Republished June 16, 2025 - 8:04 PM
Original Publication Date June 15, 2025 - 9:06 PM
Trump is departing the G7 early as conflict between Israel and Iran shows signs of intensifying
KANANASKIS, Alberta (AP) — President Donald Trump is abruptly leaving the Group of Seven summit, departing a day early Monday as the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies and the U.S. leader has declared that Tehran should be evacuated “immediately.”
World leaders had gathered in Canada with the specific goal of helping to defuse a series of global pressure points, only to be disrupted by a showdown over Iran's nuclear program that could escalate in dangerous and uncontrollable ways. Israel launched an aerial bombardment campaign against Iran four days ago.
At the summit, Trump warned that Tehran needs to curb its nuclear program before it’s “too late.” He said Iranian leaders would “like to talk” but they had already had 60 days to reach an agreement on their nuclear ambitions and failed to do so before the Israeli aerial assault began. “They have to make a deal,” he said.
Asked what it would take for the U.S. to get involved in the conflict militarily, Trump said Monday morning, “I don’t want to talk about that.“
So far, Israel has targeted multiple Iranian nuclear program sites but has not been able to destroy Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment facility. The site is buried deep underground — and to eliminate it, Israel may need the 30,000-pound (14,000-kilogram) GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, the U.S. bunker-busting bomb that uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets. Israel does not have the munition or the bomber needed to deliver it. The penetrator is currently delivered by the B-2 stealth bomber.
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Israel strikes state-run Iranian TV during live broadcast while Trump issues warning to Tehran
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel struck Iran's state-run television station Monday during a live broadcast, forcing a reporter to run off camera following an explosion, after Iran fired a new wave of missiles at Israel that killed at least eight people.
In other developments, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli strikes have set Iran’s nuclear program back a “very, very long time.” He added that Israel is not attempting to topple the Iranian government, but he said he would not be surprised if that happened as a result of the strikes.
“The regime is very weak,” Netanyahu told a news conference. He also said he is in daily touch with U.S. President Donald Trump, who posted an ominous message on his social media site later Monday calling for the immediate evacuation of Tehran.
Israel had warned hundreds of thousands of people in the middle of the Iranian capital to evacuate ahead of the strike against the TV station, which the military said provided a cover for Iranian military operations.
That warning came on the fourth day of the conflict, when the Israeli military claimed it had achieved air superiority above the Iranian capital and could fly over the city without facing major threats.
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Suspect in shooting of Minnesota state lawmakers targeted 2 others that night, prosecutors say
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man charged with killing one Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another meticulously planned the shootings and intended to inflict more carnage against those on his hit list, driving to the homes of two other legislators on the night of the attacks, a federal prosecutor said Monday.
But one of those state lawmakers was on vacation and the suspect left the other house after police arrived early Saturday, acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said.
Investigators say Vance Boelter appeared to spend months preparing for the shootings — the latest in a string of political attacks across the U.S. His list of potential targets contained dozens of names, including officials in at least three other states.
In Minnesota, Boelter carried out surveillance missions, took notes on the homes and people he targeted, and disguised himself as a police officer just before the shootings, Thompson said.
“It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmares,” he said.
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Jury finds MyPillow founder defamed former employee for a leading voting equipment company
DENVER (AP) — A federal jury in Colorado on Monday found that one of the nation’s most prominent election conspiracy theorists, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, defamed a former employee for a leading voting equipment company after the 2020 presidential election.
The jury found that two of Lindell's statements about Eric Coomer, the former security and product strategy director at Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems, including calling him a traitor, were defamatory. It ordered Lindell and his online media platform, formerly known as Frankspeech, to pay Coomer $2.3 million in damages, far less than the $62.7 million Coomer had asked for to help send a message to discourage attacks on election workers.
“This is hurting democracy. This is misinformation. It’s not been vetted and it needs to stop,” Charles Cain, one of Coomer's attorneys, told jurors in closing arguments Friday.
Lindell said he would appeal the financial award, saying Coomer's lawyers did not prove Coomer had been harmed. He also said he would continue to speak out about election security, including criticizing the makers of election equipment like Dominion.
“I will not stop talking until we don’t have voting machines in this country,” said Lindell, who backs paper ballots counted by hand.
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Jurors see clips of 'freak-off' sex marathons central to Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking charges
NEW YORK (AP) — The jury at Sean “Diddy” Combs ’ sex trafficking trial got a glimpse Monday at some of the “freak-off” sex marathons at the heart of the case, with prosecutors showing excerpts of explicit videos that the hip-hop mogul recorded during the drug-fueled sessions.
Prosecutors played portions of three sex videos recovered from a Combs-linked account on a cellphone that his former longtime girlfriend Cassie provided to authorities, giving jurors a close-up view of the encounters they’ve heard about repeatedly since testimony began May 12.
One video was from Oct. 14, 2012, the same day prosecutors say Combs had a “freak-off” in New York City with Cassie and sex worker Sharay Hayes, known as “The Punisher.”
Before playing the clip, prosecutors showed jurors an invoice for an Oct. 14, 2012, stay at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Manhattan that was booked under Combs’ alias, Frank Black. A note on the invoice said the guest requested to have the room at 3 a.m.
Prosecutors also showed jurors text messages in which Cassie, the R&B singer whose real name is Casandra Ventura, arranged the Oct. 14 meetup with Hayes. In one message, she wrote: “Can we actually do 3 a.m. at the Trump hotel, Columbus Circle?” Hayes replied: “Great. I’ll text when I’m on my way,” and told her his fee for the encounter was $200 cash.
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The Trump family's next venture, a mobile phone company
NEW YORK (AP) — If Trump watches or sneakers or bibles aren't your thing, the family business just added another product to show your support for the U.S. president: mobile phones.
The Trump company announced Monday a new business, Trump Mobile, that will offer cell service in a licensing deal and sell gold phones by the summer. It's the latest in a string of new ventures struck despite mounting ethical concerns that the U.S. president is profiting off his position and could distort public policy for personal gain.
Eric Trump, the president’s son running The Trump Organization in his absence, suggested the pitch is patriotism, emphasizing that the phones will be built in the U.S. and the phone service will maintain a call center in the country as well.
The announcement follows several real estate deals for towers and resorts in the Middle East, including a golf development in Qatar announced in April. A $1.5 billion partnership to build golf courses, hotels and real estate projects in Vietnam was approved last month, though the deal was in the works before Trump was elected.
Trump has already used the main regulatory agency that will oversee Trump Mobile in personal disputes.
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A guide to what the Juneteenth holiday is and how to celebrate it
It was 160 years ago that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed — after the Civil War's end and two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
The resulting Juneteenth holiday — its name combining “June” and “nineteenth” — has only grown in one-and-a-half centuries. In 2021, President Joe Biden designated it a federal holiday — expanding its recognition beyond Black America.
This year will be the first Juneteenth under President Donald Trump's second administration, which has banned diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI, in the federal government. This has included removing Black American history content from federal websites. Trump officials have also discouraged some federal agencies from recognizing other racial heritage celebrations.
Still, many people anticipate getting Juneteenth off work. There are a plethora of street festivals, fairs, concerts and other events planned throughout the week leading into the holiday. But with the current political climate, some may wonder if their company will honor it.
“I don't think anyone should be intimidated or obligated into not celebrating the day,” said Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League. “I've not heard of anyone being denied. I think it would be absolutely reprehensible.”
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Wall Street recovers from Friday's shock as US stocks rise and oil prices ease
NEW YORK (AP) — Calm returned to Wall Street on Monday, and U.S. stocks rose, while oil prices gave back some of their initial spurts following Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets at the end of last week.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.9% to reclaim most of its drop from Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 317 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.5%. They joined a worldwide climb for stock prices, stretching from Asia to Europe.
Israel and Iran are continuing to attack each other, and a fear remains that a wider war could constrict the flow of Iran’s oil to its customers. That in turn could raise gasoline prices worldwide and keep them high.
But past conflicts in the region have seen spikes for crude prices last only briefly. They’ve receded after the fighting showed that it would not disrupt the flow of oil, either Iran’s or other countries’ through the narrow Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast.
Hopes that the fighting could remain similarly contained this time around helped send oil prices back toward $71 per barrel on Monday.
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The world’s most-visited museum shuts down with staff sounding the alarm on mass tourism
PARIS (AP) — The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum and a global symbol of art, beauty and endurance, has withstood war, terror, and pandemic — but on Monday, it was brought to a halt by its own striking staff, who say the institution is crumbling under the weight of mass tourism.
It was an almost unthinkable sight: the home to works by Leonardo da Vinci and millennia of civilization’s greatest treasures — paralyzed by the very people tasked with welcoming the world to its galleries.
Thousands of stranded and confused visitors, tickets in hand, were corralled into unmoving lines by I.M. Pei's glass pyramid.
“It’s the Mona Lisa moan out here,” said Kevin Ward, 62, from Milwaukee. “Thousands of people waiting, no communication, no explanation. I guess even she needs a day off.”
The Louvre has become a symbol of tourism pushed to its limits. As hotspots from Venice to the Acropolis race to curb crowds, the world’s most iconic museum, visited by millions, is hitting a breaking point of its own.
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Airports close across the Mideast as the Israel-Iran conflict shutters the region's airspace
BEIRUT (AP) — After Israeli strikes landed near the hotel where he was staying in the Iranian province of Qom, Aimal Hussein desperately wanted to return home. But the 55-year-old Afghan businessman couldn't find a way, with Iranian airspace completely shut down.
He fled to Tehran after the strike Sunday, but no taxi would take him to the border as the conflict between Iran and Israel intensified.
“Flights, markets, everything is closed, and I am living in the basement of a small hotel,” Hussein told The Associated Press by cellphone on Monday. "I am trying to get to the border by taxi, but they are hard to find, and no one is taking us.”
Israel launched a major attack Friday with strikes in the Iranian capital of Tehran and elsewhere, killing senior military officials, nuclear scientists, and destroying critical infrastructure. Among the targets was a nuclear enrichment facility about 18 miles from Qom. Iran has retaliated with hundreds of drones and missiles.
The dayslong attacks between the two bitter enemies have opened a new chapter in their turbulent recent history. Many in the region fear a wider conflict as they watch waves of attacks across their skies every night.
News from © The Associated Press, 2025