News of the World
06-29-2025, 05:36 PM
MIDDLE EAST CEASEFIRES
Quote:New satellite imagery captured on Friday shows intensified construction and excavation activity at Iran's Fordow nuclear facility, days after U.S. B-2 stealth bombers dropped Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) on the underground site.
The latest images, captured by Maxar Technologies, reveal heavy machinery still in place, additional earthwork and signs that tunnel entrances may have been deliberately sealed off before the strikes.
The Fordow site, buried inside a mountain 60 miles south of Tehran, was among three Iranian nuclear sites targeted during Operation Midnight Hammer, launched overnight on June 21–22. Based on the pictures, the facility now shows signs of "fresh earth movement," including new access roads and clusters of crater zones, particularly near key tunnel entrances.
Why It Matters
While initial U.S. assessments described the bombing damage as "extremely severe," the updated satellite photos suggest Iran may have acted preemptively to secure sensitive components. Iranian state media reported that nuclear sites had been evacuated and that enriched uranium was moved "to a safe location" ahead of the strikes.
International observers have expressed concern about Iran's production of highly enriched uranium at Fordow, though it remains unclear how much remained at the site during the bombing. Analysts say sealing the tunnels with dirt could have shielded underground assets or served to limit post-strike assessments.
What To Know
In the new imagery, earth-moving equipment can be seen operating near the northern tunnel complex. Bulldozers are repositioning dirt around one of the ridgeline craters, and newly formed access paths are visible.
Earlier imagery from June 19 and 20 shows multiple bulldozers and trucks positioned near the tunnel entrance. Observers now believe this was part of a coordinated effort to block or reinforce access points. The entrances appear filled with dirt, and ejecta from MOP impacts is visible in multiple locations.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC's Meet the Press that intelligence suggests "a lot of 60 percent enriched uranium" had been buried deep at Fordow but acknowledged uncertainty. "We have to assume" it was still there, he said.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon continues to evaluate the mission's effectiveness. "Our initial assessment is that all of our precision munitions struck where we wanted them to strike and had the desired effect," said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. "Especially in Fordow, which was the primary target here, we believe we achieved destruction of capabilities there."
As for the long-term status of Fordow's centrifuges, the IAEA said this week it believes they are "no longer operational," though experts say only on-site inspections or additional intelligence will reveal the true extent of the damage. For now, new imagery shows Iran actively working to either conceal or rehabilitate the site.
Two days ago...
Quote:Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has publicly stated that recent U.S. and Israeli airstrikes inflicted serious damage on Iran's nuclear sites, a sharp contrast to the downplaying by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and one early U.S. intelligence assessment that was leaked to media.
Araghchi said key nuclear facilities suffered significant harm and that Tehran is assessing the extent of the destruction. This admission comes amid escalating tensions and a fragile ceasefire following deadly clashes between Iran and Israel.
Newsweek has reached out to the State Department and Iran's foreign ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
The report of severe damage to Iran's nuclear infrastructure indicates rare discord within Tehran's leadership, revealing competing narratives on the impact of Western military actions.
It also bolsters statements by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration of severe damage to the nuclear facilities in the face of the leaked intelligence assessment.
What to Know
Last week, U.S. forces targeted Iran's nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. While U.S. President Donald Trump said the strikes had "completely obliterated" Iran's nuclear capabilities, one early leaked intelligence assessment said the setbacks might delay Iran's program by months rather than years. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed notable damage, particularly at the Fordow site, but warned that full reconstruction could take years.
Diverging Views Within Iran
Supreme Leader Khamenei publicly dismissed the strikes' effectiveness, asserting they "did not achieve anything" and accused Trump of exaggerating their impact. This position contrasts sharply with Araghchi's admission, signaling a potential rift between the supreme leader and the foreign ministry on how to manage public perception and diplomatic strategy.
In an interview on Iranian state TV, Araghchi said that the U.S. strikes inflicted "serious harm" on its nuclear facilities. "This damage has not been minor—serious harm has been done to our facilities," he said, noting that Iran's Atomic Energy Agency is conducting a thorough assessment of the destruction.
Quote:Iran's defense minister has made his first overseas visit since a deadly 12-day conflict with Israel, traveling to China for a gathering of top military officials from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional security bloc led by Beijing and Moscow.
The visit, amid ongoing volatility in the Middle East, signals Tehran's determination to deepen ties with powers outside the Western alliance system.
Newsweek has reached out to the State Department for comment.
Why It Matters
Iran's attendance at the security summit underscores its continued alignment with China and Russia amid ongoing tensions with the U.S., as President Donald Trump seeks to revive potential nuclear talks.
Arriving just days after American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and Israel's unprecedented attacks, Tehran's presence reaffirms its reliance on alternative global alliances in defiance of Western pressure. By hosting the meeting, China positions the SCO as a growing counterweight to NATO, offering Iran and other members a platform to challenge U.S.-led military and diplomatic dominance amid mounting global instability.
What to Know
Iran's Aziz Nasirzadeh joined defense ministers from nine SCO member states—including China, Russia, India, and Pakistan—in Qingdao, a strategic Chinese naval base city. The two-day summit began soon after a fragile ceasefire paused deadly attacks between Iran and Israel that also involved the U.S.
The meeting highlighted Tehran's push to deepen ties within the SCO as Western pressure intensifies, reinforcing its strategy of aligning with key regional powers. While Chinese officials have avoided direct involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict, they offered rhetorical backing for Iran's stance. Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun, without naming the crisis, denounced "hegemonic, high-handed, and bullying acts"—a common Beijing critique of U.S. influence. In remarks reported by Chinese state media, Nasirzadeh thanked China for its "understanding and support" and urged it to help stabilize the region and uphold the ceasefire.
Oil Flows to China
Meanwhile, China significantly ramped up its imports of Iranian crude oil in June, driven by discounted prices and increased loadings from Iran. Independent Chinese refiners took advantage of lower global oil prices, contributing to the surge. According to data cited by Reuters, China imported a record 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude between June 1 and 20.
Following U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, President Trump wrote on social media that "China can now continue to purchase Oil from Iran," adding, "Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the US, also." Although Trump's statement suggested a possible easing of sanctions enforcement, the White House clarified that no formal lifting of sanctions has occurred, reflecting a nuanced U.S. stance balancing pressure on Iran with geopolitical realities.
Quote:The U.S. drew down a significant portion of its advanced anti-missile system to bolster Israel's defense against Iranian aerial attacks during a 12-day conflict in which Israel and the U.S. struck nuclear facilities and Iran retaliated with missile launches, according to defense news outlets and independent analysts.
The Pentagon press office told Newsweek "we have nothing to provide".
Why It Matters
Israel has long relied on the Lockheed Martin developed Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, known as the THAAD battery, for shielding against ballistic missiles from Iran or its proxy groups such as the Yemeni Houthis.
The U.S. military operates seven THAAD batteries. An eighth, getting integrated into the Missile Defense Agency, is capable of tracking hypersonic missiles. The THAAD deployment to Israel is part of a broader challenge where supporting allies in conflict zones means using resources that could affect military readiness and future deployment.
What To Know
During the recent Israel-Iran conflict, the United States used an estimated 15 to 20 percent of its global THAAD missile interceptor stockpile, incurring unprecedented costs exceeding $800 million, according to the Bulgarian Military News and Military Watch Magazine outlets.
Iran launched a major missile barrage on cities across Israel in response to attacks on its nuclear and military targets, prompting residents to seek shelter amid nationwide. They included older models such as the Ghadr and Emad, the medium-range Kheibar Shekan and the Fattah-1 hypersonic missile—which travels at up to Mach 15 and is hard to intercept.
The U.S. restocked interceptor missiles for the THAAD system it deployed in Israel in 2024, amid concerns of shortage, The Wall Street Journal reported. A single THAAD interceptor costs about $12-15 million, according to estimates by multiple defense and news outlets.
While the battery costs approximately $1.3 billion, the interceptor cost estimation for 2025 is $18 million for production only, increasing to $27 million with RDT&E (research, development, test, and evaluation) included, Sidharth Kaushal, Senior Research Fellow specializing in Sea Power within the Military Sciences division at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) told Newsweek.
Quote:President Donald Trump is seeking to sway Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toward agreeing to a ceasefire deal with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the truce that put an end to Iran and Israel's 12-day war, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
"An agreement is very possible," the person told Newsweek. "The president is working very hard on convincing the Israelis that the time is right, now that they have finished with the issue of Iran."
The person, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, added that Trump was also looking for a lasting end to the conflict, beyond the 60-day truce period outlined in the latest U.S. proposal.
"The president is clearly interested not just in a mere 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas," the source said. "He's hoping that those 60 days would lead to a resolution, the release of all the hostages and permanent cease fire that could lead to negotiations over the future of an Israel-Palestine peace agreement."
Reached for comment, a White House spokesperson referred Newsweek to Trump's remarks during a press conference later Friday.
"I think it's close. I just spoke with some of the people involved. And it's a terrible situation that is going on in Gaza," Trump said in response to a reporter's question regarding progress toward a ceasefire deal there. "And we think within the next week we're going to get a ceasefire."
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Peace After Peace
Israel and Hamas have been at war since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched what came to be the deadliest attack in Israel's history.
Around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed and an additional 251 taken hostage, around 50 of whom are still believed to be in captivity, according to Israeli officials. The Hamas-led Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza counts more than 56,300 killed throughout the subsequent war in the territory, without distinguishing between combatants and non-combatants, though more than half are said to be women and children.
The conflict has also drawn in Iran and its Axis of Resistance coalition, which intervened in support of Hamas. Israel signed a ceasefire with the Lebanese Hezbollah movement last November and the U.S. signed a truce with Yemen's Ansar Allah, or Houthi, movement last month, though the group continued to strike at Israel.
Israel and Iran also exchanged two sets of strikes throughout last year but entered into their most serious confrontation to date on June 12, after Israel launched a widespread series of strikes targeting sites and personnel associated with the Islamic Republic's nuclear program and armed forces.
Quote:President Donald Trump at a press conference on Friday said he expects Iran to work with international inspectors to verify it doesn't restart its nuclear program, warning in a separate response that if Iran can still enrich weapons-grade material he would "without question" bomb the country again.
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The U.S. launched strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Fordow, and Natanz last week in what the Trump administration dubbed "Operation Midnight Hammer." The strikes marked the first direct involvement of America in the crisis between Iran and Israel, and the White House celebrated the operation for achieving the "total obliteration" of the Fordow nuclear facility.
The action has received backlash, with many citing the lack of congressional approval for the military move.
Washington has said it expects Iran to resume nuclear talks, but Tehran pushed back on that assertion, instead rejecting pressure and hardening its stance, which limits the ability to fully assess the efficacy of the strikes.
One key point remains the possibility that Iran moved its nuclear material away from those sites ahead of the strikes, protecting the stockpiles. Rafael Grossi, director general of the IAEA, said that his team does not have any information about the whereabouts of the material and told CNN that "Iran has made no secret that they have protected this material."
Vice President JD Vance acknowledged the uncertainty, telling ABC News: "We're going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel."
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When asked if he would demand Iran allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or some other organization to be authorized to conduct inspections of its facilities, Trump said the Islamic Republic would have to cooperate with the group "or somebody that we respect, including ourselves."
He also said he would "without question" bomb Iran if it turned out that the country could still enrich weapons-grade nuclear material, but he added that it would be "unbelievable" if that turned out to still be the case following the U.S. strikes on nuclear facilities last week.
The president also separately addressed a statement from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—the first issued since the U.S. strikes on his country's nuclear facilities—in which he said that he had delivered a "slap to America's face" with retaliatory strikes on a U.S. air base in Qatar, warning the U.S. against any further strikes.
Khamenei also said the U.S. had exaggerated the impact of its strikes, saying, "They could not achieve anything significant."
The White House, in its immediate response, said that the Ayatollah was trying to "save face" and that "any commonsense, open-minded person knows the truth about the precision strikes on Saturday night," which were "wildly successful."
Trump on Truth Social hit out at Khamenei, accusing him of saying "blatantly and foolishly that he won the War with Israel when he knows his statement is a lie."
"Iran has to get back into the World Order flow, or things will only get worse for them," the president warned.
On Saturday...
Quote:President Donald Trump has rejected as a "hoax" media reports of a $30 billion deal to assist Iran in developing civilian nuclear facilities.
The reports by CNN and NBC News that the Trump administration was looking at economic incentives for the Islamic Republic to halt its uranium enrichment follow the U.S. military bombing of Iranian nuclear sites.
One official told CNN that the money would not come directly from the United States, which prefers its Arab partners to foot the bill, but Washington "would lead these talks" with Iran.
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Trump announced a ceasefire this week between Iran and Israel following U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites that followed Israel's Operation Rising Lion aimed at curbing Tehran's ability to make an atomic weapon.
Although Trump said the U.S. had obliterated Iran's ability to make a bomb, preliminary intelligence suggests otherwise. Trump's dismissal of the CNN and NBC reports comes amid concern about just how incapacitated Iran's nuclear capacity is.
What To Know
CNN and NBC reported that the Trump administration had investigated financial incentives for Iran in return for it halting its uranium enrichment.
This included releasing billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets and helping it build a civilian nuclear program in a potential "$30 billion" deal.
The preliminary proposal is one of several the Trump administration is considering although there is no guarantee any would proceed, the outlets reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the discussions.
The money would not come directly from the U.S., which wants Arab partners to pay for it but the U.S "is willing to lead these talks" with Iran, the Trump administration official told CNN, "but we will not make that commitment."
But Trump hit back on Truth Social, in a post that said the reports were "fake news" which pushed a "ridiculous idea."
"It's just another HOAX put out by the Fake News in order to demean," added the post. "These people are SICK!!!"
Any such deal as reported by CNN and NBC would be a major policy reversal for Trump who during his first term, pulled the U.S. out a 2015 nuclear deal struck with Iran under the Obama administration.
Trump also threatened to drop any sanctions relief for Iran after its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared victory in the war against Israel and downplayed the significance of U.S. attacks.
Trump said on Friday he had been working on sanctions relief for Iran but railed at the supreme leader's "lie" and statement "of anger, hatred and disgust."
Then on Sunday...
Quote:President Donald Trump has pressed for Israel and Hamas to clinch a ceasefire and secure the release of the remaining captives held in Gaza.
Trump fired off an all-caps demand fire in a Truth Social post at 1:19 a.m. ET Sunday: "MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!! DJT."
Newsweek has reached out to Hamas and Israeli authorities for comment.
Why It Matters
A U.S.-brokered first-stage ceasefire deal agreed in January fell apart in March, as negotiators failed to nail down a second stage of the agreement and Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza.
Trump has styled himself a peacemaker, pushing for an end to Israel's war in Gaza and its conflict with Iran, as well as between India and Pakistan and Russia and Ukraine.
What To Know
A total of 50 hostages remain in the Gaza Strip of the 251 people abducted by militants from the Palestinian group Hamas during its unprecedented October 7 attacks in 2023— surprise assaults on Israel that killed approximately 1,200 people.
Israel then launched large-scale operations that have devastated the territory and its roughly 2 million inhabitants. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says more than 56,400 people have been killed in the strip, according to reporting by the Associated Press. This figure does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Trump had told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday he believed a ceasefire could materialize "within the next week."
"I think it's close," Trump said. "I just spoke with some of the people involved. It's a terrible situation."
Israeli media reported on Saturday that officials involved in Israel's negotiations on a hostage deal and a ceasefire for Gaza did not share Trump's optimism on how quickly agreements could be signed. An unnamed senior Hamas official told the BBC on Thursday that mediators had doubled down on efforts to secure deals but progress was elusive.
A person with knowledge of the discussions, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told Newsweek on Friday an "agreement is very possible," adding Trump was trying to convince Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu that "the time is right" to ink a deal, "now that they have finished with the issue of Iran."
UKRAINE WAR
Quote:Russia said it would pose an "immediate danger" to Moscow if Estonia, a neighboring country that is a member of the North American Treaty Organization (NATO), hosts nuclear-capable jets.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave the reaction to Russian state media after Estonia's defense minister Hanno Pevkur said his Baltic country was ready to host nuclear-capable F-35s again, as it had done before.
"The F-35s have already been in Estonia and will soon return again in rotation. We are ready to continue to host allies on our territory, including those who use such platforms," Pevkur told Estonian radio on Friday.
According to Tass, Peskov noted that Baltic state leaders have expressed many absurd ideas. "One can only express regret in this regard," he said.
Why It Matters
NATO-Russia tensions are at their highest in years over the Ukraine crisis. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the Eastern European country in February 2022, and NATO allies fear Moscow has more ambitions in the former Soviet sphere, especially the Baltic states.
The alliance maintains a policy of nuclear deterrence, relying on a combination of U.S., British, and French nuclear capabilities. Its strategy includes forward-deployed, U.S.-owned nuclear weapons stored in Europe and delivery by allied aircraft such as the F-35A.
This posture is intended as a deterrent against potential aggression from Russia and as reassurance to NATO members closest to Russia.
U.K. Will Buy F-35A Jets
Pevkur's comments come as the United Kingdom, another NATO ally, said it would purchase at least 12 nuclear-capable F-35A fighter jets made by the U.S.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his country "will make these aircraft able to bear nuclear weapons if necessary" and that the purchase was in "response to a growing nuclear threat".
The F-35A Lightning II, developed by Lockheed Martin, is a fifth-generation stealth jet that the U.S. Air Force describes as the "world's most advanced multi-role fighter."
It is compatible with carrying the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb, making it a key component in NATO's nuclear sharing arrangements.
Quote:Russian Major General Apti Alaudinov said he did not think U.S. President Donald Trump would save Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and called into question the American leader's reliability in promises he makes.
Trump is attempting to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine and an end to Moscow's full-scale invasion, which it launched in February 2022 to international outcry, a process he has said is not easy, and which he has found frustrating.
Ukraine is under intense pressure from Russian advances. Zelensky has urged Trump to increase American military aid to Kyiv and tighten the screw on Russian President Vladimir Putin to force him to make peace.
"I don't think Trump will save Zelensky, because Zelensky has made too many mistakes for Trump not to stand up for him," Alaudinov told state news agency TASS.
Alaudinov is deputy head of the main military and political department of the Russian army, and the commander of the Akhmat special forces of the defense ministry.
Trump 'Can Change Strategy'
The Russian general said that Trump does not feel compelled to stick to previous statements, and that the American president can take his promise back, "then give a new one, then change his strategy," TASS reported.
Zelensky and Trump have had a fractious relationship at times. In February, tensions burst open in public when Zelensky, Trump, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance clashed during a meeting at the White House in front of the media.
Many of Trump's supporters dislike Zelensky, viewing him as corrupt and an obstacle to peace. They do not want American money and time spent on Ukraine, seeing it as non-essential to U.S. interests.
The relationship has since been repaired, and the two leaders often speak, but there are still sharp points of contention, particularly over Trump's handling of Russia and Putin.
Quote:Four Russian fighter-bombers were targeted in a Ukrainian drone strike hundreds of miles away from the frontline, according to Ukraine's military.
The drones destroyed two Su-34 fighter jets and damaged two others following the strike in Russia's Volgograd Oblast overnight Friday, according to Ukraine's General Staff.
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Over the course of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian drone technology has fast developed into a cost effective way of taking out expensive Russian military assets and Kyiv's report shows the latest stage of this campaign of hitting targets far from the frontline.
What To Know
The operation was carried out by the Special Forces and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in cooperation with other military units, according to the General Staff.
The statement said that two Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers have been destroyed and two others damaged at the Marinovka airfield over 560 miles southeast of Moscow in an operation carried out by long-range drones.
The attack also sparked a fire in the airport's technical maintenance area used to prepare aircraft ready for missions.
Russian Su-34s are the main aircraft Russia uses to launch missile and bomb strikes on Ukrainian positions and settlements. As of Saturday, 37 Russian Su-34s and 158 aircraft in total had been destroyed or damaged since February 2022 according to Oryx, a website tracking war losses by using imagery as proof.
The latest strikes come as Russia steps up aerial attacks on Ukraine which said Moscow's attacks had killed 10 people and injured at least 50 others on Friday.
Ukraine's Air Force reported it had downed 21 out of the 23 drones, including Shahed-type attack drones and decoys.
But a Russian drone attack on the city of Odesa hit a high-rise building, killing a married couple and injuring at least 14 other people, according to local authorities.
Quote:Germany scrambled its fighter jets to intercept a Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea, it has been reported, in the latest incident involving Moscow's forces over the body of water dubbed a "NATO Lake."
The German newspaper Bild reported that a Russian Ilyushin Il-20M reconnaissance plane flew over the area with its transponder switched off and without a flight plan filed before the German Air Force scrambled its aircraft.
Why It Matters
NATO members have reported in the region a spike in incidents of Russian belligerence of which Friday's is the latest. Since the accession of Sweden and Finland to the alliance, the Baltic Sea is called a "NATO Lake" and given the location within it, of the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, an area of strategic military significance as tensions with Moscow continue to increase.
What To Know
Bild reported that the Russian Il-20M took off from Kaliningrad with its transponder switched off and without a flight plan filed around 9 a.m. Friday.
It was heading towards international airspace near Poland and Germany but was detected by NATO radar which alerted Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, which scrambled two Eurofighter jets from Laage Air Base near Rostock.
The Eurofighter jets established visual contact with the Russian plane about 60 miles from the German coast before changing course north 25 miles from the island of Usedom, thus remaining in international airspace.
The German Eurofighters returned to base just after 11 a.m. in an incident that comes only weeks after British fighter jets based in Poland intercepted two Russian reconnaissance aircraft.
Quote:A Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed intercepting Russian aerial attacks overnight, Kyiv's air force said, in what a Ukrainian official described as the largest-scale air attacks on his country since the start of the war.
Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Ustimenko intercepted seven air targets from his F-16 fighter jet before his aircraft was damaged and started to lose altitude, Ukraine's air force said in a statement on Sunday.
Ukrainian authorities said Russia had launched 477 drones and decoys overnight, as well as four Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, seven short-range ballistic missiles, 41 Kh-101 cruise missiles, five Kalibr cruise missiles and three anti-aircraft guided missiles.
The attacks into Sunday were the largest airstrikes on Ukraine of more than three years of full-scale war in the country in terms of number of incoming threats, Colonel Yuriy Ignat, an official with Ukraine's air force, confirmed to Newsweek.
The Polish military said early on Sunday it had scrambled NATO jets and put its air defenses on high alert after Russia launched its strikes on Ukraine.
Regional authorities in Lviv, which borders Poland, reported attacks on critical infrastructure but no casualties. Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said overnight "a massive attack on the western regions of Ukraine is underway."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said one child had been injured in the central Ukrainian city of Smila. Ukraine's state emergency service said five other people were injured in Smila, with a college and three other buildings damaged.
Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement it had launched a "massive strike with high-precision long-range air, sea and land-based weapons," including Kinzhal missiles, targeting Ukraine's military industry and the country's oil refineries. Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff, said Moscow had "struck energy facilities, infrastructure, and residential areas."
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. President Donald Trump pledged to end Europe's largest land conflict since World War II in just 24 hours when he was reelected, but has so far failed to make a deal.
Ukraine agreed to a U.S. proposal in March, but Russia has not inked its consent. Moscow has in recent weeks hammered Ukraine with often deadly aerial strikes, drawing condemnation from Trump, who has typically skirted overtly criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin throughout ceasefire talks.
Trump said this week negotiating a ceasefire deal had been "more difficult than people would have any idea—Vladimir Putin has been more difficult."
"Frankly, I had some problems with Zelensky," he added during a press conference in The Hague.
Ukraine leans heavily on the U.S. and the rest of Kyiv's allies for vital supplies of air defense missiles in the face of intensified waves of Russian strikes. Trump indicated earlier this week he would be willing to transfer Patriot air defense missiles, capable of shooting down Russia's most advanced weapons, to Ukraine. Kyiv has long pleaded for more air defense supplies.
Ukraine's air force said on Sunday it shot down 211 drones with another 225 straying before hitting their targets. Air defenses intercepted one of the short-range ballistic missiles, four of the Kalibr cruise missiles and 33 Kh-101 missiles, the military said.
Ukraine has also used its small pool of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to intercept Russian attacks on the country. Kyiv revealed it had received and started using the first of its F-16s in August 2024.
Quote:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday signed a decree to withdraw the country from the Ottawa Convention, an international treaty that bans the use and stockpiling of antipersonnel landmines, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) confirmed on Sunday.
The decree comes after more than three years since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
When asked for additional comment on Sunday morning, Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred Newsweek to its website post.
Why It Matters
Antipersonnel mines are designed to use against humans rather than tanks or military vehicles and cannot distinguish between civilians and combatants. As they are hidden and often scattered, the mines often maim or kill civilians long after fighting has ended.
The announcement comes the same day as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries scrambled fighter jets, according to the Polish military, after a Ukrainian official said Moscow had launched its largest-scale air attack on the country in more than three years.
In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its Eastern European neighbor, with the conflict resulting in significant loss of life, international sanctions on Moscow, and a protracted humanitarian crisis. Russia previously annexed Crimea in 2014.
What To Know
Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a statement on its official website that said "Ukraine has made the difficult but necessary political decision to stop the implementation of irrelevant obligations under the Ottawa Convention."
The ministry's post continued stating that Russia's "armed aggression" has made Ukraine, and other nearby countries "reassess their positions and adopt a joint political decision to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention."
In March, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland announced their intention to withdraw from the treaty, while Finland's parliament voted to do so in June. On Friday, Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kęstutis Budrys, confirmed in an X, formerly Twitter, post that the country has "formally notified the UN Secretary-General of its withdrawal from the Mine Ban Treaty."
USA
Quote:President Donald Trump during a press conference midday Friday said he will "act very quickly" to advance policies blocked by federal judges, including birthright citizenship restrictions, after the Supreme Court ruled in his favor against lower courts.
Why It Matters
The Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision on Friday ruled that individual federal judges do not have the authority to issue nationwide injunctions, delivering a key victory to Trump while leaving the underlying issue of his birthright citizenship restriction unresolved - for now.
The Court said lower courts should not issue nationwide injunctions which go beyond relief for individual plaintiffs on cases. Trump has frequently criticized lower court judges for blocking his policies on a broad scale.
What To Know
At Friday's press conference, Trump addressed if this ruling clears the way for him to pursue his legislative agenda, first noting that it was a question for "the lawyers," but then added: "This is really a decision based on common sense. It didn't work the other way. It was a disaster.
"We've overturned many of the decisions, but it would take years to do it, and we have to act quickly when it comes to illegal immigration," Trump said. "We have murderers, killers, we have drug dealers, we have - what they've allowed to come into our country should never be forgotten.
"It should never be forgotten what they've done to our country, and we have to be able to act very quickly, and we're going to do that," he added.
When asked about fears that this decision will concentrate too much power in the White House, Trump told reporters: "The Constitution has been brought back."
When asked about criticism leveled against Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who wrote Friday's landmark opinion but previously has sided with the Democrat-appointed justices against Trump, the president said he has "great respect" for her.
"Her decision was brilliantly written today, from all accounts," Trump said.
Quote:On Friday, Robert E. McGuire, acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, ruled that Kilmar Abrego Garcia should remain in jail at the request of his own legal team who said they feared he could be deported if released from custody.
Why It Matters
Garcia attracted widespread attention in March when he was deported to his native El Salvador in what federal officials later admitted was an "administrative error." The Trump administration insists Garcia is a member of the MS-13 criminal gang, which he and his family have denied.
Whilst being held in a Salvadorian mega prison, Garcia was visited by Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, and his case became a cause against the backdrop of Trump's vow to crackdown on foreign criminal gangs and illegal immigration.
What To Know
In June, Garcia was returned to the U.S. where he was charged with human trafficking, with Attorney General Pam Bondi saying he played a "significant role" in a people smuggling ring.
Garcia pled not guilty to the charges and his legal team said the federal government's actions against him amount to an "abuse of power." Originally, Garcia entered the U.S. illegally as a teenager, but he was granted protection from deportation by an immigration judge who said he could face violence from gangs in his native country.
On June 22, Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes of Nashville ordered Garcia to be released on bail, saying she did not believe he was a flight risk or a threat to the wider community. This decision was appealed by the federal government, but U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw of Tennessee backed Holmes's ruling and said Garcia could be released.
However, Garcia's legal team itself requested he remain in custody, saying they feared he would be deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if released from prison. In a motion filed on Friday, his attorneys wrote: "The irony of this request is not lost on anyone."
The attorneys said there had been "contradictory statements" from the Department of Justice (DOJ) which in a court hearing in Maryland on Thursday indicated Garcia would be deported to a third country. However, the same day, a DOJ spokesperson informed the Associated Press that Garcia would face trial before being deported.
So how exactly is this a win for Kilmar?
At first glance, the DOJ seems to clearly win thanks to the defense's request.One of Trump's Recent Memes
Quote:Two environmental charities on Friday filed a lawsuit at a Miami federal court attempting to block the opening of a new migrant processing facility at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Florida Everglades, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" by some Republicans.
The suit was launched by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, who said that the proposal violates the National Environmental Policy and Endangered Species acts.
Friends of the Everglades told Newsweek that the processing facility was "another existential threat" to the Everglades ecosystem.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security denied this claim.
"It's a lazy lawsuit, and it ignores the fact that this land has already been developed for a decade," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek.
Newsweek also contacted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Center for Biological Diversity for comment via email on Saturday outside of regular office hours.
Why It Matters
Since assuming office in January, the second Trump administration has overseen a major crackdown aimed at removing illegal migrants from the United States, with intensified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across the country.
Trump has vowed to deport upwards of 11 million people from the country and doing so would require a dramatic expansion in detention and deportation facilities.
What To Know
Friday's lawsuit was filed in the federal Southern District of Florida with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting ICE director Todd Lyons listed among the defendants.
The new detention center is under construction at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, a training 39-square-mile site near Big Cypress National Preserve which has a 10,000 foot asphalt runway.
During an interview with Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy, that aired on Friday, DeSantis said the center should be ready to take its first detainees by Tuesday. Footage from the site showed portable restrooms and air conditioning systems underneath tent-like canopies.
Florida authorities say the facility will take $450 million to build, with the cost to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Friday's lawsuit argues the facility violates the Environmental Policy and Endangered Species acts and is calling for an expedited hearing to stop construction until an environmental hearing is complete.
The Everglades is home to a number of threatened or endangered species including the Florida panther, American flamingos, manatees and American crocodiles. It also contains an estimated 200,000 alligators, hence the new facility's nickname.
Quote:California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a $321 billion budget on Friday that closes a $12 billion deficit by scaling back several progressive priorities, including a landmark health care expansion for undocumented immigrants.
Newsweek reached out to the governor's office via email on Saturday for comment.
Why It Matters
The budget agreement between Newsom and Democratic leaders marks the third consecutive year the nation's most populous state has been forced to reduce funding for programs championed by Democratic leadership.
The governor and legislative leaders framed the budget as a response to what they describe as economic challenges stemming from President Donald Trump's tariff policies, immigration crackdowns and rising costs tied to increased enrollment in Medi-Cal, California's state-funded healthcare program for low-income residents that was expanded last year to include undocumented adults as part of the state's universal healthcare goals.
The cuts to immigrant health services represent a significant retreat from California's universal healthcare ambitions, affecting hundreds of thousands of residents. With projected annual deficits of $17-24 billion in coming years and potential federal revenue losses of $16 billion, the state faces sustained financial pressure that could force deeper cuts to essential services.
What To Know
The budget addresses the deficit primarily through state savings withdrawals, borrowing from special funds, and payment delays rather than implementing new taxes on families or businesses. The most significant immigrant health program changes target Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program.
Starting next year, the Golden State will halt new enrollments for undocumented adults in Medi-Cal, effectively capping the program's growth. Additionally, beginning July 2027, the state will implement a $30 monthly premium for immigrants currently enrolled in the program, including some with legal status, affecting adults under 60 years old. These changes represent a scaled-back version of Newsom's original proposal from May, which would have imposed deeper cuts to the landmark program that began just last year.
The Medi-Cal modifications mark a retreat from California's ambitious universal healthcare expansion, which had made the state a national leader in providing comprehensive health coverage regardless of immigration status. The program cuts come despite California's role as home to the nation's largest immigrant population, with undocumented residents comprising a significant portion of essential workers in agriculture, construction, and hospitality sectors.
Quote:A Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist was arrested and charged after authorities allegedly discovered child porn on his work computer, DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced Friday.
Thomas Pham LeGro, a 48-year-old video editor at the news outlet, was taken into custody on Thursday after FBI agents raided his Washington, DC, home and discovered a folder on his work laptop which contained 11 videos depicting child sexual abuse material, according to Pirro’s office.
FBI agents also discovered “fractured pieces of a hard drive in the hallway outside the room where LeGro’s work laptop was found,” during the execution of the search warrant.
Legro made his first appearance in District Court of Washington, DC, on Friday and has a detention hearing scheduled for next Wednesday.
The journalist, who has worked at the Washington Post for 18 years, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.
A heavily redacted FBI affidavit against LeGro claims the reporter was linked to multiple E-Gold accounts in 2005 and 2006.
E-Gold was a digital payment service that ceased operations after the feds accused the company in 2007 of laundering money for child pornographers.
The affidavit notes that the FBI received court approval to monitor LeGro’s internet account in May.
LeGro’s worked in the Washington Post’s sports department from 2000-2006 and then left to become a reporter and producer for “PBS NewsHour” before returning to WaPo in 2013, according to his biography.
As a member of WaPo’s video department, he was part of a team of reporters that won a prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for coverage of former Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore.
Moore threatened to sue the Washington Post that year after the outlet published allegations that he romantically pursued a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30s, which he vehemently denied.
A spokesperson for the Washington Post said Legro has been placed on leave.
“The Washington Post understands the severity of these allegations, and the employee has been placed on leave,” the outlet said in a statement.
Quote:The Senate voted Saturday to launch into debate on President Trump’s “big beautiful” spending bill, after Republican leaders spent hours working to gain enough support to approve the 940-page document.
The multi-trillion dollar bill narrowly advanced in a 51-49 procedural vote, despite opposition from two Republican lawmakers who joined their Democratic colleagues in an attempt to block the measure from reaching the Senate floor.
Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Rand Paul (R-KY) were the holdouts after they publicly declared that they wouldn’t be backing the bill in its current form.
Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson initially voted against the procedural motion but flipped at the eleventh hour.
Vice President JD Vance had arrived at Capitol Hill earlier in the night and remained on standby ready to cast his tie-breaking vote as Republicans remained divided throughout the nearly four hour proceeding.
Debate will now begin on the spending bill – and that could take hours as New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer has promised to have the nearly 1,000-page measure read before a final vote on passing it can happen.
“Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate with the “GREAT, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,” but, it wouldn’t have happened without the Fantastic Work of Senator Rick Scott, Senator Mike Lee, Senator Ron Johnson, and Senator Cynthia Lummis,” Trump said on Truth Social early Sunday.
“They, along with all of the other Republican Patriots who voted for the Bill, are people who truly love our Country!”
Trump has lobbied for House and Senate Republicans to fast-track the legislation so it lands on his desk by his self-imposed July 4 deadline.
The measure would make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, end taxation on tips and overtime, boost border security funding and scrap green-energy tax credits passed during the Biden administration.
Quote:Elon Musk waded back into politics Saturday with a series of sharp social media criticisms of the Trump-backed “Big Beautiful Bill,” calling it “utterly insane” and “political suicide.”
The SpaceX CEO, who turned 54 on Saturday, expressed his frustration and rage at the massive spending bill on social media ahead of the critical vote on which the Trump agenda hinges.
“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” the former DOGE chief wrote on X ahead of a Senate debate on the legislation.
“Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future,” Musk concluded.
In successive posts, Musk had even more strongly worded warnings for the GOP.
“Polls show that this bill is political suicide for the Republican Party,” the birthday boy later wrote on X.
Musk further claimed that the bill raised the debt ceiling by $5 trillion and would put “America in the fast lane to debt slavery!”
The billionaire’s fallout earlier this month with former ally President Trump was apparently set-off by disagreements about the massive spending bill that was undergoing a procedural vote late Saturday.
That spat culminated with Musk endorsing the impeachment and removal of his former chosen candidate.
Musk later apologized to the president, who suggested that a reconciliation between the former allies is still in the cards.
Trump raged on Truth Social Saturday night as a procedural vote on the “Big Beautiful Bill” languished on the Senate floor, calling out Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), saying the Tarheel was making a “BIG MISTAKE for America,” by not voting for the bill.
Quote:Conservative Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett stunned veteran bench watchers Friday with a blunt takedown of liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s “extreme” dissent in the landmark birthright citizenship case in which the Supreme Court curtailed lower court use of universal injunctions.
“We will not dwell on Justice Jackson’s argument, which is at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent, not to mention the Constitution itself,” wrote Barrett, the court’s second-newest justice, in a jaw-dropping rebuke of her colleague, the newest justice.
“We observe only this: Justice Jackson decries an imperial Executive while embracing an imperial Judiciary.”
Barrett had authored the majority opinion in the case, the most consequential on the docket this term, which gave President Trump a major win by limiting the power of district judges to block his actions.
Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor penned the main dissent for the left flank of the high court, which Jackson joined.
But Jackson also wrote a concurring dissent that featured a heavy fixation on the potential practical ramifications of the 6-3 decision rather than grounding her argument in legal theory.
“It is not difficult to predict how this all ends. Eventually, executive power will become completely uncontainable, and our beloved constitutional Republic will be no more,” Jackson dramatically fretted at one point.
“Quite unlike a rule-of-kings governing system, in a rule of law regime, nearly ‘[e]very act of government may be challenged by an appeal to law,'” Jackson wrote elsewhere. “At the very least, I lament that the majority is so caught up in minutiae of the Government’s self-serving, finger-pointing arguments that it misses the plot.”
Jackson even went so far as to dismiss the question of whether universal injunctions were provided for by the Judiciary Act of 1789 as “legalese” that “obscures a far more basic question of enormous legal and practical significance: May a federal court in the United States of America order the Executive to follow the law?”
Barrett’s response in her opinion was almost mocking: “Because analyzing the governing statute involves boring ‘legalese,’ [Jackson] seeks to answer ‘a far more basic question of enormous practical significance: May a federal court in the United States of America order the Executive to follow the law?’
“In other words, it is unnecessary to consider whether Congress has constrained the Judiciary; what matters is how the Judiciary may constrain the Executive. Justice Jackson would do well to heed her own admonition: ‘[E]veryone, from the President on down, is bound by law,'” Barrett continued.
“That goes for judges too.”
While Barrett, 53, gave lukewarm praise to Sotomayor, 71, for focusing her dissent on “conventional legal terrain, like the Judiciary Act of 1789 and our cases on equity,” she rounded on Jackson, 54, for adopting “a startling line of attack that is tethered neither to these sources nor, frankly, to any doctrine whatsoever.
“Waving away attention to the limits on judicial power as a ‘mind-numbingly technical query’ … she offers a vision of the judicial role that would make even the most ardent defender of judicial supremacy blush,” Barrett wrote.
Meanwhile, Jackson opted not to conclude her opinion with the common phrases “I dissent” or “respectfully, I dissent” in an apparent sign of her fury at her colleagues’ ruling.
Quote:Socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani doubled down on his plan to jack up property taxes on “richer and whiter neighborhoods” on Sunday — and also asserted that billionaires shouldn’t exist.
Mamdani claimed that his soak-the-rich proposal was “not driven by race” — despite his campaign platform explicitly targeting white homeowners.
“That is just a description of what we see right now. It’s not driven by race. It’s more of an assessment of what neighborhoods are being under-taxed versus over-taxed,” Mamdani told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
“We’ve seen time and again that this is a property tax system that is inequitable. It’s one that actually Eric Adams ran on, saying that he would change in the first 100 days,” he added.
The presumptive Democratic nominee for New York City mayor also shrugged off concerns that invoking race could alienate voters, arguing that he’s “just naming things as they are.”
The socialist also bemoaned the shrinking tax base in the Big Apple but pinned the blame on the soaring cost of living pushing people out of the city while touting his plans to raise taxes on the 1%.
“We are talking about our tax base growing smaller and smaller each day, with New Yorkers leaving to New Jersey, to Pennsylvania, to Connecticut,” Mamdani bemoaned.” If we do not meet this moment, we will lose the city.”
While acknowledging that he doesn’t have the power to raise taxes at the level he wants without the state government’s approval, Mamdani pointed to his ability to take what “is considered a nonstarter and make it seem inevitable.”
He also suggested that billionaires shouldn’t exist.
“I don’t think that we should have billionaires, frankly,” he said.
New York City is home to more billionaires than any town in the world — with 123.
Trump calls Mamdani a ‘pure communist,’ threatens to cut off NYC federal funds if he’s elected mayor
Quote:President Trump slammed New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as a “pure communist,” warning that federal funding for the Big Apple could be at risk if the democratic socialist wins the general election.
“He’s a communist, I think it’s very bad for New York,” Trump told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“I can’t imagine it, but let’s say this, if he does get in I’m going to be president and he is going to have to do the right thing, or they’re not getting any money,” he added.
Quote:Severe thunderstorms triggered travel headaches across the Southeast on Friday evening, bringing flash flooding and hail to Atlanta and causing numerous delays at the nation’s busiest airport.
Delta, based in Atlanta, said in a statement on Saturday morning that 90 flights were diverted to other airports in the Southeast on Friday evening as the storm swept through just before 8 p.m., dropping quarter-inch hail and microburst winds.
In addition, the airline had to temporarily pull 100 planes from service at its Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport hub to inspect for any hail damage.
“Delta people are working as safely and quickly as possible to recover flights impacted by thunderstorms, lightning, hail and winds at our Atlanta hub Friday night,” the airline said in a statement provided to FOX Weather. “We thank our customers for their continued patience and understanding.”
The airline said Delta technicians worked through the night to complete required hail inspections on exposed aircraft.
“Nearly all are returning to service Saturday,” the airline said in the statement.
The cascading weather effects had lingering impacts on Saturday’s flight schedule as well.
“The weather impacts have resulted in more than 380 system cancelations for Saturday,” a Delta spokesperson said. “Delta expects additional delays and cancelations as teams work to safely reset aircraft and flight crews complete required rest.”
Hartsfield-Jackson was under a ground stop, keeping aircraft from taking off or landing at the airport from 7:11 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday night, according to Federal Aviation Administration data.
Adding to the weather woes, the FAA was forced to evacuate most of its personnel from the Atlanta airport control tower Friday evening during strong winds.
“Air traffic controllers have returned to the Atlanta control tower after the FAA evacuated most personnel due to strong winds. A few controllers remained in the facility to handle inbound aircraft,” the FAA statement said.
A spokesperson for Hartsfield-Jackson, Tim Turner, confirmed to FOX 5 Atlanta that only two controllers remained in the tower during the ground stop to maintain communication.
Quote:EXCLUSIVE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 130 Iranian nationals throughout the United States in the last week, and 670 Iranian nationals are in ICE detention, as the Trump administration continues to increase arrests of Iranian nationals in the country illegally amid security concerns.
Multiple federal sources confirmed the numbers, as administration officials and national security experts have warned about the possible risk of sleeper cells being activated, as well as those who may be inspired to retaliate domestically after the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear program sites.
"The presence in this country of undocumented migrants or Iranian nationals who have links to Hezbollah, IRGC, is, in my judgment, a domestic law enforcement concern of the highest magnitude," former Obama-era Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on "Fox & Friends."
The border crisis under the Biden administration, which resulted in millions of people entering the country illegally, also underscored the concerns.
"We don't know who they are, where they came from, why they're here," border czar Tom Homan said last week. "This is the biggest national security vulnerability we’ve ever seen."
Meanwhile, former acting ICE Director Jonathan Fahey said it "definitely" made things worse.
"I think one thing that's really concerning about that: One, they weren't doing any really meaningful vetting in the last administration," Fahey said.
"The second part of it is, you know, we have probably 2 million known gotaways come through the last administration, and the people that went through the non-ports of entry, we knew they went through but nobody caught them, so we have no idea who went through," he continued.
ICE sources confirm that some of those arrested have criminal histories, including charges related to drugs, weapons and domestic violence.
Quote:A 28-year-old man was stabbed in the chest and multiple times in the neck on board a 2 train Saturday night and survived the violent ordeal, according to police.
The unidentified male was gored while aboard a southbound 2 train as it approached the 225th Street station in the Bronx just before 10:20 p.m. on Saturday, according to the NYPD.
A group of roughly 15 teenagers fled the scene, police sources said.
The victim was taken to Jacobi Hospital, where he remained in stable condition late Saturday night.
It is not clear what led to the nearly deadly dispute.
There have been no arrests made and an investigation is ongoing.
Quote:A Missouri prison nurse who fatally poisoned her husband after falling in love with a convicted killer learned this week she’ll be spending the next 12 years behind bars.
Amy Murray, 47, accepted a deal from Alford prosecutors, entering a plea to murder, arson and tampering with evidence charges on June 25, according to court records.
In Alford, when a defendant pleads, they accept a conviction, but maintain their innocence.
A judge sentenced Murray to 12 years on the murder charge along with 7 years for the arson, and 4 years for tampering with evidence.
All of the sentences will run concurrently.
Murray killed her husband, 37-year-old Joshua, in late 2018.
He was found dead in the smoldering remnants of a house fire his wife had set.
Authorities learned Joshua’s blood contained elevated amounts of antifreeze, and three months after his death, arrested his wife, according to an affidavit.
Murray, the couple’s child and their two dogs had left their home in Iberia just 30 minutes prior to the start of the fire.
Investigators soon learned Murray had frequent contact with a prisoner named Eugene Claypool.
Murray worked as a nurse at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, where Claypool’s serving 25 years to life for murder, the affidavit said.
INTERNATIONAL
Source: US Department of State
Quote:PEACE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO AND THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA
PREAMBLE
The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”) and the Government of the Republic of Rwanda (“Rwanda”) (hereinafter the “Parties”):
REAFFIRMING the mutual commitment to respect the Declaration of Principles signed by the Parties on April 25, 2025, based on mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, national unity, and the peaceful settlement of disputes;
ACKNOWLEDGING the need for a negotiated, political resolution—rather than a military solution—to the Parties’ disputes;
RECOGNIZING the terms of the Constitutive Act of the African Union, including respect of borders existing on achievement of independence, and its other instruments relating to the promotion of peace and security in Africa and cordial relations among African countries, the UN Charter, and UNSC Resolution 2773 (February 21, 2025) and other relevant UNSC resolutions;
TAKING NOTE OF the Concept of Operations of the Harmonized Plan for the Neutralization of the FDLR and Disengagement of Forces/Lifting of Defensive Measures by Rwanda (CONOPS) of October 31, 2024, arising from the Luanda Process, and of the communiqué from the Second Joint EAC-SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government of March 24, 2025, which was adopted at the 6th Ministerial Meeting between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Rwanda on November 25, 2024;
MINDFUL of the negotiations underway between DRC and AFC/M23 under the mediation of the State of Qatar in Doha, and the obligation of the Parties to lend full support to bring them to a successful conclusion;
DETERMINED to prevent a renewal of hostilities that may harm the peace process, to actively promote lasting peace, stability, and integrated economic development throughout the region, and to resume normal bilateral relations between the Parties;
COMMITTED to promoting full respect for human rights and for international humanitarian law;
Hereby agree to be bound by the following provisions:
1. TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AND PROHIBITION OF HOSTILITIES
...
2. DISENGAGEMENT, DISARMAMENT, AND INTEGRATION OF NON-STATE ARMED GROUPS
...
3. JOINT SECURITY COORDINATION MECHANISM
...
4. REFUGEES, INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS, AND HUMANITARIAN CONSIDERATIONS
...
5. MONUSCO AND OTHER MULTILATERAL SUPPORT
...
6. REGIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION FRAMEWORK
...
7. IMPLEMENTATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
...
8. FINAL PROVISIONS
This Agreement shall remain in force indefinitely, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties.
This Agreement may be terminated at any time by either Party upon six (6) months’ written notice to the other Party.
This Agreement may be amended by written agreement of the Parties.
The Annex shall be considered part of this Agreement.
Quote:An American tourist on Tuesday caused significant damage to a 761-year-old temple in Japan.
The unnamed suspect, described as intoxicated, forced his way inside Shoden Eigen‑in Temple through a rear kitchen door on the southern side of the building, according to the Tokyo Weekender.
After walking through the garden, he attempted to scale the wooden railing that encircles the main hall. In doing so, he caused visible damage, scraping and compromising the surface of the historic structure. The wooden railing sustained cracks and abrasions and a nearby wooden door was destroyed.
Newsweek contacted the Japan National Tourism Organization for comment via email on Friday.
Why It Matters
Founded in 1264, Shoden Eigen‑in Temple, a subtemple of Kennin-ji Monastery, in Kyoto, where the incident took place, was officially designated as a Kyoto Prefectural Cultural Heritage Site in 2015. According to the Tokyo Weekender, the structures there are architecturally fragile, historically significant and irreplaceable.
What To Know
The head priest of the temple, Keinin Magami, noticed the intrusion when the man knocked on the door of his adjacent residence, The Mainichi Shimbun reported. Police were called but a damage report was not filed. There was no permanent damage to the residence.
Kennin-ji, established in 1202, is considered the oldest Zen training monastery in Kyoto, with deep historical ties to Oda Urakusai, brother of famed warlord Oda Nobunaga.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
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My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
