Author: Human

Fuel stations in Moscow have reimposed limits on gasoline purchases due to fuel shortages linked to Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries and strong seasonal demand, according to Reuters witnesses and fuel suppliers.

Shortages began to gather pace in May and had spread to most Russian regions by July, but fuel stations in Moscow were able to ease an earlier wave of restrictions in June.

Ukraine has targeted Russian oil refineries in an effort to undermine Moscow’s war effort and reduce energy revenues.

To boost domestic supplies, Russian authorities have banned exports of gasoline and diesel, eased fuel quality requirements and began importing petroleum products.

Reuters witnesses also saw long queues at some filling stations in Moscow and the surrounding region.

A customer hotline operator at Gazprom Neft SIBN.MM said gasoline and diesel sales at the company's automated filling stations in Moscow were limited to 40 liters per customer.

At Gazprom Neft's other filling stations, diesel sales remain unrestricted, while gasoline purchases are capped at 60 liters per vehicle.

Rosneft ROSN.MM, Russia’s largest oil producer, said gasoline sales at all its filling stations across Russia were limited to 30 liters per vehicle, while diesel sales faced no restrictions.

The company also warned customers of longer waiting times because of heightened demand.

Lukoil LKOH.MM said it had introduced fuel sales restrictions in Moscow and the surrounding region because of elevated demand, unscheduled refinery maintenance and the need to ensure stable operations at its filling stations.

It did not disclose the specific limits.

Tatneft's TATN.MM customer hotline said gasoline sales at its filling stations were limited to 50 liters per vehicle.

US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his upcoming visit to Asia, telling reporters at the White House that maintaining a good relationship with Kim was important given North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

Trump then addressed his relationship with the North Korean leader, emphasizing that "the fact that I get along with him is a good thing, because he has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons."

Trump also addressed the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, claiming that the United States has “complete control” of the waterway.

Earlier on Monday, Trump said he had received a response from Kim following his attempts to reengage. The Wall Street Journal reported that he has pushed aides to arrange an in-person meeting with Kim as soon as this autumn.

North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment on Trump’s latest remarks, but they came just after Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, said she was unaware of any recent communications between the two countries’ leaders.

Kim Yo Jong also said that while the relationship between the leaders of the United States and North Korea was "truly great," Washington was still carrying out the drills with Seoul and threatening the national security of Pyongyang.

Trump held an unprecedented series of summits with Kim in 2018 and 2019, but the diplomatic efforts broke down over US demands that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons. Trump has since referred to North Korea repeatedly as a "nuclear power," although his administration has continued to call for the country's denuclearization and does not formally recognize it as a nuclear-weapon state.

Trump has sought to revive the diplomatic efforts in his second term.

"I know Kim Jong Un very well, and he's going to be fine as long as we have a smart president," he told reporters on Wednesday during a tour of a helipad he is constructing on the White House's historic South Lawn.

"The fact that I get along with him – that's a good thing, not a bad thing. He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons," Trump said. "They should have never allowed it. If I were president, I wouldn't have allowed it. But he's got them."

Trump's citing of a specific number of nuclear weapons held by North Korea was highly unusual.

The US government does not publicly publish an official estimate of North Korea's nuclear arsenal, although a 2025 report by the Congressional Research Service cited non-governmental experts as estimating that North Korea has produced enough fissile material for up to 90 warheads but may have assembled approximately 50.

In June, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that North Korea has "possibly assembled around 60 warheads, possesses enough fissile material to produce at least 30 more."

During Trump's first term, Kim called Trump a “mentally deranged US dotard” and threatened that he had use of a "nuclear button" on his desk.

But the two leaders turned that tension into face-to-face meetings, including a brief exchange at the demilitarized zone between the Koreas in which Trump became the first sitting US president to step into North Korean territory.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that former prime minister Imran Khan be transferred to Shifa International Hospital immediately for a comprehensive medical examination. 

For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org

The court also directed the formation of a medical board to assess his health and ordered that he be kept under tight security at the hospital. It further stressed that his transfer should not be politicized and directed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) not to allow rallies, demonstrations, or protests outside the hospital.

Shifa International Hospital is a leading private tertiary-care hospital in Islamabad, with a team of internationally trained specialists and advanced medical facilities. 

The court sought details of all cases registered against Khan, along with his complete medical records, and ordered the Adiala Jail superintendent to appear at the next hearing.

During the hearing, the court also considered a request by Khan’s sister, Uzma Khan, to meet him. Her lawyer, Uzair Bhandari, told the court that she should be allowed access because she is a doctor. He also said Khan had been kept in solitary confinement for a prolonged period and had not been allowed to meet his sisters.

Justice Shahid Waheed expressed concern during the hearing that Khan’s medical reports could be used for political purposes. The court was told that Khan’s sister would cover the cost of his treatment at the private hospital.

PTI Secretary-General Barrister Salman Akram Raja assured the court that the party would not use the reports for political purposes. The court subsequently stressed that Khan’s health matters should remain separate from political activities.

According to a medical report submitted by Adiala Jail authorities, Khan was experiencing “severe” symptoms of anxiety. The report was submitted in response to a petition Raja filed concerning Khan’s health.

An official familiar with the situation told The Media Line that the medical reports submitted to the Supreme Court showed that Khan’s unstable and poorly controlled blood pressure, combined with significant psychological stress and anxiety, warranted serious attention. 

The official said that while the government-provided medical record did not indicate an acute cardiac condition, it showed that Khan’s levels of stress and anxiety were significant enough to require medical intervention.

Khan, 73, has been imprisoned since August 2023. He was diagnosed earlier this year with a retinal condition in his right eye that his lawyers warned could result in permanent vision loss. 

His family and party have repeatedly raised concerns about his physical and psychological well-being and called for access to independent medical care.

PTI has repeatedly demanded that Khan be treated at Shifa International Hospital by doctors of his choosing rather than at government medical facilities. His sisters, who are doctors, have also sought access to him.

Authorities, however, have maintained that medical facilities are available to Khan at Adiala Jail.

Frank Beard, the longtime drummer for the rock group ZZ Top, has died at the age of 77, the band said on Tuesday.

Beard died in hospice care at his ranch in Richmond, Texas, with family members at his side, according to the group’s statement.

His cause of death was not disclosed.

Beard was the drummer of the band known for hits such as "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs" for 56 years. The trio of Beard, guitarist Billy Gibbons, and bassist Dusty Hill was among the most enduring lineups in music history. They first played together in 1970 and continued until Hill's death in 2021, when Elwood Francis joined the group.

“Today, Elwood and I lost a great friend and collaborator, and the world lost one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a great and true son of Texas,” Gibbons said in a statement. “His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top. The band of which he was a part for six decades is going to keep on keeping on as he had wished.”

The band said it would cancel Tuesday's show in Salt Lake City and Wednesday's performance in Colorado Springs but return to the stage in Austin, Texas, this weekend.

ZZ Top gained fans in the 1980s as one of the bands showcased on MTV during the heyday of music videos. The group became known for the flowing beards of its members, though drummer Beard was seen mostly clean-shaven.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

"All I have to say is that most of my life has been a pleasant surprise, and so is this. Thank you," Beard said at the induction ceremony.

Torrential rains lashed China’s southwest to kill 10 in a house collapse and a landslide, state broadcaster CCTV said on Wednesday, with tens of thousands also evacuated as a precaution.

Disaster prevention authorities evacuated 21,784 people following heavy downpours in several areas in China’s southwest, including the areas of Chengdu and Zigong.

Five died in Sichuan province after accumulated rainwater caused the collapse of a roof and wall during a dinner party to celebrate children’s college entrance results on Tuesday, CCTV said.

Three died at the home in Sichuan's county of Changning, while two died in hospital where 17 injured were being treated, but it was unclear if the tallies included children or young people.

​Sichuan ⁠authorities declared a heavy rain alert this week and warned about ​disaster ⁠risks. Torrential rain since Tuesday unleashed two disasters that cut off roads in the mountainous Garze and Aba areas, CCTV said.

Authorities are investigating the cause of Monday's landslide at a construction site in Guangxi region that buried five people, later pulled out lifeless by rescue workers, CCTV said.

Loose sand and gravel in the high mountain canyon area could unleash landslides, authorities said earlier.

Since the start of summer, Guangxi, like many parts of China's southwest, has received heavy rain.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump’s order to curb joint military drills appeared aimed in part at pressuring Seoul to support US efforts in the Iran war, alongside other unresolved issues such as investment.

“I think President Trump’s message includes pressure over several pending issues concerning the South Korean government, as well as a message to North Korea and an intention by the United States to break a stalemate in the Iran war,” Cho said.

One potential source of friction could be South Korea’s pledge to invest $350 billion in the United States under a trade deal signed last year, Cho said.

Seoul has yet to announce details of the investment plan, although Cho said Washington had sent Seoul a proposal outlining projects that could be considered.

"We could not move faster on the investment plan as we had to consider factors such as commercial viability and take legal procedures," Cho said. He cited other unexpected problems, without elaborating.

South Korea and the United States announced on Wednesday that they will shorten annual military drills to five days from 11 and scale back some field training, following Trump’s order on a substantial reduction in US participation.

South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who attended the same hearing, said he believes Trump was moving closer to potentially arranging a new meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by curtailing exercises that have long angered Pyongyang.

France will expel two Iranian diplomats in the coming days in response to an incident in July involving two staff members of the French embassy in Tehran.

"I had announced that this intolerable act would have consequences. And so it has. Two Iranian diplomats in France will be expelled in the very near future," Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said in a post on X/Twitter.

Last month, the French ministry said the two French embassy staff had been detained and physically intimidated by Iranian security services in Tehran.

Barrot had summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires in Paris in protest following the incident on July 19.

Barrot's comments came one day after the Iranian ministry said two French embassy employees, who were involved in July in a diplomatic dispute in Tehran, would not be allowed to return to Iran.

French staff violated Vienna Convention, Baghaei says

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the two French staff had violated the Vienna Convention, which defines the rules ​and privileges of diplomatic missions, by engaging in activities ​supporting Iranian civil society.

French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said in a statement that "the Iranian authorities have chosen to make completely false accusations against our agents and to fabricate a case of interference to justify their actions."

Ukraine’s recently ousted defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections in a bombshell address on Tuesday evening, stating that the wartime nation faced a crisis of governance, in the biggest internal challenge to President Volodymyr Zelensky since 2022.

Fedorov's call, delivered in a video address posted on Youtube, is the first such demand by a major Ukrainian political figure since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The law in Ukraine prohibits the holding of elections during wartime.

"Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia," Fedorov said. "We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism that will allow Ukraine to renew its full democratic process even in the conditions of a long war."

The 35-year-old Fedorov was a longtime ally of Zelensky’s until his unexpected firing from the defense ministry in July, just six months after he had been appointed, vowing sweeping reforms.

Shortly after his dismissal, the tech-savvy Fedorov publicly tore into the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, exposing a bitter rift between the men and their different visions for the war.

Thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets to demand the sacking of Syrskyi, an old-guard military commander blamed by his critics for heavy troop losses at the front line, and Fedorov's reinstatement.

Protests in support of Fedorov have continued for the past month, losing some of their early momentum but still regularly drawing a couple thousand attendees in Kyiv.

While Fedorov did not say in his address that he would compete in any election, a recent poll indicated the ex-minister would comfortably beat Zelensky in a runoff vote, where the top two presidential candidates go head-to-head.

Fedorov's statement came just hours after Zelensky confirmed he had asked parliament to confirm new Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara in office on Wednesday.

In what appeared to be an open challenge to Zelensky, Fedorov said that Ukraine faced a "systemic crisis of governance."

"The old system lives by its own rules too often. It protects itself. It is scared of change," he said.

Without naming names, Fedorov hit out at official corruption, which he said hurt Ukraine’s war effort. The ex-minister recently said he believed that his reform of the defense ministry’s procurement processes, responsible for purchasing billions of dollars of equipment, contributed to his sacking.

Zelensky's office had no immediate comment on Federov's statement.

The youngest minister in Ukraine's history when he was appointed aged 28 as Ukraine's digitalization chief, Fedorov spent six years in that post. He was the last remaining member of Zelensky's first cabinet in 2019.

His role running the Ministry of Digital Transformation saw him become an early adopter of drone warfare, which has turned combat in Ukraine on its head since 2022.

However, his nationwide profile grew greatly after his appointment to run the vast Defense Ministry in January, immediately vowing a data-driven overhaul. Unlike his predecessors, Fedorov publicly laid out a strategy to defeat Russia through attrition and technological superiority.

"Our people have long been ready for a different country," Fedorov said in his address. "Now, our state must become worthy of its people."

A German court convicted a Ukrainian man on Tuesday over what prosecutors described as a plot linked to Russian intelligence to detonate parcels in Europe designed to cause damage and undermine public confidence in security.

Three Ukrainians were involved in sending two packages with GPS trackers and spare auto parts from Germany to Ukraine using a Ukrainian parcel service in an operation initiated by an unnamed Russian state entity, the Higher Regional Court in the southwestern city of Stuttgart said in a statement.

For the Russian organizers of the plot, these shipments were designed to scope out potential opportunities for future acts of sabotage, the court said.

A 30-year-old was sentenced to one year and three months in prison for acting as an agent for the purposes of sabotage, but will not be jailed as he is considered to have served his sentence in pre-trial detention. The two other defendants were acquitted due to a lack of evidence that they were knowingly involved in a plot to commit such attacks.

The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

European governments have accused Moscow of a sustained campaign of sabotage attacks as part of a "hybrid war" against countries that supported Ukraine after Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Russia has repeatedly called such allegations groundless.

The 30-year-old "intentionally participated in scouting potential sabotage targets for a Russian state entity," the court said.

“At the behest of an acquaintance from Russian-occupied Mariupol, he organized the shipment of GPS trackers that transmitted location data during transit from Germany to Ukraine.”

Mariupol, a Ukrainian port city on the Sea of Azov, was devastated in the early months of the war and fell to Russia in May 2022, though it has since become a target for Ukrainian drone strikes.

"Among other things, the fact that the convicted defendant's actions were carried out well in advance of the actual execution of sabotage was taken into account when determining the sentence," court spokesperson Lars Kemner told reporters.

Martin Heising, a lawyer for one of the acquitted defendants, said his client could face negative consequences if he returned to Ukraine after a politically sensitive trial.

"The Federal Prosecutor's Office has filed charges against my client that were truly on very thin ice, knowing full well that this will likely ruin his future in Ukraine for the rest of his life. That's the worst part," he said.

Germany and other European countries have repeatedly pointed the finger at Moscow in other instances.

In a previous case, European security officials suspect Russia was behind a series of exploding parcels that were shipped from Lithuania in 2024 and detonated in Germany, Poland and Britain. Moscow has ​always denied allegations that it was involved in any such operation.

Earlier this month, in Germany, officials found a drone carrying explosives at Leipzig/Halle Airport. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt called it a hybrid attack but did not assign blame. Russia has dismissed suggestions by German politicians and media that it could be responsible.

Dobrindt returned to this theme on Tuesday as he opened a new drone center in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.

"The aim of these hybrid attacks is to defeat us politically and socially. That is the underlying concept: hybrid threats acting as a driver for the erosion of public trust in the state," he said.

"What we are witnessing today is the shadow war of the 21st century," he added.

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge who is president of the International Criminal Court, according to the US Treasury Department website.

The move is the latest escalation in the Trump administration's campaign against The Hague-based court, which was established in 2002 by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The US is not a member of the court.

The US last year imposed targeted sanctions on several ICC officials, including prosecutors and judges, citing ⁠the ICC’s ​arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, ​and a past probe into US troops in Afghanistan.

The sanctions freeze any US assets the individuals may have and essentially cut them off from the US financial system, with which almost all internationally operating banks have close ties.

In June, three International Criminal Court judges sued Trump and his administration over the sanctions, arguing the measures were unlawful.

The Treasury also issued a general license on Tuesday authorizing the wind-down of transactions involving Akane through September 17.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month said the administration would step up efforts to undermine the ICC, including with a diplomatic campaign aimed at persuading other countries to quit the institution.

He argued that the court posed a threat to US personnel carrying out Trump's hardline immigration policies or strikes on boats accused of carrying drugs, as well as other US service members.

Trump has said the campaign was aimed at defending Netanyahu and others from prosecution, rather than Trump himself.

In a press statement published on the State Department's website, Rubio wrote, "The Trump Administration has been clear: the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate. We will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty."

He concluded by saying, "The Trump Administration stands ready to take additional measures, if necessary, to systematically dismantle the ICC until it is incapable of threatening American sovereignty."

Reuters found the Trump administration sanctions against ICC officials were intended in part to head off any future attempts to hold the Republican ​president or his officials accountable for US military action overseas.

The United States ​has never been a member of the court. The ICC asserts jurisdiction only if a member state is unable or unwilling to prosecute atrocities itself.

However, the ICC statute also gives the court the power to prosecute atrocity crimes committed on the territory of member states by ​nationals of non-member states.

Jonah Davidov contributed to this report.