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Axios: US, Israeli Officials Believe Highly Enriched Uranium is Sealed Off Inside Iran’s Damaged Facilities

This handout satellite image courtesy of Maxar Technologies shows cargo trucks postioned near an underground entrance to Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP), in Fordo, Iran on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Satellite image 2025 Maxar Technologies / AFP)
This handout satellite image courtesy of Maxar Technologies shows cargo trucks postioned near an underground entrance to Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP), in Fordo, Iran on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Satellite image 2025 Maxar Technologies / AFP)
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Axios: US, Israeli Officials Believe Highly Enriched Uranium is Sealed Off Inside Iran’s Damaged Facilities

This handout satellite image courtesy of Maxar Technologies shows cargo trucks postioned near an underground entrance to Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP), in Fordo, Iran on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Satellite image 2025 Maxar Technologies / AFP)
This handout satellite image courtesy of Maxar Technologies shows cargo trucks postioned near an underground entrance to Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP), in Fordo, Iran on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Satellite image 2025 Maxar Technologies / AFP)

Highly enriched uranium is currently “sealed off” inside damaged facilities in Iran’s Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, Israeli and US officials say, according to the America news website, Axios.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview that aired Monday with US journalist Tucker Carlson that the nuclear facilities were seriously damaged, but Iran doesn't currently have access to them to accurately assess the situation.

US and Israeli officials say both countries' intelligence services are monitoring Iranian actions around its nuclear facilities to detect efforts to remove material or restore operations, according to Axios.

Netanyahu's top adviser, Ron Dermer, told officials in closed briefings that he came away from a recent visit to Washington with the impression that the Trump administration would back new Israeli strikes on Iran under certain circumstances, two sources with knowledge told the website.

One scenario would be an Iranian attempt to remove the highly enriched uranium inside the damaged facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, according to the sources.

Another would be if the Iranians start rebuilding their nuclear program, particularly enrichment facilities.

Dermer met last week with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff, Israeli officials said.

Witkoff is planning to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oslo in the coming days to restart nuclear talks.

According to Axios, the Iranians confirmed such a meeting is in the works but so far no final date has been set.

Dermer told Israeli officials the US remains committed to the principle of zero enrichment on Iranian soil in the nuclear talks, the website wrote.

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World

At Least 40 Dead After Bus Falls into Ravine in Pakistan

A Pakistani security official stands guard in Quetta, Pakistan, 01 July 2026. (EPA)
A Pakistani security official stands guard in Quetta, Pakistan, 01 July 2026. (EPA)
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At Least 40 Dead After Bus Falls into Ravine in Pakistan

A Pakistani security official stands guard in Quetta, Pakistan, 01 July 2026. (EPA)
A Pakistani security official stands guard in Quetta, Pakistan, 01 July 2026. (EPA)

A bus veered off a road and fell more than 20 meters into a ravine in western Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 40 people, officials said.

"A passenger bus travelling from Quetta to Peshawar plunged into a deep ravine in the mountainous Dana Sar area... 40 people have been confirmed dead and 11 others injured," said Sanaullah Sherani, the head of Zhob district's emergency center.

Sherani said the injured passengers had been taken to hospital, three of them in critical condition.

"The bus fell approximately 70 to 80 feet (21 to 24 meters) into the ravine," Sherani added.

"As the accident occurred in a rugged mountainous area, rescue teams faced significant difficulties during the initial phase of the operation," he said.

Shahid Rind, the spokesperson for the southwestern province of Balochistan's chief minister, also said the bus had been travelling from the provincial capital Quetta to the city of Peshawar in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Rescue teams from both provinces were at the scene, he added.

Road accidents are common in Pakistan due to weak enforcement of traffic laws, speeding, poor road safety standards and reckless driving.

World

France’s Le Pen Faces Crunch Verdict Before Presidential Vote

President of Rassemblement National parliamentary group Marine Le Pen poses poses ahead of a television interview entitled "Le Grand Entretien" broadcast on French news channel LCI, in Boulogne-Billancourt, southern of Paris on July 1, 2026. (AFP)
President of Rassemblement National parliamentary group Marine Le Pen poses poses ahead of a television interview entitled "Le Grand Entretien" broadcast on French news channel LCI, in Boulogne-Billancourt, southern of Paris on July 1, 2026. (AFP)
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France’s Le Pen Faces Crunch Verdict Before Presidential Vote

President of Rassemblement National parliamentary group Marine Le Pen poses poses ahead of a television interview entitled "Le Grand Entretien" broadcast on French news channel LCI, in Boulogne-Billancourt, southern of Paris on July 1, 2026. (AFP)
President of Rassemblement National parliamentary group Marine Le Pen poses poses ahead of a television interview entitled "Le Grand Entretien" broadcast on French news channel LCI, in Boulogne-Billancourt, southern of Paris on July 1, 2026. (AFP)

France's far-right chief Marine Le Pen faces a key ruling next week that will determine if she can run in the 2027 presidential elections, in what is seen as her best chance at the top job.

A lower court handed the 57-year-old politician a five-year ban from public office last year and a two-year sentence over a fake jobs scam at the European Parliament, dashing her ambition to head the EU state.

If the appeals court on July 7 upholds last year's bombshell ruling, the three-time presidential candidate from the National Rally (RN) party will be banned from vying to replace outgoing centrist President Emmanuel Macron.

Le Pen came third in the 2012 polls, then twice made the runoffs against Macron in 2017 and 2022.

She has said she will decide whether to compete next year after the appeal court ruling, which also includes a shorter ban from public office and some form of house arrest.

"I'm not scared," she said this week in the run-up to the verdict.

"If I can run, I will -- as long as I can campaign."

Le Pen has suggested that her lieutenant, 30-year-old RN party leader Jordan Bardella, could stand instead if she has to step down.

- 'Witch hunt' -

The first trial found Le Pen -- along with 24 former European lawmakers, assistants and accountants as well as the anti-immigration party itself -- guilty of operating a system from 2004 to 2016 to use European parliament funds to employ RN staff in France.

The lower court also sentenced Le Pen to four years in jail, with two suspended.

Le Pen claimed her party was the victim of a "witch hunt" and some supporters sent the judges death threats.

The presidential candidate, the party and 11 others appealed.

During the appeal trial, she denied that the RN had any system to embezzle European Parliament funds and has said her party acted in "complete good faith".

But prosecutors allege she "professionalized" a way to divert EU funds first introduced haphazardly by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen after she took over its leadership from him in 2011.

They have demanded the court maintain a five-year ban and sought a four-year term, with three years suspended, for Le Pen over the embezzlement of what the EU institution says were several million euros.

- 'Need to be free' -

If Le Pen is handed a ban from office of several years, she will not be able to run for president in time for the first round on April 18 next year.

Similarly, if she is condemned to serve a one-year term on house arrest with an ankle tag, crippling her ability to campaign, she will likely decide to hand over to Bardella.

"When you're a presidential candidate, you need to be completely free to move around," she said on Wednesday in an interview on the LCI television channel.

"I can't depend on a magistrate to allow me to go to a rally."

Opinion polls in recent months have largely suggested the far right will lead in the first round of next year's vote, but are divided on the outcome of the second round.

An opinion poll in late May suggested Le Pen could win the runoffs next year if she is allowed to compete.

The Harris Interactive Toluna survey of more than 1,700 registered voters projected her winning, against hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon as well as centrist former prime ministers Gabriel Attal and Edouard Philippe.

Other polls have however suggested Philippe -- who is also courting right-wing voters -- could emerge victorious in a runoff against the far right.

World

Trump Says ‘Ridiculous’ for US to Maintain Current Support for NATO

A paper collector pulls his handcart past billboards displayed along the boulevard on the protocol route ahead of the NATO Summit in Ankara, on July 2, 2026. (AFP)
A paper collector pulls his handcart past billboards displayed along the boulevard on the protocol route ahead of the NATO Summit in Ankara, on July 2, 2026. (AFP)
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Trump Says ‘Ridiculous’ for US to Maintain Current Support for NATO

A paper collector pulls his handcart past billboards displayed along the boulevard on the protocol route ahead of the NATO Summit in Ankara, on July 2, 2026. (AFP)
A paper collector pulls his handcart past billboards displayed along the boulevard on the protocol route ahead of the NATO Summit in Ankara, on July 2, 2026. (AFP)

President Donald Trump said Thursday it is "ridiculous" for the United States to continue its "one sided" relationship with NATO, less than a week before a NATO summit in Ankara.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: "They were not there for us!!!" and Washington's relationship with NATO "is not reciprocal."

Trump has repeatedly lashed out at European allies over their response to the war in Iran, as several countries restricted the use of bases for US forces.

Trump also insists he wants Europe to take the lead role for its own defense, and Washington has already moved to scale back commitments.

His Truth Social post on Thursday included a chart displaying the amount of NATO spending, with the United States investing vastly more than a few other member states depicted.

Under pressure from Trump, NATO leaders had agreed at a gathering last year to boost defense-related spending to five percent of GDP by 2035.

The upcoming NATO summit, which will bring together 32 member states, will be held in the Turkish capital on July 7-8.

The alliance, founded in 1949, became a US-led defense force credited with maintaining stability in Europe, keeping the Soviet Union at bay and solidifying Washington as a world power for decades to come.