US authorities investigate huge etching of ‘8647’ on National Mall grounds

• The Iranian clerical establishment is experiencing a period of systemic volatility and intense internal political friction. • High-level administrative infighting has escalated into an overt political war centered on the regime's approach to international diplomacy.

• A new analysis by Press Gazette, utilizing Similarweb data, reveals that 80% of the top 50 US news websites experienced a traffic decline in May. • More than half of these major newsbrands saw double-digit year-on-year traffic drops, indicating a significant downward trend in digital readership.

• The UK, Australia, and Canada have launched a major new international fund designed to scale civil society initiatives and address the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. • The fund will invest in grassroots projects aimed at rebuilding trust and reducing community divisions, integrating civil society efforts directly into broader diplomatic strategies.

• Tensions in the Middle East are escalating as warring parties resume hostilities and diplomatic relations deteriorate. • Iran remains defiant, demanding that the United States take accountability for ceasefire violations involving military strikes.

• UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressed a Security Council open debate in New York, urging member states to utilize the UN Charter to settle Middle East disputes peacefully. • Guterres highlighted how restrictions on navigational rights in the Strait of Hormuz are destabilizing global energy prices and disrupting critical supply chains.

Australia’s defence minister had been due to visit a naval base in Portsmouth with British defence secretary John Healey. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGood morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.We kick off with news from the UK, where our deputy PM and defence minister, Richard Marles, was visiting for a ministerial summit but had the wind taken from his sails when his British counterpart abruptly quit over defence funding. Continue reading...

Strikes on Bemani damaged key water reservoir for 20,000 people living in area amid a historic drought in the countryMiddle East crisis – live updatesMilitary strikes that damaged two water storage facilities in southern Iran may constitute a war crime, military and legal experts say, after reviewing media reports and visual evidence of a 10 June strike on Bemani, a small district about 2 miles from the strait of Hormuz.It’s unclear if the strikes deliberately targeted the district’s water tanks, or if they unintentionally destroyed a key reservoir for about 20,000 people living nearby. But if the tanks were the target, then the legal question becomes critical, Brian Finucane, a former state department lawyer, said. “It’s either a military objective or it’s a civilian object: attacking one is lawful, attacking the other is a war crime,” Finucane said. Continue reading...

People in city’s minority ethnic communities speak of alarm as violence casts light on racism in Northern IrelandAs widespread violence broke out in Belfast, a list of addresses began circulating on social media. Spread geographically wide, on dozens of streets across the city, the addresses were reportedly houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) where immigrants live.Joseph and Solomon, both from Eritrea, came to Belfast as refugees, now have leave to remain, and work full-time. They live on the same street as one of the properties on the list, but Joseph thought it was theirs that was meant to be on it. “It’s obviously for us,” he said. Continue reading...

Plan comes after major New York Times report alleges files became source of crisis within Trump administrationDemocrats on the House oversight committee, led by Representative Robert Garcia, plan to call on JD Vance to testify on the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files following a major report Wednesday from the New York Times, which described how the Epstein files became the source of an internal crisis within Trump’s administration.Garcia will call on the committee chair, James Comer, to summon the vice-president to speak, according to a post from Max Cohen, a reporter with Punchbowl News. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Vance would agree to appear. Continue reading...

Government urged to reconsider proposal for 1,100 Afghans, currently stranded in Qatar, who worked with US forcesDozens of US lawmakers urged the Trump administration on Thursday to roll back any plans to ship to unsafe third countries Afghan nationals who worked with US forces during the war in their homeland.In a letter seen by Reuters, more than 80 House of Representatives members, including at least three Republicans as well as Democrats, appealed to secretary of state Marco Rubio to reconsider plans for 1,100 Afghans who have been stranded in Qatar awaiting relocation. Continue reading...

President steered no-bid contract for project that he said would cost $1.8m to company that worked on his golf resortThe final drops of water have been added, and the nanobubbler switched on. Donald Trump’s “beautiful” makeover of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, one of Washington DC’s most historically symbolic attractions, is officially complete, and the public is getting its first glimpse of how the project’s $14.2m was spent.Contrary to the president’s predictable assertion that it was receiving “rave reviews”, however, early impressions are decidedly mixed. Some of the first visitors declared themselves underwhelmed by the 2,000ft pool’s somewhat dull color – American flag blue, according to the specifications. Continue reading...