President Trump and Iran's President Pezeshkian signed an initial peace deal at the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France. The 14-point MOU includes an immediate ceasefire, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a $300bn reconstruction fund for Iran, and the US terminating all sanctions on Iran. But the nuclear issue — the stated reason for the US war — is deferred to 60-day negotiations. Trump warned he'd "bomb the hell" out of Iran if no final deal emerges. Khamenei's successor called it a deal made "out of desperation." Oil prices dipped on the announcement.
Nearly 200 Ukrainian drones struck south-east Moscow in the largest attack on the Russian capital since the war began. The Kapotnya refinery was hit for the third time in a month, sending a silo roof flying. Black oily rain fell on residential areas. Zelensky: "If Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn too." Russia's Lavrov promised strikes "on a mass scale." 17 wounded in Moscow region.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth severely criticised NATO allies for "free-riding" and announced a six-month review of US force presence in Europe. He termed the restructuring "NATO 3.0" and said some countries would pass the review while others would fail. The US has already scaled back commitments to the NATO Force Model. NATO Secretary-General Rutte said European defence spending rose €90bn last year and allies were "backfilling" US cuts.
Apple's outgoing CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that price increases are "unavoidable" because memory chip costs have become "unsustainable." The AI boom has driven up chip prices significantly. Cook didn't specify which products or when. Trump said Apple agreed to work with Intel to make chips in the US. Intel shares rose 10%.
Japan's Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the country must revisit the pacifist posture it has held since WWII given rising regional threats. The push comes as the US-Iran war and China's growing military presence reshape Asian security dynamics. Koizumi's comments signal Japan's most significant strategic shift since the post-war constitution was adopted.
Gunmen attacked Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger's capital, killing 22 assailants, 11 soldiers, and two civilians. The attack happened just after morning prayers. It's the second assault on the same airport in five months — January's attack was claimed by an Islamic State-linked group. No claim of responsibility yet for this one.
The US Supreme Court ruled that it's not a crime for marijuana users to possess firearms, siding with a Texas man convicted under a federal law prohibiting gun ownership by "unlawful users" of controlled substances. The decision has significant implications for the intersection of gun rights and drug laws in the 39 states where cannabis is legal.
Trump announced he will visit India, signalling a thaw in the previously tense US-India relationship under his administration. The announcement came during a discussion where Trump also said he would "protect" India. The visit has implications for the Quad alliance and US strategic positioning against China in the Indo-Pacific.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers and PM Albanese announced a suite of CGT carve-outs: the small business turnover threshold lifts from $2m to $10m, innovative start-ups get a 50% CGT discount, and testamentary trusts are exempt from the minimum 30% tax rate. Chalmers also wound back some ministerial discretionary powers to address Greens' concerns. The Guardian calls it "more tweak than transformation" — designed to neutralise scare campaigns rather than rewrite the original policy.
Pauline Hanson said she "had to have a conversation" with the new Farrer MP about immigration and the Aboriginal flag, continuing the narrative from her National Press Club speech. One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts separately said he'll push for the party to adopt a blanket abortion ban. Media union blasted Hanson for a "bitter, unprofessional" attack on a Guardian journalist. The AFP is investigating the banner stunt from her Press Club appearance.
Australia's net overseas migration fell to its lowest level since 2022, but the Coalition maintains the numbers remain too high and criticised the government for failing to meet migration targets. The data comes amid heated national debate about immigration levels, with Hanson's monocultural rhetoric gaining traction and Labor trying to balance economic needs with political pressure.
The Socceroos produced a stunning performance against Turkey in the 2026 World Cup, with coach Tony Popovic's tactical setup praised as a masterclass. Goalkeeper Patrick Beach became an overnight hero. Up next: a highly anticipated clash against the United States. Australia's World Cup campaign has captured national attention with early-morning viewing parties across the country.
Billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart suggested Queensland should give some of its islands to Elon Musk to launch satellites into space. The proposal comes as Australia aims to become a hub for space launches and data centres. Rinehart's comments, described as classic "Gina," add to the ongoing debate about Australia's role in the space economy.
Dark Mofo's 2026 festival in Hobart has achieved sell-out shows and a cult-status line-up, continuing its reputation as one of Australia's most influential arts events. The festival is known for catapulting artists into the national spotlight. Separately, ABC veteran Virginia Trioli announced she's leaving the ABC after 27 years to take a "creative leap."
Adelaide Crows and Fremantle great Tony Modra is in a critical condition after a serious truck crash. The 50-year-old, known for his spectacular marks and 1990s heroics, is fighting for life in hospital. The footy community has rallied with tributes.
Good Food reports Sydney's hospitality sector is facing one of the most brutal winters in memory, with restaurants bracing for a "bloodbath" of closures. Rising costs, squeezed margins, and the post-COVID hangover are combining to make conditions tougher than the pandemic era for many operators. The piece profiles how chefs and owners are adapting — shorter menus, tighter rosters, and creative value offerings to keep bums on seats.
Good Food's critic takes the temperature of Rockpool, Sydney's most enduring steakhouse, awarding it 16.5/20. The review examines whether Neil Perry's flagship still delivers after decades at the top, with the soaring art deco dining room, 17 cuts of steak, and the service that made it an institution. A qualified win — but the review asks if it's still relevant in 2026's changing dining landscape.
The founder of Newtown institution Rolling Penny is back with Nest, a day-to-night cafe in Newtown described as bringing "country vibes" to the inner west. Duck-fat potatoes feature on the menu. The opening is a homecoming for a chef who helped define Newtown's dining scene before stepping away.
Three Blue Ducks opens its most ambitious regional NSW fine-dining venture yet — a 50-seat restaurant at a billionaire-backed heritage farmhouse in Burradoo, Southern Highlands. With combined talent from Quay, Tetsuya's and Sepia kitchens, the project marks a significant bet on regional fine dining. Worth a day trip from Sydney.
Creative Australia has announced nine new scholarships for outstanding emerging artists, providing direct financial support to the next generation of Australian creative talent. The scholarships cover multiple disciplines and include mentorship components. This is part of Creative Australia's ongoing investment pipeline under the federal government's arts funding framework.
Bluey, Australia's most exported cultural property, will be released in an Australian Indigenous language for the first time. The move is a significant step for Indigenous language preservation and representation in mainstream media, bringing the beloved Heeler family to new audiences while supporting language revitalisation efforts. No word yet on which specific language.
Australian filmmaking legend Peter Weir (Dead Poets Society, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Master and Commander) received a lifetime achievement award at the Sydney Film Festival. The honour recognises one of Australia's most internationally acclaimed directors, whose body of work spans five decades and multiple Oscar nominations.
Toy Story 5 has arrived in cinemas, described by AP as "(digital) apocalypse now for toys" and by the Guardian as a franchise that "needs new batteries." The film explores what happens to toys in the age of digital entertainment and screens. Strong opening weekend expected alongside Spielberg's Disclosure Day and the Backrooms phenomenon.
Simon Willison: GLM-5.2 is likely the most powerful text-only open-weights LLM available. The model, from Tsinghua University / Zhipu AI, has topped benchmarks across reasoning, coding, and long-context tasks. It's available on Hugging Face and supports local deployment, making it a strong candidate for cost-sensitive production use. Previously covered on Artificial Analysis as a leading open model.
Apple's Tim Cook confirmed the AI boom is directly driving up consumer electronics prices, with memory chip costs becoming "unsustainable." The price hikes will affect Apple's product line, potentially including the iPhone 18 expected in September. Trump said Apple would work with Intel to onshore chip manufacturing. Intel shares rose 10%.
Despite OpenAI's safety measures, researchers have demonstrated that ChatGPT can still be tricked into generating violent and sexualised imagery through prompt engineering and jailbreak techniques. The findings highlight the ongoing cat-and-mouse game between AI safety teams and adversarial users.
Jeff Bezos — now running robotics and space companies — argues AI will create a labour shortage rather than mass unemployment. His contrarian view counters the dominant narrative of AI-driven job displacement. Separately, Federal regulators ordered grid operators to speed power delivery to energy-hungry AI data centres, signalling infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with compute demand.
Three notable releases on Hugging Face: Cohere's North Mini Code (first dev-focused model from Cohere), NVIDIA Cosmos 3 (open omni-model for physical AI reasoning), and Nemotron 3.5 ASR (speech recognition fine-tuning). Also: olmo-eval evaluation workbench, GLM-5.2 long-horizon tooling, and KV caching explained for optimisation.
Hermes Agent
No new Hermes Agent release since v0.16.0 "The Surface Release" on June 5 (14 days ago). That release introduced the Hermes Desktop App, install & lifecycle improvements. No new releases, patches, or announcements since. Check back tomorrow.