Rubio to visit Gulf with stops in Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait: Report

US secretary of state to visit key Gulf allies next week in 1st trip by senior US official since US-Israeli war against Iran

Rabia İclal Turan

20 June 2026

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is planning a trip to Gulf countries next week, with stops in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, according to media reports Friday.

Axios reported the planned itinerary, though a State Department official told Anadolu that the agency has "no travel announcements to make at this time."

The visit would mark one of the highest-level US engagements with Gulf states since Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this week, launching a 60-day negotiating process aimed at ending the four-month war that was initiated by the US and Israel against Iran.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/rubio-to-visit-gulf-with-stops-in-bahrain-uae-kuwait-report/3972653

Witkoff heads to Switzerland for potential US-Iran talks - Axios

2 hours

White House envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to Switzerland, where the first round of negotiations on a potential US-Iran nuclear agreement is expected to take place, according to Axios reporter Barak Ravid.

Citing a US official, Ravid reported that President Donald Trump's envoy Jared Kushner is already in Switzerland ahead of the anticipated talks.

The presence of two senior Trump envoys in Switzerland is likely to fuel expectations that negotiations could begin soon, although neither side has publicly announced a date for the opening round.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202606199637

Trump says he urged Israel to agree Lebanon ceasefire

2 hours ago

US President Donald Trump said he spoke with Israeli officials and urged them to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, welcoming a truce that could remove a major obstacle to broader diplomacy with Iran.

In a phone interview with NBC News on Friday,Trump said he had asked Israeli officials to support a ceasefire with the Iran-backed Lebanese group. He declined to say whether he had spoken directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump described the ceasefire as "a positive" and called it "little icing on the cake."

The Lebanon truce could therefore remove one

of the key points of contention surrounding implementation of the recently signed US-Iran memorandum of understanding and the launch of broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

Qatar backs US-Iran talks in Swiss meeting after MoU signing

3 hours ago

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has discussed the US-Iran agreement and regional security with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis following the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.

According to a Qatar foreign ministry statement, the two officials met in Burgenstock, Switzerland, where US and Iranian delegations were supposed to launch a new round of talks - which have not been postponed.

During the meeting, SheikhMohammed reaffirmed Doha's support for negotiations between the United States and Iran aimed at resolving outstanding issues through dialogue and peaceful means.

He said such efforts would enhance regional security, open new horizons for cooperation, development and prosperity, and serve the shared interests of people across the region and beyond.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202606199637

Our President put a lot of energy into peace, he has been drained by those who oppose peace.

Alzheimer’s Patient Regains Speech & Mobility After High-Dose Magic Mushrooms

Tiffany Chartier - Senior Production Editor | Jun 5, 2026

An octogenarian Japanese-American woman with advanced Alzheimer’s disease, who had spoken mostly in single syllables and required full-time care for years, exhibited improvements in multiple functions after receiving a high dose of psilocybin-containing mushrooms, according to a recent case report.

The patient, with a 10-year history of Alzheimer’s including five years of marked hypofunction, received 5 grams of Enigma strain mushrooms.

Approximately 19 hours later, she began to speak spontaneously in an autobiographical manner. Over subsequent days and weeks, she regained urinary continence, improved ambulation, dressed herself independently, showed increased emotional responsiveness, and engaged socially, per a case report published in late May, 2026.

A follow-up 3-gram dose one month later was associated with greater verbal expressivity, humor, and agility.

The report, titled “Transient multidomain functional improvement in advanced Alzheimer’s disease following high-dose psilocybin-containing mushroom administration: a case report,” appeared in Frontiers in Neuroscience. Authors Marcos Lago, Mariana Cerveira, and Joe Xavier Simonet from Brazil’s Associação Cruz de Ankh described the changes as temporary and not indicative of disease reversal.

Details from the Case

The woman lived with continuous family supervision. Baseline symptoms included chronic urinary incontinence, executive dysfunction, dysphagia, dependent mobility, flat affect, and severe reduction in spontaneous communication. No formal biomarker confirmation or advanced neuroimaging was available.

The acute phase after the 5-gram dose involved autonomic activation, suspected hyperthermia, profuse sweating, and a prolonged, deep-sleep-like state. Spontaneous speech emerged later….

Read more

https://dallasexpress.com/health/alzheimers-patient-regains-speech-mobility-after-high-dose-magic-mushrooms/

DETAILS: Gabbard releases HUNDREDS of COVID lab leak documents

Fox News correspondent Brooke Taylor joins ‘Special Report’ to discuss Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s release of declassified documents containing new details about the origins of the alleged COVID-19 lab leak.

(It doesn’t seem Fox is happy with this exposure. You can tell because of how long the video is)

2:52

https://youtu.be/VyswF_U04hU

Moderate Expectations of Acting DNI Bill Pulte

June 19, 2026 | Sundance |

A lot might be said, but little of it will be grounded in reality. Here’s a general outline that may provide context for the next few weeks.

First, contrary to popular opinion, leaks frominside the IC related to activity within the ODNI will likely come as an outcome from bad actors in the FBI and the attached liaison office. {EXAMPLE HERE} As you may or may not be aware,every intelligence community silo has a liaison attached to the office of the Director of National Intelligence.

What that means is that every IC agency has a person(s) inside the ODNI that can then be the source of informationwithin the larger parent silo. The most frequent leaking child from within the parent agency is the FBI liaison.Understand this reality and you begin to understand frustration around Kash Patel’s inability to control his agency.

Second,contrary to popular opinion, CIA Director John Ratcliffe will not be able to partner with Acting DNI Pulte in the same direct manner he was with fully confirmed DNI Tulsi Gabbard. Despite the ODNI technically sitting atop the CIA within the construct of the overall Intelligence Community,there are rules about information flows to non-confirmed “acting” positions. Deputy DNI Aaron Lukas will have more intelligence capabilities than Pulte.

CIA Director JohnRatcliffe will likely not be the source of conversation about this standard, the information to Pulte will likely come from the DNI Legal Counsel Jack Dever, and/or Deputy CIA Director Michael Ellis who also carries the role of General Counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency.

When SSCI Vice-Chair Mark Warner says he is in communication with IC leadership about isolating Acting DNI Bill Pulte from national security information,he is likely outlining contact with the general counsel of the DNI or CIA, or with the Intelligence Community Inspector General’s office. That said, the National Security Advisor,Marco Rubio, could mitigate some of that isolation by requesting IC information Pulte may desire to review.

Regarding ‘declassification’ authority. CTH is not sure what power an Acting position as DNI carries as it relates to independent cross-silo declassification authority.However, information presented to the President can be declassified by the President. The key is to get the silo stakeholder to approve the release, then take to the Office of the President for approved public release pending stakeholder redactions.

That is the basic outline of limitations that could become pertinent. However, the Acting DNI can do something very valuable. The ADNI can ‘manage’ the office and how it operates. Pulte can make staffing decisions as well as curb the issues within the liaison offices.

I somewhat predict that Pulte could find the problem with FBI leaking; he could even do something about it – with presidential support.

Unfortunately, this would put Pulte on a collision course with FBI Director Kash Patel.

It’s an issue that needs to be dealt with, but the timing is not good considering the looming midterm election.

A more likely scenario is Kash Patel’s unchecked deep state FBI analysts/agents will be managed without Patel’s direct involvement. Essentially, none of the ‘good guys’, and there ain’t that many ‘good guys’, have any trust in the FBI silo.

The entire DC system is fully aware of the corrupt nature of the FBI as it functions.

The ‘establishment’, including Mark Warner and Tom Cotton, is favorable to the FBI. Meanwhile, the ‘reformers’, and I suspect that might include HPSCI Chairman Rick Crawford, are not.

The larger IC elements will watch this play out, dropping their thumbs on the narrative (via selected leaking) as it pertains to their individual interests. There’s a reason why scrutiny against Patel has lessened from within the DC mechanisms.

Ironically, all the negative information against Pulte will almost certainly come from the FBI, it will just be positioned as if it comes from another silo. Watch carefully and we just might catch them in real time.

Ultimately, all of the bad actors within the IC (both branches of government) want “702” reauthorized, so this does create a subject that can be leveraged for actionable value to the office of the President.

All of that said,Pulte remains an unknown entity within the larger IC system, and his motives and intentions are generally also unknown.It will be interesting to watch things unfold, and to see exactly who is willing to surface as an ally.

Yeah, that!

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/06/19/moderate-expectations-of-acting-dni-bill-pulte/