Tuesday morning news: June 2, 2026

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Iran latest » Iran fired ballistic missiles at American troops in Kuwait early Monday morning. U.S. forces shot them down and no one was hurt, but it was the latest flare-up in a shaky ceasefire that continues to crack. 

Over the weekend, the U.S. bombed Iranian radar and drone sites after Iran shot down an American drone.

All of that comes as President Trump warns that either Teheran will agree to a peace deal, or the war will end in a different way.

Republican Congressman Brian Mast chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He said of Iran:

MAST: Their capabilities are significantly less. So will they try to play their game? Absolutely. That's Iran. Will we prevent them? 100% we will. President Trump will.

President Trump maintains that any deal must prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

Teheran has not agree to that and still has its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz— squeezing the world's oil supply and driving up fuel prices.

President Trump met with advisers Friday, but says Iran still has not made a satisfactory offer.

Israel-Lebanon » In Israel…

SOUND: [Soldier funeral]

...a funeral in Ashkelon for an Israeli soldier killed by a drone in southern Lebanon. Twenty-one year-old Staff Sergeant Michael Tyukin was killed in an attack Saturday launched by the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah. 

Meanwhile…

SOUND: [Activity near border]

...tensions remain high at the border between Israel and Lebanon. One resident of northern Israel remarked:

KOHAV: A normal person cannot stand the crazy situation we have here. So only with drugs a person can continue on functioning here.

On Monday, Israel launched attacks in the southern suburbs of Beirut… accusing Hezbollah of violating the ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

NETANYAHU: [Speaking Hebrew]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Lebanon's capital remains a legitimate target as long as Hezbollah continues its attacks.

But President Trump in a statement hours later,  said that both Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to dial back their fighting. That came after Trump said he spoke with Netanyahu by phone, and Hezbollah through mediators.

Powell remarks » Former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is warning against political pressure on America's central bank.

Speaking at the JFK Presidential Library overlooking Boston Harbor, Powell called the Fed's independence a "priceless asset."

He never mentioned President Trump by name—though Trump routinely criticized him over interest rates.

POWELL: If any administration finds a way to remove Fed officials over policy differences, then future administrations will do so as well. The public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based only on what's best for all Americans. The Fed's credibility would be lost.

His remarks came as he accepted the JFK Profile in Courage Award.

Powell stepped down as chair in May, replaced by Trump's pick, Kevin Warsh. But Powell made an unusual move, keeping his seat on the Fed's board through 2028. He's the first outgoing Fed chief to do that in nearly 80 years—which keeps Trump from filling the seat.

Kevin Warsh, for his part, says he is committed to keeping the Fed strictly independent.

Reconciliation bill update » The Justice Department’s controversial proposed fund to compensate victims of alleged political targeting is on ice for now.

WORLD’s Harrison Watters has more from Washington.

HARRISON WATTERS: The Department of Justice issued a statement on Monday saying it “disagrees strongly” with a recent district court ruling. That decision blocked the DOJ from launching the nearly $2 billion dollar anti-weaponization fund.

While critical of the ruling, the DOJ says it will abide by it. This comes after Senate Majority Leader John Thune delayed a vote on funding for immigration enforcement agencies until the White House addresses concerns from members about the fund.

While the DOJ does not plan to appeal the court’s decision, Democrats want to push Republicans to vote on the future of the Anti-weaponization fund. 

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer:

SCHUMER: If Republicans try to force through their reconciliation bill again, the first amendment I will offer will be to ban the slush fund permanently and forever.

WATTERS: The District Court of Eastern Virginia will hear arguments about next steps in the case next week.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Harrison Watters, in Washington.

Ebola update » In Kenya, hundreds of young protesters have marched on the gates of an air base, vowing to block an Ebola quarantine center for foreigners.

Kenya has never recorded a single case of Ebola. But the virus is tearing through neighboring Congo—the DRC—and Uganda, and Kenyan residents in the town of Nanyuki say their country shouldn't take in sick outsiders:

AUDIO: We do not have any history of Ebola here. Why are they not doing it in the DRC? Why are they not doing it in Uganda? Why, why must they bring it here? So we are saying we want that facility taken out of our town. We want it taken out of Kenya.

The Trump administration wants to send Americans who are exposed to Ebola overseas to that base at Laikipia—and is pledging nearly $14 million dollars to Kenya's Ebola defense operations. Kenya's health minister says the center would serve everyone, not just Americans. But a Kenyan court has frozen the plan and a legal challenge is still pending.

Meantime across the border, Congo has now confirmed nearly 300 cases—and more than 40 deaths—from a rare strain of Ebola with no vaccine or cure. 

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a global emergency.

I'm Kent Covington.

And coming up, how the latest moves in the dance with Iran are affecting the country’s citizens. Plus, the world’s oldest living journalist recalls the Holocaust.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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