The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announces Closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon | Iran re-closed the Strait of Hormuz Friday instead of coming to Switzerland to engage in nuclear negotiations, citing Israel’s refusal to leave Lebanon and US forces’ ongoing presence in the region. In a statement read over maritime radio channels, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the US was in violation of the memorandum of understanding between the two countries, which President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed Wednesday.

📌 War On Iran: Trump Has To Stop Israel Or Account For A Depression (Moon of Alabama)
■ Switzerland confirms US-Iran talks planned for Friday are cancelled (06/19/26)

Blazes have been reported in the Russian capital and more than a dozen people wounded in the surrounding region, in one of Kiev’s largest aerial attacks | At least 17 people have been wounded after the Ukrainian military launched one of its largest drone raids against Moscow, Russian officials have said. ● Air defenses shot down at least 194 UAVs on the approach to the Russian capital overnight, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin wrote in a Telegram post on Thursday morning. ● Some drones made it through and caused blazes, with witnesses reporting large plumes of thick black smoke in several areas in and outside the city. [...] Nine people, including a three-year-old child, suffered shrapnel wounds and other injuries in the town of Kotelniki east of the capital as a result of the Ukrainian drone raid, Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyev said on Telegram.

📌 UK to send Ukraine 150,000 drones (RT)
■ Eight-year-old girl killed in Ukrainian drone raid on Moscow (RT)
■ «Бить нещадно, поставить на колени»: как Россия ответит на удары Киева по Москве (Газета.Ru)

■ Moscow protesters brand UK ‘sponsor of terror’ (VIDEO) (RT) | Activists gathered outside the British ambassador’s residence, accusing London of supplying weapons used by Kiev to kill civilians. [...] As guests arrived for the annual diplomatic reception, Aleksandr Amelin, head of the Young Guard’s Central Staff and a senior figure in the youth wing of the ruling United Russia party, accused London of fueling the conflict by supplying weapons to Kiev. “You won’t see BBC journalists here. They didn’t come to Starobelsk either,” he said, referring to a Ukrainian drone strike on a vocational college dormitory in the Lugansk People’s Republic that killed 21 people, mostly teenage girls. Around 50 foreign journalists from 19 countries visited the site at Moscow’s invitation, while the BBC and CNN refused to attend.

US and Iran talks scheduled for Friday at Switzerland’s Bürgenstock resort will not take place, according to the Swiss Foreign Ministry, following the withdrawal of US Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s decision to postpone participation amid "Israel's" ongoing aggression on Lebanon. | Talks that had been planned for Friday between the United States and Iran at the Burgenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland will not take place, according to a Swiss foreign ministry statement. ● The announcement came after a White House spokesperson said overnight that US Vice President JD Vance had pulled out of a planned trip to meet Iranian negotiators in Switzerland on Friday to begin talks to implement an agreement struck between Tehran and Washington to end the war. ● Vance had been expected to travel to Geneva on Friday to begin technical negotiations on implementing the 14-point agreement reached between Tehran and Washington. However, a White House spokesperson said the visit was called off because arrangements for the talks had not been finalized. [...] The Iranian negotiating delegation had earlier postponed its trip to Switzerland due to the ongoing Israeli aggression on southern Lebanon, an informed source told Al Mayadeen on Thursday.

■ Israeli media urges continued Lebanon strikes to disrupt Iran-US MoU (Press TV)
■ 31 killed as Israel keeps attacking Lebanon despite US-Iran deal coming into force (Anadolu Ajansi)
■ Israel massacres sleeping families in Lebanon after heavy losses in south (Press TV)
■ Israeli bombings massacre civilians in Nabatieh villages (Al Mayadeen)
■ Israel can’t ‘kill its way out’ of every crisis – Vance (VIDEO) (RT)
📌 War On Iran: Trump Has To Stop Israel Or Account For A Depression (Moon of Alabama)
✅ As Strikes Continue in Lebanon, Will Iran Hold Its Leverage? (WANA Staff)

His Makerfield seat had been vacated by Josh Simons last month to allow Mr Burnham's return to Westminster. The heavily-contested seat was contested by 14 candidates, with talks of Labour's quiet confidence long before the declaration. | Andy Burnham has won the Makerfield by-election, setting the wheels in motion for a Labour leadership race and a battle for No10. Mr Burnham won the seat with 24,927 votes. Turnout increased in the seat compared to the General Election, rising to 58.8 per cent. Second in the vote was Reform UK's Robert Kenyon, who earned 15,696 votes. And Restore Britain's Rebecca Shepherd took in 3,111 votes, at 6.8 per cent of the total vote. ● The Conservatives received fewer than 1,000 votes, with the Greens, and Liberal Democrats receiving less than 500 - collectively earning no more than three per cent of the total vote.

■ Keir Starmer congratulates victorious Andy Burnham - just as he prepares to fight for his job (GB News)

Trump got educated in 100 days how not to mess with sovereign nations. | The United States has reportedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, and if the reported terms are accurate, Tehran has emerged from this confrontation in a remarkably strong position. ■ The document, signed remotely just moments ago according to reports, appears to be far more than a ceasefire arrangement. Analysts are already describing it as a major strategic setback for Washington. ■ Trump entered this confrontation with ambitious objectives: weakening the Iranian system, dismantling its nuclear program, and curbing its ballistic missile capabilities. Yet he now appears to be endorsing terms that, in the eyes of many observers, solidify Iran's regional standing more than ever before. The political fallout in Washington has already begun, with critics arguing that the agreement amounts to a series of American concessions without delivering meaningful security gains for either the United States or its allies. [...] (Part 2)

■ President Donald J. Trump has SIGNED the Iran Memorandum of Understanding at Versailles in France

📌 The pro-establishment, Brussels-based publication Politico Europe, owned by Germany’s Axel Springer SE, has refused to publish an exclusive article written by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. | Lavrov’s article was initially slated for publication in the Brussels-based Politico Europe, but due to a “last-minute decision by the outlet’s editorial team,” the publication was canceled, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday. ● In the article, Russia’s highly experienced top diplomat outlined Moscow’s view of the Ukrainian conflict, Europe’s role in escalating the crisis, and the broader implications for global security. Lavrov accused European leaders of using diplomacy as a cover for NATO and EU expansion, while arguing that the West has sought to turn Ukraine into an anti-Russian foothold. He also warned that the EU’s growing militarization, including discussions about nuclear deterrence and “strategic autonomy,” could increase the risk of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.

📌 «Ukraine, Europe and Global Security», 19 June 2026 (Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov)