Friday morning news: June 5, 2026

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Israel-Hezbollah » Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian says the ongoing ceasefire talks between Israel and Lebanon are bearing fruit.

BEDROSIAN: This week, the 4th high-level trilateral meetings between Israel, Lebanon, and the United States took place, achieving something unprecedented. For the first time, all three parties are aligned in their determination to keep Iran's terror proxy Hezbollah, out of the equation.

The leader of Hezbollah issued a statement Thursday flatly rejecting the ceasefire and the group pledged to continue fighting until the Israeli military pulls out of southern Lebanon.

And the bloodshed continues. United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that the conflict took the life of a UN peacekeeper.

DUJARRIC: Sergeant Milovan Jovanovic would have turned 37 on June 6th. He was a son, he was a husband, and a father to a son and daughter.

Dujarric said Jovanovic died after being hit by mortar fire. The other two UN peacekeepers were injured. Bedrosian laid the flame squarely at the feet of Hezbollah.

BEDROSIAN: I can also confirm that Hezbollah launched mortar shells that hit a UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) position and killed a UN personnel member in southern Lebanon.

Jovanovic arrived in Lebanon at the end of January for the peacekeeping deployment.

Cuba sanctions » The United States is tightening the screws once again on Cuba's communist government. 

WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher has more:

BENJAMIN EICHER: The Trump administration Thursday hit Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel with sanctions—along with his wife and relatives of former leader Raúl Castro.

The U.S. also blacklisted Cuba's military and its neighborhood surveillance network.

It's the latest move in a mounting pressure campaign. Trump signed an order expanding sanctions, and squeezed Cuba's fuel supply. The island is gripped by blackouts and shortages.

It comes weeks after the U.S. filed criminal charges against Raúl Castro. And Trump is openly floating military action—telling reporters he'll "handle" Cuba once he's done with Iran.

The threats carry new weight after U.S. forces toppled Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, an ally of the Cuban regime, in January.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

Reconciliation bill » The U.S. Senate worked deep into the early hours of this morning.

AUDIO: Mr. Murphy, Mr. Murphy, aye. Mr. Kelly, Mr. Kelly, aye ...

Senators voted on amendment after amendment in the marathon ritual known on Capitol Hill as a "vote-a-rama." Democrats dragged out the process out as long as they could as Republicans pushed a roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement—money for the Border Patrol and ICE, a top priority for President Trump.

Republicans were using a budget tool called reconciliation, which allows passage with simple majority without a single Democratic vote, to get around the Senate filibuster.

Screwworm fly » In Texas, a flesh-eating parasite that ranchers thought they had eradicated decades ago has reappeared in the state.

The Department of Agriculture says the New World screwworm fly has turned up in south Texas—found in a 3-week-old calf near the Mexican border. It is the first confirmed case in Texas in 60 years.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told a House panel Thursday:

ROLLINS: We are using every tool at our disposal to eliminate this threat to our livestock producers and to our national security.

The fly lays its eggs in open wounds, and its larvae eat living flesh. It is a threat to cattle, pets, wildlife, even people; but officials stress that the food supply is safe.

Texas has locked down a 12-mile quarantine zone around the case; no moving animals out without an inspection. And the USDA is flooding the area with millions of sterile flies—that's the same method use to wipe out the pest decades ago. The sterile flies mate with wild ones, so the eggs never hatch.

Officials say it's the only case they're tracking and they're urging ranchers and pet owners to stay put for now. 

Bolton to plead guilty » Former national security adviser John Bolton has reportedly agreed to plead guilty to mishandling classified information. 

WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports:

KRISTEN FLAVIN: John Bolton will admit to a single count of keeping classified material. The deal resolves an 18-count case accusing him of jotting down sensitive government secrets—some top secret—and sharing them with family while writing a memoir.

The plea covers those private notes—not his published tell-all.

Under the agreement, Bolton would pay a fine of more than $2 million dollars and will likely avoid prison, though a judge has the final say.

He served under President Trump before becoming one of his sharpest critics.

Bolton has called the case political payback—part of what he says is a Trump effort to punish his opponents. The Justice Department isn't commenting.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

New Delhi fire » Families are mourning today in India after a fire swept through a building in New Delhi, killing at least 21 people and injuring several others. The blaze ripped through a building with a restaurant and a hotel.

Fire crews rescued 40 people, and local residents joined the rescue efforts, helping to evacuate people trapped inside.

The cause of the blaze remains unclear, but fires are common in India due to often-flouted building codes and safety standards.

I'm Kent Covington.

And coming up: John Stonestreet is standing by for Culture Friday. And later, Wordplay with George Grant

This is The World and Everything in It.

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