The New York Times reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe, during a secret trip to Moscow, told Russian officials privately that Russia's war effort in Ukraine looks bleak.
Hamas has confirmed it agreed to a deal, announced by US President Donald Trump, in which it will give up its weapons in exchange for Israel gradually pulling its troops out of Gaza.
The US-Iran exchange has entered its tenth consecutive night as Houthis threaten Saudi shipping, yet mediators are pushing a 10-day ceasefire — the first concrete offramp in a widening Gulf war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says new US sanctions targeting a financier linked to Iran's Supreme Leader and Iran's shadow exchange houses violate the no-new-sanctions clause of the June 17 ceasefire memorandum, even as fighting itself has quieted since last week's strikes over Strait of Hormuz ship attacks.
At back-to-back UN Security Council sessions, the Baltic states and Ukraine pressed for a formal ceasefire resolution while the US condemned Russia's destruction of Ukrainian homes and heritage sites. The push highlights the gap between rhetorical unity and the veto that keeps any binding text out of reach.