Here’s the biggest news you missed this weekend

Vice President JD Vance held talks with Iranian officials Sunday in Switzerland, with the days-old peace deal at risk over Israel’s strikes on Lebanon and Iran’s threats to ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Vance, joined at the negotiations by President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, met with a senior Iranian delegation to discuss the technical details of a memorandum of understanding signed last week. The talks were also joined by mediators from Qatar and Pakistan.

The deal has already been tested by fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, which Iran signaled would be central to the talks.

Tehran said Saturday that it has once again closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil passes, alleging ceasefire violations by Israel. The U.S. military has denied Iran’s claim to control the strait.

After initial talks Sunday, Vance told reporters that “great” progress had been made toward a future “where everyone can work together to promote peace and prosperity.”

Shortly after those remarks, Trump posted on Truth Social that “we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” unless the country stops “their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon,” referring to Hezbollah.

In a phone interview Sunday morning with Fox News, Trump said he spoke with the Iranians overnight, delivering a stark warning that if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. will “blow the s— out of them.”

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said Israel’s actions in Lebanon and Trump’s rhetoric should leave people “very worried” about peace in the region.

“These are two failed world leaders,” Booker said of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “And yes, we should be very worried about both of these leaders continuing to upend any kind of viable pathway to peace in the Middle East. These are both failed leaders that I cannot wait until they’re off the world stage.”

Meanwhile, Mark Esper, who served as defense secretary in the first Trump administration, said on “Meet the Press” there are “serious questions and concerns” about the memorandum of understanding the U.S. and Iran signed last week.

Politics in brief

Democracy inaction: Americans remain committed to the nation’s founding ideals, but many say schools aren’t teaching them effectively, according to a new NBC News poll.
Arresting display: Trump said multiple people, including an Olympic canoeist, were arrested in connection with alleged vandalism of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall.

The Real Love Company made her feel whole. Then ‘Daddy’ said to strip naked.

From his sprawling property in the rolling hills of Georgia, Greg Baer built the Real Love Company, a self-help organization that seeks to teach “the real meaning of love, replacing anger and confusion with peace and confidence in individual lives and relationships,” according to the group’s website. Baer claims to have transformed the lives of more than 450,000 people.

His philosophy centers on the concept of unconditional love, and he believes that most people’s problems stem from being raised by parents unable or unwilling to offer the sort of love that seeks nothing in return. He himself fills that void, telling his followers to call him “Daddy” and holding them in his lap as if they were babies. At retreats, attendees would often line up for the opportunity. Some say the results have been transformative.

A select group of his followers, all women, said they received special attention in the form of extended private time with him at his home. In some of these one-on-one sessions, he’d hold them in his arms — but only after he first instructed them to take off all their clothes. And in some cases, according to two lawsuits and interviews with four women, he allegedly took things even further.

Anxiety and app bans as sweeping cheating scandal hits Indian students

India Temporarily Blocks Telegram App Over Medical Exam Fraud — The Indian government banned the Telegram messaging app following the leak of a recent medical exam paper.Firdous Nazir / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Three years of her life had come down to this one exam. Ridhvi Saxena, 18, walked out certain she was on track to become a cardiologist.

That hope was shattered when India’s testing agency said the exam she had taken on May 3 had been compromised by leaks, ordering every candidate to retake it.

Authorities this week went further and imposed a temporary nationwide ban on the Telegram messaging app, where it said “cheating rackets” were operating openly and selling leaked papers.

“I feel very cheated on and betrayed by the system,” Saxena, a student based in the central Indian city of Bhopal, told NBC News in a phone interview.

Notable quote

All the money in the world would’ve been worth that experience. Just seeing the excitement, seeing a dream come true for him, it just meant everything to me.
Diana Figueira, who surprised her father with world cup tickets

Soccer fans on social media are sharing videos of their fathers’ disbelieving reactions to being presented with World Cup tickets. The posts, which have garnered hundreds of thousands of views, have drawn tearful responses from many online.