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The world reacted to the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear sites. Global leaders responded with shock and calls for restraint. Several close allies, including Britain, urged a return to the negotiating table while acknowledging the threat posed by Iran鈥檚 nuclear program. Iran said it reserved the right to 鈥渞esist with full force.鈥� Some observers warned that the future of worldwide efforts to contain the spread of nuclear weapons by peaceful means would be at stake in the days ahead. 鈥� The Associated Press
Our coverage: We look at what the strikes mean for the war and聽why Iranians don't respond well to humiliation.

NATO members agreed to boost defense spending 鈥� sans Spain. Days before the military alliance is set to gather at a summit in The Hague, Spain has reached a deal to be excluded from a new defense spending target of 5% of GDP. Last year, Spain spent an estimated 1.28% on defense, making it the alliance鈥檚 lowest spender. Prime Minister Pedro S谩nchez called the 5% target 鈥渋ncompatible with our worldview.鈥� 鈥� AP

A suicide bomber detonated himself at a Greek Orthodox church in Syria. The explosion in Dweil鈥檃 in the outskirts of Damascus took place Sunday as people were praying inside the Mar Elias Church. At least 22 people were reportedly killed and dozens more wounded. The attack was the first of its kind in Syria in years, and comes as Damascus under its de facto Islamist rule is trying to win the support of minorities. 鈥� AP

Businesses are canceling billions of dollars鈥� worth of clean energy projects.聽According to an analysis today by the nonpartisan energy group E2, companies have canceled $15.5 billion in new factories and electricity projects across the United States since January 1, including $1.4 billion in May. U.S. lawmakers are preparing to vote on a massive spending and budget bill that in its current form eliminates most clean energy tax incentives for consumers and manufacturers. 鈥� Staff

Mahmoud Khalil was released from detention. The U.S. government was ordered Friday to free the former Columbia University graduate student from immigration detention on bail. He had been held since March while the Trump administration sought to deport him over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. Mr. Khalil is not accused of breaking any laws and vowed to continue protesting Israel and the war in Gaza. 鈥� AP

Texas is requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in public classrooms. The new state law, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday, is expected to draw a legal challenge from critics who consider it an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. A similar law in Louisiana was blocked when a federal appeals court ruled Friday that it was unconstitutional. Arkansas also has a similar law that has been challenged in federal court. 鈥� AP
Our coverage: We looked at the role of the Bible in public schools in a cover story last December.

Harvard can keep its international students 鈥� for now. A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration鈥檚 efforts to prohibit Harvard University from hosting foreign students while the case is decided. Harvard sued the Department of Homeland Security in May after the agency withdrew the school鈥檚 certification to host international students and issue paperwork for their visas. 鈥� AP

U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 public demand that Iran tender its 鈥渦nconditional surrender鈥� is a painful echo of past humiliations.聽When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was forced to accept a 1988 ceasefire to end the Iraq war, he rued having to drink 鈥渢he poisoned chalice鈥� 鈥撀犅燼nd never spoke in public again. In recent days, Iranian national sentiment has risen, which appears due in no small part to President Trump鈥檚 hectoring manner and condescending tone, which makes the proud nation even less likely to concede, say analysts.

A little more than a week after Israel went to war with Iran, the United States struck three key Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday night in an attack that could reshape the Middle East. The White House portrayed the strikes as meant to avoid drawing the U.S. into a 鈥渇orever war.鈥� But Tehran has already retaliated against Israel and shows no sign yet of acceding. If Iran becomes a quagmire, it will take America鈥檚 eyes off of China and Russia, says Vali Nasr, a professor of international affairs at Johns Hopkins.

Related story: Israel had been hoping for years to have a chance to bomb Iran鈥檚 nuclear facilities, which it said could produce a nuclear weapon. Washington has always nixed such plans 鈥� until now.聽Our Patterns columnist Ned Temko explains.

Ukraine鈥檚 northeastern Sumy region is bearing the brunt of Russia鈥檚 summer offensive. Its progress is slow but enough to force 100 Ukrainian civilians to flee their homes each day for safer locations. Hanging over everything is Ukrainians鈥� awareness that U.S. aid is almost certain to end. But they are not complaining about betrayal. 鈥淲e understand that the U.S. wants to be free of all these global problems like Ukraine,鈥� says Mykhailo Samus, director of the New Geopolitics Research Center in Kyiv.

The Democrats鈥� choice for a New York City mayoral nominee 鈥� a damaged former governor or a Democratic socialist with a thin record 鈥� could point to whether the party鈥檚 leftists or moderates have the upper hand going forward. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is fending off a late-surging challenge from Zohran Mamdani, an assemblymember from Queens who has galvanized the city鈥檚 young, left-wing voters. He has pledged to freeze rents, make buses free, and build more affordable housing.

Nearly half a year since a wildfire swept through the Greater Los Angeles community of Altadena, residents are asking, Should they return and rebuild? Can they afford it? And what good might rise from the literal ashes of their former lives?聽Often, the spotlight on communities impacted by such events starts and ends in the immediate aftermath.聽The Monitor decided to take a longer-term view,聽following families along Olive Avenue as they navigate what comes next.

When the top national leaders of the world鈥檚 most powerful security alliance meet June 24-25, they will be asked to examine the very definition of security. New threats and challenges, such as climate change, have upended old ideas that troops and weapons are enough.

In particular, the 32 member states of NATO will decide not only whether to commit to spending 3.5% of their national income on military forces but also whether to tack on 1.5% for a broad notion of security that largely relies on civilian society.

The proposed total percentage for a NATO-wide commitment 鈥� 5% of gross domestic product for security 鈥� would be up from the current obligation of 2% for traditional defense. In recent months, the Trump administration has demanded such an increase from its allies in Europe and Canada to equalize spending with the United States.

The alliance鈥檚 civilian leader, a former Dutch prime minister, is on board with defining new concepts of security. 鈥淭he home front and the front line are now one and the same,鈥� said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in a speech this month.

NATO has moved toward a whole-of-society resilience since Russia鈥檚 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the first full-scale land war in Europe since World War II. In resisting advances by the larger Russian military, Ukraine has shown the importance of nontraditional, civilian-led defenses.

It has beefed up infrastructure, such as trains, to move military forces. It has improved integrity in government by cracking down on corruption in the military to ensure efficient use of weapons and to keep troop morale high. It has encouraged freedom and creativity for engineers to design innovative drones crucial to winning on the battlefield. And it has used truth-telling and transparency to fight off Russian meddling and misinformation in cyberspace.

Such values, which are key to new meanings of security, are difficult to buy. Yet they are essential for NATO to defend its democracies. 鈥淲ar is no longer fought at a distance,鈥� said Mr. Rutte. 鈥淥ur societies and militaries are in this together.鈥�