The briefing for Monday, July 6.

Tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets of Tehran on Sunday for the funeral procession of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint US-Israeli strike on February 28. Iranian state TV showed crowds filling a 10-kilometer route through the capital as Khamenei's flag-draped coffin was transported by lorry through landmark squares. Many waved Iranian flags and red banners symbolizing vengeance, with some throwing stones at billboards displaying President Trump's image.

Conspicuously absent from the ceremonies was Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father as supreme leader but has not been seen publicly since reporting serious injuries in the same strike that killed Ali Khamenei and his wife. Three of the late leader's other sons prayed beside his coffin at Tehran's Grand Mosalla mosque. The funeral proceedings come less than three weeks after Iran and the US signed a preliminary agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with negotiations continuing toward a final deal covering Iran's nuclear program and sanctions.

The ceremonies will continue through the week, moving to the religious center of Qom on Tuesday, then to the Iraqi shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf on Wednesday, before concluding Thursday with burial in Mashhad. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Khamenei was eliminated because he threatened Israel's existence, adding that any Iranian leader pursuing similar plans would face the same fate.

Michigan Democrat Mallory McMorrow suspended her Senate campaign Sunday, abruptly transforming the party's primary race one month before the August election. The move leaves a two-person contest between moderate Rep. Haley Stevens, backed by much of the party establishment, and progressive Abdul El-Sayed, supported by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. McMorrow's departure forces Democratic voters into a direct ideological choice in one of the country's most closely watched Senate races.

The exit came after McMorrow was increasingly viewed as a long shot, particularly following a recent influx of outside spending boosting Stevens. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has poured millions into ads supporting Stevens, leaving both McMorrow and El-Sayed struggling to keep pace. A person with direct knowledge said this spending disparity was the biggest factor in McMorrow's decision. She has no plans to endorse either remaining candidate at this point, though ballots have already gone out to voters.

The seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is one the party must hold to reclaim the Senate majority in this fall's midterms. The primary winner faces Republican Mike Rogers, who lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin in 2024. El-Sayed quickly appealed to McMorrow supporters while accusing "party insiders" of bullying opposition to their chosen candidate. Stevens described herself as the strongest Democrat to defeat Rogers in November. State Attorney General Dana Nessel endorsed Stevens shortly after McMorrow's announcement.

Australia and Fiji signed their first-ever mutual defense treaty Monday in Suva, marking a major diplomatic win for Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese against Chinese influence in the South Pacific. The Ocean of Peace Alliance introduces a mutual defense obligation between the two nations, with Australia committing over 1 billion Australian dollars in investment over the next decade through a separate economic treaty called the Vuvale Union. Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said he does not expect severe pushback from China, stating the alliance "does not threaten Fiji's relationship with China."

Hours after the signing ceremony, China test-launched a long-range ballistic missile from a submarine in the South Pacific, according to official Chinese media. The missile carried a dummy warhead and was described as part of routine annual training. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who was in Fiji for the treaty signing, said Beijing had informed her government in advance but called the test "destabilizing to the region." Wong noted China's rapid military buildup lacks the transparency the region expects.

The defense alliance is Australia's fourth mutual defense treaty, following agreements with the US and New Zealand in 1951 and with Papua New Guinea last year. The move comes as Australia shores up its regional security partnerships following China's secretive 2022 security treaty with the Solomon Islands, which raised fears of Chinese naval bases in the South Pacific. Albanese will visit the Solomons on Tuesday to meet with Prime Minister Matthew Wale, whose government is reviewing the China deal.

A Paris appeals court will decide Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. local time whether Marine Le Pen can run in France's 2027 presidential election, with the verdict potentially reshaping the race less than 10 months before voting begins. The 57-year-old National Rally leader was convicted in March of embezzling €1.4 million in European Parliament funds from 2004-2016 to pay party employees instead of parliamentary assistants. She received a five-year ban from public office and a four-year jail term, with two years suspended and two to be served with an electronic tag.

During the appeal hearings in January and February, Le Pen denied organizing the scheme but admitted to "a mistake" that led to some aides working for the party's benefit. Prosecutors are seeking to uphold the five-year ban while modifying the jail term to one year with an electronic tag and three years suspended. Le Pen currently leads in presidential polls, and if barred from running, her lieutenant Jordan Bardella would stand in her place.

The court has several possible outcomes: acquittal would clear Le Pen to run with her reputation intact, though this is seen as unlikely. A guilty verdict with a ban exceeding two years would disqualify her, since the clock has been ticking since March. A reduced ban of two years or less would allow her to run. Le Pen has said it would not be "possible" to campaign while wearing an electronic tag, effectively ruling her out even with a modified sentence. The first round of France's presidential election is scheduled for April 18, 2027.

The Trump administration plans to open a 528-bed facility next to Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana to hold migrant families and unaccompanied children before deportation. ICE is calling the location a "staging area" rather than a detention center, saying people would only be there a few days at most. The facility sits next to the nation's largest deportation flight hub, which handled more than 4,400 immigration enforcement flights in 2025, positioning authorities to speed up deportations by removing logistical obstacles.

The facility would be run by a nonprofit arm of LaSalle Corrections, a private prison contractor, according to Ralph Hennessy, executive director of the England Airpark Authority. It could be operational as early as August. However, several immigration advocates expressed concern that children could be held for weeks or months, as has happened at other federal immigration sites. The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, which typically oversees care for unaccompanied children, is not involved in the facility's operation.

ICE planning documents state that families and children at the facility "are in the legal custody of ICE and can only be released at the direction of ICE." The agency has instructed contractors not to refer to families as prisoners, detainees, or inmates, and ordered them not to use bars or cages when transporting people. Airpark officials described the facility as a "humanitarian effort" for families that are "self-deporting," though advocates say such decisions are sometimes made under pressure or without full understanding of legal options.