“U.S. crude prices fell 2.7% Monday to about $74 per barrel, after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a 60-day waiver of sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil. It was the first time crude prices had broken below $75 since early March. International Brent crude prices fell 4% to about $77 per barrel, likewise a new low since the Iran conflict began. Both prices remain above their immediate pre-war prices of $62 and $68 a barrel, respectively. In a statement published on social media Monday, Bessent said Iran had ‘committed to free and open transit in the Strait of Hormuz.'” (06/22/26)
“Police found 2.7 metric tons (3 tons) of cocaine on a property on Sydney’s outskirts in Australia’s largest ever seizure of the drug, officials said on Monday. The drug was found on June 19 in plastic tubs buried in underground bunkers hidden beneath three shipping containers on a semirural property in the suburb of Londonderry on Sydney’s western edge, the Queensland Joint Organized Crime Taskforce said in a statement. The containers had false floors that provided access to the cocaine, which police estimate had a street value of 816 million Australian dollars ($572 million). Two Sydney residents, men aged 21 and 25, were arrested at the property and charged with possessing a commercial quantity of an illicit drug.” (06/22/26)
“Kenya’s Health Minister Aden Duale was found in contempt of court on Monday for failing to halt the construction of an Ebola quarantine facility intended for Americans, despite existing court orders. The High Court ordered Duale to appear on Tuesday for sentencing. Earlier this month, the minister defended the project, arguing that the facility at the Laikipia Air Base would benefit both Kenyans and international partners. The court had previously directed the government to suspend construction of the facility pending the hearing of a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya and the Katiba Institute, a constitutional watchdog. The petitioners argued that Kenya’s healthcare system is already overstretched and may be unable to manage foreign Ebola patients safely. Residents living near Laikipia Air Base reported seeing U.S. military aircraft landing after the court issued its suspension order on May 29.” (06/22/26)
“Lindy Li, a former Democratic fundraiser who switched party affiliation over unheeded warning signs about President Joe Biden’s decline in the 2024 election, is revealing new details about the red flags the party blew by. ‘Whatever was out there, it wasn’t the truth. They wanted him to go, and also in my book, I will be telling people exactly who was aware of Biden’s cognitive decline but pretended otherwise,’ Li told Fox News Digital during a phone interview. Li, who is publishing a new book titled Unburdened later this year, adds to the picture of the internal discussions, the research, and the panic behind the scenes of the Democratic Party, indicating that Biden enjoyed only shaky support even among his own camp long before he ultimately dropped out of the 2024 election.” (06/22/26)
“Romania’s prime minister-designate Adrian Vestea asked parliament late on Sunday for a vote of confidence, banking on support from the country’s largest party, but his cabinet is unlikely to pass without support from the opposition far right. Centrist President Nicusor Dan nominated Liberal Party member Vestea earlier this week without consulting the party, in what analysts said was a forceful attempt to rebuild a pro-European government to carry out reforms and keep cutting the largest budget deficit in the European Union. … On Sunday, the Liberals reiterated they would no longer join a ruling coalition with the Social Democrats and voted to exclude Vestea from their ranks, as well as any party member who would back or join his government.” (06/22/26)
“Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukrainian forces have struck energy and military infrastructure either side of a key bridge linking occupied [sic] Crimea and Russia. The Russia-appointed Crimean governor Sergei Aksyonov said fuel stations across the peninsula suspended sales to the public and businesses, with supplies restricted to government agencies responsible for essential services and security. Russian authorities said at least five people were killed and 28 injured in the attacks, adding that air defences had downed 239 Ukrainian drones overnight.” (06/22/26)
“U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday that he will stand down as Labour leader and prime minster, ending months of political turmoil and opening a contest to replace him. The announcement follows mounting pressure on the prime minister after Labour suffered heavy losses in local elections in May and faced an increasingly vocal rebellion from his own lawmakers over his leadership and policy agenda. The move comes less than two years after Starmer led Labour to one of its largest parliamentary majorities in the 2024 general election. In a statement outside 10 Downing Street shortly after 9:30 a.m. in London, Starmer said he would remain in post until any leadership contest is completed, which he said would help ensure an orderly handover of power.” (06/22/26)
“Political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella held a razor-thin lead in Colombia’s presidential election with nearly all the votes counted Sunday, in a runoff vote marked by people’s fears of a renewed internal conflict. A victory by de la Espriella would effectively be an indictment of the policies of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, whose protégé had promised to continue his agenda if he defeated his rival. De la Espriella, a business owner and lawyer who earned U.S. President Donald Trump’s endorsement despite never having run for office, led progressive lawmaker Iván Cepeda taking 49.7% of the votes, with 99.9% of the results released by electoral authorities. Cepeda, Petro’s ally, earned 48.7% support. Election officials have not formally announced a winner. … Cepeda told supporters that his campaign considers the count ‘unofficial and non-binding’ and that his team will challenge results from more than 30,000 voting stations.” (06/22/26)
“The U.S. military [murdered] two men in its latest strike targeting a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean, U.S. Southern Command announced late Sunday, lifting the monthslong operation’s death toll to at least 213. The strike left six survivors, according to SOUTHCOM, which said in a statement that it immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate search-and-rescue operations. … Sunday’s strike was the third conducted since Tuesday and the fourth this month, [murdering] at least eight people. The status of two survivors from a strike last week was not known.” (06/22/26)
“President Trump on Sunday issued new threats against Iran and its negotiators as US and Iranian officials were in Geneva, Switzerland, for the first round of talks under the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding. Speaking to Fox News reporter Trey Yingst, President Trump claimed that he spoke with Iranian officials overnight and told them: ‘You close [the Strait of Hormuz] and you won’t have a country.’ … Yingst said Trump also told the officials that if the strait is closed, ‘you won’t even make it back to your f–cking country,’ which appears to be a threat against the lives of Iran’s officials in Geneva, who include Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. … Trump’s threats violate the MoU, which states that the two sides must ‘refrain from the threat or use of force against each other,’ and Iran’s PressTV reported that Iran’s delegation in Geneva raised objections with the US side over his comments.” (06/21/26)
