The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier returned to Norfolk after 326 days at sea, the longest carrier deployment since the Vietnam War.

It left in June 2025 for a routine Mediterranean rotation and kept getting extended: Venezuela, the Red Sea, and finally Iran operations.

WATCH: Iranian state TV presenter shot at a UAE flag on live television during a firearms training segment.

NEW: France has formally opened a judicial investigation into the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, targeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

A judge from France's crimes against humanity unit has been appointed.

It's the first time a French judge has been formally assigned to probe MBS's alleged role.

Saudi Arabia has not commented.

A protester confronted Antony Blinken and his family at a public event in Virginia, filming the encounter on her phone.

"How does it feel to have the blood of half a million children on your hands?" she asked.

When Blinken's wife said "Please, with the children," the activist turned it around:

"Children? Do you care about children or is it just your children?"

UK's Wes Streeting after stepping down as Health Minister:

Leaving the European Union was a catastrophic mistake.

Britain's future lies with Europe. And one day, one day, back in the European Union.

UK's Wes Streeting after stepping down as Health Minister:

We need a proper contest with the best candidates on the field, and I'll be standing.

Trump aides are urging the UAE to deepen its role in the Iran war — including seizing Iran’s strategic Lavan Island.

Source: The Telegraph

Trump:

IDF announces the killing of a soldier in Lebanon: Captain Maoz Israel Recanati, 24.

Iran’s Ghalibaf:

The world stands at the cusp of a new order.

As President Xi said “The transformation unseen in a century is accelerating across the globe,” and I emphasize that the Iranian nation’s 70-day resistance has accelerated this transformation.

The future belongs to the Global South.

Trump returned from China without progress on Iran and is growing increasingly impatient with stalled negotiations.

While he still says he prefers diplomacy, he is now weighing whether additional military strikes may be necessary to pressure Tehran.

Source: CNN

New Trump post on Truth Social.

Large explosion seen near Beit Shemesh, Israel, was a controlled industrial blast — no injuries or damage.

Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE boycotted Eurovision 2026 entirely (first time since 1961) over Israel’s participation, airing alternative programming instead.

As the final began in Vienna, they released:

“Eurovision is a contest, but human rights are not. There is no room for indifference. Peace and justice for Palestine.”

Ireland, Netherlands, Slovenia, and Iceland joined the boycott.

South Korean Gen Z conscripts are increasingly getting rhinoplasty and double eyelid surgery during leave, returning to base still swollen and unhealed.

Commanders must exempt them from training and guard duty for safety, dumping extra shifts on peers and straining unit readiness.

Source: Korea Times

Italy: 31-year-old Italian citizen Salim El Koudri drove a Citroën C3 at ~100 km/h down Via Emilia Centro, a pedestrian street in Modena’s historic center, mounting the sidewalk twice and hitting eight people before crashing into a clothing storefront.

Four are in serious condition.

El Koudri fled, stabbed a bystander in the head with a knife, but was tackled and held by civilians until police arrived.

El Koudri is a Modena-area resident of Moroccan origin, economics graduate, unemployed, with no prior record but psychiatric treatment until 2024.

Authorities have ruled out terrorism, citing “personal resentment” and possible mental health factors.

The doubts and uncertainties in this story:

Tomer’s statement was quick but thin on detail.

No warning was issued beforehand, which is unusual for a routine
propulsion test in a populated area.

Tomer makes rocket motors for Israel’s missile systems, including the Jericho series — the same family widely believed to be nuclear-capable.

During Israel’s performance at Eurovision 2026 Grand Final in Vienna, a Palestinian flag was unfurled in the audience near the Israeli delegation.

Hundreds also protested outside the arena.

Keir Starmer has privately told friends he plans to resign and set out an “orderly timetable” for leaving No. 10, possibly before the June 18 by-election.

Publicly Starmer is still defiant.

90+ MPs have called for him to go, ministers have resigned.

Source: Daily Mail