1. Pope Leo XIV has condemned what he called the “illusionary security” of the global nuclear deterrence system as he addressed crowds at the Vatican on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Speaking in Italian, the working language of the Vatican, Leo said, “Despite the passing of the years, those tragic devastation caused by wars and, in particular, by nuclear weapons.”
2. Multiple media outlets say US President Donald Trump intends to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as early as next week. The reports said Trump also seeks to hold three-way talks including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shortly after the meeting with Putin.
3. Paper lanterns bearing images of women and other designs are lighting up the night at a famed summer festival in Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture, northern Japan. The Tanabata Edoro festival is said to date back around 300 years, when a daughter of a court noble from Kyoto who married into a local family wrote her nostalgic feelings for her home on paper strips and hung them on bamboo. In this year’s festival, which began on Tuesday, about 170 lanterns with drawings in a variety of styles, including ukiyo-e, were displayed along the city’s shopping streets.