While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 2, 2026

Iran and the United States concluded a round of indirect talks on July 1 with no sign they had made headway towards a lasting peace, focusing instead on issues that they had supposedly resolved two weeks ago.

Sources said negotiators for the two countries spent two days in Doha discussing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and financial incentives for Iran, two pillars of the initial agreement they signed in June, rather than more difficult topics that framework was supposed to tee up.

In Washington, US President Donald Trump said the two sides were making progress on possible limits to Iran’s nuclear programme – the main reason he launched the war in February.

“The denuclearisation of Iran is moving along well,” he told reporters. “They’ve had very good meetings, and we’ll see.”

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Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with drones late on July 1, triggering a fire in a hotel on a central boulevard and leaving debris scattered in two city districts.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, writing on Telegram, said the hotel roof was on fire on the central Shevchenko Boulevard.

Pictures posted online showed a fire burning out of control at the top of the building.

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US President Donald Trump on July 1 defended earning around US$1.2 billion (S$1.55 billion) from his family’s cryptocurrency activities in 2025, saying “everybody’s profiting” from his time in power.

“You know why I’m profiting, because the stock market’s going up, everybody’s profiting,” Trump told reporters as he prepared to take his first flight on a new Air Force One plane gifted by Qatar.

Asked about criticisms that he was using his position to enrich himself, the billionaire president said his earnings were placed in blind trusts to ensure that he could not do so.

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The mysterious death of a 33-year-old Indian seafarer in Venezuela has sparked demands for an investigation after an autopsy in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh reportedly found all of his major internal organs missing.

The findings have prompted his family and the Federation of Seafarers’ Unions of India (FSUI) to demand a thorough investigation and intervention by the Indian government.

The case has raised questions after the man’s family says his body was repatriated without any autopsy report or official explanation from the Venezuelan authorities.

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Harry Kane rescued England from a seismic World Cup shock with two late goals to beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 2-1 in Atlanta and secure a place in the last 16.

Aiming to end a 60-year wait to win a major tournament, Thomas Tuchel’s men escaped humilation and one of England’s worst ever World Cup exits thanks to their talismanic captain after Brian Cipenga’s early goal gave Congo an early lead.

But the Three Lions will need to improve for the daunting task of facing co-hosts Mexico at the Estadio Azteca in the last 16 on July 5.

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