Tuesday morning news: June 30, 2026

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Iran latest » The U.S. and Iran have stepped back from the brink—and the White House says direct peace talks are resuming, though Iran claims that’s not so.

After four days of trading strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, both sides paused on Monday, and ships are moving again through the vital oil route.

Now the White House says both sides are sending teams to Qatar this week. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt:

LEAVITT: Iran has requested a meeting this week, so Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be flying to Doha for high-level meetings this week as we continue to discuss the memorandum of understanding. On the sidelines of those high-level talks will be the technical talks.

But Iran insists no talks with Washington are happening "at any level." Tehran says its team is going to Doha to discuss the deal with mediators, but not to meet with U.S. officials.

Conflict flared up last week when an Iranian drone hit a tanker near the strait. The U.S. struck Iranian targets, and Iran fired on American bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker says Iran got the message:

WHITAKER: The Iranians have had to be reminded that the United States is not going to be played with and these games that maybe they're trying to attempt are not going to last long.

Meanwhile, Iran's leader is touting a win at home—the expected release of $6 billion in frozen assets in Qatar. That money is meant for humanitarian purchases, but U.S. officials say none of it has been released yet and want it to be spent on American farm products.

SAVE America Act » And in Washington, President Trump is still pressing Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act—the GOP bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote.

Trump has urged his party to use the so-called nuclear option to change the Senate rules to get rid of the filibuster. But Majority Leader John Thune says the votes simply are not there to do that.

Now Republicans have a new plan: push it through the Senate using a budget process called reconciliation. House Speaker Mike Johnson:

JOHNSON: And the reason that's so important is that it prevents the necessity of 60 votes in the Senate. And remember, this is very basic stuff, we're just gonna make sure you have to have proof of citizenship to register to vote and then show an ID when you turn out at the ballot box.

That process would avoid a Democratic filibuster. But there is a big catch. The Senate parliamentarian—the chamber’s nonpartisan rules-keeper—has already ruled that the bill does not qualify for reconciliation, which is meant for spending and tax measures.

Republicans now are trying a workaround, steering federal grants to states that adopt the rules—but critics call it a longshot.

Ukraine latest » In Ukraine:

SOUND: [First responders]

Police and emergency responders tend to the wounded in the central region of Dnipro. At least four people were killed and nearly two-dozen injured in a Russian strike on Ukraine's fourth largest city. 

In Zaporizhzhia:

SOUND: [First responders in Zaporizhzhia]

Ukrainian officials say three people were killed and six were wounded when a Russian drone struck a civilian minibus.

In total, at least a dozen people were killed in Russian attacks on Monday.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian consumers are starting to feel the cost of this war in their own wallets.

ZELENSKYY: [Speaking Ukrainian]

He says the Kremlin can insist all is well in that country, but long lines at gas stations tell another story.

SOUND: [Lines at gas station]

In Moscow, some filling stations were shut down on Monday while others saw lines of cars snaking down city streets after recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.

Venezuela update » The United States is sending the Marines into Venezuela to help after last week’s devastating earthquakes. 

WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more:

KRISTEN FLAVIN: About 130 Marines are arriving at the port of La Guaira to reopen it so aid and heavy equipment can reach the hardest-hit areas by sea. They join more than 300 American search-and-rescue workers already digging through the rubble.

Six days after the twin quakes, the confirmed death toll is approaching 1,500, but tens of thousands remain missing, and officials say the window to find more survivors has all but closed.

Hundreds of aftershocks keep rattling the region, sending terrified residents pouring back into the streets—including in the capital city of Caracas.

Between deaths, injuries, missing persons, and property damage, the U.N. says the quakes may have impacted as many as 7 million people.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Europe heatwave » Europe's record heat wave has turned deadly—and France is the hardest hit.

Health officials blame the heat for at least a thousand deaths there last week—a toll they expect to rise. Most victims were elderly, many found at home alone. Air conditioning there is not common.

Morgues in Paris are out of room; bodies are being trucked 50 miles away.

AUDIO: [Speaking French]

The owner of a mortuary in Paris told reporters that he's getting a hundred calls per day from both colleagues and families who want to bring in bodies, but he has to tell them "we have no space."

Across Europe, the World Health Organization counts more than 1,300 heat-related deaths since June 21st.

I'm Kent Covington.

And coming up: A look at a new slate of Supreme Court decisions. And later, the role of faith in America’s founding.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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