US Strikes Qeshm Island After Iranian Attacks on Gulf Allies
U.S. forces struck an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island on Tuesday in response to Iranian attacks, CENTCOM announced. The escalation began after the U.S. disabled the engine room of a tanker attempting to breach an American naval blockade on Iranian ports near Kharg Island. Iran subsequently fired ballistic missiles at Bahrain and Kuwait and targeted the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, though all projectiles were intercepted or missed. The exchanges occurred despite a fragile ceasefire that took effect April 7, halting most hostilities following a U.S.-Iranian war that began in February.
Rubio: Iran agrees to negotiate nuclear program in breakthrough
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Iran has agreed to negotiate previously off-limits aspects of its nuclear program. The talks could lead to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20 percent of the world's oil passes. Rubio called Iran's blockade "unlawful and illegal," saying no nation supports Tehran's position. He said sanctions relief has not been discussed and would be tied strictly to nuclear progress. The Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei remains absent from public view while engaging in negotiations.
Microsoft claims quantum chip 1,000 times more reliable
Microsoft unveiled Majorana 2, a quantum computing chip whose qubits are 1,000 times more reliable than its predecessor. The company switched the chip's superconductor from aluminum to lead using AI tools developed for materials science. Qubit lifetimes jumped from 12 milliseconds to over 20 seconds. Microsoft is now targeting commercially useful quantum computers by 2029, cutting its previous roadmap in half. Physicists remain skeptical, noting the company has not released enough data for independent verification and the accompanying paper has not been peer reviewed.
Microsoft builds its own AI model to reduce OpenAI reliance
Microsoft unveiled MAI-Thinking-1, its first self-developed AI reasoning model, at the Build developer conference in San Francisco. The model has 1 billion parameters with a 256 KB context window and performs on par with Claude Opus 4.6 in benchmarks while outperforming Claude Sonnet 4.6 in blind user tests. Trained from scratch on clean licensed data without external dependencies, the model is part of a broader family of seven new AI tools including code generation, image creation, and voice synthesis. CEO Satya Nadella said companies should move from consuming frontier models to actively participating in the frontier ecosystem.
GLP-1 weight-loss drugs cut cancer risk, death by half
Studies at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago found GLP-1 weight-loss drugs reduced breast cancer risk by 30 percent and death risk by 30 percent in breast cancer patients. A separate Cleveland Clinic study of 12,000 patients found those taking the drugs were 38 to 50 percent less likely to develop advanced cancer. Researchers at Oxford also announced a new drug called GRWD5769 that shrank tumors by at least 30 percent in 26 of 83 patients across six cancer types.
WMO issues urgent El Niño warning with 80% probability
The World Meteorological Organization has warned that El Niño is expected to form between June and August with 80% probability and a 90% chance of persisting until November 2026, possibly at moderate to strong intensity. UN Secretary-General António Guterres described it as "the fire of a warming world" being fed with more fuel. The 2023-2024 El Niño was one of the five strongest on record and contributed to unprecedented global temperatures. Scientists have suggested 2026 could surpass 2024 as the hottest year on record.
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- US weighs nuclear weapons expansion across NATO Europe. Poland and Baltic states have expressed interest in hosting nuclear-capable aircraft, with discussions continuing through NATO channels, though any agreement is not imminent.
- US Proposes Tariffs on 60 Nations Over Forced Labor. The USTR cited China, the EU, Japan and others under Section 301 for failing to prohibit imports linked to forced labor, with rates of 10–12.5% depending on existing laws, before a comment period ends July 6.
- 20 Centuries of History Found Beneath Notre Dame. Archaeologists excavating Notre Dame's forecourt have found a fourth-century Constantine coin, medieval pottery, and Roman artifacts in just four metres of soil. The dig precedes Paris's plan to transform the bare square into a shaded public space by 2028.
- Mathematicians issue AI guidelines to protect research integrity. The Leiden Declaration, born from a workshop at Leiden University, calls for disclosing AI use in research, mandatory peer review, and equal legal resources for academic institutions and tech companies. The International Mathematical Union plans to endorse it.
- New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Test at Cape Canaveral. Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket detonated during a hotfire test, threatening NASA's Artemis commitments. CEO Dave Limp says the company will return to flight before end of 2026, though the cause remains unknown.