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金正恩要持续扩大核武力量 再称韩国为“最敌对国家”

2026年6月23日 20:05 / 联合早报

朝中社6月23日发布的照片显示，朝鲜领导人金正恩在平壤举行的劳动党中央委员会第九届第二次全体会议扩大会议上发言。 （路透社）

朝鲜领导人金正恩在劳动党全体会议上强调，将持续扩大核武力量，并罕见公开提及韩国的核动力潜艇计划。分析认为，朝鲜这是一边加快研发战略武器和推进海军现代化，一边将韩美军事合作明确为核扩张的理由，意在进一步巩固“拥核国”地位，并提前阻断未来朝美对话重谈无核化的可能。

朝中社和《劳动新闻》星期二（6月23日）报道，朝鲜劳动党中央委员会第九届第二次全体会议扩大会议于20日至22日在平壤举行。会议由金正恩主持，确定党和国家近期与中长期的政策方向。

金正恩发言时说，核武力是“朝鲜军事主权的核心”，也是“遏制战争和执行战略的中枢”，因此朝鲜将“不断扩大和加强核武力量，彻底巩固拥核国地位”。他称，朝鲜将加速实施“更庞大、更创新、更鼓舞人心的计划”，进一步提升国家的战略遏制能力。

金正恩重申了对韩的强硬路线，说：“必须彻底坚持党所确立的将韩国视为最敌对国家的对敌斗争原则。”

他指示对外工作部门，从维护国家利益和服务“富国强兵”战略出发，积极拓展对外关系。

值得注意的是，金正恩罕见地直接提及韩国推进核动力潜艇计划。他指责美国和韩国，“在区域里愈发露骨地推进增强武力和军事现代化的阴谋，甚至在推动韩国拥有核潜艇”。

他批评韩美持续进行联合军演和侦察活动，导致朝鲜半岛局势“极度恶化”。朝鲜还将韩美核磋商小组定性为“核战争机构”，指称它以“核与常规一体化作战态势”为核心，旨在对朝鲜实施核打击，是将半岛推向核战边缘的主要因素。

金正恩也指示加速其他军事建设，包括加快建造万吨级战略导弹巡洋舰，并完成南部边境要塞化和建设海军新基地。1万吨级战略导弹巡洋舰项目被视为朝鲜海军现代化的标志性工程。

对于朝鲜的指责，韩国政府重申，推进核动力潜艇旨在应对朝鲜核导威胁、强化防卫能力，与坚持朝鲜半岛无核化原则并不矛盾。

学者专家分析，朝鲜试图抓住韩国推进核潜艇和韩美加强军事合作，为自家扩充核武库寻求正当性，并抢先阻断未来朝美对话重谈无核化的可能。

庆南大学远东问题研究所教授林乙出认为，此举既是强化对韩强硬路线，也是为固化朝韩“敌对关系”提供依据。

朝鲜大学院大学客座教授梁茂进指出，平壤是在向国际社会释放明确信号：即使朝美对话重启，无核化也不会是谈判议题。

有分析认为，朝鲜未来还可能进一步扩大与中俄合作，强化反美阵线，同时持续提升核力量和海上作战能力，并利用国际阵营对立，扩大外交空间和继续推进核导弹开发。

此次朝鲜全会也确定了高层人事调整。赵甬元被任命为党中央委员会书记兼组织指导部长，原政治局常委、党中央书记金才龙被解除职务。对于国家经济，大会将振兴煤炭工业列为重点，并在明年启动全国煤矿山区住宅现代化改造工程。

10 years after “Brexit” vote, majority of Britons say leaving European Union was a mistake

2026-06-23 11:23 AM EDT / CBS News

London— A decade after the public referendum vote that led to the United Kingdom’s “Brexit” from the European Union, a majority of Britons now say leaving the bloc was a mistake, according to a recent survey by the independent YouGov polling organization.

“Brexit has been an absolute disaster for the country,” one pro-EU campaigner told France 24 on Monday, the eve of the referendum anniversary. “Not just economically, but loss of freedom of movement, families being split up.”

Brexit has split Britain “down the middle, and nothing good has come of that since,” said another.

Demonstrators take part in the National Rejoin March, calling for the United Kingdom to rejoin the European Union on the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum, on June 20, 2026, in London, United Kingdom. Zeynep Demir/Anadolu via Getty Images

The U.K. has been mired in political turmoil since the vote, with seven prime ministers in the last 10 years struggling to deal with the fallout — and the economic impact in particular, which has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and then the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Leaving the EU has reduced British productivity, imports and exports, according to the Office for Budgetary Responsibility, while an analysis of government data shows the economy took a 6% hit as a result of Brexit.

“The consequences 10 years on are worse than we feared,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who campaigned to remain in the EU ahead of the referendum, said recently.

“We’ve got to go forwards”

While some who voted to leave the EU now admit to feeling some “Bregret,” two-thirds of those who voted for Brexit still stand by their original vote. Overall, 30% of the Britons polled by YouGov said they still believe the U.K. was right to leave.

Many who still support the exit from the European bloc argue that it was handled poorly by the successive governments and politicians that oversaw the transition, and the move itself shouldn’t be blamed.

Asked by CBS News’ partner network BBC on Tuesday if he regretted Brexit, one of the architects of the split, far-right populist and Trump ally Nigel Farage, who leads the Reform UK party, said that it was “absolutely the right thing to do.”

Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage speaks at a press conference for the Reform candidate Robert Kenyon ahead of the Makerfield by-election on June 10, 2026 in Ashton in Makerfield, England. Ryan Jenkinson/Getty

“The earthquake that happened 10 years ago today was not accepted by the establishment,” he said. “And when finally they were pushed into actually getting us to leave the European Union, they then did not implement the wishes of the people.”

A key promise of the “Vote Leave” campaign was that leaving the EU would enable Britain to “take back control” of its borders and curb migration from the EU.

But amid labor shortages after Brexit, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was a prominent supporter of leaving the EU, eased restrictions, and non-EU migration to the U.K. spiked.

Simon Boyd, a steel manufacturer in Dorset who helped campaign for Brexit, told the BBC he was “quite disappointed” with how things have turned out, but he added: “We’ve got to go forwards, embrace Brexit, embrace the opportunities that are there.”

Rejoining the EU, he said, would “be akin to getting back on the Titanic on the conditions that you hand over your life vest first.”

Another referendum?

For many Brits like Boyd, the idea of going through the national psychodrama of another referendum is too much to even consider.

Statistics do point to a major shift in public opinion, however.

In 2016, the Leave campaign won with 51.9% of the vote: About 17.4 million people voted to leave, while 16.1 million voted to remain.

Six million people in the U.K. have died since the vote, according to pollster Peter Kellner, and data show that “turnout among older voters was higher than average” in the referendum. Two thirds of participants in 2016 over the age of 65 backed Brexit, while a generation of young people, who tend to skew more pro-EU, are now old enough to vote.

The pro-Brexit majority “has literally died out,” Kellner said in December.

Three fifths of Gen Z Brits say they’d like a new referendum on EU membership, according to polling by the More in Common think tank, while over half of respondents overall told YouGov this month that they would like to see the U.K. rejoin the EU in some way, shape or form.

But with Farage’s fiercely anti-EU Reform UK party (previously called The Brexit Party) seeing major success in recent local elections, and Brexit still a divisive issue for the country, few politicians have indicated any will to even table the idea of holding another referendum.

The presumptive next prime minister of the country, Andy Burnham, said last year that he hoped Britain would rejoin the EU in his lifetime, but he said in May: “I also believe the last thing we should do right now is re-run those arguments.”

US Supreme Court won’t let Rastafarian man shaved bald in prison sue guards

2026-06-23T14:18:32.596Z / reuters.com

A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court, where justices are expected to issue opinions on pending cases, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 18, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to let a Rastafarian man sue ​state prison officials in Louisiana after guards held him down and shaved him bald in violation of his religious beliefs in a case brought under ‌a federal law protecting incarcerated people from religious discrimination.

The court in a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative justices upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss Damon Landor’s lawsuit because it found the statute at issue did not permit him to sue the individual prison officials and guards for monetary damages. Landor’s religion requires him to let his hair grow.

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The court’s three liberal justices dissented from ​the ruling, which was authored by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch.

The law, called the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, or RLUIPA, prohibits ​religious discrimination by state and local governments in land-use regulations and also protects the religious rights of people confined to institutions ⁠such as prisons and jails.

The court ruled that because the law at issue implicates the power of Congress under the Constitution’s so-called Spending Clause, the measure may impose ​conditions only on the state or government entity that is the actual recipient of federal funds, not individual employees who do not themselves receive the funds – unless they consent.

Since ​the prison officials never agreed that they would be subject to lawsuits under RLUIPA, “Mr. Landor’s case cannot proceed against them any more than a breach of contract action might proceed against a defendant who never formed a contract,” Gorsuch wrote.

Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, writing in dissent, noted that RLUIPA is a law, not a contract.

“Today’s decision magically transforms a federal statute into an invitation ​to be accepted or declined, deemed binding only if each particular defendant has explicitly agreed to be penalized,” wrote Jackson, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

President Donald ​Trump’s administration backed Landor, urging the Supreme Court to revive the case.

The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, had expanded the rights of religious people and institutions in a ‌series of ⁠rulings in recent years. It heard arguments in the case in November.

Landor grew his hair over a span of 20 years into long locks that reached his knees. In 2020, near the end of a five-month prison sentence for drug possession, Landor was transferred to the Raymond Laborde Correctional Center in Cottonport, Louisiana.

There, Landor reminded officials that the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled in a 2017 case that Louisiana’s policy of cutting the hair of Rastafarians violated the 2000 law.

Landor even handed over ​a copy of that ruling, but a ​guard threw it in the trash, ⁠according to court documents.

Landor was then handcuffed to a chair, held down and shaved.

Landor, who lives in Slidell, Louisiana, sued, but a federal judge threw out his case. In 2023, the 5th Circuit upheld that decision, concluding that the law at issue does ​not allow individual officials to be personally held liable for money damages.

In her dissent, Jackson said prisoners who experience religious ​freedom violations will now ⁠often be left without a remedy.

“And encroachments on prisoners’ statutory rights are likely to happen with fair frequency, as state-empowered prison officials will have little incentive to abide by federal law, even if it is handed to them on a piece of paper,” Jackson wrote.

Landor’s lawyers have called the statute similar to a 1993 law called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act ⁠that prohibits ​religious infringement by the federal government.

In 2020, the Supreme Court allowed for monetary damages claims under the Religious ​Freedom Restoration Act in a case involving a bid by three Muslim U.S. citizens to sue FBI agents who they accused of placing the men on the government’s “no-fly list” for refusing to become informants.

Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham

美国暂时豁免石油制裁 伊朗否认同意恢复核检查

2026年6月23日 20:16 / 联合早报

美国暂时允许伊朗在国际市场销售石油，为德黑兰提供了一条急需的经济生命线。图为伊朗民众周一在德黑兰一处公园里聊天。 （法新社）

（华盛顿/德黑兰综合电）美国宣布暂时解除对伊朗石油实施了数十年的制裁，允许伊朗以美元销售石油，为期60天。德黑兰说，美国也同意解冻总值120亿美元的伊朗资产。这是美伊谈判取得进展的最新迹象。

不过，伊朗尚未在核问题上做出重大让步就获得实质回报，引起了关注和担忧。虽然美国称伊朗已同意让国际原子能机构核查人员重新入境，但伊朗否认。

美国和伊朗上周签署停火谅解备忘录后，星期天（6月21日）在瑞士谈判，针对60天内达成最终协议的路线图达成共识。美国随即在星期一（22日）发布一般许可文件，允许生产、交付和销售伊朗原油以及石化和石油产品，有效期直到8月21日。

这是美国数十年来，首次允许伊朗以美元出售石油，对急需外汇的德黑兰来说无疑是个好消息。彭博社引述消息报道，伊朗在美国发放许可前已开始联系印度、日本、韩国等亚洲国家的炼油商，并在确定得到豁免后立刻行动，清掉积压海上多时的油货。

伊朗首席谈判代表、议长卡利巴夫星期一说，美国在瑞士会谈中也同意，解冻两批各值60亿美元的伊朗资产。

他确认，美伊同意在霍尔木兹海峡建立协调机制，包括设立热线与协调中心来解决相关问题。但他强调，伊朗继续管理霍尔木兹海峡，这条运输要道“永远不会回到战前状态”。

美国首席谈判代表、副总统万斯同日说，德黑兰同意允许国际原子能机构核查人员重返伊朗。美国总统特朗普星期二在社媒上也说：“大家都清楚，伊朗会同意接受大规模武器核查，以确保它在未来长期保持核诚信。”

然而，伊朗外交部发言人巴加埃过后说，目前没有安排核查人员检查伊朗受损核设施的计划。

针对特朗普称伊朗资金解冻后只能用于购买美国的农产品，巴加埃说，伊朗将根据国家利益与自身需要，自由使用被解冻的资产。

特朗普前一天在白宫说，伊朗资金解冻后不能用于军事用途，而须向美国购买粮食，因为伊朗人民正在挨饿。他还警告德黑兰，如果不遵守谅解备忘录，就会再次遭到打击，即使这可能使全球经济面临崩溃风险。他称：“核武器比大萧条更糟糕。”

伊朗总统佩泽希齐扬星期二强调：“谈判进程是否能取得进展，将以双方是否切实履行所承担的责任为衡量标准。任何脱离商定文本的言论都无助于推进谈判。”

美伊在瑞士的技术谈判星期二继续。伊朗常驻联合国日内瓦办事处代表巴赫雷尼当天说，各方将在未来数日成立两个工作组，分别负责解除制裁以及伊朗核活动相关事宜。

他强调，黎巴嫩是谅解备忘录毋庸置疑的一部分，任何违反这份协议的行为将给和谈进程带来挑战。可是，黎巴嫩媒体报道，以色列士兵当天又在黎南部城镇纳巴提耶开枪打死一人，另两人受伤。

美伊也同意设立一个冲突消除机制，确保黎巴嫩战事停止。但以色列强硬依旧，总理内坦亚胡、防长卡茨与国防军总参谋长扎米尔星期一发联合声明重申，以军将继续在黎南展开军事行动，以应对安全威胁，维护以方在当地的安全区。

环太平洋军演前夕 中美西太平洋军事对垒态势升温

2026年6月23日 20:14 / 联合早报

由美国盟友及伙伴国家参演的环太平洋军演6月24日登场前，中国海军辽宁舰编队率先完成40多天远海实战化训练后，22日返回山东青岛母港。图为辽宁舰在西太平洋参加军事演习的档案照片。 （路透社）

环太平洋军演星期三（6月24日）登场前，西太平洋海空动态已先行升温。美国盟友及伙伴国家参演舰艇陆续向夏威夷集结，中国海军辽宁舰编队则在完成40多天远海实战化训练后，星期一（22日）返回青岛母港。受访学者分析，这些动态既有例行演训成分，也反映中美在第一岛链以东进入新一轮军事体系竞争。

美国太平洋舰队宣布，2026年环太平洋军演将从6月24日持续至7月31日，31国约40艘水面舰、五艘潜艇、140架军机与逾2万5000人参与。

另一方面，美国主导的“勇敢之盾2026”演习也已于6月22日在关岛、北马里亚纳群岛、日本及马里亚纳群岛周边海空域展开，使西太平洋进入密集演训期。

中国海军星期一则宣布，辽宁舰编队这次赴南中国海、西太平洋等海空域，进行预警探测、岸海联合体系对抗、舰载机战术飞行、制空防空、对海打击、支援掩护及实弹使用等课目，并与两栖攻击舰编队展开体系融合训练。

澎湃新闻引述中国军事专家张军社分析，辽宁舰4月20日经台湾海峡前往南中国海；此后，编队自5月19日赴西太平洋相关海域开展训练，跨区域演训时间近两个月，“是辽宁舰入列以来时间最长的一次跨区域远海训练”，表明远海攻防体系作战能力得到进一步增强。

张军社也指出，辽宁舰编队与两栖攻击舰编队进行联合训练具有重要意义。航母编队可以夺取战场制空权和制海权，掩护两栖攻击舰等登陆作战编队实施登陆作战，这种演练能进一步提高中国海军对大型岛礁的立体登陆作战能力。

而在演训期间，中国官媒报道也提及，日本舰机多次近距离跟踪监视，滋扰挑衅。辽宁舰编队全程保持高度戒备状态，连续组织舰载机战斗起飞，灵活变换战斗队形，专业稳妥处置应对日本危险行径。

台湾淡江大学国际事务与战略研究所副教授林颖佑接受《联合早报》采访时指出，若从先前美菲4月下旬举行的“肩并肩”演习开始观察，美国已明确展现不单靠自身力量，而是结合菲律宾、日本等国共同应对北京。

他认为，北京当然不排除利用辽宁舰对美国作出回应，但辽宁舰毕竟是“上个世纪的产物”，“这个回应是不是有达到效果，我个人是存疑的，我个人会认为这个效果是很有限的”。

台湾国防安全研究院国家安全研究所研究员沈明室则认为，辽宁舰现已可越过第一岛链活动，但受限于补给能力与缺乏海外军事基地，不太可能长时间超越第二岛链；但未来若福建舰服役，解放军航母活动范围就可能进一步外推。

对于辽宁舰编队远洋演训的针对性，沈明室则说，北京目前未必希望与美国或周边国家硬碰硬，尤其近期美方强化第一岛链国家演训；北京若在南中国海或台海制造高调冲突，反而会坐实美日菲演习所防范的安全情境。

除了辽宁舰编队远洋实战演训外，在环太平洋军演登场前夕，中国央视《军情时间到》栏目上星期六（6月20日）也播出两场火箭军实战化演练，同样极具针对意味。

其中一场的画面更显示，东风17的发射车停靠在公路边起竖，导弹随即垂直发射升空。

值得注意的是，环太平洋军演不只是水面舰集结，也包括潜艇与反潜作战。林颖佑指出，这次可观察美军如何与盟国运用潜艇演练水下联合作战，因为若中国航母日后成为远海主力，对付航母最有效的方式之一，就是“从海底出击”。

此外，林颖佑也提到，当美国、日本及盟友舰队向演习海域集结，中方船舰与公务船活动不只是宣示存在，也涉及电子信号与行动样态搜集。

他说，美日会希望了解中国船只行动，以及船只是否使用电子信号；反过来，中国海军电子侦察船“开阳星号”已穿越大隅海峡进入太平洋，外界研判它可能前往环太平洋军演相关海域进行侦搜。“中美两边其实各自有各自的盘算。”

不过，沈明室指出，环太平洋演习毕竟是例行的大规模军演，“美国会避免说这好像是针对中国”；可如果武器增加，科目也不同，那当然就更有针对性意义。“比如说有海军远程导弹射击，或者是空海联合作战，而且是针对大国、大规模的联合作战”，那北京派出侦察船或无人机靠近演习外围进行情报搜集的可能性会升高。

整体而言，环太平洋军演前的西太平洋局势，已不只是中美航母或单舰对峙，而是两套军事体系同步展开。美国试图通过多国演训、分散部署与水下作战整合，把盟友和伙伴国家转化为可共同指挥与支援的海空网络；中国则以航母远海演训、跨岛链机动、侦察舰与电子侦察，测试第一岛链外围战场环境，并掌握美军及盟友的演训样态。

短期内，双方都不愿爆发军事冲突，但随着舰机活动密度升高、演习科目更趋复杂，围绕西太平洋的监侦竞争和海空接触风险仍将持续升高。

Why the Covid-19 documents Gabbard released don’t prove her claims about Fauci

2026-06-23T15:49:29.751Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/23/politics/covid-19-gabbard-fauci-claims

• Former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released internal documents she said prove Dr. Anthony Fauci funded research that sparked Covid-19.
• The documents include intelligence discussions about possible virus origins but provide no clear answers about how the pandemic began.
• The files also do not prove Gabbard’s assertions that Fauci manipulated intelligence or lied to Congress in 2024 testimony; the precise meaning of his 2024 comment to Congress is unclear.

AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.

On her final day as director of national intelligence last week, Tulsi Gabbard released internal documents that she claimed prove a series of damning facts about Dr. Anthony Fauci and the Covid-19 pandemic.

They don’t. The documents fall far short of corroborating various Gabbard claims about Fauci.

Most notably: The documents do not come close to proving that “Fauci Funded Wuhan Lab Research That Sparked COVID,” though that’s the assertion Gabbard’s team made in the bolded headline it used on the director’s official website announcing the document release. While the documents include some discussions within the intelligence community about the possible origins of Covid-19, they don’t provide any clear answers.

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Nor do the documents confirm Gabbard’s claim in a social media https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZxYpIauqSl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== last week, which was repeated on the website, that Fauci worked with intelligence officials “to suppress the truth about his actions.” And while the documents include summaries of advice and opinions Fauci offered the CIA during a 2021 briefing about the virus’ possible origins, they don’t show that he “manipulated intelligence.”

They also don’t prove Gabbard’s claim in the video that Fauci “lied to Congress in 2024,” though there can be reasonable debate about the accuracy of his six-word comment in question. The record shows that Fauci’s remark came at the end of a convoluted multi-question exchange, making the precise meaning of his words unclear.

Fauci retired from the federal government in 2022 after 38 years as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and two years as then-President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor. He did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

The documents released by Gabbard contain nothing remotely resembling proof on the question of how the virus originated – and certainly not proof for the bolded claim on the director’s website that “Fauci Funded Wuhan Lab Research That Sparked COVID.”

The first document in the files is a heavily redacted version of a May 2020 analysis from a federally funded laboratory in California that supports US intelligence agencies. The analysis, whose existence was reported in the media in 2021, found that “all of the necessary conditions” for an accidental release of a lab-modified virus were present at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in mid-to-late 2019, “specifically a coronavirus adapted to recognize human cell receptors.” The analysis placed “equal weight” on the theory that Covid-19 came from a lab modification as it did on the theory that the pandemic was sparked by a natural virus outbreak or a lab leak of a naturally-occurring virus.

The analysis is valid ammunition for people who felt some federal officials, scientists and news outlets were unduly dismissive of lab-leak theories at the time; it shows that some experts connected to the government were, from early in the pandemic, taking the idea seriously. However, the analysis clearly doesn’t prove that the pandemic was indeed caused by a lab leak, much less that it was caused by a lab leak that resulted from research Fauci funded.

In fact, the documents include a 2023 email in which an official whose name is redacted argues that the May 2020 analysis doesn’t substantiate its key claim that the Wuhan lab had “all of the necessary conditions” in mid-to-late 2019 for a leak of a lab-modified virus, saying “we do not now, nor did we back in 2020, have ANY reporting suggesting [Wuhan Institute of Virology]” had access to a potential precursor virus. And the documents also include a September 2020 email in which an official whose name is redacted says that “we do not see compelling evidence that China deliberately manufactured this virus, and there is no [intelligence community] consensus on whether an accidental lab release of a natural strain or a natural outbreak is more likely.”

What the documents show about the handling of a whistleblower complaint

The documents show internal discussions about how to handle a whistleblower complaint that claimed Fauci had lied to Congress when he testified in 2021 that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) “has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.” (There is disagreement among scientists about whether or not certain Wuhan work that was funded with NIH grant money constituted “gain-of-function research.”) While the documents may prompt valid questions about how the intelligence community handled the complaint, the documents do not show that Fauci worked to suppress it.

The documents show that on August 11, 2021, the acting inspector general for the intelligence community at the time, Tamara Johnson, wrote that the complaint wasn’t about an intelligence community matter – for one, Fauci wasn’t an intelligence community official – but also that there would be “no merit” in referring the complaint to the inspector general who watches health entities like Fauci’s.

Johnson wrote that the complaint having been made anonymously left them unable to follow up to get additional information, that the classified status of the complaint’s underlying information meant they could share only “very limited” information with the health inspector general, and that the fact there was already a public dispute about the accuracy of Fauci’s testimony made it “highly probable” that the health watchdog would already be aware of the allegation he had spoken inaccurately.

Five days later, a top lawyer in then-national intelligence director Avril Haines’ office, Christopher Fonzone, provided draft talking points for Haines that said “one idea” was for Johnson to transmit the whistleblower complaint to the health inspector general and make sure that official had access to the relevant intelligence. But three days later, Fonzone said they had decided to instead recommend referring the complaint to Xavier Becerra, then the Biden-appointed health secretary who oversaw the federal institute Fauci led.

The wording of Fonzone’s second email leaves it hard for an outsider to decipher why he was saying the change was made. (Fonzone wrote to Haines, “I think the key thing is that what we’ve seen is consistent with the point that Secretary Becerra made to you – that this is something they’ve considered and that Dr. Fauci has point he’s repeated about the NIH not funding gain-of-function at the WIV.”) Critics are entitled to make an argument that a referral to a political figure like a Cabinet secretary was tantamount to burying the complaint.

But the documents do not include anything showing that Fauci himself worked to get the intelligence community to refer the complaint to Becerra.

The documents contain informal summaries of a meeting Fauci had with people from the CIA in June 2021 on the subject of the possible origins of Covid-19. The meeting was described as a CIA briefing on the key points of a May 2021 intelligence analysis on the “elusive” origins of the pandemic.

One summary said Fauci recommended that the intelligence officials read an academic paper he believed showed “a clear indication of natural origins of COVID-19” – he consistently said in public comments that he believed the virus likely had a natural origin – and that the intelligence officials contact a group of US scientists who “closely follow this issue.”

The online statement from Gabbard’s team denounced the academic paper Fauci suggested and complained that Fauci “provided hand-picked” experts to advise the intelligence community. But the summary said the CIA was “already in contact/in the plans to contact some of these individuals,” and there is no indication from the documents that Fauci was issuing orders, making intelligence decisions or changing intelligence documents rather than simply expressing opinions to the CIA. Gabbard is free to make her argument that the documents show members of the intelligence community were too deferential to Fauci’s views, but that would be a flaw in their decision-making, not Fauci’s.

The summary also said Fauci suggested questions the CIA should ask about the cases of researchers at the Wuhan institute who had become sick, an apparent reference to the researchers believed to have fallen ill in the fall of 2019. And the summary said Fauci suggested that the CIA obtain key details of Chinese research on pangolins that the documents suggest the CIA mentioned to him in the meeting; there were questions at the time about whether these mammals might have been an intermediate host that transmitted the virus to humans.

The online statement from Gabbard’s team explained what she meant when she said in the video that the documents show he lied to Congress in 2024. It says the documents show he gave a false answer when asked at a committee hearing whether he had spoken to any US intelligence agency “concerning viral research.”

But the video of the committee hearing shows that the meaning of Fauci’s comment at the hearing was much less clear than Gabbard’s team suggests. Fauci uttered the words in question – “Not to my knowledge about Covid” – at the end of a convoluted multi-part exchange in which the final question did not use the words “concerning viral research.”

First, Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup asked him, “Are you or were you ever aware that the US State Department in 2005 issued warnings that the Chinese government was working on the creation of bioweapons?” Fauci said, “I was not aware of that.” Next, Wenstrup asked, “Did you ever discuss the Chinese bioweapons program with anyone in the intelligence community?” Fauci responded, “I’ve never discussed the Chinese bioweapons program, to my knowledge, with anybody.”

Then Wenstrup asked, “Before, during, or after the Covid-19 pandemic, did you speak to the FBI, CIA, DIA, or any US intelligence agency concerning viral research of any kind?” But he said “before,” without saying how long ago he was talking about, so Fauci returned to the subject of bioweapons and spoke of conversations he had with intelligence agencies amid the anthrax attacks back in 2001.

Eventually they arrived at this exchange:

Wenstrup: “But did you at any time talk to – concerning viral research of any kind?”

Fauci: Again, I say that at the time, that there was concern about the fact that al Qaeda may have been using or potentially using bioweapons. We had discussions with intelligence agencies about that possibility.”

Wenstrup: “Sure. But not as related to, say, Covid-19?”

Fauci: “Not to my knowledge about Covid.”

So … Wenstrup had been trying to get Fauci to say whether he talked to intelligence agencies about any viral research related to Covid-19. But because Fauci was speaking about two-decades-old discussions with intelligence agencies about anthrax and bioweapons before Wenstrup interjected with the final question (“But not as related to, say, Covid-19?”) that prompted the Fauci words in dispute (“Not to my knowledge about Covid”), and because Wenstrup didn’t use the words “concerning viral research” in that final question, Fauci’s words could be interpreted as a comment about whether he had talked with intelligence agencies in relation to Covid-19 as a bioweapon.

Nothing in the newly released documents shows that Fauci did talk about Covid-19 and bioweapons in the CIA meeting or with an intelligence agency at another time. So even if Fauci’s comments in the CIA meeting qualify as talking with the agency about viral research, these documents leave it far from indisputable that he lied to Congress.

In fairness to Fauci critics, the documents do suggest Fauci wasn’t telling the full story of the CIA meeting with his next comment in the exchange; he said that “after the investigations began about Covid, I was briefed by intelligence agencies about possibilities of there being activities going on in different laboratories; I was briefed by intelligence agencies.” The documents do describe the CIA meeting as a “briefing” for Fauci, but also show Fauci expressed various opinions to the CIA in addition to receiving information.

That doesn’t make the comment Gabbard’s team highlighted a lie – and, regardless, there’s no apparent basis for Gabbard’s Saturday claim on social media that “there is a path” to prosecuting Fauci over the 2024 testimony. Biden granted Fauci a pardon for any federal offenses that may have arisen from his government positions from 2014 through January 19, 2025.

CNN’s Brenda Goodman and Sarah Owermohle contributed to this article.

美国暂时豁免石油制裁 伊朗否认同意恢复核检查

2026年6月23日 20:16 / 联合早报

美国暂时允许伊朗在国际市场销售石油，为德黑兰提供了一条急需的经济生命线。图为伊朗民众周一在德黑兰一处公园里聊天。 （法新社）

（华盛顿/德黑兰综合电）美国宣布暂时解除对伊朗石油实施了数十年的制裁，允许伊朗以美元销售石油，为期60天。德黑兰说，美国也同意解冻总值120亿美元的伊朗资产。这是美伊谈判取得进展的最新迹象。

不过，伊朗尚未在核问题上做出重大让步就获得实质回报，引起了关注和担忧。虽然美国称伊朗已同意让国际原子能机构核查人员重新入境，但伊朗否认。

美国和伊朗上周签署停火谅解备忘录后，星期天（6月21日）在瑞士谈判，针对60天内达成最终协议的路线图达成共识。美国随即在星期一（22日）发布一般许可文件，允许生产、交付和销售伊朗原油以及石化和石油产品，有效期直到8月21日。

这是美国数十年来，首次允许伊朗以美元出售石油，对急需外汇的德黑兰来说无疑是个好消息。彭博社引述消息报道，伊朗在美国发放许可前已开始联系印度、日本、韩国等亚洲国家的炼油商，并在确定得到豁免后立刻行动，清掉积压海上多时的油货。

伊朗首席谈判代表、议长卡利巴夫星期一说，美国在瑞士会谈中也同意，解冻两批各值60亿美元的伊朗资产。

他确认，美伊同意在霍尔木兹海峡建立协调机制，包括设立热线与协调中心来解决相关问题。但他强调，伊朗继续管理霍尔木兹海峡，这条运输要道“永远不会回到战前状态”。

美国首席谈判代表、副总统万斯同日说，德黑兰同意允许国际原子能机构核查人员重返伊朗。美国总统特朗普星期二在社媒上也说：“大家都清楚，伊朗会同意接受大规模武器核查，以确保它在未来长期保持核诚信。”

然而，伊朗外交部发言人巴加埃过后说，目前没有安排核查人员检查伊朗受损核设施的计划。

针对特朗普称伊朗资金解冻后只能用于购买美国的农产品，巴加埃说，伊朗将根据国家利益与自身需要，自由使用被解冻的资产。

特朗普前一天在白宫说，伊朗资金解冻后不能用于军事用途，而须向美国购买粮食，因为伊朗人民正在挨饿。他还警告德黑兰，如果不遵守谅解备忘录，就会再次遭到打击，即使这可能使全球经济面临崩溃风险。他称：“核武器比大萧条更糟糕。”

伊朗总统佩泽希齐扬星期二强调：“谈判进程是否能取得进展，将以双方是否切实履行所承担的责任为衡量标准。任何脱离商定文本的言论都无助于推进谈判。”

美伊在瑞士的技术谈判星期二继续。伊朗常驻联合国日内瓦办事处代表巴赫雷尼当天说，各方将在未来数日成立两个工作组，分别负责解除制裁以及伊朗核活动相关事宜。

他强调，黎巴嫩是谅解备忘录毋庸置疑的一部分，任何违反这份协议的行为将给和谈进程带来挑战。可是，黎巴嫩媒体报道，以色列士兵当天又在黎南部城镇纳巴提耶开枪打死一人，另两人受伤。

美伊也同意设立一个冲突消除机制，确保黎巴嫩战事停止。但以色列强硬依旧，总理内坦亚胡、防长卡茨与国防军总参谋长扎米尔星期一发联合声明重申，以军将继续在黎南展开军事行动，以应对安全威胁，维护以方在当地的安全区。

FBI reveals why Trump White House UFC event went ahead despite alleged terror plot

Deputy Director Chris Raia said suspects were under surveillance and none were near Washington when the event was held

June 23, 2026 11:15am EDT / Fox News

By Morgan Phillips Fox News

FBI co-Deputy Director Chris Raia tells Fox News Digital that agents and the Secret Service had suspects under surveillance, made arrests ahead of the event and are still pursuing additional arrests as a sprawling investigation continues.

EXCLUSIVE: As federal agents raced to dismantle an alleged plot targeting President Donald Trump’s UFC Freedom 250 event, investigators were simultaneously making another critical determination: whether the White House event itself could safely go forward.

In a Monday interview with Fox News Digital, FBI Deputy Director Chris Raia said investigators believed they had sufficiently disrupted the alleged conspiracy before the event took place, arguing that agents were monitoring suspects and knew none were in the Washington area when the UFC event was held.

“We absolutely felt very comfortable moving (the UFC event) forward,” Raia said. “We were confident that we had disrupted that main plot.”

The FBI initially arrested five people accused of participating in the plot to kill lawmakers and attendees at the June 14 event. Since then, prosecutors have publicly identified two additional defendants, raising questions about why the event was allowed to proceed while investigators continued pursuing other alleged participants.

5 CHILLING DETAILS FROM THE ALLEGED WHITE HOUSE ATTACK PLOT TIED TO UFC EVENT

Raia said the additional defendants were “followers” rather than leaders of the conspiracy.

“We were confident that we had the leaders, the main plotters of that, so the rest of the folks were more of the followers that you’re seeing now.”

“There was a lot of security there,” Vice President JD Vance said during a June 16 appearance on Fox News’ “The Five.” “And it turns out the plot was like, not that advanced. They weren’t in town.”

The five suspects charged in an alleged plot targeting President Donald Trump and other officials during the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House. From left: Daniel K. Eskridge, Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, Bryan Omar Roa, Michael Alan Thomas and Tycen C. Proper.(Jacquelyn Martin- Pool/Getty Images)

The issue reportedly sparked tensions between federal agencies.

Two senior U.S. officials previously told Fox News that Secret Service leadership wanted to delay publicly disclosing the investigation until additional arrests could be made, fearing that revealing the probe could alert other subjects and complicate the ongoing case.

Raia said the FBI did not share those concerns, arguing that investigators were already monitoring both the alleged ringleaders and other suspected participants.

FBI NAMES SIXTH SUSPECT IN ALLEGED PLOT TO USE DRONES AND SNIPERS TO TARGET UFC FREEDOM 250 EVENT

“We had that contained or what I would call mitigated very early on even though we didn’t do the arrests,” he said. “We were watching the folks that were planning it. We had them under surveillance. And so we knew that nobody was even close to the DC area at the time that was happening.”

Despite reported disagreements over when to publicly disclose the investigation, Raia emphasized that the FBI and Secret Service worked closely throughout the case.

“That was a joint case with us and the Secret Service,” Raia said.

The agencies jointly assessed the threat before deciding the event could proceed, according to Raia.

“We all talked about that as a group and made that decision to move forward with the UFC 250 event,” he told Fox News Digital.

Deputy Secret Service Director Matthew Quinn, responding to questions about the case at an unrelated event, emphasized that the Secret Service had “led that investigation from the beginning” and suggested investigators intentionally avoided public disclosure while the case remained active.

“In order to maintain the integrity of the investigation and the security plan we chose not to leak it,” Quinn said during a June 16 press conference.

Raia, a career FBI agent and former head of the bureau’s New York Field Office, was appointed FBI co-deputy director in January after the departure of former Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Before leading the New York office, Raia served as one of the FBI’s top counterterrorism officials and has been with the bureau since 2003.

President Donald Trump seated between Dana White and the First Lady.(Evan Vucci/Reuters)

According to court records, the alleged conspirators first connected through a TikTok community known as “Vanguard of the Old” before moving their discussions to encrypted messaging platforms including Signal, Telegram and SimpleX. Investigators say members organized themselves into tiered roles that included frontline operators, drone operators, recruiters, logistics personnel and technical support.

Court records indicate the network extended well beyond the suspects initially charged. After obtaining a warrant for the phone of Ohio defendant Tycen Proper, investigators allegedly discovered a primary Signal chat containing approximately 19 participants, along with smaller operational chats organized by role and location.

Raia said the case is far from closed: 14 to 15 FBI field offices are assisting in the investigation.

“We’re going to continue to work that case aggressively,” he said. “You uncover one layer, and you see four more layers.”

The case also underscored one of the FBI’s biggest investigative challenges: encrypted communications platforms.

“That is a gap for us in encrypted communications platforms,” Raia said.

UFC Freedom 250 takes place on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Mon. June 15, 2026.(Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Raia said investigators attempt to penetrate those networks through confidential human sources, undercover employees and other lawful investigative techniques.

“We try to infiltrate, obviously, with CHSs, UCEs, again, inside the bounds of the Constitution,” he said, referring to “confidential human sources” and “undercover employees.”

But Raia acknowledged the FBI does not have visibility into every encrypted chat where criminal activity may be occurring.

In the UFC case, he pointed to Proper’s mother as the catalyst who helped investigators uncover the alleged conspiracy before it could advance further.

“We had a concerned parent that really launched this entire UFC 250 case off,” Raia said. “Concerned parent called in on her son.”

The tip ultimately led investigators to Proper’s phone and the alleged network of encrypted chats that prosecutors say contained discussions about drones, sniper positions, escape routes and attack planning. Without that initial call, Raia suggested, the alleged plot may have remained hidden inside encrypted platforms that continue to challenge law enforcement visibility.

The UFC case also reflects what FBI officials say is a broader shift in the threat landscape. Rather than large, hierarchical terrorist organizations, investigators are increasingly concerned about lone actors and small groups that can organize online, acquire commercially available technology and develop attack plans with little outside support.

“I’m less concerned about a mass 9/11 style attack than I am a lone single person, a single attacker,” he said.

While discussing security preparations for the FIFA World Cup, he described drone-based attacks as one of the FBI’s top concerns and warned that tactics seen on battlefields overseas could eventually migrate to the United States.

Investigators say they saw signs that the alleged network may have been considering targets beyond the White House UFC event.

In a newly unsealed court filing, an FBI agent said he believed messages exchanged among alleged conspirators referenced a potential attack on a FIFA World Cup match scheduled for July 3 in Kansas City, Missouri.

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“I think that is a threat that is emerging,” Raia said. “We have seen that overseas, and it’s only a matter of time for somebody brings that type of attack, that threat vector here to the United States.”

The alleged UFC plot illustrates many of those concerns. Prosecutors say the group allegedly used encrypted communications, divided members into specialized roles, discussed drone operations and coordinated activity across multiple states without relying on a traditional terrorist organization or foreign network.

This story is part of Fox News Digital’s exclusive interview with FBI Deputy Director Chris Raia. Additional reporting from the interview will be published in the coming days.

Fox News’ Mike Ruiz contributed to this report.

以色列前总理承认曾向伊朗走私星链助示威者

2026年6月23日 21:19 / 联合早报

伊朗当局曾数次切断公众的互联网接入，包括今年1月席卷全国的抗议活动，以及2月底开始的美伊战争期间。此前有报道称，一些伊朗人在断网期间转而使用星链服务。 （路透社）

以色列前总理贝内特星期二（6月23日）承认，以色列曾向伊朗走私星链（Starlink），以帮助反政府示威者。但他说，现任总理内坦亚胡领导的政府未能落实相关计划。

路透社报道，贝内特曾于2021年至2022年担任以色列总理，他在耶路撒冷举行的JNS国际政策峰会上向与会者表示，他曾启动一项采购并将数万台星链接收器走私入境伊朗的计划，以确保伊朗互联网和社交网络的持续运行。

伊朗此前曾指责以色列和美国走私星链，以破坏其安全。星链并未获得在伊朗运营的许可，但马斯克此前曾说星链已在伊朗投入使用。

贝内特说，走私星链的目的是帮助示威者协调行动，并最终推翻伊朗政府。

“不幸的是，现任无能的以色列政府停止了这项工作。抗议发生时，基础设施还没到位。”

伊朗当局曾数次切断公众的互联网接入，包括今年1月席卷全国的抗议活动，以及2月底开始的美伊战争期间。

路透社此前报道称，一些伊朗人在断网期间转而使用星链服务。

贝内特是右翼政党的领导人，他计划参加定于10月举行的大选。他说，以色列和其他中东国家需要“联合起来”，击退并最终推翻伊朗政府。

“这是一个腐朽、陈旧、脱节、无能的政权，它会像苏联一样瓦解。”

Tech stocks tumble for a second day. Here’s what is behind the selloff.

June 23, 2026 / 10:05 AM EDT / CBS News

A major tech selloff stretched into a second day Tuesday as investors questioned whether artificial intelligence will generate the profits that have fueled lofty valuations for companies such as Alphabet, SpaceX and Nvidia.

After the opening bell, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slumped 628 points, or 2.4%, to 25,537. The decline marks a second day of losses, with the Nasdaq closing 1.3% lower on Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 305 points, or 0.6%, to 51,407 while the S&P 500 tumbled 1.6%.

For months, Wall Street has embraced tech stocks, helping drive the market to record highs on optimism that companies pouring billions into AI would translate those investments into faster revenue growth and higher profits. Investors are now demanding more evidence that the spending will pay off.

On Tuesday, several of the stocks that have powered the market’s rally came under pressure as skepticism grew.

“For a long time, the market treated AI spending as unquestionably positive,” Nigel Green, CEO of the financial consultancy deVere Group, said in an email Tuesday. “Investors are now becoming more demanding. They want evidence that unprecedented spending will translate into unprecedented profits.”

Major tech stocks fell sharply. SpaceX shares dropped $4.09, or 2.7%, to $150.51 after plunging 16% Monday. Earlier this month, investors piled into the stock after the company’s initial public offering, sending it above $200 within days.

The stock, however, has slumped for four consecutive trading days as investors fret over whether the company can justify its valuation of more than $2 trillion.

Global effects

The tech rout spread beyond the U.S., with South Korea’s Kospi tumbling 10.0% to 8,203.84. Signs of greater regulatory scrutiny in the country’s semiconductor sector also added to the hand-wringing.

Bret Kenwell, a U.S. investment and options Analyst at eToro, told CBS News that a broader weakness and global volatility in tech stocks is weighing on U.S. shares. On Tuesday, chip-maker Nvidia fell 3.4%, while Broadcom tumbled 2.4%.

Alphabet, part of the Magnificent Seven, also came under pressure in early trading, falling 1.2%.

While the stock sell-off ignited sharp declines, Green said he doesn’t believe markets are in trouble.

“What we’re witnessing now is investors demanding proof instead of promises,” he said. “That shift can be uncomfortable, but it’s ultimately healthy.”

Anxiety over interest rates

Anxiety is also growing that rate hikes later this year could hamper growth. The Federal Reserve’s rate-setting committee last week opened the door to an increase in borrowing costs in 2026, as it seeks to keep a lid on accelerating inflation caused by months of rising oil prices caused by the Iran war.

Economists are forecasting that a measure of inflation for U.S. consumers — due out Thursday from the government — sped up to 4.1% in May from 3.8% in April.

Traders are betting on a nearly 90% chance the Fed will raise its federal funds rate at least once by the end of the year, up from the 57% chance seen just a week ago, according to data from CME Group.

Edited by Aimee Picchi

The Associated Press contributed to this report.