MIDDLE EAST - The first talks were between Iran and Oman, then between Oman and Qatar, followed by Iran and Saudi Arabia, and finally, Qatar and Saudi Arabia – all aimed at hammering out what regional co-existence would look like once the war dust settled. Such dizzying diplomatic activity is just getting started, with more meetings expected, as Gulf nations calibrate a new normal with Iran. Discussions have covered how traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will be managed and what financial incentives the Gulf might provide Iran in exchange for possible security concessions. It is happening alongside – albeit separately from – ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran to hammer out a longer-term peace deal by a late August deadline. “US credibility has declined considerably, and that’s been going on now for many years,” said Gonul Tol, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. The thinking is that “we just have to reach our own understanding with Iran – it wouldn’t be surprising if Gulf countries actually cut their own deal”.

GERMANY - In the face of China’s onslaught, Volkswagen has announced it is taking the axe to a staggering 100,000 jobs – double a previously outlined target, which was itself higher than previous plans for 35,000 cuts. The impact of such a sharp escalation on the company, the wider Germany economy and indeed the German psyche is hard to overstate. The cull is equivalent to nearly one in six of the 625,000 people it employs in its homeland, the largest mass jobs lay-off Europe has ever seen by a significant margin. For this to be happening at VW, an unmatched source of German prestige, and a true backbone of the Germany economy is seismic. Yet most shocking of all, and something surely neither VW or the German establishment is willing to consider yet, is the possibility that there is nothing the country’s carmakers can do to ensure a full recovery from China’s assault. It’s not just VW that’s in crisis. BMW is planning to spend up to €1 billion (£860 million) on restructuring, which analysts think could lead to 10,000 job losses and a 15 percent reduction in production. Mercedes-Benz has cancelled summer bonuses and 5,500 staff have already taken voluntary redundancy under a big restructuring programme.

MIDDLE EAST - Israel-Lebanon deal may entrench stalemate rather than end war. A security deal between Israel and Lebanon risks entrenching a stalemate rather than resolving Israel's underlying conflict with Hezbollah by tying Israel's pullout from southern Lebanon to the Iran-aligned group's disarmament, a condition regional analysts and politicians say is unattainable. At its core is a bargain few see as workable: Hezbollah has flatly rejected disarmament, and no Lebanese government has the power to enforce it. With Hezbollah unlikely to disarm, analysts say Israel has political cover to keep an open-ended military presence in southern Lebanon, which it invaded after Hezbollah fired at Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Tehran over the war in Iran. The deal leaves the Lebanese state trapped between obligations it cannot meet and sovereignty it cannot fully reclaim, the analysts say.

MIDDLE EAST - The Islamic Republic of Iran is unlikely to discontinue its attacks on Persian Gulf states as its leverage in negotiations with the US depends heavily on the continued instability of the Strait of Hormuz, says international relations expert Arman Mahmoudian. “I would say that the primary reason Iran has decided to renew attacks on the Persian Gulf states has to do with the balance of leverage in the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the United States,” Mahmoudian explained. “Tehran is very much aware that its main leverage - if not its only real leverage - against the United States is the Strait of Hormuz.”

GERMANY - German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd said on Sunday that chaos is the “new normal” in the Strait of Hormuz, with the constant threat of Iranian attacks looming even though the regime in Tehran supposedly agreed to reopen the strait in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) it signed with the United States. “The situation has been fluid for us since the beginning of the conflict,” Hapag-Lloyd spokeswoman Hanja Maria Richter told Fox News Digital on Sunday. Lloyd’s List offered an even gloomier assessment of the “confused, two-tier system now operating in the strait, which remains split between the Iran-controlled northern route and a US-protected southern ‘highway.’” Lloyd’s List added that pre-war routes through the Strait of Hormuz have been “rendered unusable” by Iran’s deployment of mines.

CANADA - The Anglican Church of Canada even authorizes clergy to bless people as they subject themselves to euthanasia. The church does not openly endorse submitting to being murdered. Like Pontius Pilate, it washes its hands. From Pastoral Liturgies at the Time of Death in Contexts of Medically Assisted Dying: The Anglican Church of Canada even authorizes clergy to bless people as they subject themselves to euthanasia. The arguments are familiar. Already they have led to medical murder being offered as treatment for eating disorders, poverty, mental illness, needing a wheelchair lift, backpain, and inflammatory bowel disease.

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.