live Swiss authorities call off U.S.-Iran talks after Vance pulls out
Planned U.S.-Iran talks in Switzerland on Friday will no longer take place after Vice President JD Vance withdrew from a scheduled trip to meet Irania...
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for June 16th, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Israel-Iran clashes escalate, civilians urged to evacuate target areas
Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on June 15, killing and wounding civilians and raising concerns of a broader regional conflict, with both militaries urging civilians on the opposing side to take precautions against further strikes.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he hoped a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders convening in Canada on June 15 would reach an agreement to help resolve the conflict and keep it from escalating.
U.S. urges citizens to exit Iran via Azerbaijan
Amid heightened Iran-Israel tensions, the U.S. State Department advises Americans in Iran to leave immediately, pointing them to the Astara land crossing into Azerbaijan; entry requires a special permit arranged through the U.S. Embassy in Baku because Azerbaijan’s borders are otherwise closed. Switzerland, acting as Washington’s protecting power, handles any urgent consular issues in Tehran.
Azerbaijan is already escorting foreign groups—including Americans, Russian filmmaker Fyodor Bondarchuk’s crew, members of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Krgyz and Kazakh citizens—through Astara, providing medical checks, refreshments, and buses to Baku and its international airport, underscoring its broader role in humanitarian evacuations from Iran.
Second black box recovered from the Ahmedabad crash site
Investigators in India on June 15 recovered the second black box from the London-bound Air India Boeing 787 that crashed in the city of Ahmedabad, killing at least 279 people, authorities announced.
The cockpit voice recorder has been found, Mr PK Mishra, a senior aide to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said in a statement. The flight data recorder was recovered on June 13, one day after the crash.
G7 leaders gather in Canada for a summit
Leaders of some of the world’s biggest economic powers arrived in the Canadian Rockies on Sunday for a Group of Seven summit, overshadowed by an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran and U.S. President Donald Trump’s unresolved trade war.
Israel’s strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation, which appeared to catch many world leaders unawares, is the latest sign of a more volatile world.
Iran rejects ceasefire negotiations while under Israeli attack, official says
Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire while it is under Israeli attack, an official briefed on the communications told Reuters on Sunday, as the two foes launched fresh attacks and raised fears of a wider conflict.
"The Iranians informed Qatari and Omani mediators that they will only pursue serious negotiations once Iran has completed its response to the Israeli pre-emptive strikes," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the conflict.
China adds 100 nuclear warheads in past year, report shows
China is beefing up its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country, a new report shows, highlighting the risks of a new nuclear arms race led by big powers.
China currently possesses at least 600 nuclear warheads, which is an increase of about 100 a year since 2023, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates, while the number of warheads owned by other nuclear states remained relatively stable.
Donald Trump has said the U.S. will resume bombing Iran if Tehran doesn't "behave," at the sidelines of the G7 summit in France. Earlier, the U.S. President criticised Israel for its tactics against Hezbollah, saying it was unnecessary to bomb entire apartment buildings to tackle militants.
U.S. President Donald Trump sought a deal with Iran "out of deperation," Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said, in a statment on social media. Khamenei added that he himself "held a different view," to Trump, but allowed the agreement after receiving assurances from Iran's President.
Britain has announced an additional £8 million ($11 million) to help Pakistan combat illegal migration, human trafficking and organised crime, while praising Islamabad's role in diplomacy that helped secure the recent U.S.-Iran agreement.
Lionel Messi matched the all-time World Cup scoring record as Argentina began their title defence with a 3-0 win over Algeria. Austria, France and Norway also secured opening victories in Group J and Group I matches on Tuesday.
Caleb Yirenkyi’s stoppage-time goal secured a 1-0 win for Ghana over Panama as World Cup action delivered a mix of late drama and key results. Colombia and England also began their campaigns with victories, while DR Congo held Portugal in a historic 1-1 draw and Austria beat Jordan 3-1.
Labour mayor Andy Burnham cleared a path to ousting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer after winning a parliamentary seat in northern England on Friday in what could be most consequential local election in more than six decades.
European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to extend sanctions against Russia over its ongoing war in Ukraine for a further 12 months, marking the first time the restrictive measures have been renewed on an annual basis rather than the previous six-month cycle.
A New Mexico legislative commission investigating the handling of cases linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has subpoenaed multiple U.S. Attorney’s offices. The subpoena is a part of an inquiry into whether prosecutors failed to pursue charges despite evidence of alleged abuse.
Ukraine and Germany have signed an agreement to strengthen anti-ballistic capabilities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Thursday, as Kyiv continues to push for deeper Western support in countering Russian missile attacks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced $107 million in emergency funding to help contain an expanding outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, warning it could become one of the worst on record.
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