Monday: Hili dialogue

Welcome to another damn week; yes, it’s Monday, June 29, 2026, and National Darts Day . Here’s the finals of the 2026 World Darts Championship, with the winner, getting a million pound. And that winner was Luke “The Nuke” Littler , making his last three throws at 17:56 on the video below. These guys are amazing! And this is one sport in which you don’t have to be in shape to be the best in the world. It’s also National Almond Buttercrunch Day , Nation Camera Day , and National Waffle Iron Day (what?). Click on the screenshot below to see the World Cup scores and today’s schedule of games: Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the June 29 Wikipedia page . Da Nooz: Footy news: In the only World Cup game played yesterday, Canada beat South Africa 1-0 , winning their first match in the knockout round and advancing to the round of 16. Stephen Eustáquio scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time, and Canada beat South Africa 1-0 on Sunday for their first knockout match victory in a World Cup. A tense match at SoFi Stadium appeared to be headed for extra time until Eustáquio — who plays professionally for Los Angeles FC several miles away — put a stunning volley from outside the penalty area into the bottom corner of Ronwen Williams ‘ net. Co-host Canada hung on with strong defensive play in the final minutes and advanced to face the Netherlands or Morocco in Houston on Saturday, July 4. Coach Jesse Marsch gathered his players in a huddle after the whistle and gave a spirited speech, declaring: “You guys are Canadian heroes! Canadian heroes!” Here are about 13 minutes of highlights; the play that scored the winning goal begins at 10:04: And from yesterday’s NYT : Lionel Messi became the first player in history to score in seven consecutive World Cup games. The 39-year-old scored with a free kick after coming off the bench as Argentina won 3-1 against Jordan. It was Messi’s sixth goal of the 2026 World Cup and he leads the Golden Boot race by two goals. * The fighting is still going on in the Middle East, with Iran and the U.S. trading strikes . Iran and the United States traded new attacks and threats on Sunday, the fourth straight day of hostilities, with little sign of a de-escalation that would get their two-week-old cease-fire back on track. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement carried by Iranian state media that it had targeted a U.S. naval base in Bahrain and the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait in retaliation for American attacks. The governments of Kuwait and Bahrain said the attacks had not caused any casualties. There were also no reports of American casualties or of major impact or damage to U.S. assets, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations. But the persistent attacks further eroded hopes for a speedy return to normalcy in the Middle East after the initial truce that the United States and Iran agreed to this month. The new hostilities began on Thursday, when Iran fired attack drones at a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. officials. American forces responded with a wave of attacks Friday, prompting drone strikes Saturday on another ship and on Bahrain, a U.S. ally, that were widely blamed on Iran. Iranian officials have not claimed responsibility for attacking ships in the strait, which Tehran was supposed to fully reopen as part of the cease-fire. But the attack came hours after Iran had warned ships that they could travel only through its waters; many had been using an alternate route along the coast of nearby Oman. . . . The U.S. military said that its latest attacks had hit air-defense sites and other military infrastructure. Iran’s state broadcaster reported explosions in three cities near the strait, and the U.S. official said that the U.S. airstrikes were more expansive than the previous day’s. And so it goes, with the U.S. and Iran trading attacks, each in retaliation for another. I’m wondering why Trump haasn’t even threatened to hit Kharg Island, which handles 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports. That would surely cripple the nation’s economy and seems to me a good bargaining chip, since we could destroy the facilities at will. And what would be the objection of America, since that doesn’t require “boots on the ground”? * At It’s Noon in Israel, Amit Segal describes the peace deal between Israel and Lebanon (the U.S. was also involved) as “history in the making” , and possibly good for both secular Lebanon and Israel. On Friday, Israel announced a framework agreement with Lebanon, its first accord with the country since the short-lived 1983 treaty. The two sides commit to formally end their state of war and pursue normal relations through later negotiations. The engine is a reciprocal, sequenced process: Lebanon pledges the co