Trump taps housing regulator Pulte to be acting director of national intelligence

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats and Republicans say President Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence seems unqualified. Democrats say federal housing finance director Bill Pulte lacks national security experience. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas are leaving the chamber after this year’s elections and say Pulte lacks qualifications to be DNI. The Republican president says Pulte will remain director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chair of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while filling in for Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned last month. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren says Pulte has abused his authority as housing finance director and asks, “What could go wrong?”

Iran stops talking to mediators, Iranian reports say, but Trump says talks continue

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran stopped communicating with mediators after Israel threatened to bomb Beirut as it fights the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. That’s according to two semiofficial Iranian news agencies, but U.S. President Donald Trump is disputing the claim and says talks are continuing. The reports on Tuesday by the Fars and Tasnim news agencies come as Iran insists the fighting in Lebanon is part of the wider ceasefire talks with the United States over the war. Israel and the U.S. maintain the fighting in Lebanon is separate from the Iran war talks.

Rubio is optimistic on eventual Iran nuclear talks despite congressional skepticism

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he’s optimistic about the potential for a resumption in nuclear talks with Iran despite a shaky ceasefire in the war that’s looking increasingly in doubt. Rubio told lawmakers Tuesday the Iranians have agreed to negotiate on nuclear points they had not been willing to address in the past. Rubio wouldn’t offer an assessment on what those talks might produce and added it was no guarantee they would result in an an acceptable deal. Rubio’s optimism runs counter to two semiofficial Iranian news agencies reporting that Iran has stopped communicating with mediators after Israel threatened to bomb Beirut as it fights the Hezbollah militant group.

Israel kills 11 in Lebanon, a day after Trump said Israel and Hezbollah will de-escalate

BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli drone strikes on southern Lebanon have killed 11 people, including a man along with his son and daughter. This comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel and Hezbollah agreed to reduce fighting. Another round of ceasefire talks between Israel and Lebanon began Tuesday in Washington. Hezbollah continues launching projectiles and drones toward Israeli soldiers and civilians. Israeli forces are making their deepest incursion into Lebanon in 26 years. Israel had threatened to strike Beirut’s southern suburbs, causing panic and mass evacuations. Trump announced no troops will go to Beirut, but attacks continue.

The Latest: Polls open for races across the US as a busy primary election day gets underway

For a state that’s home to Hollywood, there isn’t much star power in California’s gubernatorial race. It’s a somewhat different story in Los Angeles, where a reality television personality is running for mayor as the city prepares to host the Olympics. More primaries are being held on Tuesday as well. Democrats are banking on a rare chance to regain ground in Iowa, a rural state that has repeatedly eluded them in recent years. Republicans, meanwhile, are grappling with a New Jersey congressman whose unexplained absence could put their already slim majority at risk.

Blanche is set to return to Capitol Hill as Trump reconsiders plans for his $1.8 billion fund

WASHINGTON (AP) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is set to return to Capitol Hill after the Trump administration signaled it was pausing contentious plans to move forward with a nearly $1.8 billion fund that could compensate allies of President Donald Trump who believe they’ve been unjustly investigated and prosecuted. Tuesday’s hearing before the House Appropriations Committee was scheduled for discussion of the Justice Department’s budget. But lawmakers will almost certainly focus their questioning on the creation of a fund established to resolve the Republican president’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. Many Republican senators have pushed the administration to impose limits or scrap the idea altogether.

Massive Russian attack kills 22 people across Ukraine, officials say, as Moscow escalates fighting

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched a massive aerial attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, and officials say at least 22 civilians were killed and 138 were wounded. The assault with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles began overnight and continued during the day. In the central city of Dnipro, officials said rescue crews searching the rubble recovered the bodies of a 3-year-old child as well as those of a woman and her 8-year-old son. Kyiv residents have been on edge after Russia warned last week of a massive attack. President Vladimir Putin has intensified Moscow’s campaign, exploiting Ukraine’s shortage of air defense systems. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for more support from the U.S. and Europe.

Trump signs an executive order that invites vetting of top AI models for national security risks

President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order on oversight of artificial intelligence, less than two weeks after postponing a White House ceremony over his concerns that a similar policy could dull America’s edge on AI technology. It was not immediately clear to what extent the order signed Tuesday differed from the one he declined to sign on May 21. The order establishes a framework for the federal government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems for up to a month before their public release. The government will be able to work with trusted partners “that will have early access to covered frontier models to promote secure innovation and strengthen the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure,” the order says.

AP exclusive: Under Notre Dame cathedral, a ‘dig of the century’ unearths 1,700 years of history

PARIS (AP) — Archaeologists are digging beneath Notre Dame cathedral to explore as far back as Roman Paris from 2,000 years ago. The excavation started after the cathedral was rebuilt following the 2019 fire. The dig has uncovered hundreds of objects, including a fourth-century coin and a medieval jug with undeciphered markings. The site reveals layers of history, from medieval Paris to Roman times. The excavation is part of a project to beautify the area, which should be completed by 2028, providing shade for tourists visiting the cathedral.

Wall Street hangs around its records as the AI boom keeps growing

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is hanging around its records as winners of the artificial-intelligence boom keep driving higher. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% Tuesday, a day after setting its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 252 points, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%. Marvell Technology leaped toward its best day in three years after Nvidia’s CEO suggested it could be the next company to be worth $1 trillion. But Alphabet weighed on the market after the parent company of Google said it’s raising $80 billion to help payfor its AI investments. Oil prices rose.