The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they unfold.

Breaking silence on Senate absence, Mitch McConnell says he fell and was hospitalized

Senator Mitch McConnell reveals for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican’s health.

The statement comes following his hospitalization on June 14. McConnell’s office for weeks provided little information, insisting only that he was “receiving excellent care” and recovering.

As his hospital stay grew longer, speculation mounted about his condition. It grew so intense that Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear took the extraordinary step of asking that McConnell update the public about his health in a “transparent manner.”

McConnell says he will not be returning to the Senate yet.

US military confirms beginning a new wave of strikes in Iran

The United States military confirms that it has begun carrying out a new wake of strikes against targets in Iran, after Tehran earlier struck sites in the Gulf amid an escalation in the region and a fight over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

The US Central Command writes on X that it has begun “launching more strikes against Iran to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The Commander in Chief has directed the strikes to hold Iranian forces........

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