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Why this matters:

• DEA agents repeatedly monitored shipments of fentanyl pills — but did not seize them — as federal prosecutors sought to bring bigger criminal cases against major drug traffickers. Agents and experts, however, said the tactic amounted to a gamble with public safety. “We poisoned our community to make cases,” whistleblower DEA Special Agent David Howell told AP in a series of interviews in New Mexico.
  
  

• The DEA has long contended it would not be plausible to seize every shipment of every drug. It said in a statement that “the investigative decisions at issue were lawful, reasonable under the circumstances and consistent with Department guidance.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• What a reporter found when uncovering why federal agents allowed a deadly drug to hit the streets
  
  
• US strike on an alleged drug boat kills 2, leaves 6 survivors, in the eastern Pacific Ocean
  
  
• Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces millions in funding to help with addiction recovery
  
  
• Australian drug bust uncovers 3 tons of cocaine hidden underground

WORLD NEWS

US and Iran wrap second day of talks after rough start

The mediation effort in Switzerland started Sunday and had rocky moments. But it also led to some agreements between the two sides. Talks were jolted after President Donald Trump made remarks that Iran called insulting, prompting a temporary pause, according to Iranian state media. Read more.

What to know:

• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had vowed to “never back down from the right to enrich uranium,” according to state media. Trump later told Fox News in a phone interview that Pezeshkian should watch what he says and also threatened to take over Iran, according to one of the news channel's correspondents. Trump also continued to issue warnings against Iran on social media while negotiators worked.
  
  

• The interim deal to end the fighting in Iran outlines a 60-day period for negotiators to settle the future of Tehran’s nuclear program amid concerns that it wants to use it for military purposes, a claim Iran denies. The fate of frozen Iranian assets, among other thorny issues, are also on the agenda.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Explosion as Qatar restarts gas export terminal hurts 54 and leaves 18 missing
  
  
• Israeli strikes leave Lebanon’s ancient coastal city of Tyre shaken
  
  
• America In Focus: US gas prices dip below $4 and more evidence Americans keep spending

BREAKING

Keir Starmer announces his resignation as UK prime minister

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday he will leave office within weeks, scarcely two years after being elected in a landslide. Read more.

What to know:

• After weeks of insisting he would fight to keep his job, Starmer conceded to growing pressure to hand over to a new leader who can try and revive the government’s flagging fortunes. Starmer is the sixth prime minister in a decade to stand outside 10 Downing Street and announce a premature departure.
  
  

• Starmer says he will remain caretaker prime minister until the party chooses a new Labour leader — with expectations that it will be former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.