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Israel鈥檚 prime minister authorized direct negotiations with Lebanon. The Jerusalem Post reported that negotiations between Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States would begin Tuesday in Washington. Several international leaders say that if Israel doesn鈥檛 cease strikes on Lebanon 鈥� which Beirut said killed 303 people Wednesday 鈥� they could imperil peace talks between Iran and the U.S. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated there is no ceasefire in Lebanon. A Hezbollah lawmaker signaled the group鈥檚 opposition to the negotiations, adding that Lebanon should insist upon a ceasefire as a precondition for talks.

First Lady Melania Trump delivered remarks from the White House Thursday. She denied any relationship with Jeffrey Epstein or his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, saying that the 鈥渓ies鈥� linking her with Mr. Epstein 鈥渘eed to end today.鈥� Ms. Trump claimed that she only had a casual email correspondence with Ms. Maxwell. 鈥淚 am not Epstein鈥檚 victim,鈥� said Ms. Trump. 鈥淓pstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump鈥�. Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time.鈥� It was unclear what prompted Ms. Trump鈥檚 statement.

New York City blocks self-driving taxis. Taxi service Waymo suspended trials of its eight autonomous vehicles in New York City because the city didn鈥檛 renew testing permits. The inflection point, which mirrors government and labor-union resistance to autonomous taxis in Boston and Washington, D.C., is over concerns about the reliability of artificial intelligence and its impact on jobs. Asked about the permits, Mayor Zohran Mamdani signaled support for his city鈥檚 180,000 licensed taxi and limousine drivers. Waymo operates in 11 U.S. cities. Its safety data claims 92% fewer serious injury crashes than human-driven cars in those areas.

Federal judge finds that the Pentagon is violating his court order.聽U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman sided with The New York Times earlier this month in deciding that the Pentagon鈥檚 new credential policy violated journalists鈥� constitutional rights to free speech and due process. He has now sided again with the Times in saying that the Pentagon had tried to evade his ruling by putting in new rules that expel all reporters from the building unless guided by escorts. Mr. Friedman had ordered Pentagon officials to reinstate the press credentials of seven Times reporters and stressed that his decision applies to 鈥渁ll regulated parties.鈥澛�鈥� The Associated Press

Massachusetts advances strict social media ban for teens. The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed one of the strictest social media bans in the U.S. The legislation, which must be approved by the state Senate and signed by the governor before becoming law, bans cellphones in schools, prohibits children younger than age 14 from using social media, and requires parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds seeking to make accounts. Similar laws in Florida and Ohio have faced First Amendment challenges in court. Lawmakers in California have mulled a stricter ban for children under age 16.
Our coverage: What鈥檚 behind the global push to ban social media for kids.

鈥� Compiled by Monitor writers around the world

As he prepares to lead the U.S. delegation in Pakistan to try to reach a peace agreement with Iran, Vice President JD Vance鈥檚 longtime anti-interventionist stance could help build trust with the Iranians. But Mr. Vance also could end up taking the blame if talks fall apart.

Weeks of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah have been devastating for Lebanon, where more than a million people are displaced 鈥� and hundreds have been killed. Now, Israel and Lebanon are moving toward possible peace talks.

Delegates from the U.S. and Iran are preparing to meet in Pakistan, where the world hopes they can turn a fragile ceasefire into lasting peace. But can you build peace without trust?

Democratic voters in Maine are outraged and alarmed about the Trump administration and are looking for a candidate who can meet this political moment.聽With relatively little daylight between Gov. Janet Mills and oysterman Graham Platner on issues, the nomination fight appears to be coming down to experience and style.聽

Alice Coltrane was a multi-instrumentalist performer before she met John Coltrane. She was shaped by the musical upbringing she found in the Detroit public schools and in her parents' church. A 1970 trip to India proved to have a lasting effect on her music.聽 聽

If talks planned between Iran and the United States take place Saturday 鈥� a big if, given their fragile ceasefire 鈥� they will be the first direct negotiations between the two countries in a decade. That hints at how seriously both sides take this diplomatic moment of peacemaking.

It also suggests Iran, whose leadership and weaponry took a blow during the 38-day war, might be open to making a critical concession that could shape the future of warfare worldwide. In its 10-point agenda for the talks, Iran set conditions under which it would commit to not building nuclear weapons.

Such a bold step would be welcome progress right now. Many of the world鈥檚 safeguards against nations acquiring nuclear weapons have eroded, especially as doubts rise about U.S. defense guarantees to allies. And Russia not only threatened nuclear attacks during the Ukraine war, but, in 2023, also suspended its participation in the New START pact, which capped the number of deployed warheads between Russia and the U.S. That treaty lapsed in February of this year.

A number of nations might now be thinking of acquiring atomic weapons. If Iran actually gives up its nuclear aspirations, it would set a helpful precedent to restore the norms of nuclear nonproliferation that were achieved in the decades after World War II. The prospect of Iran taking that step depends on how much the regime puts its survival ahead of building a nuclear weapon.

Iran knows that the U.S., after striking the country鈥檚 nuclear facilities twice in one year, is willing to do so again. For its part, Israel says that all of Iran鈥檚 enriched uranium will be removed 鈥渆ither through agreement, or by renewed fighting.鈥� China, too, might play a role. As Iran鈥檚 largest oil customer, it does not want to see the Middle East turn into a region with countries seeking atomic bombs.

Within the regime, divisions over making this concession are evident. The English version of its negotiating agenda with the U.S., for example, did not include a condition contained in the Farsi-language version made public inside Iran 鈥� 鈥渢he acceptance of Iran鈥檚 uranium enrichment鈥� 鈥� according to David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security.

In 2003, Iran did commit to ending its dedicated nuclear weapons program. The then-supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, justified the move on religious grounds, although Iran experts say the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a bigger reason. Moves by Iran since then to revive its nuclear program helped lead to the Israeli and U.S. attacks in 2025 and 2026.

Much more than a resumption of the war or the rising price of fuel is at stake in the talks between the U.S. and Iran. The world also hopes to continue a record it can be proud of: There has not been a nuclear weapon used during war in more than 80 years.