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THE RULING
A federal judge in Boston blocked Trump’s plan to control American voter rolls last Thursday. Rest of the World Report is catching it now because it resolves a story we have been tracking closely: the Postmaster General’s testimony that USPS would refuse to deliver mail ballots to states that wouldn’t hand over their voter lists.
US District Judge Indira Talwani ruled that the executive branch and the Postal Service exceed their constitutional authority by attempting to compile “Confirmed Citizen Lists” and use them to control ballot delivery. “The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,” Talwani wrote in a 37-page opinion. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia had sued to block the order, which Trump signed in March under the title “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections.”
The order directed federal agencies to compile lists of citizens eligible to vote in each state, using Social Security Administration records and other federal databases. It then directed USPS to create its own list of approved voters and refuse to deliver ballots to anyone not on it. Postmaster General David Steiner had confirmed the mechanism under oath one day before Talwani’s ruling, telling Senator Gary Peters directly that under the proposed rule, USPS would not deliver ballots in states that refused to share their rolls.
Talwani found that the order’s language, combined with its references to criminal penalties for election officials, amounted to an attempt to “intimidate local election officials” into compliance. She noted that no law passed by Congress gives USPS any authority over mail-in voting rules. The ruling was the third such defeat for Trump’s election orders in less than a week. A separate judge had already blocked a related proof-of-citizenship requirement.
The ruling does not end the legal fight. The Trump administration is expected to appeal. But for now, the mechanism that would have let the federal government decide, state by state, whose ballots get mailed, is blocked.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: A federal judge ruled that Trump cannot build a national list of approved voters and use it to control which ballots the Postal Service delivers. The judge said that the Constitution gives the president no specific power over elections. This is the third time in a week a court has stopped a Trump administration attempt to centralize control over how Americans vote. November is four months away.
Sources: CBS News (US — Talwani ruling confirmed, “Confirmed Citizen Lists” mechanism confirmed, Steiner testimony timing confirmed, “intimidate local election officials” quote confirmed, June 25); NPR (US — 37-page opinion confirmed, nearly two dozen states plus DC confirmed, “Constitution does not grant” quote confirmed, June 25); Votebeat (US — timeline of prior rulings confirmed, USPS proposed rule history confirmed, June 25); Axios (US — third defeat in a week confirmed, housing bill signing context confirmed, June 25); Roll Call (US — Executive Order 14399 confirmed, Justice Department investigation provision confirmed, June 25)
VENEZUELA
The death toll in Venezuela has reached 1,719. Tens of thousands of people remain unaccounted for.
National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez gave the updated figure Monday afternoon: 1,719 killed, 5,034 injured. More than 46,000 people are listed as missing on a website created to help families track loved ones. It is not known how many of those have since been found. Three Americans are confirmed dead. Of roughly 5,000 Americans believed to be in Venezuela, 12 remain missing and more than 300 have contacted the State Department for help.
About 130 US Marines are arriving at the port of La Guaira to help reopen it for sea-based aid delivery, joining more than 300 American search-and-rescue personnel already on the ground. The US Southern Command said the Marines are working “around the clock.” Electricity, water, and road access have been largely restored in La Guaira, though the bridge connecting the Caraballeda parish to the rest of the state collapsed in an aftershock Friday, disrupting relief efforts further.
The search for survivors is increasingly becoming a recovery of bodies. Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours after a disaster the critical window for finding people alive. That window closed days ago. People are still being found alive regardless, a man and his son were pulled from rubble Sunday after four days trapped beneath it, but those rescues have become rare.
Frustration with the government’s response is mounting. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez says more than 14,000 military personnel and police have been deployed. Many residents in the disaster zone say they have seen little evidence of it. The International Organization for Migration estimates the earthquakes have affected as many as 6 million people, roughly 2 million of them in Caracas alone.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: At least 1,719 people are dead in Venezuela. Three of them were Americans. Tens of thousands remain missing. US Marines are now on the ground helping reopen the main port for aid delivery. The country the US has sanctioned and isolated for years is now receiving direct American military assistance. The earthquake has affected as many as 6 million people in a country of 28 million.
Sources: NBC News (US — 1,719 confirmed by Jorge Rodríguez, three Americans dead confirmed, 12 missing confirmed, 46,000 missing website confirmed, Marines “around the clock” confirmed, La Guaira utilities restored confirmed, June 29); ABC News live blog (US — 1,719/5,034 confirmed, 72-hour window passed confirmed, “miracles” quote confirmed, three Americans dead/12 missing confirmed, June 29); PBS NewsHour (US — IOM 6 million affected confirmed, 14,000 military/police confirmed, frustration with response confirmed, June 27); Wikipedia / 2026 Venezuela earthquakes (secondary — bridge collapse confirmed, USGS PAGER red alert confirmed, building collapse data confirmed — corroborated by primary sources above)
THE MOU — DAY 14
Trump says the US and Iran are meeting in Doha today. Iran’s negotiator says no such meeting is scheduled.
Trump posted on Truth Social early Monday, “IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA!” Hours earlier, Iran’s chief negotiator Kazem Gharibabadi told reporters that no technical working group meetings had been scheduled for this week. A senior US official told CNN that technical talks regarding the MOU were “on track” despite a weekend exchange of fire near the Strait of Hormuz. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is en route to Doha. It remains unclear whether Jared Kushner is traveling with him.
This is now a pattern. Trump claims a development. Iran denies the specific claim while not denying the broader process. The substance of what is or is not happening in Doha today will likely only become clear after today’s events, not before them.
The Strait itself has stabilized at a reduced pace. Vessel traffic through the Strait remains far below the prewar daily average of roughly 100 transits. Forty ships transited Monday, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler, sixteen of them via the Iranian-designated route and another twelve transiting dark or via unknown routes. Brent crude has returned to within roughly 2% of its pre-conflict level. Energy analysts attribute the relative price calm partly to oil moving through the Strait with transponders switched off to avoid detection, and partly to the fact that global oil markets were already in surplus before the war began, giving prices less room to spike than the scale of the disruption would suggest.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Trump says the US and Iran are meeting today in Doha. Iran says no such meeting is scheduled. Both things have been said before about this MOU, on other subjects, in other weeks. Forty ships transited the Strait of Hormuz Monday, against a prewar average of 100. Day 14 of 60.
Sources: CNN live blog (US — Trump Truth Social post confirmed, Gharibabadi no meetings scheduled confirmed, Witkoff en route confirmed, senior official “on track” confirmed, June 29); CNN — 40 ships transited Strait of Hormuz Monday (US — Kpler data confirmed, 40 vessels Monday confirmed, 16 via Iranian route/12 dark or unknown confirmed, prewar 100/day average confirmed, June 30); WORLD Radio (US — both sides stand down confirmed, ships moving again confirmed, June 30)
PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN
Pakistani forces killed at least 36 civilians in Afghanistan overnight Sunday, Afghan officials said. Pakistan says it killed 29 fighters.
The strikes followed a militant attack Saturday on the regional headquarters of Pakistan’s paramilitary Rangers in Karachi, which killed three soldiers. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility. Pakistani security forces responded with a ground operation along the border late Sunday, followed by airstrikes on what Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar called militant hideouts in the Afghan provinces of Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government gives a different account. Deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said Pakistani forces struck a home in Paktia’s Chamkani district, killing an elderly man and a child. When villagers gathered to help the wounded, he said, the area was struck again, killing 28 more people and wounding 158. A separate strike in Paktika’s Giyan district killed six people, mostly women and children. A home in Kunar was also hit, killing livestock but no people. Media outlets could not independently verify either side’s casualty figures.
This is not a new conflict. Pakistan and Afghanistan have been in a state of intermittent cross-border war since late February, when Pakistani airstrikes on militant targets escalated into broader confrontation involving airstrikes, artillery, and clashes along the border. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of harboring the Pakistani Taliban and allied groups responsible for a surge in attacks inside Pakistan. Afghanistan denies it. One Afghan official said Monday’s strikes would be met with retaliation. China has been attempting to broker a second round of talks between the two governments. Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia have separately asked Pakistan to de-escalate.
🇺🇸 What American readers need to know: Pakistan and Afghanistan have been fighting an intermittent border war since February that has received almost no sustained American coverage. Pakistani strikes killed at least 36 civilians overnight Sunday, according to Afghan officials, including children killed in a second strike on people trying to rescue the wounded from the first. China, Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are all involved in trying to de-escalate a conflict most Americans do not know is happening.
Sources: Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent — 29 fighters killed confirmed, Tarar statement confirmed, Karachi attack confirmed, China/Turkey/Qatar/Saudi Arabia de-escalation efforts confirmed, Afghan protest note confirmed, June 29); NPR / AP (US wire — 36 civilians/160 wounded confirmed, retaliation warning confirmed, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claim confirmed, June 29); CBS News (US — Fitrat detailed account confirmed, Chamkani district strike sequence confirmed, eyewitness account confirmed, CBS unable to verify confirmed, June 29); ABC News / AP (US wire — Giyan district six killed confirmed, Kunar livestock confirmed, June 29); Wikipedia / 2026 Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict (secondary — war began late February confirmed, broader confrontation context confirmed — corroborated by primary sources above)
WAR DAY 122 | 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)
🇮🇱 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: $73.03/barrel (OilPrice.com — up slightly from yesterday; markets stable)
⛽ US national gas average: $3.85/gallon (AAA — down $0.71 from the May 21 peak of $4.56)
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 June 25. 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
