June 12 2025
Iran Tensions; GOP Grills Governors; House Unveils Rescission; Fatal 787 Crash; China Rare Earth Exports
Nuclear Talks Imperiled as Iran Escalates Enrichment, Israel Weighs Military Strike
GOP to Grill Democratic Governors on Immigration Policies Amid Nationwide Protests
House GOP Unveils Novel "Rescission" Package, Seeking to Claw Back $9.4 Billion
Fatal 787 Crash in India Puts Boeing Safety Record Back in Spotlight
China Imposes Six-Month Limit on Rare-Earth Licenses for U.S. Firms
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1. Nuclear Talks Imperiled as Iran Escalates Enrichment, Israel Weighs Military Strike
A. Iran said it would open a new uranium enrichment facility and increase its production of highly enriched fissile material after the U.N. atomic agency member states declared Tehran had failed to comply with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, casting a fresh shadow over struggling U.S.-Iran nuclear talks. Iran’s announcement comes ahead of a sixth round of nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran expected on Sunday. President Trump said on Monday he had grown less confident about striking a deal with Tehran. The International Atomic Energy Agency board resolution, which passed by 19-3, is the first time Iran has been found in noncompliance with its nuclear duties in 20 years. The vote was called over Iran’s repeated refusal over the last six years to explain the presence of undeclared nuclear material in Iran. The U.S. says it has no evidence Iran has decided to develop a nuclear weapon but U.S. officials say it could take Iran just a few months to do so. U.S. intelligence officials said last year it was becoming more likely Iran might decide to build a bomb and that Tehran was conducting work that could help it do so.
B. Israel appears to be preparing to launch an attack soon on Iran, according to officials in the United States and Europe, a step that could further inflame the Middle East and derail or delay efforts by the Trump administration to broker a deal to cut off Iran’s path to building a nuclear bomb. The concern about a potential Israeli strike and the prospect of retaliation by Iran led the United States on Wednesday to withdraw diplomats from Iraq and authorize the voluntary departure of U.S. military family members from the Middle East.
WSJ, NYT
U.S.-Iran Tensions Rise as Military Families Evacuated from Iraq
Trump Administration Orders Diplomatic Withdrawal While Oil Markets Surge on War Fears
Greg Loving
2. GOP to Grill Democratic Governors on Immigration Policies Amid Nationwide Protests
Congressional Republicans are set on Thursday to question three Democratic governors about their states’ immigration policies, amplifying a partisan clash as President Trump continues a showdown with California officials and anti-deportation protests spread across the country. The three governors — Tim Walz of Minnesota, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York — were called to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform long before the unrest in Los Angeles, which began last week with protests over workplace raids and escalated after Mr. Trump sent Marines and National Guard troops to the city. But House Republicans are all but certain to point to the scenes of violent clashes in California and elsewhere as they seek to vilify Democratic officials over immigration policies that Mr. Trump and his allies in Congress claim shield criminals.
NYT
3. House GOP Unveils Novel "Rescission" Package, Seeking to Claw Back $9.4 Billion
The House is set to vote Thursday on a package of funding cuts inspired by the U.S. DOGE Service that until recently was overseen by Elon Musk. The clawbacks, totaling $9.4 billion, take aim at foreign aid and funding for PBS and NPR, among other things. It could be the first in a series of similar rescission packages. At the White House, President Donald Trump is expected to sign a measure Thursday that blocks California’s first-in-the-nation rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
Washington Post
4. Fatal 787 Crash in India Puts Boeing Safety Record Back in Spotlight
A. Air India Boeing 787 carrying more than 200 people bound for London Crashes in India
B. The crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger jet in western India on Thursday is renewing scrutiny of company’s safety record after a yearslong quality crisis. An Air India passenger plane that was headed to London crashed in western India on Thursday, the airline said on social media. Air India said 242 passengers and crew were onboard the plane when it crashed. These include 169 Indians, 53 British, seven Portuguese and a Canadian. There was no immediate information about survivors. Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes have experienced operational problems in the past with passengers onboard, resulting in injuries. But there has not been a fatality recorded in previous incidents involving the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. “We are aware of initial reports and are working to gather more information,” Boeing said in a statement. The crash comes as Boeing is still wending through a yearslong legal saga over two deadly crashes of its 737 Max plane in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. The company reached a deal with the Justice Department last month, which would spare the company from taking criminal responsibility for the crashes. Boeing would still have to admit to obstructing federal oversight, pay a fine, contribute to a fund for the families of the victims and invest in safety and quality programs. The deal, which must still be approved by a judge, was opposed by many of the families of the crash victims. In April 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating claims made by a Boeing engineer who said that sections of the fuselage of the 787 Dreamliner, the model involved in the crash in India on Thursday, were improperly fastened together and could break apart mid-flight after thousands of trips. Boeing said at the time it had done extensive testing on the Dreamliner and “determined that this is not an immediate safety of flight issue.” Kelly Ortberg, the company’s chief executive, described 2025 as “our turnaround year” in a message to employees in April, when the company released better-than-expected quarterly financial results. The company’s shares slid as much as 8 percent in premarket trading on Thursday.
NYT
5. China Imposes Six-Month Limit on Rare-Earth Licenses for U.S. Firms
China is putting a six-month limit on rare-earth export licenses for U.S. automakers and manufacturers, according to people familiar with the matter, giving Beijing leverage if trade tensions flare up again while adding to uncertainty for American industry. Beijing’s agreement to temporarily restore rare-earth licenses was one of the key breakthroughs in the latest round of intense trade talks in London, but the six-month limit illustrated how each side is retaining the tools to easily escalate tensions again. In exchange for the Chinese easing rare-earth curbs for now, the people said, U.S. negotiators agreed to relax some recent restrictions on the sale to China of products such as jet engines and related parts, as well as ethane, a byproduct of natural gas and oil drilling important in manufacturing plastics.
WSJ
June 12, 1987: President Reagan challenges Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall”
In one of his most famous Cold War speeches, President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down” the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the repressive Communist era in a divided Germany. In 1945, following Germany’s defeat in World War II, the nation’s capital, Berlin, was divided into four sections, with the Americans, British and French controlling the western region and the Soviets gaining power in the eastern region. In May 1949, the three western sections came together as the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), with the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) being established in October of that same year. In 1952, the border between the two countries was closed and by the following year East Germans were prosecuted if they left their country without permission. In August 1961, the Berlin Wall was erected by the East German government to prevent its citizens from escaping to the West. Between 1949 and the wall’s inception, it’s estimated that over 2.5 million East Germans fled to the West in search of a less repressive life.
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Sources
- https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-says-it-will-scale-up-nuclear-work-after-u-n-atomic-agency-vote-66dc9bcb?mod=hp_lead_pos2
- https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/us/politics/iran-us-iraq-diplomats-middle-east.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/us/politics/republicans-governors-hochul-walz-immigration.html
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/12/trump-presidency-news/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/business/boeing-787-dreamliner-crash-safety-record.html
- https://www.wsj.com/world/china/beijing-puts-six-month-limit-on-its-ease-of-rare-earth-export-licenses-ec8277ed?st=pBeVup&reflink=article_copyURL_share