Headlines: 15-21 June 2026

Wednesday, 17 June 2026

G7 promises to support Ukraine and sanction Russia in joint declaration also signed by Trump (LINK) — 17 June 2026

Bloomberg: Read the 14-Point Draft Memorandum between the US and Iran (LINK) — 17 June 2026

'Scientists were dead right': Al Gore says on 20th anniversary of 'An Inconvenient Truth' (LINK) — 17 June 2026

— In a review of key claims by the documentary, ABC News found that the majority of the scientific observations made in "An Inconvenient Truth" have come to fruition or are on track to in the years to come.

US Embassy warns citizens to avoid popular jet ski beach activity in the Bahamas, citing reports of sexual assaults and safety incidents involving local operators (LINK) — 17 June 2026

Dell CEO Michael Dell donates $750 million to UT Austin for AI-focused medical campus and hospital (LINK) — 17 June 2026

Tuesday, 16 June 2026

Switzerland confirms US-Iran deal will be signed at Burgenstock resort Friday (LINK) — 16 June 2026

AP: White House talking points claim victories in initial Iran deal but often don't meet reality (LINK) — 16 June 2026

— "In a series of talking points sent to Trump supporters and Republican members of Congress this week, the White House proclaimed major victories, such as Iran agreeing to never have a nuclear weapon, reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz and fighting in Lebanon ending. [They] go against some of the realities on the ground, especially regarding what Israel has agreed to in its conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon."

— Hezbollah is not party to talks that have been taking place in the U.S. between Israel and Lebanon, and the Iranian-backed militant group has rejected any agreements reached during them. Israeli officials also have said they will not be bound by the terms of the tentative Iran-U.S. agreement and do not know the details of it.

— In a Truth Social post on Monday evening, Trump described reports that the U.S. would pay a huge sum of money to Iran as "Fake News". He appeared to be referring to reports that the terms of the peace agreement could involve Washington allowing for the creation of a $300 billion investment fund for Iran. Vice President JD Vance told CBS on Monday that it was the "sort of thing they could have access to, funded by the Gulf Coast Coalition, so long as they honor their end of the obligation."

UN chief visits Haiti, where a new international force will be deployed to help fight gangs (LINK) — 16 June 2026

Russian frigate fires warning shots at British pleasure yacht in Channel (LINK) — 16 June 2026

FBI foiled alleged plot targeting Trump's UFC event on Sunday, FBI Director Patel says: multiple people are in custody (LINK) — 16 June 2026

Daily Kos: FBI affidavit makes rather clear that the people behind the planned drone attack on the UFC event were not leftists. Rather, they were ultra-right Christians with Nazi and fascist leanings who viewed the Trump Administration as a continuation of corrupt regimes (LINK) — 16 June 2026

Brazilian police arrest 25 people in a crackdown on Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang (LINK) — 16 June 2026

Jeffrey Epstein attempted to take his own life on multiple occasions before his death, his former cellmate told The New York Times (LINK) — 16 June 2026

— He died by suicide just hours after a cellmate was transferred to another facility, leaving him alone in a cell for the first time.

SpaceX closes in on Amazon in sprint toward $3 trillion market value, briefly topping both Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) (LINK) — 16 June 2026

EU states say new deals known as Bilateral Agreements III 'only viable path' in relations with Switzerland: status quo is not a viable alternative (LINK) — 16 June 2026

Researchers calculate incidence of sunlight in Switzerland: even the shadow cast by every single tree is recorded in a new map (LINK) — 16 June 2026

— swissinfo: The map depicts solar radiation across the whole of Switzerland with a resolution of ten metres. The data is available for every hour and every day over a full annual cycle. Around a third of precipitation in Switzerland falls as snow. The new data therefore helps with flood warnings and planning for hydropower.

Monday, 15 June 2026

Russian anti-Putin artist shot dead in a residential parking lot in Poland: two suspected killers involved (LINK) — 15 June 2026

Russia was behind arson attacks targeting British PM, BBC reveals (LINK) — 15 June 2026

Trump projects confidence about Iran deal as he meets global leaders for G7 summit (LINK) — 15 June 2026

Trump, Vance, Iranian official sign US-Iran peace memo on Sunday: the details of the memorandum will be released in 24 to 48 hours, officials said (LINK) — 15 June 2026

Heather Cox Richardson: President Donald J. Trump's remaking of Washington, D.C. (LINK) — 15 June 2026

'The next pandemic will not wait': Lula and WHO director in urgent joint plea for leaders to finalize agreement (LINK) — 15 June 2026

Switzerland-France feud erupts over G7 security costs linked to the G7 summit taking place in Evian-les-Bains. (LINK) — 15 June 2026

— France is refusing to contribute to the $25-32 million cost of securing the border and policing the protests, according to Laurent Paoliello, communications director for Geneva's security department. Several Swiss politicians have proposed withholding funds owed to France as a way of forcing Paris to pay for the security costs, including retaining tax income due to the French to compensate for lost tax income from cross-border workers. But Paoliello said such moves were "complicated" due to the fact that the exchanges of funds were enshrined in treaties. Geneva this year paid France €446 million as part of the 1973 treaty. France has not seen fit to establish designated protest sites or "counter-summits". Tens of thousands of protesters are gathering on the Swiss side of the border where they aim to stage rallies during the summit. Swiss police clashed with some 600-700 protesters on Monday, leading the protest to be forbidden after three hours. All other public rallies have been forbidden during the G7 summit. In addition to police, some 4,000 Swiss military personnel are being mobilized this week to oversee protests and staff border checkpoints.

Russian attack sets fire to centuries-old religious site in Kyiv and kills rescuers in Kharkiv (LINK) — 15 June 2026

UK Prime Minister Starmer says Britain will ban under-16s from using social media apps including TikTok and YouTube (LINK) — 15 June 2026

— Australia, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia have introduced legislation or announced age-based restrictions or requirements for children's access to social media. France, Spain, Denmark, Thailand and South Korea are among others studying or developing similar approaches.

Swiss tourism: summer 2026 faces difficult circumstances: weaker demand from long-haul markets. (LINK) — 15 June 2026

Exceptional winter for Swiss hotel industry: increase was fuelled only marginally by foreign demand — (LINK)

— December (+6.8%), January (+2.6%) and February (+2.9%) proved particularly successful. The outbreak of conflict in the Middle East coincided with a sudden fall in foreign demand (-4.8% in March and -5.7% in April), particularly from Asia, which weighed on the end of the season.

8 crew members killed when a B-52 bomber crashes on takeoff at California's Edwards Air Force Base on a routine test mission (LINK) — 15 June 2026

Newsweek: Why Switzerland voted to reject population cap (LINK) — 15 June 2026

— Switzerland's population has expanded by nearly 2 million people since 2002—from 7.3 million to more than 9 million in 2025 — following the introduction of freer movement between Switzerland and the European Union (EU), according to the Federal Statistics Office.Foreign-trained doctors make up around 43 percent of all physicians working in Switzerland, according to the Swiss Medical Association. The vast majority of the 165,386 foreign nationals who moved to Switzerland last year migrated for employment, according to the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). Two-thirds of them are coming from the EU/European Free Trade Association (EFTA). "In an uncertain world, a small country at the heart of Europe was ultimately not prepared to risk a rupture with the EU, in many ways our closest and most reliable ally," said Cloé Jans, a senior project manager at the Swiss public opinion research firm gfs.bern. "For many voters, a flawed status quo was preferable to an unpredictable leap into the unknown."

Al Jazeera: Swiss right-wing plan to cap population rejected by narrow margins — (LINK limited)