After months of war followed by an increasingly shaky ceasefire, it appears that peace is finally at hand.
President Donald Trump declared over the weekend that the US had reached an agreement with Iran to end the war, though he has continued to threaten to start up strikes again if Tehran does not “behave”.
Yesterday, Pakistan, which has been mediating the negotiations, announced the two sides had signed a 14-point agreement.
Ahead of the signing, US officials detailed the text of the agreement for reporters. One of the points stipulates Iran will received $300 billion in funds for reconstruction – something Mr Trump had denied earlier in the day.
It also includes a pledge to end all military operations, including in Lebanon, though Israel might have something to say about that. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israeli troops will remain in Lebanon to combat Hezbollah, as “the struggle has not ended”.
Still, a senior Lebanese official expressed optimism to our UN correspondent Adla Massoud, saying they expected talks to accelerate.
“Lebanon wants to rush and take advantage of the ceasefire in the Gulf to make progress on a de-escalation on the Israel-Lebanon front that will lead to an agreement on a ceasefire as soon as possible,” the official said.
So the fighting will soon stop, the Strait of Hormuz will reopen and Iran will keep its civilian nuclear programme – that is, basically everything will go back to the way it was before, except now thousands of people are dead, there's a risk of global famine due to fertiliser shortages and petrol is more than most can afford. Sounds like a good deal to me.
The agreement between Washington and Tehran was announced right before Iran played its first World Cup match against New Zealand on Monday. Senior correspondent Jihan Abdalla was in Los Angeles for the event and spoke to Iranian Americans torn between pride in their countrymen and disdain for the regime.
“At the end of the day, football is something that should be celebrated,” one fan told her. “For 90 minutes we should put politics aside and enjoy the game.”
Now that the war is over, Mr Trump is likely to turn his mind to other things. I recently returned from an assignment to Cuba (more on that later), and several people told me they were concerned about a possible invasion now that the Iran war is ending.
Mr Trump told reporters in recent weeks that former presidents had considered an intervention on the island but “it looks like I'll be the one that does it”.
But despite the fear, the Cubans I spoke to were defiant – and they pointed out that Iran had proved it was possible to go toe-to-toe with the US and come out the other side.
Eye on the White House
Trump uses Cold War-era law to boost US weapon supplies after stocks depleted by Iran conflict
Mr Trump has invoked the US Defence Production Act in a bid to accelerate the delivery of weapons after stockpiles were depleted during the war with Iran and other conflicts.
He cited “systemic constraints in the munitions industrial base” in his order for Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to make “voluntary agreements and plans of action” to address the reduced US defence capacity, according to a memo dated June 11 and posted in the Federal Register.
While the document didn’t detail how those agreements would go beyond the administration’s engagement with defence contractors like Lockheed Martin and RTX, the Pentagon’s industrial base policy chief said the DPA allowed for consultations with private businesses without violating antitrust law.
Trump administration officials have emphasised a need to limit resources to allies and partners, such as war-torn Ukraine, as part of a drive to prioritise the domestic industrial base.
What's Washington talking about?
White House cage match For weeks, we in Washington have watched as an octagon was erected on the White House lawn for “UFC Freedom 250" – an event organised on the President's 80th birthday as part of wider celebrations for America's 250th anniversary. Mr Trump was in attendance, along with members of his family, cabinet officials, tech leaders, business executives and even a few celebrities, for the series of fights. UFC chief Dana White hailed the evening as a success, rather wistfully calling it “an amazing experience” that will “never happen again”. Fingers crossed.
World's first trillionaire He might still be on the outs with the White House, but Elon Musk can console himself with the knowledge that he is now the world's first trillionaire. His company SpaceX had the biggest initial public offering in history last week, bumping up Mr Musk's net worth up to a comfortable $1.3 trillion. “It is hard to believe that a little company that started in a warehouse in El Segundo is going public in the largest IPO ever,” Mr Musk told employees before the SpaceX listing. “I gave SpaceX less than a 10 per cent chance of succeeding at all.”
Newsom probe Gavin Newsom, California's Democratic Governor who is widely expected to run for president in 2028, has accused Mr Trump of ordering a criminal investigation into him and his wife. He said federal agents had in recent days been knocking on the door of members of his family, friends and former employees, demanding records and digging through years-old documents. If true, Mr Newsom joins a list of other Trump critics who have come under federal scrutiny, including former FBI director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and former national security adviser John Bolton.
Spotlight: Life under embargo – Cubans face blackouts and scarcity under US blockade
On a residential street off the main thoroughfare of Paseo de Marti in Havana, dozens of people sit outside in the sweltering afternoon heat.
They chat amiably, clinging to the shade cast by the buildings, while keeping an eye on a group of children playing football. Someone turns up the volume on their phone, and a reggaeton song feebly permeates the humid air.
This has become a common sight in the Cuban capital, as people try to stay cool when fuel shortages cause blackouts across the city. Some areas receive only a couple of hours of electricity a day. Outside Havana, the blackouts can last even longer.
“It makes it uncomfortable to sleep, uncomfortable to cook – if you don’t have gas, you have to do it over a wood-burning fire or grill,” Raul, a resident of the nearby town of San Antonio de Los Banos who asked to go only by his first name, told The National.
Only in America
How a $14m paint job left Washington's landmark reflecting pool green
Mr Trump in April ordered the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to be painted “American-flag blue” as part of a renovation of the Washington landmark.
More than $14 million later, the famous rectangle is instead a deep shade of American dollar green.
Within days of the paint job on the 618-metre-long pool, clumps of algae started to appear and quickly proliferated under the summer sun.
The setback has left workers scrambling to clean the shallow pool and get it back to its desired deep blue colour in time for America's 250th anniversary on July 4.
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