US and Iran trade fire after Trump threatens Tehran over stalled talks | First Thing

Bill Gates testifiedin front of the House committee on oversight and changes on Wednesday, telling lawmakers in his opening remarks that he “never witnessed nor had any indication” that Jeffrey Epstein was “engaged in ongoing criminal conduct”.

In her testimony on Tuesday, Lesley Groff, who was Epstein’s longtime executive assistant, said she had no knowledge of his crimes while working for him.

• What did Gates say? “I support the release of all the Epstein files and sincerely hope that, through your efforts and those of others advocating on their behalf, the survivors of Epstein’s crimes can get the justice that they deserve.”

Video shows family’s car slowing before Israeli troops shot dead Palestinian baby

Footage has emerged that appears to contradict the Israel Defense Forces’ account of the shooting that killed seven-month-old Sam Abu Haikal in his mother’s arms, showing the family’s car slowing near a military post before soldiers opened fire.

On Friday, the killing of the infant by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank caused outrage, after soldiers opened fire on the family’s vehicle despite it having complied with an order to stop. Sam’s mother, and father, Daniyah and FahdAbu Haikal, were injured. Israeli military police said an investigation had been opened into the soldier who fired at the family’s vehicle.

• What does the video show? The IIDF said its troops had “perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them”. However, footage obtained by B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, contradicts that claim.

In other news …

Police attempt to people near Newtownabbey in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Wednesday. Photograph: Peter Morrison/AP

• The family of a victim in a knife attack in Belfast, Northern Ireland, called for calm as riots continued across the city last night. On Wednesday Elon Musk rejected claims he was inciting disorder on social media.
• An Israeli drone strike in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon hit a car with two people inside it, killing them both, according to local media.
• The US has recorded more than 2,000 confirmed measles cases so far this year, with 2026 on track for the worst outbreak in decades after federal funding for public health was slashed.
• Misty Roberts, a former mayor in Louisiana, has been sentenced to 90 days over the rape of a 16-year-old boy. Roberts sexually assaulted the underage victim at her home in July 2024.

Stat of the day: Trump says ‘I love the inflation’ as rate rises to 4.2% amid Iran war pressure

Someone adds a sticker of Donald Trump saying, ‘I did that,’ next to gas pump price in Georgia. Photograph: Ravi Nessman/AP

Asked by a reporter at the White House on Wednesday whether he was concerned about the latest inflation figures, Donald Trump replied: “No, I love it, the numbers were great … I love the inflation.” US inflation jumped to an annual rate of 4.2% in May, the third consecutive monthly increase since the start of the Iran war, and a three-year high.

The Filter recommends: ‘Grandma hobbies’ – are jigsaw puzzles this summer’s hot activity?

‘I recently felt called to pick up a jigsaw puzzle for the first time in years. It came from Piecework, a puzzle brand that has become a gen-Z favorite.’ Photograph: Rolex dela Peña/EPA

“Among younger demographics, ‘grandma hobbies’ are cool,” writes Lauren Gould for the Filter US. “Perhaps that’s why I, a member of gen Z, recently felt called to pick up a jigsaw puzzle for the first time in over a decade.” She recommends some colorful, eccentric and stylish puzzle options.

Don’t miss this: ‘Demonized, called hysterical’ – the rise of witchcraft retreats, where women go to defy man and church

‘Many got their spiritual start in strict Christian households and many experienced later-in-life spiritual awakenings.’ Photograph: Lauren Abunassar/The Guardian

Witchcraft retreats have proliferated across the US and Europe during the last decade. Lauren Abunassar reports from one on an Irish estate. “Equal parts ancient folk magic, herbal remedies and self-soothing rituals, witchcraft encompasses everything from the spellcasting done by self-directed pagans to solitary practitioners who scatter protective salts around their homes,” she writes.

Climate check: Record winter temperatures in Antarctic raise fears over speed of climate breakdown

On King George island, the landscape has changed from mostly white to brown, gray and green. Photograph: Luis Muñoz

Temperatures in the Antarctic climbed to nearly 60F this month, a peak that shattered the previous winter heat record – 56F in 1998 – for the usually frozen region, raising concerns about the speed of climate breakdown. “This is absolutely crazy,” said Raúl Cordero, an Ecuadorian climate professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, calling temperatures “a huge anomaly”.

Last Thing: USA men’s soccer coach Mauricio Pochettino on the World Cup

‘A World Cup is something we’re missing,’ says Mauricio Pochettino, the USA men’s head coach. Photograph: Harry How/FIFA/Getty Images

Kick off day! Before today’s first World Cup match, Sid Lowe sat down with the USA men’s head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, who “doesn’t seem like a man who has trouble sleeping”. Pochettino tells him: “No one sees the US as a [contender]. But you analyze other World Cups and think: ‘Why not?’” Check out our full World Cup coverage here.

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