AFGHANISTAN - A strong earthquake struck Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region on June 27, said the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), sending tremors that could be felt from the capital Kabul to across the border in neighbouring Pakistan. The 6-magnitude quake occurred at a depth of 100km, EMSC said. Earlier on June 27, a 5.4-magnitude quake struck Pakistan, according to the centre. More than 20 people were injured, and dozens of houses were damaged in different areas of Musakhail district in Pakistan, the district’s deputy commissioner, Abdul Razzaq Khajak, told Reuters.

USA - Traffic through the Strait Of Hormuz is not going to return to normal, and that has enormous implications for the whole world. The Iranians have never wavered from their position that they intend to control traffic through the Strait of Hormuz permanently. They just underscored this point by launching an attack on a cargo vessel near the coast of Oman. During the 60 day negotiation window with the United States, Iran is not charging commercial vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, but they are insisting that coordination with the Iranian military is mandatory. Any travel that does not go through “designated corridors” is strictly prohibited… They are making it clear that they intend to control all traffic through the Strait of Hormuz from this point forward. And once the 60 day negotiating window with the United States is over, they intend to impose “hefty fees” on all vessels that pass through the Strait… According to the Wall Street Journal, the Iranians plan to make about 40 billion dollars a year by holding the global economy hostage… The global economy cannot operate normally without sufficient quantities of oil and natural gas from the Middle East.

USA - The US and Iran have agreed to “stand down for now” and allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz after renewed fighting in the past few days, a US official told The Hill on Sunday. “Technical talks are slated to continue on all areas of the MOU. Both sides will stand down for now and vessels can move freely,” the official said, referring to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by both sides earlier this month. The war against Iran — which started four months ago — has stressed the global economy, raised gas prices in the US and strained America’s relations with Israel and traditional European allies. On Friday, Iran asserted its authority over the Strait of Hormuz, warning that safe passage through the waterway could only be guaranteed for ships that coordinated with the government.

SOMALIA - US Africa Command announced that its forces launched another airstrike in Somalia, marking at least the 69th time the US has bombed the country this year as the Trump administration continues a record-shattering bombing campaign that receives virtually no US media coverage. AFRICOM said the strike was launched on June 23, targeting al-Shabaab about 14 miles southeast of Afmadow, a city in Somalia’s southern Lower Juba region. The command offered no other details about the attack as it stopped sharing casualty estimates and assessments on potential civilian harm last year. AFRICOM told Antiwar.com earlier this week that its forces had conducted 68 airstrikes so far this year, making the June 23 strike at least the 69th, putting it on track to break the record for annual US airstrikes in the country that the Trump administration set last year at 124.

GERMANY - Germany is considering reintroducing military conscription for all men by 2027. The country has attempted to bolster its armed forces through volunteer schemes to counter the growing threat from Russia, but lawmakers fear this is insufficient. Thomas Röwekamp, chairman of the German parliament’s defence committee, warned that Berlin would have little choice but to revive compulsory enrolment if ambitious recruitment targets were not met. Mr Röwekamp, of the Christian Democratic Union party, said: “If we do not manage to reach these targets through voluntary enlistment, we will have to return to compulsory conscription.” Germany has struggled to attract sufficient recruits despite increased defence spending. Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, has pledged to build Europe’s strongest conventional army, expanding the Bundeswehr from around 185,000 career soldiers to 260,000 by 2035.

MIDDLE EAST - Hezbollah has condemned a US-brokered agreement to end the war in Lebanon, declaring the deal “null and void”. The Trump administration finalised an agreement on Friday stipulating that Israel would withdraw from some parts of southern Lebanon, alongside there being a process to disarm Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terror group. The deal, overseen by Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, was signed by Daniel Holler, the state department chief of staff, Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the US, and Nada Hamadeh, the Lebanese ambassador to the US, in Washington. A separate deal agreed last week between Iran and the Trump administration had been meant to end the wider war in the Middle East, including Israel’s assaults on Hezbollah. Hezbollah’s rejection of the latest agreement comes after the US and Iran traded strikes for the first time since the broader peace deal was signed.

MIDDLE EAST - The United States renewed strikes on Iran after Tehran fired on a tanker crossing the Strait of Hormuz in a fresh burst of fighting over the critical waterway. American forces said on Saturday evening that it had targeted Iranian military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems and air defence sites in retaliatory strikes ordered by Donald Trump. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) then announced it had targeted US military assets in Kuwait and Bahrain. The tit-for-tat exchanges threaten to reverse the surge in traffic crossing the Strait that has followed the signing of an interim peace deal earlier this month. Mr Trump warned Iran it would “no longer exist” if the US was forced to continue its military action.

UK - The fans are whirring away non-stop. The freezer is churning out endless ice cubes. And the air-conditioning, for those of us lucky enough to have it, is turned up to full blast. As we swelter our way through the summer heatwave, we are more dependent on a stable electrical grid than ever. But hold on. It turns out that our obsession with being the world leader in hitting net zero doesn’t just mean we could potentially freeze during the winter – the system can’t cope with extreme heat either.

UK - The King’s official job is to protect faith “within the multi-faith nation”, under a newly published palace definition of the monarch’s role. The King, who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England, will “protect the space for Faith” under a redrafted job description from Buckingham Palace. Published in the annual review of the Royal family’s finances, the Sovereign Grant report 2025-26, it changes the description of the King’s role as “Head of Nation” from last year, when he was the “Head of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith”. This year it goes further to specify: “His Majesty is Supreme Governor of the Church of England and protects the space for Faith within the multi-faith nation.” The late Elizabeth II’s job description, as defined in the Sovereign Grant reports of her era, was simple: the “Supreme Governor of the Church of England”. She was also “Head of the Armed Forces”. The King, in this year’s review, “provides pastoral support to our Armed Forces”.

USA - Central banks across the globe have been repatriating gold for years, but there are signs the trend is accelerating. The number of countries increasing domestic storage of the precious metal has nearly doubled since last year, according to the World Gold Council. The Banque de France completed the relocation of 129 tonnes of gold from the US back within its own borders in January. The Deutsche Bundesbank and Banca d’Italia are also facing calls to bring home reserves from abroad. So what is happening with the repatriation of gold? Analysts believe one factor is that committing to sovereignty over bullion is a show of strength in an increasingly hostile global order. Mr Ash said Donald Trump’s tariffs, wars and territorial threats had provoked a “sudden collapse in trust” that the White House would be “friendly to its allies”. He added: “Central banks and sovereign states buying gold, particularly when they keep it at home, really does speak to a world of mistrust and broken cooperation, and that’s been increasingly true."