The fourth round of Israel-Lebanon talks is now taking place at the U.S. State Department in Washington. Today’s talks follow yesterday’s lightning phone-diplomacy between the U.S., Israel, the Lebanese government, and Lebanese Hezbollah, following Iran’s announcement that they had suspended talks with the U.S. over Israel’s expansion of strikes and ground operations in Southern Lebanon.

Speaking on U.S.-China competition on AI and semiconductor manufacturing equipment before Congress, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that he believes the U.S. remains a global leader in both industries but that efforts to sustain the U.S.’s current position will have to be a sustained effort.

According to Sean D. Naylor with The High Side, the pilot of the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle shot down by a surface-to-air missile on April 3 over Iran, was also the pilot of one of the three F-15Es downed by a Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet in a friendly fire incident in early March.

While this is possible, I am highly skeptical of this report due to the recovery that is required and the hoops that a pilot must jump through to fly again after an ejection. Ejecting from an aircraft is a very violent event that places extreme strain on the body and mind, it is very unlikely that the Air Force would allow a pilot to fly less than five weeks after an ejection, especially not on a combat mission over Iran.

According to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on sanctions relief for Iran, all sanctions relief efforts are contingent on Iran making concessions on their nuclear program, saying that sanctions relief as a carrot to induce Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz “has not been discussed [and] has not been offered.”

Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that there are “indications” that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is still alive, following a strike early in the war that severely injured him.

U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio has also said that it can take almost a week to hear back from Iranian negotiators, due to the divisions within the decision-making framework and the multi-tiered process that Iranian negotiators take to relay information to and from the supreme leader.

U.S. Marshals and Army Criminal Investigative Division (CID) agents arrested Marcin Pióro, 46, on May 19th at Fort Leonardwood, MO after authorities became aware he was wanted by INTERPOL. The arrest came as Pióro was completing basic training for the U.S. Army following his enlistment in the Illinois National Guard several months ago. Marcin Pióro is wanted out of Poland for orchestrating a $30 million fraud scheme.

Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that they have already spoke to a number of countries on sending Afghan nationals abroad. The question posed to the secretary was if said nationals would be sent back into the hands of the Taliban or to nations struggling with outbreaks of disease in Africa. At the time of writing, this appears to not be the case.

According to today's update from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) U.S. forces have redirected 122 commercial vessels and disabled 5 in support of the naval blockade of Iran.

On his Truth Social app, U.S. President Donald J. Trump has refuted earlier reports that Iran suspended ceasefire talks over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon. Per President Trump, talks never ceased and are still, even now, progressing.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump hosted Flávio Bolsonaro at the White House this past Tuesday, amidst the Brazilian senator’s bid for the presidency. In a post on his Truth Social app, President Trump called Bolsonaro, the son of jailed former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a close ally of Trump, “a smart young man who loves his country.”

Bolsonaro has received backlash over the controversial funding of a film about his father that has hurt his campaign for the presidency.

White House Correspondents Association President Weijia Jiang announced today that the rescheduled White House Correspondents Dinner will take place on July 24, 2026. In a post on his Truth Social app, U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced that it will take place at the Waldorf Astoria on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Wow. After speaking to several in the fighter jet community, it appears that this story is entirely legit. The F-15E pilot downed by a Chinese-made surface-to-air missile over Iran, who will remain for now unidentified, was indeed one of the F-15 pilots with the U.S. Air Force that was accidentally downed roughly a month earlier in a friendly fire incident over Kuwait. That has to be some kind of first, though either way, that pilot owes a lot to the ACES II Ejector Seat from Raytheon.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced that they have disabled the sixth vessel in support of the naval blockade of Iran. Earlier today, U.S. forces disabled the Botswana-flagged motor tanker Lexie in the Arabian Gulf as it was transiting towards Kharg Island, Iran. According to CENTCOM, the vessel ignored repeated warnings over a 24-hour period. The vessel was disabled by an undisclosed aircraft type firing 1 AGM-114 "Hellfire" air-to-ground missile into the engine room.