The briefing for Saturday, June 27.

The United States struck Iranian military targets Friday after a drone attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, marking the most significant challenge to a week-old ceasefire agreement. President Trump accused Iran of a 'foolish violation' after the attack Thursday on the Ever Lovely left limited damage but no casualties. US Central Command responded with strikes on missile and drone storage facilities and coastal radar positions.

Iran launched retaliatory drone assaults targeting Bahrain and struck another vessel in the strait Saturday, according to British maritime officials. The escalating exchanges threaten to unravel a fragile 14-point memorandum of understanding reached June 17 that was meant to reopen the critical waterway. Vice President JD Vance said Iran should 'pick up the phone' to resolve disputes but warned that 'violence will be met with violence.'

The strait, through which a fifth of global oil and natural gas once passed, has been effectively closed since late February when Iran responded to US and Israeli strikes. A multinational maritime body announced it would expand transit routes near Oman to accommodate both inbound and outbound traffic, potentially creating a new flashpoint with Tehran. Iran has insisted ships must follow its orders and announced plans to charge transit fees, demands the US and Gulf states have rejected as violations of international maritime law.

Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in Washington Friday following several days of negotiations facilitated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The deal establishes a process for dismantling Hezbollah and restoring Lebanese sovereignty over territory currently occupied by Israeli forces, though fighting has continued despite an existing ceasefire. Hezbollah is not a party to the agreement, raising questions about implementation.

The 14-point framework commits both nations to living 'in peace' as neighboring sovereign states and calls for the Lebanese Armed Forces to restore authority over all Lebanese territory 'pending the verified disarmament of non-state armed groups.' A US-supported military coordination group will help implement the framework, with Washington committing $100 million in humanitarian assistance. Both countries pledged to work toward releasing detainees and returning remains.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon, currently occupying around 5% of the country, until Hezbollah disarms. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the framework a first step toward restoring sovereignty. The conflict has killed at least 4,192 people in Lebanon since hostilities began, according to the Lebanese health ministry, while Israeli authorities report 36 soldiers and four civilians killed. More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced.

The Texas State Board of Education voted 9-5 Friday to approve a required reading list that includes Bible passages for the state's 5 million public school students, the first mandate of its kind in the nation. The curriculum, which takes effect in 2030, pairs literary classics like Charles Dickens' 'Great Expectations' with parables from the New Testament and passages about Adam and Eve. Students will also read the Parable of the Prodigal Son and learn about Jesus in the New Testament.

Critics argue the mandate violates the constitutional separation of church and state and lacks religious diversity by centering Christianity above other faiths. 'Kids of all faith backgrounds and no faith are served by Texas schools and they should all feel welcome,' said Elva Mendoza of the Texas Freedom Network. Teachers also expressed concerns about the list's length and the loss of classroom autonomy in selecting appropriate materials for their students.

The vote represents the latest conservative push to incorporate religion into Texas classrooms. The state already allows public schools to hire chaplains for student counseling and requires classroom displays of the Ten Commandments, a mandate recently upheld by a federal appeals court. President Trump, speaking at a religious freedom event Friday, said 'religion is back in our country, bigger and stronger than it has been in many, many years.'

ChatGPT maker OpenAI announced Friday it is limiting access to its new GPT-5.6 Sol artificial intelligence model to a 'small group of trusted partners' approved by the Trump administration during an unprecedented government cybersecurity review. The restriction follows similar action earlier this month against rival Anthropic, which took its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models offline days after release to comply with a Trump directive blocking use by foreign nationals.

The move represents the latest example of heightened government scrutiny of advanced AI systems following warnings that some models could be weaponized by malicious hackers. Officials grew concerned after Anthropic warned its Mythos model was adept at finding software vulnerabilities that could threaten critical computer networks. OpenAI said its Sol model 'is better at helping people find and fix vulnerabilities' than carrying out cyberattacks but acknowledged uncertainty about unforeseen risks when combined with other tools.

OpenAI said it views the testing period as temporary and expects 'broader availability in the coming weeks,' while emphasizing that 'we don't believe this kind of government access process should become the long-term default.' Trump signed an executive order in June establishing a framework for the federal government to vet national security risks of advanced AI systems for up to 30 days before public release, though participation was described as voluntary. The White House said it continues collaborating with AI labs on addressing scaling challenges.

Panic swept through Haitian communities nationwide after the Supreme Court decided Thursday to allow the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for around 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. A 35-year-old nurse in Kentucky prepared her will, named a legal guardian for her four children, and transferred properties into their names, describing it as 'preparing for a funeral.' Many TPS holders have lived and worked legally in the US for decades and have American citizen children.

The decision, expected to take effect July 27, could open the door to unwinding protections for 1.3 million people from 17 countries total. Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries deemed dangerous due to disasters, civil war, or instability. The program permits legal work but provides no citizenship path and can be renewed if the homeland security secretary deems conditions unsafe for return. The Biden administration roughly doubled the number covered; the Trump administration argues it was meant to be temporary.

In Springfield, Ohio, where the Haitian community became a campaign target over fabricated claims about eating pets, the ruling added to existing chaos and pressure. 'People don't know if they should withdraw all their money from the bank,' said Viles Dorsainvil of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center. 'They don't know if they can work, if their kids can go to school.' Many are making preparations to leave US citizen children behind if deported, while community leaders focus on urging people not to panic or make desperate decisions.

John Bolton, who served as national security adviser to Donald Trump before becoming a prominent critic, pleaded guilty Friday to illegally retaining classified information compiled for his 2020 memoir. Bolton admitted to a single charge after initially facing 18 counts and pleading not guilty. He faces up to five years in prison and agreed to pay $2.25 million in fines, with sentencing set for October 28.

The documents Bolton retained included diary entries containing national defense information, some classified at the top secret level. Prosecutors said he also transmitted classified materials to two relatives and at one point a hacker gained access to his account where documents were stored. Bolton will debrief national security officials on the classified information and perform 100 hours of community service. 'He took responsibility for a mistake he made,' said his lawyer Abbe Lowell, contrasting Bolton's conduct with Trump's handling of classified documents.

The White House filed a lawsuit in 2020 to block publication of Bolton's memoir 'The Room Where It Happened,' arguing it contained classified information not properly vetted, but a judge denied the request. Bolton was fired from Trump's first administration in 2019 and has continued criticizing the president, who responded to Friday's plea by posting 'Hopefully, he will be dealt with harshly.' US Attorney Kelly Hayes said Bolton 'knew how to handle classified information' but 'put our national security at grave risk in violation of the law.'