MOSCOW (AP) – President Vladimir Putin hosted leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Wednesday as Russia seeks to bolster business and other ties with the nations of the regional bloc.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Donald Trump last year that he was the “greatest friend Israel ever had in the White House.”

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

Today is Wednesday, June 17, the 168th day of 2026. There are 197 days left in the year. On June 17, 1994, after leading police on a slow-speed chase on Southern California freeways, O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with murder in the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Senior U.S. officials dictated the memorandum of understanding with Iran to journalists Wednesday after days of secrecy, and Iran suggested that its deal with the United States could be signed by Presidents Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) – Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip have killed 1,005 Palestinians since a ceasefire was reached between Israel and the militant group Hamas last October, the Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Most Americans believe civil liberties like the right to vote are under threat, according to a new AP-NORC poll, while also continuing to agree that the rights expressed in the nation’s founding documents are still core to American identity.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The interim deal between the United States and Iran is supposed to usher in a two-month period that would address the most divisive issue between the longtime adversaries – Tehran’s nuclear program.