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‘Encouraging progress’ made during U.S.-Iran talks after rocky weekend, U.S. resumes airstrikes in Somalia, and USS George Washington joins Japanese warships in Philippine Sea exercise.

1.      The mediation effort in Switzerland which started Sunday — and stretched into the early hours of Monday — had rocky moments. But the talks also led to some agreements between the two sides. In a joint statement, mediators Pakistan and Qatar said that while the high-level engagement had ended, technical negotiations would continue in Switzerland this week. The mediators hailed what they called “encouraging progress” made during the talks. A senior U.S. diplomat claimed progress on multiple fronts, including the establishment of “mechanisms” to ensure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy shipments, remains open and that a ceasefire in the fighting between Israel and Iran-back Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon holds.

2.      The U.S. military carried out airstrikes against al-Shabab on five different days last week in coordination with Somalia’s government, according to statements from U.S. Africa Command. The strikes occurred in southern Somalia, mostly in the vicinity of Kismayo, a region where the al-Qaida affiliate has been active for many years. The flurry of attacks comes after a monthlong stretch of no reported airstrikes in Somalia, where AFRICOM’s campaign has been on a record-breaking pace in 2026. The lull wasn’t related to an operational pause, AFRICOM said in a statement last week.

3.      , putting allied naval power on display as the U.S. and Japan opened exercise Valiant Shield. The exercise, in its 11th iteration since 2006, brings allied forces together with all six arms of the U.S. military for drills in the western Pacific, including in and around Guam, Japan and the Northern Mariana Islands, according to a Sunday news release from U.S. Pacific Fleet. The biennial exercise officially began Monday and continues through July 1, but the George Washington Carrier Strike Group and ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force were sailing in formation as early as Saturday, according to imagery posted to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service website. “Valiant Shield demonstrates our enduring commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Adm. Steve Koehler, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, said in the release. “Exercising advanced multidomain capabilities with our allies ensures we continue to seamlessly innovate and operate together, project combat power together, and prevail over any challenge – together.”

4.        The THAAD launchers were returned to the U.S. military installation in Seongju, roughly 134 miles southeast of Seoul, Yonhap reported Sunday, citing unnamed sources. The launchers were temporarily relocated in March to Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, the agency reported.  USFK spokesman Choi Min-jung declined comment on the report by email Monday, saying the command does not comment on “specific force movements, capabilities, or operational matters” for security reasons.  THAAD, a missile defense system designed to intercept ballistic missiles, was deployed in 2017 to Seongju as part of Washington’s efforts to defend South Korea and U.S. forces against North Korean missile threats.

5.      Russia has pounded civilian areas of Ukraine with drones and missiles since it launched its all-out invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago, with a United Nations tally saying more than 16,000 civilians have died in the war. U.S.-led peace efforts have failed to stop the fighting. The Sumy attack hit a home and killed a 36-year-old man, his 13-year-old son and a 73-year-old woman who was the mother of the man’s partner, according to Oleh Hryhorov, the head of the regional military administration. The man’s partner and 10-year-old son were wounded, he said. “Their home was destroyed,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X. “An ordinary home — not a military target whatsoever.”