5 Big News Stories Overnight - Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Jeffrey Donaldson found guilty of child sexual offences including rape

The Guardian reports:

Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of 18 sexual offences against two victims who were children at the time of the abuse more than 30 years ago.

The former Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader was remanded into immediate custody after a jury at Newry crown court on Monday convicted him of 18 offences including rape, indecent assault and gross indecency. The judge, Paul Ramsey, said a “lengthy” prison sentence was inevitable.

Standing in the dock with his hands clasped, Donaldson, 63, showed no visible emotion and stared straight ahead as he was found guilty of each charge.

The verdict completed a stunning fall for an establishment figure who had dominated unionism and played a key role at Westminster during post-Brexit negotiations over Northern Ireland’s position in the UK.

Iran says US agrees release billions in frozen funds, waive oil sanctions

Al Jazeera reports:

Iran’s top negotiator says an agreement has been reached with the US to release $12bn in frozen funds.

The US Treasury Department announces temporary easing of sanctions to allow the sale of Iranian oil and petrochemicals until August 1.

US President Donald Trump says Iran will also agree to have weapons inspections.

Mediators Pakistan and Qatar say the US and Iran made “encouraging progress” on the first day of high-level talks and agreed on “a roadmap for a final deal to be reached within 60 days”.

SpaceX stock tanks 16%, extending slump following post-IPO rally

CNBC reports: 

SpaceX stock fell 16% on Monday, continuing a selloff that has seen shares tumble over the past three full days of trading after an initial rally from its record-breaking initial public offering.

Elon Musk’s space and artificial intelligence firm became one of the world’s most valuable companies after a blockbuster listing on June 12, opening trading at $150 per share.

Stock surged in SpaceX’s first two full days as a public company, with the market cap surpassing Amazon and — briefly — Microsoft on Tuesday, before falling back below both.

13 Killed in Qatar

Tass, Russian News Service reports:

At least 13 people were killed and 66 more were injured in an explosion at a gas processing plant in Qatar's Ras Laffan industrial zone, Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs and QatarEnergy CEO Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi said.

TASS has summed up key facts about the accident.

Circumstances

A blast occurred at a facility in the Ras Laffan industrial area northeast of Doha late on June 21.

The area houses most of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas facilities.

Later, the emirate’s interior ministry said that the "local explosion" was caused by a "technical accident."

According to the ministry, no leaks of hazardous substances occurred.

PHOTO: Jeff Kingma, Unsplash, FILE

Burnham set for coronation

The Telegraph reports:

Andy Burnham is set for a coronation as prime minister in weeks after Sir Keir Starmer bowed to Cabinet pressure and resigned.

In an emotional statement from Downing Street on Monday morning, which ended with him on the verge of tears, Sir Keir said he would accept with “good grace” the calls from ministers and Labour MPs for him to step down.

Sir Keir said his resignation would trigger a Labour leadership election which, if contested, could be decided by the beginning of September.

Hours later, Mr Burnham arrived in Westminster by train from Manchester and was greeted with a groundswell of support, posing for photos with nearly 200 Labour MPs in Parliament.