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From “The New York Times,” it’s “The Headlines.” I’m Will Jarvis in for Tracy Mumford. Today’s Monday, June 22. Here’s what we’re covering.

Last night, Iran and the US wrapped up their first round of negotiations over how to turn a pause in the war into a lasting peace.

Vice President JD Vance led the US delegation in the talks, which were held at a lakeside resort in Switzerland. Meanwhile, Iran is being represented by the country’s speaker of parliament, a brigadier general who is a key figure overseeing Iranian forces in the war, along with the country’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi. Araghchi played a big role in the nuclear deal Iran struck with the Obama administration about a decade ago. And the leader of the US side in those talks called him a, quote, “very tough negotiator.”

Coming out of the negotiations this weekend, some of the thorniest issues, including sanctions on Iran and the country’s nuclear program, remain unresolved, but mediators said there was some encouraging progress. That included a temporary line of communication to help ensure the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, along with what they described as a new effort to wind down the fighting in Lebanon. The conflict there between Israel and the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah is one of many potential tripwires that could threaten the fragile 60-day ceasefire between Iran and the US that was announced a week ago.

Another factor that could complicate things is President Trump, who issued new threats against Iran this weekend, even as Vance was talking about turning over a new leaf. Trump told Fox News that after the ceasefire expires, he can do, quote, “whatever I want.” As of this morning, it’s not clear exactly what the next steps in the peace talks will be. According to Iranian state media, the country’s top officials are now on their way back to Tehran, but more technical discussions are continuing in Switzerland.

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On the National Mall, the reflecting pool, one of the key pieces of President Trump’s effort to remodel the nation’s capital, is rapidly deteriorating. The pool has suffered from leaks and algae blooms for decades. And earlier this year, the administration gave two companies no-bid contracts to carry out renovations. One was for a firm with ties to Trump, which repainted the bottom of the pool. And the other company, which worked on the water purification system, is directly connected to a Trump donor who lives next to Mar-a-Lago. But since the companies finished their work, the algae has returned, turning the pool soupy and green, and large chunks of the new paint have started floating to the surface.

Over the weekend, President Trump claimed, without evidence, that vandals had caused the problems. And “The Times” spoke to one man who was arrested. He’s a three-time Olympian who said he’d just stopped by to have a look at the pool during a bike ride, reaching down to touch a bit of the peeling paint, when he was taken into custody and charged with destroying government property.

He said, quote, “I guess I was there at the wrong place, wrong time.” The White House and US Park Police did not respond to requests for comment. On social media, Trump said he’d met with contractors on Saturday to discuss the state of the reflecting pool and that the problems had become so severe that the pool would likely have to be at least partially drained for repairs again.

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In London this morning, the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation.

Starmer took the post in 2024 after the left-leaning Labour Party won an election that was dubbed a loveless landslide. Since then, the party has struggled to deal with economic stagnation, government debt, and underfunded defense and health systems, and the country has faced a growing wave of anti-immigrant populism. Against that backdrop, Starmer was increasingly seen as weak and indecisive. Polls showed he was one of the least popular prime ministers in modern British history.

Now, he could be replaced as soon as next month, with his most likely successor being Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester. Burnham is also a member of Labour, but many lawmakers in the party think he’s more authentic and charismatic than Starmer and would be able to bring new energy to British politics. One political expert there told “The Times” that, quote, “If the sausage isn’t going to change, Burnham might at least add some sizzle.”

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Michael Keller is an investigative reporter at “The Times.” He says that Americans’ taste for big trucks and SUVs may be killing pedestrians as more and more people trade in their sedans for larger vehicles. As part of “The Times” investigation, Michael and his team pored through accident records and car schematics, crunched nearly a decade’s worth of data, and built visual simulations of crashes with dummies.

Michael says that hood height is not the only problem. As vehicles have gotten bigger and heavier, manufacturers have made their frames thicker to support that weight and keep people inside safe, but that has made blind spots worse. In some cases, way worse, with the bigger frame around the windshield completely blocking pedestrians from view during left-hand turns.

Taking all this into account, my colleagues estimated that if today’s vehicles were roughly the same size as they were two decades ago, up to 400 pedestrian lives would be saved each year in the US. In response to questions from “The Times,” automakers said blaming larger vehicles for pedestrian deaths overlooks other issues, like the design of American roads. And they said that new technology designed to detect and avoid pedestrians would help improve safety. For the full investigation, including how car companies are now making nearly all their profits from bigger vehicles, go to nytimes.com.

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And finally —

James Burrows, a master of the TV sitcom and the director behind many of America’s most famous shows, like “Cheers” and “Will and Grace,” has died at 85. Known as the Steven Spielberg of sitcoms, Burrows won 11 Emmys and directed more than 1,000 episodes of TV.

He worked on everything from “Friends” to “Frasier.”

The son of a Broadway playwright, Burrows got his start in the theater before realizing he could use his skills in TV, since sitcoms were basically short plays in front of a camera. His career exploded in the early 1980s when he helped create a sitcom about a bar in Boston where everybody knows your name.

He directed almost all 275 episodes of “Cheers,” including its last ever, which was one of the most watched finales in TV history.

My colleague Alexis Soloski is a culture reporter for “The Times.” She says, beyond his natural instinct for comedy, Burrows also had a gift for nurturing actors and turning individuals into ensembles.

Those are “The Headlines.” Today on “The Daily,” a look at the growing movement in the US to deprescribe and get patients off of antidepressants. You can listen to that in the “New York Times” app or wherever you get your podcasts. I’m Will Jarvis. “The Headlines” will be back tomorrow with Tracy Mumford.

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