Trump told G7 leaders the US-Iran framework is nearing formal signing, with VP Vance suggesting the full text could be released before Friday's ceremony in Switzerland. Tehran is selling the deal to Iranians as victory — but hardliners are calling it a colonial surrender. Meanwhile, only 7 vessels have passed through the Strait of Hormuz since the deal was announced, with 580+ ships still waiting in the Gulf, suggesting full normalisation will take time. Oil prices dropped and Asian markets rallied on the news.
The Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich fired warning shots near a small, motor-less yacht carrying a British couple in their 60s between the Isle of Wight and Normandy. The yacht had drifted towards the warship in foggy conditions. Russian officials said they fired rifle shots after radio and flare warnings were ignored. The UK MoD is investigating, and officials do not believe it is linked to Sunday's Royal Marine operation against a shadow fleet tanker. The incident happened in international waters, 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight.
In a massive Silicon Valley deal, SpaceX has agreed to acquire Anysphere, the maker of AI coding assistant Cursor, for $60 billion. The acquisition positions SpaceX to compete directly with OpenAI and Anthropic in enterprise AI, leveraging Cursor's developer platform. The deal comes just after SpaceX's blockbuster IPO and a 12% surge that briefly saw it surpass Microsoft in market cap. Cursor has been the fastest-growing AI coding tool, competing directly with GitHub Copilot.
Despite Trump declaring the Strait open after the Iran deal, BBC Verify analysis shows only 7 vessels have transited since the announcement. Some 580 ships remain trapped in the Gulf, with 75% of tankers stationary. Three barriers remain: naval mines, the Iranian toll regime, and security concerns. "It would take an extremely brave captain to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, given the current state," said one risk analyst. Trump later clarified the US naval blockade would remain until the deal is formally signed.
The FBI says it thwarted a planned attack on the UFC cage-fighting event at the White House, involving a plot by a group to use snipers and drones. Court papers describe an alleged conspiracy to target the high-profile event attended by President Trump. The UFC later tweeted that "safety is paramount" and thanked law enforcement. Dana White said "never again" to another White House fight night.
Snap has unveiled its next-generation AR glasses priced at $2,195, marking a significant bet on augmented reality as the successor to the smartphone. Spiegel is positioning the device as a fashion-forward wearable that overlays digital information onto the real world. The launch comes as Snap's stock has been volatile and the company seeks to differentiate from Apple's Vision Pro and Meta's Quest headsets with a more lightweight, social-first approach.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton warned that UK armed forces will have to "dial back" training and operations without additional short-term funding. Defence Secretary John Healey resigned last week, claiming the Treasury's proposed £10bn over four years was £18bn short of what military chiefs requested. The government has committed to 3.5% of GDP by 2035, but Healey says the path is too slow — half of NATO members will reach 3% by 2030.
India has temporarily blocked Telegram ahead of the retake of the NEET-UG medical entrance exam on 21 June, citing the "organised use of the platform by cheating rackets." The ban, effective until 22 June, also disables the message-editing feature until 30 June. Nearly 2.28 million students will retake the exam after the May sitting was cancelled amid a massive paper leak scandal, with over a dozen arrests so far. Critics called the ban a "band-aid solution."
Vietnamese police dismantled a feline theft ring, rescuing over 400 live cats and recovering 80 dead animals preserved on ice. Nine people were arrested in Tay Ninh Province and Ho Chi Minh City. The suspects allegedly trapped and collected cats across southern Vietnam over three years. Around 40 cats have been reunited with owners. An estimated 5 million dogs and 1 million cats are trafficked for meat in Vietnam annually.
The Reserve Bank held the cash rate at 4.35% at its June board meeting, but issued a hawkish warning about potential future rate increases. The decision comes as the Australian economy shows signs of slowing, although inflation remains above the RBA's target band. Markets had priced in a high probability of a hold, with the statement noting "uncertainty around the outlook." The Guardian's economics team called it "an interest rate reprieve, not a ceasefire."
The Jewish Council of Australia's submission to the royal commission on antisemitism singles out One Nation supporters as the most likely voters to hold anti-Jewish views, warning that the party has "cultivated relationships with far-right networks" including the outlawed National Socialist Network. The submission cites the Crossroads25 survey and notes that ASIO boss Mike Burgess has flagged right-wing extremism as a persistent national security threat. Separately, Guardian Australia revealed a man claiming to be a One Nation branch official in Brisbane had defended the Hitler Youth and used racist language about Aboriginal people.
The federal government has brokered a $3.6 billion childcare sector pay deal that prevents planned pay cuts for educators, averts fee increases for families, and heads off a threatened strike action. The deal injects significant new funding into the sector, which has been facing workforce shortages and rising operational costs. The agreement was welcomed by unions and childcare providers alike.
Medical experts have blasted One Nation's health policies as "mistakes" that don't stand up to scrutiny, the Grattan Institute's health program director said. The party's proposals include withdrawing from the WHO, scrapping the TGA (which is already part of the health department), and adding photo ID to Medicare cards. The $3bn fraud figure cited by One Nation relates to provider non-compliance, not consumer fraud, making the photo ID proposal both costly and misdirected.
The Bureau of Meteorology has officially declared a "very strong" El Niño event now in full swing across Australia. The event could become one of the strongest on record, potentially bringing hotter and drier conditions across eastern Australia through winter and into spring. The declaration has implications for agriculture, fire risk, and water management, particularly in already drought-affected regions.
Guardian Australia revealed John Drew, a man who claims to be a One Nation policy development officer in Brisbane's Ryan branch, has a history of defending the Hitler Youth and using deeply offensive racist language about Aboriginal people, calling them "stone age people" and "rapacious bludgers and grifters." One Nation initially made no comment, then claimed Drew "has never been a One Nation party official in any capacity" — though he says he was processing memberships last week. Drew was previously Queensland secretary for the far-right Australia First party.
From couple Cindy Mai and Ed Loveday (of former ACME and The Passage), Ca Phe Mai is a 30-seater in Double Bay that transitions from Vietnamese-Australian cafe by day to low-lit wine bar by night. The menu covers banh mi, pho ga (with Mai's mum's family recipe), and vermicelli bowls at lunch, then moves to small plates and natural wines. The venue is drawing on Mai's Viet Kieu identity and her family's history running Vietnamese restaurants. Toby Wilson (Ricos Tacos) consulted on the opening menu.
Hyoju Park, head chef at Sydney's acclaimed Madeleine De Proust, has been recognised by La Liste — the French dining guide often described as the world's most selective restaurant ranking. The award places Park and the venue among the international fine dining elite, further cementing Sydney's standing on the global culinary map. Madeleine De Proust has been one of Sydney's most talked-about fine dining openings in recent years.
Three Blue Ducks, the farm-to-table hospitality group, has opened a flagship 50-seat restaurant as part of a billionaire-backed farmhouse development. The venue continues the group's ethos of paddock-to-plate dining with a focus on locally sourced, seasonal produce. The project represents a significant investment in regional hospitality infrastructure and signals continued confidence in the farm-to-table dining model.
A new German-style kebab food truck called Keb Up has opened in Bonnyrigg in Sydney's south-west, and Broadsheet calls it "completely magnificent." The truck serves a German-inspired veggie kebab that has quickly developed a cult following. It's part of a growing trend of European-style street food concepts emerging in Sydney's suburbs.
Arthur, the intimate fine diner from the Jane team, is undergoing a full-scale shake-up. When it reopens next month, the venue will feature a happy hour to rival Jane's, a completely new layout, and a snackier, more accessible menu. The reboot is part of a broader trend among Sydney fine diners to pivot toward more casual, higher-turnover formats without sacrificing quality.
Creative Australia's latest National Arts Participation Survey reveals 74% of Australians (15.4 million people) attended at least one live arts event or festival in the past year — the highest level recorded since the survey began in 2009. However, 60% cited cost as the biggest barrier, and more than half missed events they wanted to attend due to cost. 98% of Australians engage with the arts in some form, and 93% hold positive views. Creative Australia's Lara Wolski noted: "cost is increasingly shaping how people participate and what they can afford to attend."
Creative Australia has released a new 10-part video series on board financial literacy for arts and cultural organisations, created in collaboration with NIDA board director Carole Campbell FAICD. The series covers financial roles, key statements, budgeting, audit committees, and insolvency — designed as an entry-level resource for board members. Alongside the resource, $213,000 in governance grants have been awarded to 19 individuals and 26 organisations through the Company Director Capability Fund, supporting governance training across the sector.
Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi's 'conference of one's self' has premiered at the Australia Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, commissioned by Creative Australia. The immersive installation features eight monumental canvases arranged octagonally, with suspended video projections and a 54-minute soundscape inspired by the 12th-century Sufi allegory The Conference of the Birds. In a historic first, Sabsabi also presents a second installation 'khalil' at the Arsenale as part of the International Exhibition 'In Minor Keys' curated by Koyo Kouoh — making him the first Australian artist to show simultaneously in both Pavilion and International Exhibition.
Female talent is bearing the brunt of Seven's on-air job cuts, according to SMH reporting, as the network restructures its news and current affairs teams. The cuts are part of broader cost-saving measures across the free-to-air television industry, which is facing declining advertising revenue and increased competition from streaming platforms. The move has sparked criticism about gender equity in Australian media.
Craft retailer Lincraft has announced it will close all of its remaining stores in Australia and New Zealand, marking the end of a major presence in the craft retail sector. The closures follow a challenging retail environment for non-essential goods as cost-of-living pressures continue to squeeze consumer spending. The decision will affect hundreds of employees across both countries.
In the biggest AI acquisition of the year, SpaceX is buying AI coding platform Cursor, maker of the fast-growing developer tool, for $60 billion. The deal gives SpaceX a direct entry point into enterprise AI, competing with OpenAI and Anthropic. Cursor has become one of the most widely used AI coding assistants, with a strong developer community and rapidly growing revenue. The acquisition comes fresh off SpaceX's blockbuster IPO and record-breaking market cap surge that briefly surpassed Amazon and Microsoft.
A blog post by Vicki Boykis titled "Running local models is good now" hit the top of Hacker News, arguing that local models have finally reached a "surprisingly good" threshold for daily coding tasks. The post highlights Google's Gemma 4 26B (A4B) running via LM Studio on a 2022 M2 Mac with 64GB RAM, achieving about 75% the accuracy and speed of frontier models for agentic coding loops. The release of GPT-OSS is credited as the turning point, and the post notes that tasks like refactoring, linting, unit testing, and bootstrapping repos now work reliably with local models.
Anthropic's Claude platform is experiencing elevated error rates across multiple models, according to the Claude status page. The incident triggered a significant Hacker News discussion with over 100 comments, as users reported degraded service quality. The outage comes amid the ongoing Fable 5 saga — the White House-suspended model that Anthropic is trying to get reinstated. Prediction markets suggest Anthropic will restore access to Fable 5 quickly, with the company spending the weekend explaining to policymakers that the model wasn't too powerful.
The Netherlands has launched GPT-NL, described as a "sovereign language model" developed by TNO, the Dutch research organisation. The model is designed to ensure the Netherlands maintains digital sovereignty and cultural representation in AI, following similar national model initiatives in France, Germany, and Japan. The project highlights the growing trend of nations investing in their own LLMs to reduce dependence on US-based AI providers and ensure linguistic and cultural alignment.
Prediction market traders are betting that Anthropic will restore access to Fable 5 quickly, following the White House's suspension of the model over national security jailbreak concerns. CNBC reports that Kalshi prediction markets show a high probability of rapid reinstatement. The Verge earlier reported that Anthropic and other AI boosters spent the weekend trying to explain to policymakers that Fable 5 "wasn't too powerful" — directly contradicting the White House's national security rationale. The saga continues to highlight the growing tension between AI capability development and government regulation.
A US District Judge has dismissed Elon Musk's xAI lawsuit against OpenAI with prejudice — meaning it cannot be refiled. The lawsuit accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets and poaching employees. The judge wrote that continuing the case "would be futile." This follows the earlier dismissal of Musk v. Altman by a jury. The decision is a significant legal win for OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, as Musk's legal campaign against the company continues to falter.