Today is Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
It is the 168th day of the year.
197 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
NOTABLE & NOTEWORTHY: The latest on Israel’s war in Iran.
A juror gets dismissed in SEAN COMBS’ trial and ERIC DANE opens up about his ALS. More in SHOWBIZ.
There is no “Everybody Loves Raymond” reboot in the works. Details in CASTING CALL.
Senior Royals step out on Garter Day. Details in ROYALS.
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Here’s the latest on Israel’s war on the Islamic Republic of Iran:
– The Wall Street Journal reports that Iran’s government has delivered messages to both the United States and Israel that it wants to negotiate an end to the targeted bombing raids. Publicly, Iranian officials say they will not engage in any negotiations while Israel’s campaign continues. Israeli officials have publicly said they have two full weeks of attacks planned before considering easing up.
– An official notice from the US State Department has warned any Americans in Iran to leave immediately, and that if they can’t, to shelter in place for an indefinite period of time.
– Israel’s government has announced full control of Iran’s airspace after destroying its missile defense capabilities and decimating jets parked on the ground. One of those attacks appears to have hit Iran’s state media headquarters while an anchor was on air. WATCH >
– An Israeli outlet reports that VLADIMIR PUTIN requested last week’s phone call with PRESIDENT TRUMP at Iran’s request. Afterward, Putin signalled to Iran’s regime that their control of the country is “in danger.” Putin has since ordered the evacuation of Russian personnel from its embassy in Tehran.
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In a video livestream on X yesterday, BILLY MCFARLAND pushed back on the news reports that derailed the second FYRE FESTIVAL that had been scheduled for the end of May in Mexico.
McFarland recounted how Bernardo Cueto, the Secretary of Tourism for the municipality in Mexico where the event was to be held, told ABC News in April that his department had no knowledge or record of Fyre Festival 2 taking place.
McFarland then proved this was simply not true. He provided emails, calendar invitations, and public records provided by Ceuto’s tourism department confirming the details. “I have 38 emails with this person,” McFarland said.
To further make the point, McFarland said that a documentary crew has been following him and his team, and that there is video footage of these meetings.
In the meantime, McFarland said he’s not giving up on making money specifically to repay the participants, vendors, and workers who were bilked out of money the first time around. A much smaller “Fyre Hotel” popup event, with just a few dozen participants that was announced earlier this month, continues to charge forward for September. [via Morning Martini]
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If you’ve got a trip to Europe planned in the next few weeks, you might need to amend your travel plans.
IN FRANCE: Staffers at the Louvre are on strike, saying they’re overworked (no word how much a Frenchman thinks is too much work) supporting throngs of visitors coming to the historic museum. On Monday, tourists waited for hours outside the familiar glass pyramid entrance, wondering why the doors weren’t opening and the lines weren’t moving. Similar walkout protests happened in 2013 and 2019, but this one was without notice, leaving museum management reeling.
IN BARCELONA: Local protestors in Barcelona, Spain, took to the streets on Sunday with water guns to soak down visitors, in protest of “overtourism.” An X account for a group organizing the demonstrations argues that tourism wreaks havoc on the local infrastructure and economy.
WORTH ASKING: When can Americans super-soak all the people we wish would leave our country?
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The wreck of the HMS Endeavour, which took Captain James Cook from Britain to Australia in the first mission from Europe to explore the island continent, has been identified off the coast of New England.
That journey ended in July 1771, months after the crew managed to keep the ship afloat after striking a reef and taking on water off the coast of Australia. While Cook continued his expeditions, Endeavor headed for port to be retrofitted as a troop transport, and was later sold to a shipping company in 1775. In the Revolutionary War, it was used by the Brits to shuttle mercenaries around New England.
The ship was scuttled in 1778 under the direction of British Captain John Brisbane, who destroyed multiple ships at the mouth of Newport Bay to keep out France’s navy.
Now, researchers say they were able to verify the wreck based on a few factors. The original plans for the ship perfectly match the wreck’s mast placement within millimeters, and the timber is of European origin. [via DailyMail, Morning Martini]
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Competitive Swiss powerlifter Elias Meyer now holds the world record for longest amount of time in full-body contact with snow.
He accomplished the feat on April 2, 2024, after spending 2 hours and 7 seconds buried under a pile of snow over 3 feet tall, wearing nothing but swim shorts, according to Guinness World Records.
The previous record was set in 2022 by Polish man Valerjan Romanovski at 1 hour, 45 minutes and 2 seconds. [via People]
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