Daily World Briefing, June 18

Israel and Iran continue to trade airstrikes, missile attacks

Israel said on Tuesday it had launched another wave of airstrikes in Iran and was determined to press ahead with its military campaign, now in its fifth day.

Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin said Iranian forces had been pushed toward the center of the country as a result of sustained Israeli airstrikes.

Defrin said around 60 Israeli fighter jets had carried out a major strike earlier on Tuesday, targeting 12 underground missile launch sites in the Tehran area.

In response, Iran launched a new wave of missile attacks on Israel, triggering sirens and large explosions across the country.

Spanish FM calls for EU arms embargo on Israel

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has called on the European Union (EU) to impose an arms embargo on Israel as a means to end the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, Albares emphasized that the EU, as Israel's largest trading partner in the world, holds significant influence. The block "must impose an arms embargo so that our European partners don't sell weapons to Israel while this war continues," he said.

"Right now, we need to de-escalate this exchange of missiles and bombs between Israel and Iran, and ensure that everything related to Iran's nuclear program is properly resolved and that Iran moves away from having nuclear weapons through diplomatic negotiations," he said.

G7 leaders meet for final day without Trump

The Group of Seven (G7) leaders met for the final day of the two-day summit in Kananaskis in the province of Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday without U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump suddenly left Canada Monday night saying that escalations in the Middle East forced his early exit from the event.

As he left, the summit published a statement on "Recent Developments Between Israel And Iran," urging that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.

Normalization process of Russia-U.S. ties put on hold: Kremlin

Russia and the United States are putting the process of normalizing their relations on hold, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said on Tuesday.

"It was originally agreed to hold the next meeting on the normalization of relations in Moscow, but later the Americans suggested a break," Ushakov said at a news briefing.

"Now, obviously, some kind of agreement will be reached between the U.S. State Department and the Russian Foreign Ministry on where and when to hold the next meeting," he said. "So far, the issue has been somewhat suspended."

Los Angeles mayor lifts downtown curfew

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday lifted the curfew that has been in place for one week for portion of downtown of the second-largest city in the United States.

"The curfew, coupled with ongoing crime prevention efforts, have been largely successful in protecting stores, restaurants, businesses and residential communities from bad actors who do not care about the immigrant community," Bass said in a statement.■