Musical stars and retired politicians from less polarised era seeming antidote to cage fights on White House lawn

The Barack Obama presidential center opened in Chicago on Thursday after more than a decade in the making amid a musical fanfare and paeans to democratic principles that evoked a previous age, all while delivering an implied rebuke to Donald Trump.

Featuring appearances by a cast of musical stars and retired politicians from a less polarised era, it was a seemingly perfect antidote to the crass spectacle of cage fights on the White House lawn.

Without naming the current White House occupant, Barack and Michelle Obama launched full-frontal attacks on Trump’s authoritarian approach, depicting them as an affront to American values.

Iran re-closed the Strait of Hormuz Friday instead of heading to Switzerland for nuclear negotiations, citing Israel’s refusal to pull forces out of southern Lebanon and US forces’ ongoing presence in the region.

In a statement read over maritime radio channels, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the US was in violation of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, which President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed Wednesday.

“Since Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, the complete lifting of the naval blockade, and the withdrawal of American terrorist forces from the Persian Gulf and the region are among the main conditions of the agreement between Iran and the United States, the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until these conditions are met,” it said. “All ships are requested, for the sake of their security and safety, not to approach the Strait of Hormuz. Any vessel that defies this directive will be targeted.”

Wealth tax criticized by billionaires and Gavin Newsom would levy a one-time 5% tax on residents worth over $1bn

A popular proposal in California to impose a wealth tax on billionaires has gained enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in November, state officials announced on Wednesday.

The news is set to intensify an already heated debate around the tax, which has pitted tech moguls and the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, against the labor union backing the measure.

The California Billionaire Tax Act, colloquially known as the billionaire tax, would levy a one-time 5% tax on any California resident worth more than $1bn. The proposal is backed by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) as a means of funding California’s strained healthcare, food assistance and education programs.

Tehran says fees to cover cost of managing waterway will come into effect at end of 60-day negotiation period

Iran has announced plans to introduce a system of maritime fees in the strait of Hormuz in two months, after the 60-day period of negotiation that has been triggered by the signing of the memorandum of understanding.

Tehran, claiming a historic victory over the US, said the strait was under its control and a European plan for a naval mission to escort ships though the strait would not be welcome.

The warning came as the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, had said Israel “will maintain the security zone in south Lebanon as long as our security needs require it”, referring to the more than 600 sq km of Lebanese territory occupied by Israeli troops along the border.

The defense secretary described the vaccine requirement, which he lifted in April, as an “absurd, overreaching” mandate.

A major flu outbreak has sickened nearly 160 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that U.S. troops would no longer be required to be vaccinated for the flu, defense officials said.

The outbreak at the base in San Antonio raced through an Air Force Basic Military Training wing, where new recruits sleep on bunk beds in open bays and share meals at large communal tables.

A trainee in his sixth week of basic training died after falling ill on Friday and being taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, the Air Force said in a news release. It was not immediately clear whether the death of the trainee, Keon McDaniel, was related to the flu outbreak.

Donald Trump positioned himself as a swimming pool expert as he touted the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovations he ordered this year, having put in “more than 100” over his career.

But after spending $14 million in taxpayer funds, the Reflecting Pool now looks arguably worse than it did before.

Aside from the bright green hue of the water — the product of what is reportedly one of the largest algae blooms in recent years — the “industrial-grade swimming pool topping” that Trump chose is already peeling off in sheets.

Not long ago, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was demonized by leaders of both political parties. Today, just six months after taking office, the 34-year-old democratic socialist’s political strength is surging.

Always a darling of the far left, he has earned praise from both Donald Trump and former Democratic critics like New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. He has emerged as the face of the region’s sports renaissance. And days before New York’s primary elections, Mamdani is testing the limits of his newfound political muscle in a bid to reshape the Democratic Party — in his state capital and in Washington — even if it means challenging his own party’s leadership.

Mamdani will join Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. at a get-out-the-vote rally in Brooklyn on Thursday. The event is designed to elevate a slate of candidates aligned with Mamdani’s values, including two running against Democratic incumbents in Tuesday’s primary.

Funds meant for Secret Service were transferred to project president promised would be financed by private donations

Donald Trump’s administration has quietly redirected $352m in federal funds designated for the Secret Service toward the president’s controversial White House ballroom project, despite repeated promises by Trump that the construction would be financed by private donations

The funds were drawn from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump’s signature tax legislation passed last summer on Republican-only votes. The law stipulates the money may only be spent on Secret Service personnel, training facilities, technology and related costs, not construction.

About $340.8m of the funding was placed into an account labeled “Procurement, Construction, and Improvements” on 12 June, according to the office of management and budget (OMB) database. Another account labeled “Operations and Support” was also approved the same day, adding another $10.75m to the budget.

It took more than a decade of planning, a messy court battle with preservationists and years of plodding construction, but the Obama Presidential Center will finally be unveiled on the South Side of Chicago on Thursday.

The opening itself will be a star-studded party, concert and celebration, the rare event that is expected to draw four former presidents — George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Joseph R. Biden Jr., along with Barack Obama himself.

An invitation was not extended to Trump, who recently compared the center to a trash heap.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, once a figure of contention among leaders from both major political parties, has seen a remarkable surge in his political standing just six months into office.

The 34-year-old democratic socialist, a prominent figure on the progressive left, has garnered unexpected praise from both Donald Trump and New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

He has also emerged as the face of the region's sports renaissance. Now, days before New York's primary elections,

Members of Trump’s own party have lined up to condemn the deal, which pledges to help fund Iran and scrap sanctions

Republicans have turned on Donald Trump over his plan to end the war with Iran, accusing him of making the “worst foreign policy blunder in decades”.

The U.S. released the 14-point interim agreement on Wednesday as Trump signed the documents in Versailles, France. The terms included stopping the conflict and reopening the vital shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz, but also financing Iran’s recovery with a $300bn fund and scrapping sanctions.

“Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” said Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy on Wednesday, referring to the former president Trump admires.

Israel awoke to a frightening new reality on Thursday as it absorbed, with disbelief and largely in silence, the terms of Trump’s agreement to end the war with Iran.

It is a disastrous deal from Israel’s point of view, analysts said, because it accomplishes none of Israel’s war aims and arguably leaves the country in worse shape on each of them.

“It’s a bad agreement in which the Americans are paying with cash, and got, at the maximum, a letter of intent,” Yaakov Amidror, a hawkish former national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, said in an interview.