Vice President JD Vance said yesterday that "good progress" had been made in the first direct talks between the US and Iran in Switzerland, following a delay caused by a deadly clash between Israel and Hezbollah.

The peace deal signed by the US and Iran last week is contingent on an end to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group, in Lebanon.

As negotiations continue, a fragile peace is held in the balance between the two parties, which exchanged blows days earlier:

To help prevent the conflict from reigniting, Iran, the US, and Lebanon have agreed to create a “deconfliction cell” to help enforce the ceasefire. Iran’s foreign minister said its effectiveness will be the final test for negotiations.

Meanwhile, negotiations continue: Mediators said the two sides agreed to establish a line of communication to avoid "incidents and miscommunication" in the Strait of Hormuz to help ensure safe transit for commercial vessels through the vital waterway.

Has anything gone wrong? While establishing a communication point to avoid miscommunication should help, the US and Iran keep conflicting each other. Yesterday, JD Vance said that Iran would allow nuclear inspectors to return to the country, a claim that Iran's foreign ministry later disputed, saying that real negotiations on the "nuclear issue" haven't yet started.

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While mortgage rates usually command most of the attention, a new analysis from The Wall Street Journal has shown just how drastically the overall cost of homeownership has climbed in the past few years.

Many may think the majority of your money will go toward the initial purchase of a home, but the real cost comes after you’ve already bought it. According to the WSJ, between 2019 and 2025:

What’s driving up maintenance costs? Higher labor and material costs required for routine upkeep have escalated significantly. In 2019, the average US homeowner spent about $9,000 per year on renovations, maintenance, and repairs in 2019. By 2025, that figure had risen to roughly $12,500, according to survey data from Angi.

While it has become increasingly expensive to own a home after you buy it, many Americans (especially young ones) can’t even afford to buy one in the first place. According to Redfin:

Even if you’re lucky enough to buy one… you’ll likely still face repair costs. The average age of a home in the US is now about 44 years old, a record high, forcing homeowners to spend more to keep properties in good condition.

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While most parents say they are generally satisfied with how they divide responsibilities at home, a new survey found that many working parents continue to face challenges balancing their careers with raising children.

It comes as a majority of two-parent households in the US (52%) feature both parents collecting full-time paychecks for the first time ever, according to a survey from Pew Research Center.

However, the survey of 2,242 working parents highlights how dual-income households can help with (and hinder) childcare responsibilities:

As one might expect, many parents said flexible schedules and remote work options make it easier to manage family responsibilities, but having those arrangements still doesn’t completely solve the problem.

So what’s the main issue? Parents continue to cite childcare costs, scheduling conflicts, and lack of personal time as major sources of stress.

There were differences between mom and dad: Mothers were more likely to report being primarily responsible for tasks such as scheduling appointments, arranging childcare, and managing day-to-day household logistics. Fathers, meanwhile, were generally more likely to say responsibilities were shared equally.

Tesla did it to cars. Now the same shift is coming for excavators, forklifts, cranes, and military equipment. The difference is that nobody has owned this moment yet — until RISE Robotics.

Their technology strips hydraulics out of heavy machinery entirely and replaces it with a patented electric actuator. No fluid. Full digital control. Built for the autonomous machines that are coming whether the industry is ready or not. The Pentagon is already a customer.

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Just when you thought the token selloff couldn’t get worse. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value, plunged below $60,000 this month for the first time in over two years.

Its price is now less than half of the record high it reached last October.

While the token shortly rallied to $67,000 following the announcement of a US-Iran peace deal, it has since been plagued by corporate drama:

That spooked investors: Many seemed to take Saylor’s rare selloff as a signal that Strategy (and its only asset Bitcoin) could be facing a rough time ahead. Now, the company’s stock is down over 30% for the month of June.

It’s also amplified its volatility: Strategy’s woes have made investors even more cautious about Bitcoin-related events as of late. Bitcoin dipped after new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh had his debut meeting, and while crypto-related stocks rose as part of a broader tech rally, Bitcoin continued to fall.

The UK recently announced plans to ban children under the age of 16 from creating social media accounts, becoming one of the latest countries to impose stricter rules on teens’ access to online platforms.

As adoption of similar restrictions expands, many are wondering if the US is next.

The UK’s decision follows a growing international push to restrict young people’s access to social media in the name of protecting mental health:

Do the bans even work? It’s undecided. Surveys indicate that roughly seven in 10 children under 16 who used social media before the ban still maintain accounts, largely because verifying users' ages is difficult. Meanwhile, companies including YouTube, Snapchat, and Meta argue that bans could push younger users toward less regulated corners of the internet.

What about the US? While support for stricter regulation is growing, implementing a nationwide ban in the US would likely face legal and practical challenges. Critics say that age-based restrictions would raise concerns about free speech, privacy, and parental rights, and also reduce pressure on social media giants to address the addictive features built into their platforms.

> Several White House officials, including VP JD Vance, are on diets that emphasize sauerkraut and other fermented foods, fueled by growing evidence that gut health may influence everything from immunity to mood.

> Astronomers discovered that a famous pink exoplanet may be hiding a layer of salt clouds, confirming a 15-year-old theory. See why the planet has its pink hue here.

> The Parthenon has received its biggest renovation in over 220 years, marking the culmination of a decades-long effort to repair centuries of damage from war, weather, and looting.

> A new wearable exoskeleton is helping stroke survivors relearn how to walk by adapting to their movements and connecting them to a therapist in real time, potentially improving recovery outcomes.

> Fans attending the 2026 World Cup are experiencing severe sticker shock, with some stadiums charging more than $14 for a beer and over $20 for a cocktail. One even offers $75, caviar-topped tater tots.