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HORMUZ
The Singapore-flagged container ship Ever Lovely was struck on its starboard side by an unknown projectile Thursday evening in the Strait of Hormuz, 7.5 nautical miles southeast of Dahit in Oman’s Musandam exclave. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported no casualties and no environmental impact. The ship continued on its way. The bridge was damaged.
It happened at 5:40 p.m. local time — eight days after the MOU was signed at Versailles.
Earlier Thursday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a radio broadcast warning to vessels transiting the Strait without Tehran’s permission. “Transit only with IRGC permission, on designated routes. No permission, AIS off, or off-route, and you carry the consequences,” the broadcast said, according to video posted from a ship’s bridge. The Persian Gulf Strait Authority, the body Iran established to manage Strait transit, issued a statement after the attack saying “Any passage through routes outside the framework designated by PGSA will not be covered by safe passage guarantees and will not be entitled to insurance coverage or related liabilities.” The consequences, it added, were the responsibility of the owner, operator, and vessel commander.
The vessel was using the new Oman UN-backed route announced Wednesday, in coordination with the IMO. By Thursday morning, maritime data showed 70 crossings on the Oman route, an encouraging sign of recovery. Then the Ever Lovely was struck. Bloomberg reported ships appeared to be turning around mid-transit in the hours that followed.
Iran has said the only authorized route through the Strait is the one Iran designated. The US has said the Strait will be permanently toll-free and that no country can legally restrict transit. Oman has been threading between those positions with IMO backing. The shot across the Ever Lovely’s bow — if that is what it was, and no party has claimed responsibility — is Iran demonstrating that the Oman route is not guaranteed safety, and that shipping companies that choose it do so on their own risk assessment, not Iran’s safe passage guarantee.
Brent crude jumped $2.01 on the news, from $72.68 to $74.69. This is also the second such incident: Kurdistan 24 confirmed a similar projectile strike on a vessel in the Strait on June 12. The pattern is established. The MOU did not end Hormuz risk. It changed its character.
One development against which to weigh the Ever Lovely: Vance announced Thursday that IRGC representatives and US CENTCOM personnel will be stationed together in Doha to resolve disputes in real time. “The Iranians were like, ‘Fine, we’ll send somebody from the IRGC to go hang out in Doha with somebody from CENTCOM,’ and that’s how we’re going to settle a lot of these disputes,” Vance said. A direct IRGC-CENTCOM communication channel is new. It is the most concrete de-escalation mechanism the MOU framework has produced.
Two things are true at the same time. A ship was struck in the Strait on Thursday evening. A channel to prevent the next one opened on Thursday morning.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: Euronews confirmed the Ever Lovely incident and the IRGC radio broadcast. Bloomberg confirmed the ship turnarounds. Euronews reported that the Oman route is a workaround Iran has not sanctioned, and that the Ever Lovely strike is Iran making that point with a projectile rather than a press release.
The CBS News live blog confirmed one additional number Thursday: Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health updated its death toll to 4,230 killed and 12,179 injured since March 2. That figure had been frozen in our coverage since June 21. It is the first official Health Ministry update in four days.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: A ship was struck in the Strait of Hormuz tonight. Brent jumped two dollars. Iran has not authorized the route the ship was using. An IRGC-CENTCOM channel opened in Doha this morning to resolve exactly these disputes. Both things happened on the same day. The 60-day clock has eight days behind it and 52 days ahead. Lebanon’s death toll is 4,230.
Sources: Asharq Al-Awsat / AFP (Arabic/international wire — Ever Lovely strike confirmed, UKMTO statement verbatim, 7.5 nautical miles confirmed, no casualties confirmed, June 25); CBS News live blog (US — 5:40 p.m. local time confirmed, PGSA statement confirmed, Lebanon Health Ministry 4,230/12,179 update confirmed, Rubio GCC meeting confirmed, June 25); Euronews (Europe — IRGC radio broadcast confirmed, “Transit only with IRGC permission” quote confirmed, 70 crossings before strike confirmed, Vance Doha IRGC/CENTCOM announcement confirmed, June 25); Bloomberg (US — ship turnarounds confirmed, “may undermine rapid reopening” confirmed, June 25); Kurdistan 24 (Iraq — June 12 prior incident confirmed, Singapore-flagged Ever Lovely identified by Vanguard Tech confirmed, June 25)
SCOTUS
Three more decisions from the Supreme Court on Thursday. Eight cases remain. The blockbusters are still coming.
The two immigration decisions are the most significant of the term so far. Mullin v. Doe and Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, both written by Justice Samuel Alito, gave the Trump administration what it came for. The Court ruled that presidential decisions to terminate Temporary Protected Status cannot be reviewed by courts — that TPS is entirely a matter of executive discretion. The ruling clears the path for the administration to deport more than 300,000 Haitians and Syrians whose TPS the president has terminated, and potentially more than one million total TPS holders if the administration moves against all 13 of the countries it has targeted. TPS was created by Congress in 1990 and has been used by every president, Republican and Democrat, since. Every president until Trump. The White House called the ruling a “tremendous win.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor read her dissent from the bench — the symbolic act a justice takes when they believe a decision is so wrong it cannot merely be noted in writing. Justice Samuel Alito publicly retorted from the bench in response. Court observers described the exchange as stunning. The decorum of the Supreme Court, already strained, showed another fracture Thursday morning.
Wolford v. Lopez, written by Justice Alito, 6-3. The Supreme Court struck down laws in Hawaii, California, Maryland, New York, and New Jersey requiring gun owners to obtain permission from property owners before bringing firearms onto their land. Alito wrote that such laws “hobble what the Second Amendment protects: the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives.” The ruling extends the reach of the Second Amendment into private property in ways that will require all five states to revise their laws.
Monsanto v. Durnell. The Court sided with Monsanto in its long-running fight over liability for Roundup, its popular weed killer. The central question was whether a federal pesticide labeling law, which the EPA administers, overrides state tort claims by people who say Roundup gave them cancer. The Court said yes. Tens of thousands of pending Roundup liability cases face new legal challenges as a result.
Eight cases remain pending. Monday June 29 is the next opinion day. The cases that still have not come down include Trump v. Slaughter, which asks whether the president can fire the heads of independent agencies including the Federal Reserve, and Watson v. RNC, on whether states can count mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day. Both are expected before the term ends in early July.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: The TPS ruling is being covered internationally with specific attention to the Haitian dimension, with the 300,000 Haitians who now face deportation being sent to a country where more than 2,300 people have been killed by gang violence this year and 1.5 million have been displaced. During Haiti’s World Cup match in Atlanta on Wednesday, fans in the stands held signs drawing attention to the TPS decision, aware the ruling was coming. CNN’s live Supreme Court coverage confirmed the juxtaposition. The rest of the world watched Haiti play soccer in America while America’s highest court decided Haiti was no longer a country whose nationals could legally stay.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the president can deport more than one million people who have been living and working legally in the United States for years without any court being able to review that decision. On the same day, the Court ruled that five states cannot require gun owners to ask permission before bringing firearms onto someone else’s property. The same six justices decided both cases. Eight cases remain, including whether this president can fire the Chair of the Federal Reserve.
Sources: CNN live blog (US — TPS ruling confirmed, Alito majority confirmed, Sotomayor bench dissent confirmed, Alito retort confirmed, White House statement confirmed, Haiti/Syria deportation numbers confirmed, Haiti World Cup fans/TPS juxtaposition confirmed, June 25); NPR (US — Wolford v. Lopez 6-3 confirmed, five states named, Alito “hobble” quote confirmed, eight remaining cases confirmed, June 25 updated); OPB / NPR (US — Monsanto v. Durnell confirmed, federal labeling law overrides state claims confirmed, June 25); SCOTUSblog (US — all four June 25 cases confirmed, eight pending cases confirmed, Monday June 29 next opinion day confirmed)
VENEZUELA
Two earthquakes struck northern Venezuela less than a minute apart Wednesday evening. The first was a magnitude 7.2 foreshock. Thirty-nine seconds later, a magnitude 7.5 mainshock struck nearby. Together they are the largest seismic event in Venezuela since 1900.
The confirmed death toll as of Thursday afternoon: 188 killed, 1,520 injured, 157 missing, approximately 200 people still trapped under rubble. Close to 3,000 families have been affected. Approximately 250 buildings collapsed or were severely damaged.
The USGS described the event as a “destructive doublet.” Its hazard modeling estimated a 40% chance that the final death toll could exceed 10,000. The gap between the confirmed figure and the modeled estimate reflects both the pace of search and rescue operations and the extreme vulnerability of Venezuelan building stock. Venezuela is not along the Pacific Ring of Fire and has not built to earthquake standards common in seismically active countries. The last comparable event, a 6.3 magnitude quake in 1967, killed roughly 225 to 300 people in the Caracas area. Thursday’s quakes were significantly larger.
Rescue teams are working through the rubble of collapsed buildings in Caracas, La Guaira, and Catia la Mar. Luis Colmenarez, regional emergency specialist for World Vision, was watching Toy Story with his sisters when the shaking began. “The shaking lasted between two and three minutes — it felt endless,” he said. In Caracas, journalist Julio Blanca described the capital Thursday as “a scene of desolation and introspection.” María Graterol, a Venezuelan journalist speaking from Caracas, told NPR’s All Things Considered, “You could see how the walls were moving and everything was moving around. People were screaming.”
The US State Department announced $150 million in assistance. Fairfax County and Los Angeles County search and rescue teams have been activated — 80 specialists, six search dogs, three doctors, three structural specialists, and nearly 70,000 pounds of heavy breaching equipment. US, Mexico, Spain, Qatar, and the UN are sending planes with humanitarian aid. Secretary Rubio called the response “big, fast, effective.”
Before the earthquake struck, almost 8 million of Venezuela’s 28 million people were already in need of humanitarian assistance according to UN figures from May.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: Al Jazeera’s live blog on Venezuela is the primary international aggregation point for the disaster. The framing across Latin American, Caribbean, and African press is consistent: Venezuela arrived at this catastrophe already broken. The earthquake did not create a humanitarian crisis. It struck a humanitarian crisis that already existed. The speed and scale of the US response, $150 million and two search and rescue teams deployed within hours, is being noted internationally and generating coverage that frames it as both generous and complicated, given the state of US-Venezuela relations under the Maduro government. Colombia’s new president-elect, de la Espriella, who takes office August 7, will inherit a humanitarian catastrophe on Venezuela’s border as his first significant foreign policy challenge.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: Twin earthquakes killed at least 188 people in Venezuela Wednesday evening and left hundreds more trapped. The US is sending $150 million and two search and rescue teams. The country the US is rushing to help is the same country the US has sanctioned, isolated, and whose refugees it has been deporting. Eight million Venezuelans were already in humanitarian need before the earthquake. The death toll will rise.
Sources: Al Jazeera live blog (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent — 188 killed/1,520 injured/157 missing/200 trapped confirmed, USGS destructive doublet confirmed, Rodriguez press conference confirmed, US/Mexico/Spain/Qatar/UN aid confirmed, June 25); NBC News (US — 7.2/7.5 magnitudes confirmed, 39 seconds apart confirmed, San Felipe/Yumare epicenters confirmed, 3,000 families affected confirmed, 8 million in need pre-quake confirmed, Colmenarez “felt endless” quote confirmed, June 25); CNN live blog (US — Fairfax/LA County teams confirmed, 80 specialists/6 dogs/3 doctors/70,000 pounds confirmed, $150 million State Dept confirmed, satellite imagery confirmed, Graterol NPR quote confirmed, June 25); ABC News live blog (US — Rodriguez toll update confirmed, Rubio “big fast effective” confirmed, intensive rescue operations confirmed, building collapses confirmed, June 25); NPR (US — USGS Earle “doesn’t happen very often” quote confirmed, 138 aftershocks confirmed, 40% chance 10,000+ deaths confirmed, Blanca “desolation” quote confirmed, June 25); iWeatherNet / USGS (US/USGS — largest since 1900 confirmed, 1967 comparison confirmed, 10,000-100,000 USGS modeling confirmed, doublet description confirmed, June 25)
RUSSIA
Three things happened this week that the Kremlin would prefer had not.
Ukraine’s drone forces commander Robert Brovdi has described Ukraine’s campaign against Russian-occupied Crimea as a strategy of “total resource and logistical exhaustion.” The week’s results suggest it is working. Russian military cargo traffic along the Novorossiya highway, the primary supply route linking Russia to Crimea through occupied southern Ukraine, has fallen 71% over the past two weeks. The Kerch Strait ferry service, which Russia scrambled to build after Ukraine destroyed its last railway ferry in April, has been suspended after Ukrainian drone strikes set multiple vessels ablaze. Civilian gasoline sales on the peninsula have been halted entirely, with fuel allocated only for essential state services. On Thursday, Ukrainian drones killed five people including two children in Russia and Crimea, struck an oil depot, and knocked out power in Sevastopol for the second time this week. Russia downed 269 Ukrainian drones overnight — meaning Ukraine is launching enough that the ones getting through can still sustain a comprehensive campaign.
Putin has called Crimea a “sacred place.” This summer it cannot get fuel. Its tourism season is collapsing. Its supply lines are burning.
The pressure is not only coming from Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that his navy intercepted a Russian oil tanker near the coast of Sicily — days after Britain conducted a similar interception. “This new action against the shadow fleet, conducted days after a similar operation by Britain, shows Europeans’ determination,” Macron wrote on Instagram. Russia’s shadow fleet is the network of aging, often uninsured tankers it uses to ship oil in defiance of Western sanctions. France and Britain intercepting them in the Mediterranean is Europe applying economic pressure on Russia independently of Washington.
In Belarus, a partial answer to the story we reported this morning. Russia has been pressing Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to open a new front against Ukraine, using Belarusian territory for drone attacks and hybrid NATO operations. This morning we reported the pressure was real and documented. By Thursday evening, RFE/RL confirmed Lukashenko is tempering his war rhetoric in response to Zelenskyy’s ultimatum to remove Russian drone relay stations from Belarusian territory within one week. Lukashenko told the BelTA state news agency he will not enter the war, cited military vulnerability and the risk of drawing in NATO, and issued a rare public apology to Zelenskyy, saying “Maybe I went too far.” Putin and Lukashenko are expected to meet to discuss the ultimatum. The Kremlin called Zelenskyy’s demand “utterly aggressive.” The one-week clock, issued June 18, expires today. No relay stations have been confirmed removed.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: CNBC and NBC News confirmed the Crimea isolation campaign framing, both reporting Ukraine is attempting to raise the cost of holding Crimea rather than retake it by force. The shadow fleet intercepts by France and Britain represent coordinated economic pressure on Russia that does not require American participation or approval. The Lukashenko retreat is confirmed from RFE/RL and Kyiv Post. The Carnegie Endowment analysis from this morning remains the most accurate frame: the threat of a Belarusian front is real but not imminent. What is confirmed today is that Lukashenko, facing both Zelenskyy’s ultimatum and the documented pressure from Moscow, has chosen public de-escalation over public alignment with Russia. That is a meaningful signal. It is not a resolution.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: While Washington is managing Iran, Venezuela, and a Supreme Court term that is reshaping American law, Ukraine has cut Russia’s main supply line to Crimea, France and Britain are seizing Russian oil tankers in the Mediterranean, and Belarus has publicly backed away from opening a second front. None of this required American leadership. All of it is changing the war.
Sources: CNBC (US — 71% cargo drop confirmed, Brovdi “psychological breaking point” quote confirmed, fuel crisis context, June 24); NBC News (US — “total resource and logistical exhaustion” Brovdi quote confirmed, civilian fuel suspended confirmed, Aksyonov 4 killed/28 wounded confirmed, June 23); Asharq Al-Awsat / AFP (Arabic/international wire — five killed Thursday including two children confirmed, oil depot fire confirmed, 269 drones downed confirmed, Macron shadow fleet Instagram post confirmed, June 25); Moscow Times (Russia, independent — Nizhny Novgorod two killed confirmed, Sevastopol power outage confirmed, June 24); CBC / Reuters (Canada/wire — Brovdi Sevastopol substation strike confirmed, Naftogaz Poltava damage confirmed, June 24); RFE/RL (US-funded, editorially independent — Lukashenko tempering rhetoric confirmed, fine line framing confirmed, June 25); Kyiv Post (Ukraine — Lukashenko “maybe I went too far” quote confirmed, won’t enter war confirmed, military vulnerability reasoning confirmed, NATO risk reasoning confirmed, family ties reasoning confirmed, June 15); Kyiv Independent (Ukraine — Putin/Lukashenko meeting confirmed, Peskov “utterly aggressive” quote confirmed, one-week clock June 18 confirmed, June 22)
WAR DAY 117 | NUMBERS AT PUBLICATION
🇮🇷 Iran: 3,468 killed, 26,500+ injured (Iran Ministry of Health, via Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10)
🇱🇧 Lebanon: 4,230 killed, 12,179 injured (Lebanon Ministry of Public Health, updated June 25 via CBS News live blog — previous figure 4,000+ from June 21)
🇮🇱 Israel: 35+ killed (Israeli news source via Time, June 21 — tracker frozen June 10)
🌍 Gulf states/Iraq: 131 killed — Iraq 118, Kuwait 7, Bahrain 3, Oman 3 (Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10)
🇺🇸 US military: 13 killed, 381 injured (Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10)
🛢️ Brent crude: $74.69/barrel (OilPrice.com — up $2.01 from this morning’s $72.68; cargo ship struck by unknown projectile in Strait of Hormuz Thursday evening per UKMTO)
⛽ US national gas average: $3.92/gallon (AAA)
Sourcing note: All war casualty figures sourced to the Al Jazeera live tracker, last updated June 10, 2026, except Lebanon. Lebanon updated to 4,230 killed, 12,179 injured per Lebanon Ministry of Public Health, confirmed via CBS News live blog June 25 — first official update since June 21. All figures are floor estimates. Methodology differs between sources; figures are not directly comparable.
“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1789
