Middle East

Newsweek - Air Canada will suspend service to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport this summer as soaring jet fuel prices tied to the war in Iran force airlines to rein in less profitable routes. Canada’s flag carrier said Friday that flights from Toronto and Montreal to JFK will end June 1 and resume October 25. Service to the New York area’s other major airports, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International, will continue.

Patriotwise - Russia is offering to physically take Iran’s near-weapons-grade uranium off the table—yet Washington is signaling it may not trust Moscow to be the custodian of a problem that could trigger the next Middle East escalation.The Kremlin says it is ready to remove and process Iran’s highly enriched uranium as part of a potential nuclear deal tied to ceasefire diplomacy.

....President Trump rejected a similar idea raised by Vladimir Putin in a phone call, reflecting deep mistrust and hard bargaining over verification. Talks remain stuck on Iran’s demand to retain enrichment rights under international oversight versus the U.S. “red line” on enrichment.

Headline USA - The U.S. military has widened its efforts beyond the blockade of Iran’s ports to allow its forces around the world to stop any ship tied to Tehran or those suspected of carrying supplies that could help its government, from weapons to oil, metals and electronics.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, specifically pointed to operations in the Pacific, saying the U.S. would be targeting vessels that left before the blockade began earlier this week outside the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for energy and other shipments.

U.S. forces in other areas of responsibility “will actively pursue any Iranian-flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran,” he told reporters at the Pentagon.

NBC News - New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the U.S. war with Iran on Wednesday, saying it has inflated costs in New York City that were already high. “While this war has exacerbated a cost-of-living crisis, that is a crisis that existed from even before the time I was running for mayor, and it’s reflected in the fact that we are the most expensive city in the United States of America,” the mayor told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in an interview clip released Thursday.

The ongoing military operation against Iran should “not just be opposed on political grounds, on moral grounds, but even just on economic grounds,” Mamdani said, pointing to the billions of dollars already spent on the war that he said could be spent on “working-class Americans across this country” instead.

NPR - A 10-day ceasefire to pause fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon begins today. President Trump announced the deal yesterday on social media after he had separate phone calls with leaders of Israel and Lebanon. Hezbollah was not involved in the ceasefire discussions. Israel has vowed to keep its forces in southern Lebanon, saying it would attack if threatened by Hezbollah. The current two-week ceasefire between the U.S., Israel and Iran is set to expire in a few days. Iran has said it would not negotiate peace with the U.S. unless Israel entered a ceasefire in Lebanon. 

NPR's Kat Londsorf is in Beirut, where she says things have been relatively quiet since the ceasefire began at midnight. She says there is a little hope among people here. "A ceasefire is always welcome in war," she says. "But people also realize this is temporary, so it's a cautious optimism." About a fifth of Lebanon's population has been displaced by the violence. Both Israel and Hezbollah have told people it's still too dangerous to return home. 

As the end of the two-week ceasefire between the U.S., Israel and Iran looms, U.S. defense officials say the naval blockade on Iranian ports is firmly in place. The U.S. is blocking ships from exiting or entering Iranian ports — strangling Iran's economy. Meanwhile, Iran has control of the Strait of Hormuz until U.S., European or Asian minesweepers can clear it and possibly escort ships safely through. NPR's Quil Lawrence says that blockades are an act of war, but in this case, it could be part of negotiations

The Guardian -The Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, has described the ceasefire with Israel as a “gateway to proceeding with negotiations”, saying he will prioritise the withdrawal of Israeli troops from occupied territories in southern Lebanon.