies cut thousands of jobs while investing in AI. Space companies are talking with insurers about covering AI data centers on satellites orbiting the earth, a way to bypass earth’s power constraints. ‘They’re men, not robots’ Get off their backs: Turkey’s coach said harsh criticism of the team’s World Cup defeat at the hands of Australia is demoralizing younger players and that “they have been affected by how overboard some of the reactions have been.” Paraguay’s coach said much the same thing. “You can shoot at me but not at them.” Heat and hops: TV ad presenters like them, but fans aren’t crazy about enforced hydration breaks during World Cup matches, despite the ridiculous heat in some of the venues. Tartan Army fans visiting from Scotland nearly emptied Boston of beer. “Do they ever sleep?” asked the general manager of the Sam Adams Tap Room. “Do they ever get tired?” And I love this story about the “translation cameras” that Philadelphia police are using during the matches. Before I forget… Elderly Britons in failing health who live in Spain are discovering the long-term costs of Brexit. So are their families. Mongolia is putting most of its coal and many other minerals in China’s basket despite the risk of overdependence on one trading partner. Thailand wants to create a corridor between two new deep-sea ports as an alternative to the Strait of Malacca. Logistics, irritated locals and the $30 billion estimated cost stand in the way. Saudi Arabia’s Sindalah island luxury resort proved to be a real dog and has never opened to the public. They’re turning to another developer to fix it. The oldest-known outbreak of plague occurred 5,500 years ago in the Lake Baikal region in Siberia. It especially targeted children and adolescents, scientists found. How do you fly non-stop for 20 hours or more without losing your marbles? Qantas shows us how it took on the challenge ahead of its planned services from Sydney to London and New York. Oh, how many times I’ve dreamed of being a giant deep-sea isopod which almost never gets to eat and is cool with that. What would you be if you had the chance?   Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website   Weekend Briefing is sent once a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you’ve engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036

Peace talks postponed

Plus, Starmer vows to fight as Burnham wins big.

Go beyond the headlines with Reuters on the stories shaping the day. Subscribe for $1/week. Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Kate Turton Hello. US-Iran peace talks are postponed, clouding the prospects for a lasting truce. Meanwhile in the UK, Starmer vows to fight any challenge after leading rival Burnham wins big, and Tata's iPhone parts factory faces a health probe in India. Plus, the White House delays the release a of US voting machine study as midterms near. Today's Top News   Israeli military vehicles drive on a Lebanese road by the Israel-Lebanon border, as seen from northern Israel, June 18, 2026. REUTERS/Gil Eliyahu  Switzerland said US talks with Iranian negotiators on a pact to end the Middle East conflict would not take place, while Vice President JD Vance dropped plans to travel there, fueling uncertainty whether a lasting truce can be found. Patricia Zengerle tells the Reuters World News podcast why some of Trump's most loyal supporters are among the most unsettled by the pact. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has set up secretive new cells in Iraq to carry out attacks on Gulf countries that host American forces, bypassing established militia networks to avoid detection, eight Iraqi sources told Reuters. Read our exclusive. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would not walk away from his job, vowing to fight any challenge from his leading party rival Andy Burnham and potentially ushering in a ‌new bout of political instability in Britain. The paint on Washington's newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is already ‌peeling away from the bottom and into the algae-tinted water, less than two weeks after President Donald Trump announced the job's completion. The US Supreme Court limited the application of a decades-old federal law that bars firearms possession by certain drug users, rejecting a position taken by Trump's administration that had threatened the gun rights of millions of Americans who use marijuana and own firearms. Communities rebuilding from devastating floods in southern Brazil two years ago are bracing for an intense El Nino that meteorologists warn could bring extreme rains this year. Business & Markets   A woman plants a rose sapling in a field adjacent to the Tata Electronics' components factory for Apple's iPhone in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, India, June 17, 2026. REUTERS/Priyanshu Singh An Indian state health authority is investigating how liquid discharged from Apple supplier Tata's iPhone components factory has affected farmers, some of whom complained about skin issues from contamination in their farmlands. US Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh put his stamp on the job fast this week at a debut policy meeting that produced a return to stripped-down, 1990s-style central banking. Meta has lobbied the US Congress for legal immunity from child-harm claims tied to ‌social media products such as Instagram, as it faces thousands of lawsuits from young users and their families. Shares of SpaceX dropped more than 6% on Thursday, as the post-IPO frenzy that briefly placed Elon Musk's rockets-to-AI firm among the world's top five most valuable ‌companies appeared to fizzle out. A Swedish transport authority is recommending a vote against the Europe-wide rollout of Tesla's supervised self-driving software, unless the US EV maker disables its ability to exceed legal speed limits, a regulatory letter shows. Markets head into the long weekend on edge as US–Iran talks hit an early snag. Why is a shaky ceasefire rattling oil traders? Listen now on the Reuters Morning Bid podcast. The Week Ahead Colombians vote on Sunday in a presidential runoff offering sharply different economic paths from right-wing lawyer Abelardo De La Espriella and leftist senator Ivan Cepeda. London hosts its largest-ever climate week, with more than 75,000 participants across over 1,000 events. Sharon Kimathi will bring you all the latest news from the events. Investors will get a key US inflation update on the heels of a Federal Reserve meeting that prompted a hawkish market reaction. Trump will headline an event commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary on the National Mall. Here's all you need to know about the coming week in financial markets. White House delays release of US voting machine study as midterms near   Wrapped voting machines wait for delivery inside the Allegheny County Elections Warehouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo White House officials have for months delayed the release of a US government report that outlines what it describes as significant vulnerabilities in the nation's voting machines ahead of the November midterms, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The report, produced by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, concludes that voting ‌machines could be further safeguarded by, for example, updating their software, the sources said. Some White House officials have argued the report could undermine voter confidence, particularly among Republicans. Others have said they do not believe the report goes far enough in supporting Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, the three sources said. Read our exclusive And Finally... A man plays basketball at Doral Legacy Park as a brush fire burns in Miami, Florida, June 16. REUTERS/Maria Alejandra Cardona A selection of our top photography from the past week. Read more   Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website   Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you’ve engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036