America in Brief

US Set to Sign Peace Deal With Iran

The United States has reached a tentative peace deal with Iran, which could lead to the much-anticipated reopening of the Strait of Hormuz following a volatile week of attacks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi announced on X on June 12 that the end to fighting had “never been closer.” Trump forwarded his statement on Truth Social.

On June 11, President Donald Trump announced a withdrawal of planned strikes against Iran.

“I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening. Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved,” he wrote on Truth Social.

A tit-for-tat series of ceasefire violations involving Israel appearing over the week raised tensions in the region, with a downed U.S. military helicopter on June 7 marking a significant escalation since the April truce.

The deal is expected to be signed on June 14.

Musk Is World’s 1st Trillionaire

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has become the world’s richest person following SpaceX’s debut on Wall Street on June 12.

SpaceX was initially priced at $135 per share, but opened at a record $150 per share, the largest ever opening, and closed at $160 after falling from its peak of $176 earlier in the day.

SpaceX’s areas of growth, other than space exploration, have been the AI sector, in which Musk’s X-linked AI company, xAI, has become a subsidiary of SpaceX, and Musk’s own satellite broadband company, Starlink, which he has also merged with SpaceX.

SpaceX’s mission is to establish a colony on Mars.

Musk also led the Department of Government Efficiency initiative, which Trump established when he returned to office in January 2025. DOGE was launched to cut federal spending and minimize government waste and Musk left the initiatve in May 2025 to focus on his companies.

Memphis Task Force Arrests 10,000

The Trump administration-appointed Memphis Safe Task Force has surpassed 10,000 arrests since the operation began last September, U.S. authorities announced on June 10.

The U.S. Marshals Office also announced the recovery of 1,708 illegal firearms in the same period.

On June 9 alone, the Memphis Safe Task Force made 42 arrests and seized eight firearms.

President Donald Trump established the task force on Sept. 15, 2025, to solve the “tremendous levels of violent crime” overwhelming the city.

“This is a significant milestone for the dedicated men and women working around the clock to end street and violent crime in Memphis,” said Tyreece Miller, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Tennessee.

Trump Signs Immigration Funding Bill

Trump signed a funding bill into law on June 10 that will keep immigration enforcement programs on the payroll until the end of his term, which expires Jan. 20, 2029.

The new law, called the Secure America Act, will fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol operations, a key part of Trump’s policy agenda to curb the surge in illegal immigration in recent years.

The U.S. government entered a partial shutdown on Feb. 16 amid disagreements between Republicans and Democrats over ICE funding.

Democrats demanded reforms to ICE operations after the deaths of two protesters during violent anti-ICE protests in Minnesota at the beginning of the year.

The shutdown, which ended after 76 days, caused significant delays at airports across the country due to staff shortages.

Hegseth Visits Gitmo

War Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Guantanamo Bay on June 10, amid rising tension between the United States and Cuba, where the nation’s oldest overseas military installation is located.

Former Cuban leader Raúl Castro was recently indicted by the U.S. government over his involvement in the 1996 shooting down of a U.S. civilian aircraft in international waters.

The United States also imposed economic sanctions against the current leader, Miguel Díaz-Canel, on June 4.

The communist-controlled country has been on the verge of collapse, experiencing blackouts, and most of its population is in poverty.

“What happens with the future of Cuba is in the hands of the president of the United States and the leadership of Cuba,” Hegseth told troops.

Screwworm Invasion Puts Texas in Crisis

Border states have been struggling with a screwworm invasion, with 10 cases in Texas and one in neighboring New Mexico as of June 11.

The New World screwworm was first confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on June 3, and has now spread to five counties, infecting eight cows, two goats, and a dog.

On June 5, Texas Gov. Gregg Abbot declared the outbreak a disaster.

The New World screwworm is a fly that lays its eggs in open wounds and bodily openings, which hatch into parasitic, flesh-eating maggots.

World Cup 2026 Kicks Off

The much-anticipated World Cup 2026 kicked off on June 11, with its first two matches in Mexico, as part of a trio bid between the United States, Canada, and Mexico with the slogan “United as One,” the first in World Cup History.

An expected total of 6.5 million people are speculated to attend the events, according to FIFA’s analysis, as 48 qualifying teams play off over the next month in a total of 16 stadiums.

The United States will host the final games, with quarterfinals being played in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, and Kansas City, the semifinals in Dallas and Atlanta, and the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.