British painter David Hockney, whose vibrant portraits and sun-drenched depictions of the everyday made him one of contemporary art’s most beloved figures, has died at 88. The artist died “peacefully at home” on Thursday, one month short of his 89th birthday, according to a statement provided to CNN by his longtime publicist Erica Bolton. Born in Bradford, UK, in 1937, Hockney attended his local art school before studying at the prestigious Royal College of Art in London. Successful from the earliest stages of his career, he soon relocated to Los Angeles, where he would spend much of the 1960s and eventually settle.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/12/style/artist-david-hockney-death-intl
When Ukrainian children’s home director Liubov Rudyka took the minors in her care to Naples after Russia invaded, she thought she was bringing them to safety. It never occurred to her that Italy might not want to give them back. And yet, four years later, their return has become a legal battlefield. Ukrainian authorities have told CNN that several children who were evacuated to Italy with Rudyka are among dozens of Ukrainian minors whose return home has been prevented by the Italian courts. A dispute over their situation escalated in April, after Kyiv announced that one of the Ukrainian children, a 15-year-old boy named Sasha, had been legally adopted by an Italian family – despite having a mother who wants him to return to Ukraine. Kyiv argues that the evacuations were meant to be temporary and that while the war continues, the situation has stabilized in parts of the country and there are safe places for the children to return to. The Ukrainian government’s main worry is that the longer the children stay abroad, the less likely they are to return in the future – a worrying prospect for a country that faces a major demographic crisis.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/12/europe/ukraine-children-italy-dispute-adoption-intl-cmd
A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison on Friday over charges linked to military drones sent over Pyongyang to help create a pretext for his failed December 2024 martial law declaration, Yonhap reported. The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of abuse of power and aiding the enemy, saying he had conspired in the October 2024 drone incursion from the outset, the news agency said. The phone notes that reveal an alleged plan to bait Kim Jong Un with drones
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/11/asia/south-korean-yoon-suk-yeol-drone-case-jail-intl-hnk
The US’ top general made a secret, rushed visit to US Central Command headquarters in Florida late last month to be briefed in person on plans for the US military to send ground troops into Iran to forcibly seize its highly enriched uranium, the key component necessary to produce a nuclear weapon, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The briefings were so urgent and sensitive that they required Gen. Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to rush from a meeting of senior NATO officials in Brussels back across the Atlantic to Tampa, Florida, on May 19, the sources said. The high-level and pressing nature of the briefings underscores how close the administration came to greenlighting the high-risk ground operation, sources said. A Joint Staff spokesperson declined to comment about the preparations for a potential operation.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/12/politics/us-military-plan-uranium-iran-ground-troops
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/12/world/video/trump-promises-iran-agreement-war-vrtc