Latest news for 22 June 2026

IRAN

On again / off again.

The US and Iran have begun the next stage of talks in Switzerland, though the Iranians almost stormed home over the weekend after the US president dialled in to threaten them personally if the regime closes Hormuz again. Things then seem to have stabilised by this morning (Monday), with Pakistani and Qatari mediators claiming “encouraging progress” on the creation of a high-level committee to oversee the talks plus a new “deconfliction cell” in Lebanon. (NPR)

Comment: That progress is really just procedural (how to talk) rather than substantive (nukes, missiles, proxies, sanctions). But the whole episode has clarified the real power dynamics at play — Iran is using Hormuz as leverage to shield Hezbollah, which in turn gives Israel a ton of leverage over the entire deal — to kill a US-Iran deal they hate, the Israelis just have to keep hitting back at another weakened, mortal enemy right next door in Lebanon. So… what do you think they’ll do?

UNITED KINGDOM

Starmer resigns.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced his resignation after a brutal weekend of party and public pressure. The trigger was Andy Burnham’s thumping by-election win in Makerfield, which has given the outgoing Manchester mayor a fast-track back into parliament as a clear challenger to the low-polling Starmer. (BBC)

Comment: Way back in 2024 (remember then?) we noted Starmer’s landslide win with a bit of caution: it wasn’t that Britain loved Starmer, so much as it was just exhausted by the Tories. So once again, the new face sold as the solution has quickly become the problem, and Britain’s revolving-door leadership cycle continues, while the structural headaches remain (stagnant growth, public services, immigration etc). The party picks its next leader within the coming weeks, likely landing on Burnham above, but other possibilities include Streeting (ex-minister) or Rayner (ex deputy PM). Can any of them avoid Starmer’s fate? One former PM (Sunak) just warned that “good communication is not enough. You need a clear plan from day one”.

ITALY

Trouble in paradise.

There’s been a spectacular unravelling in the once-warm ties between Prime Minister Meloni and President Trump, after Trump questioned her approval ratings and insisted she had repeatedly “begged” for a G7 photo — Meloni responded with an angry video labelling it all BS, and declaring “Italy does not beg — ever.” (Ansa)

Comment: We saw the first cracks in Meloni-Trump ties when the US president started dunking on the pope earlier this year, but while the split makes for popcorn viewing, the key point to absorb here is that in this era of transactional and personal diplomacy, you’re now only ever a snide aside away from things getting messy.

JAPAN

Visa fees quintuple.

Tokyo’s foreign ministry has announced Japan’s first visa fee hike since 1978, with foreigners paying a fivefold fee from July. (The Star)

Comment: In classically polite fashion, Japan’s statement refers obliquely to “inflation and exchange rate fluctuations” as the driver, but PM Takaichi rose to power (in part) by harnessing years of frustration at the volume and vibes of Japan’s soaring tourist numbers. So this looks more like delivering on a campaign commitment to keep her nationalist base happy.

BELGIUM

NATO drops new nuke statement.

Gathering in Brussels, NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group just issued its first ministerial statement in nearly two decades, committing to modernise the alliance’s nuclear capabilities and strengthen its nuclear planning. (NATO)

Comment: In amongst our world’s wild headlines, it’s a quiet but significant shift away from the West’s post-Cold War ‘nuclear taboo’, and back to an explicit reaffirmation of nukes as the alliance’s “supreme guarantee”. It’s also an attempt at signalling strategic unity amid all the political turbulence (see Meloni-Trump above).

ETHIOPIA

Abiy wins big.

After three weeks of counting, Abiy Ahmed’s ruling party has won another supermajority, claiming 90 of the seats declared so far. (Reuters)

Comment: We say ‘another’, but this one hits different — by skipping the vote in Ethiopia’s conflict zones of Tigray and parts of Amhara and Oromia, this supermajority risks hardening authoritarian drift and ethnic upheaval rather than solidifying any stability.

RUSSIA

Fuel panic?

Per our warning on Friday, Putin-installed authorities in occupied Crimea have now suspended all civilian fuel sales amid an ongoing wave of Ukrainian hits on logistics. Meanwhile, Putin still hasn’t publicly commented on last week’s spectacular drone-strikes in Moscow, with his big troop build-up suggesting he instead hopes to answer by taking a key city (Kostyantynivka) in Ukraine’s Donbas. (Al Jazeera)