Iran Strikes Israel, French Open, & Disease-Fighting Mosquitoes

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Adam Rogers
June 08, 2026

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Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs Sunday, defying Washington's request to stand down and killing two people. Iran retaliated by launching missiles at Israel for the first time since the ceasefire took effect in April. Israel intercepted all of them but warned its defenses are "not hermetic." No casualties or damage were reported in Israel.
Hezbollah, which rejected a ceasefire agreement reached in US-hosted talks between Lebanon and Israel, fired at northern Israel earlier in the day — the trigger Israel cited for the Beirut strike. Iran has made ending the Lebanon conflict a condition of any broader deal with Washington. Trump said Sunday he wants a "more surgical attack on Hezbollah" but is "not demanding" Lebanon be part of an overall Iran ceasefire. Iran warned that attacks on Israel would continue if Lebanon strikes do not stop.
Mediation efforts continued despite the escalation, with Pakistan's interior minister visiting Iran and Egypt and Qatar discussing proposed elements of a US-Iran agreement. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed and the US blockade of Iranian ports continues, keeping global energy supplies under strain.

Alexander Zverev ended a painful run of Grand Slam near-misses Sunday, winning the French Open with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 victory over No. 10 seed Flavio Cobolli. It was the German's fourth Grand Slam final and first title after three straight final losses.
The field was significantly depleted by the second week. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz withdrew with injury, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner cramped out in the second round, and Novak Djokovic fell in the third. By the fourth round, Zverev was the only top-10 player remaining. Cobolli, his least accomplished final opponent, deflated in the fifth set after holding momentum from a tiebreak win in the fourth.
On the women's side, 19-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva claimed her first Grand Slam title with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska. Andreeva became the youngest French Open women's champion since Monica Seles in 1992. Chwalinska, ranked 114th entering the tournament, will jump to approximately 21st in the world rankings with the win.

Bumble bees have solved a novel tool-use problem without any prior training, according to a study published in Science. The finding is the first time this kind of problem-solving has been demonstrated in an insect, which has a brain far smaller than the animals traditionally studied for intelligence.
In the experiment, bees learned that a blue artificial flower signaled a reward. When researchers moved the flower to the ceiling of a transparent arena, the bees rolled a ball underneath it and climbed on top to reach it. The finding mirrors the classic "box-and-banana" problem, in which chimpanzees stack boxes to reach an out-of-reach banana. Researchers also ruled out accidental success by hiding the flower while bees moved the ball.
The findings challenge the assumption that this ability is restricted to large-brained vertebrates. Researchers caution that the study does not mean bees think like humans. Still, it suggests that spontaneous, goal-directed problem-solving may be far more widespread in the animal kingdom than previously believed.

President Trump walked out of a taped NBC "Meet the Press" interview after host Kristen Welker pressed him for evidence backing his claims about Jan. 6 rioters and election fraud. (More)

At least 12 people were shot near a neighborhood festival in Toledo, Ohio, Saturday evening. Police believe two shooters fired at each other. Two victims are in critical condition; no suspects are in custody. (More)

California's two biggest primary races remain unresolved. Xavier Becerra has advanced to the governor's race in November, while the LA mayoral runoff spot is still too close to call between Spencer Pratt and Nithya Raman. (More)

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippines early Monday, prompting tsunami warnings with waves up to 10 feet possible along parts of the Philippine coast. (More)

World leaders and six surviving veterans gathered in Normandy on Saturday to mark the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, honoring the 160,000 Allied troops who landed on French beaches in 1944 to liberate Western Europe. (More)

More than a million people attended an open-air mass with Pope Leo in Madrid on Sunday, where he said that faith and contempt for others cannot coexist. (More)

US stock markets closed lower on Friday (S&P -2.64%, Nasdaq -4.18%, Dow -1.35%) due to a heavy selloff of chip stocks. (More)

Italy's Banco BPM said it wants to merge with Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, a deal that would create Italy's second-largest bank worth roughly $58 billion. (More)

Google agreed to pay SpaceX $920 million a month for AI computing access through 2029, the company disclosed Friday. The deal comes a week before SpaceX's IPO, which is targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation (More)

Golden Tempo won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Springs, completing the Triple Crown with jockey Jose Ortiz aboard, a month after winning the Kentucky Derby. (More)

Carolina scored three goals in 39 seconds in the third period Saturday, a Stanley Cup Final record, to erase a 4-0 Vegas lead before losing in double overtime. Vegas leads 2-1. (More)

Nelly Korda won the US Women's Open on Sunday at Riviera, edging Charley Hull and Gaby Lopez by one shot for her second straight major and fourth of her career. (More)

Researchers confirmed that fossil fragments found in the UK belong to the largest scorpion ever, a 3-foot-long predator that roamed England and Wales 415 million years ago. (More)

The CDC warned that Central Africa's Ebola outbreak could reach 20,000 or more cases, potentially rivaling the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak that killed more than 11,000 people. (More)

Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina reversed new-onset type 1 diabetes in mice using a modified stem cell therapy that reprograms the immune system rather than just managing blood sugar. Human trials are underway. (More)

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