WSJ What’s News - U.S., Iran Reach Peace Deal. But Israel Won’t Withdraw From Lebanon.

Episode Date: June 15, 2026

A.M. Edition for June 15. The U.S. and Iran say they’ve reached an interim deal to open the Strait of Hormuz and extend a ceasefire. WSJ Middle East correspondent Benoit Faucon says more needs to be ironed out as Israel’s defence minister said they will not withdraw from land it has seized in Lebanon. Plus, Anthropic sends top staff to Washington in a bid to end export restrictions. And, the U.K. announces plans for an under-16 social media ban. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming, Ontario. Global markets rise after the U.S. and Iran agree to an interim peace deal to be signed later this week. Plus, anthropic races to resolve new AI export restrictions imposed by the Trump administration. And the UK unveils a social media ban for kids under 16. I am not prepared to compromise on the safety and happiness of our children. And that is why this ban must happen. And that is why this ban will happen.

It's Monday, June 15th. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. The U.S. and Iran say they have reached an interim deal to open the Strait of Hormuz and extend a fragile ceasefire. President Trump and Pakistani mediators say the deal will officially be signed on Friday when the Strait of Hormuz is also expected to reopen, restoring global oil flows. However, Journal Middle East correspondent Ben Wafelcon says more needs to be ironed out this week. As far as we know, the ammorrowing of understanding mostly agrees on really low-level demands. For instance, the session of fighting on both sides, the fact that Iran would not have a nuclear weapon, the fact that both sides will respect each other's territorial integrity, or will interfere in their domestic affairs.

And most crucially, that Iran reopens the strait of bombers and the U.S. stop blockading ports. But beyond that, the most fundamental points, which is what we do about nuclear program, the sanctions, the release of cash, and even who controls our moves are not resolved. Meanwhile, Pakistan's prime minister has said the ceasefire would also include the end of Israel's military action in Lebanon, which Benoit says was key to Iran agreeing to move forward with talks on a more permanent ceasefire. The fact that the U.S. told Israel to stop attacks on Lebanon, that was what Iran needed,

as a piece of comfort to show Hezbollah, they are part of that deal that the cessation of fighting is not just in the Persian goal, but it's also in Lebanon. And that's where you really have a problem because if you have talks that has disrupted by potential return of war in Lebanon, that's going to be a problem for the overall bigger negotiation.

The second one is that Iran claims that Israel will pull out of Lebanon, and Israel says that's not the case at all. So you really have a fundamental point where they're not on the same page. Those hurdles are likely to dominate talks this week, with Israel's defense minister saying this morning that Israel will not withdraw from land it's seized in Lebanon.

Trump's peace deal will also face scrutiny when he joins G7 leaders meeting in the French Alps today with many U.S. allies critical of the conflict and its impact on global energy prices. That said, oil prices have dropped on news of the deal, with WTI now trading around $80 a barrel and natural gas prices also tumbling. While analysts note, this is the first time they've seen real prospects for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen,

oil markets are expected to remain tight, while the industry looks to restore shipping lanes, damaged infrastructure, and crude inventories. President Trump marked his 80th birthday last night with a series of UFC cage matches on the White House's South Lawn. The military was closely integrated into the programming with troops in attendance, the U.S. Marine Band performing throughout the night, and the Navy's Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds conducting a joint flyover during the national anthem. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the event as a gift to the American people, it was exclusively streamed on Paramount Plus, which requires a monthly subscription.

White House reporter Alex Leary. Paramount Plus exclusively aired this event. Paramount has a $7 billion deal with UFC. And Paramount just won a major victory. Just days ago, the Justice Department signed off on its takeover bid for Warner Brothers Discovery, a massive entertainment deal in the works. And CEO David Ellison was there fresh off that victory. One of the other really striking things was how vivid the corporate tie-in was. UFC said it spent about $60 million on this event, half of which it's going to get back through advertising and corporate sponsorships, advertising, seen on the octagon and around the arena came from ram trucks, bud light, crypto.com, and polymarket, just to name a few. The event comes as Trump contends with an approval rating near a career low and amid a drop in support among young men who make up the core UFC audience. Meanwhile, in Washington, AI company Anthropics sent top staff to the nation's capital over the weekend

in a bid to end export restrictions on its most powerful AI models. That's after the Trump administration on Friday banned foreign governments, companies, and individuals from using Anthropics' Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models, prompting the company to fully shut off access to all users in order to comply. On Sunday, a group of leading cybersecurity experts called for the administration to lift the export controls, citing the dangers of taking away powerful AI tools from cyber defenders, in addition to saying the move created market uncertainty and jeopardized America's AI leadership. Anthropic has said it has said it has. as adequate safeguards in place and is known for giving priority to safety.

And the U.S. could soon lose its status as having eliminated measles, which earned back in the year 2000. That is pending a determination from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that an outbreak in Utah has been spreading for more than a year. Journal reporter Jennifer Calphus has more. The outbreak itself started in June of last year before really taking off later that summer along the Utah Arizona border. At this point, it's spread across the state with exposure. It's reported at children's sports events, Walmart stores, an aquarium, a ski resort. And it's really kind of spread beyond just these close-knit communities along that Utah, Arizona border across the state. In Utah, 98% of kindergartners in the 2012 school year got their measles shots.

But in the 2024-25 year, just over 88% did. That may still sound like a lot, but really infectious did. disease kind of requires 95% coverage as a threshold to achieve herd immunity. You know, I've been talking to, you know, infectious disease specialists and epidemiologists about measles outbreaks since they really started picking up last year in the U.S. To a lot of them, they believe it's already clear that the U.S. has lost this measles elimination status. We've had more than 2,000 measles cases reported last year, and we already have at least

2,000 reported this year. In some recent years, we've had under 100 reported. across an entire year. Several countries have lost their measles elimination status, including Canada last year, and a number of European countries this year, including the UK, Austria, and Spain. Coming up, correspondent Caroline Camayo takes us inside the U.S.'s new aid strategy in Africa, in which assistance comes at a cost. That and more after the break.

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against that America First approach to foreign assistance. And Caroline joins me now with more. Carolyn, what's occurring here? What are these three countries in particular taking issue with? What we're seeing right now is a situation where African countries are bridling at the conditions of some of the Trump-America-first policies, where some of the huge sticking points for a country like Zambia is that the health aid was attached to the signing of a separate agreement for critical minerals. So, you know, at least according to statements that Zambian officials have put out there, that was a term they considered to be unacceptable, as well as terms regarding preferential access for American companies

or terms requiring private health data. Zimbabwe was one of the countries that was sort of taking a leading role in African countries' talks for fairer access to vaccines and treatments in exchange for the health data that they share that results in these treatments. But some of the issues that countries like Zimbabwe have raised is that this could weaken African countries' bargaining position to sign away their data bilaterally in this way. On this health data, Caroline, what are we really talking about here? Is this like people's private health records, their genetic information? Do we have any more specifics? Zambian officials, for instance, described the health data as being private.

Other countries have used terms like sensitive. So it's not clear what the data is exactly, but it's clear that it's quite extensive. And it's also clear that some of these countries, according to our health groups that we've spoken with, are being asked for nearly two dozen or more years of health data for what's essentially a five-year agreement. So I think that's also been a bit of a bone of contention, are we giving away a bit too much? And Caroline, potentially this health data would be a benefit for American industry? So there's some opacity in these agreements, and, you know, analysts who have spoken to suggest that America wants this health data for us to give its pharmaceutical companies a

competitive advantage in developing vaccines and treatments by having this data early on. And officials that we spoke with also mentioned that, you know, they're looking to have this data. I mean, having exited from the WHO, they need this data to be able to respond very quickly to some of these outbreaks that are happening around the world like we're seeing right now in DRC. So I think it's also a way for the U.S. to sort of stay looted on what's happening with outbreaks without being in the WHO. Okay, so some pushback on this one point. And yet you report that nearly two dozen countries have made deals and assented to some of these terms. Yes, we've got three pushing back here.

But is it safe to say that on balance, this has actually worked out relatively well for the White House? I absolutely think that it's a win for the U.S. It's a win for the Trump administration as far as the huge number of agreements that have been signed. The majority of the African countries analysts say, quite frankly, a number of them couldn't turn down the aid. They were reeling already from the USAID cuts. Many of them needing to plug in some of these holes. And the Trump administration is looking to reduce. the aid dependency of countries to reduce how much the U.S. is forking out in terms of aid.

And we are already seeing that happening because already the amounts that are being given under these agreements are much less than we're given in the previous five years comparatively. I've been speaking to the journals Caroline Camille in Nairobi. Caroline, thank you so much for bringing us this story. Thanks very much, Luke. Voters in Switzerland have rejected a high-stakes proposal to impose a population cap, which was targeted at managing immigration. While the majority of voters opposed the no to a Switzerland with 10 million initiative,

led by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, party VP Thomas Ashey, said the results were a signal to the government that things need to change. Forty-five percent of the Swiss population said yes to limit immigration. to do something against those big problems that we have with illegal and criminal asylum seekers. So a very strong sign to our government to change its policies. The vote's polarizing nature has drawn comparisons to the UK's Brexit referendum, with opponents warning that a population cap would have invalidated a web of bilateral treaties with the EU and other trading partners and triggered acute labor shortages.

And meanwhile, in the UK... today I can announce that the government will ban access to social media for all children under the age of 16. Prime Minister Kier Starmor said the UK learned from Australia, which imposed a similar ban at the end of last year. The UK plans include social media giants like Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, X, and other platforms, while AI chatbots that simulate sexual relationships or roleplay with users will have to enforce a minimum age of 18.

Social media is making children unhappy. It's making it easier for bullies to harass and abuse them. And it could even be harming their mental health, exposing them to content that is dangerous, because that's what grabs the attention. It's designed to be addictive. Of course it is. Features like the Infinite Scroll.

They're designed to lock you in for hours. And if nothing else, there's an opportunity cost to that. It stops children doing their homework, reading, playing with their friends outside, going to bed at decent hour. Now, that may not sound like much, but these are the activities that help a child develop into an adult. A YouTube spokesperson said it had invested in age-appropriate experience, and protections for teens for over a decade, and that blanket bans pushed children out of supervised platforms and toward anonymous, less safe services. TikTok, meta platforms, Snapchat, and X didn't respond to requests for comment. Starmar is hoping for a vote in Parliament on the restrictions before Christmas, with the aim to enforce the ban by next spring.

And that's it for what's news for this Monday morning. Additional sound in this episode was from Reuters. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Hattie Moyer. Our supervising producer is Sandra Kilhoff, and I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Until then, thanks for listening.