Category: News

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.

There is no indication that human remains found near the home of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie’s mother were related to the ongoing investigation into her disappearance, Arizona’s Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced on Monday.

CNN reported that the sheriff’s department had declined to comment about who found the remains, when they were located, and why the announcement had indicated that they were unrelated to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.

Earlier this month, two ransom notes purportedly written by kidnappers who abducted Nancy Guthrie were released, six months after she vanished.

Copies of the two email messages were posted online by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department with a notice appealing again to members of the public to come forward with information that might help identify the masked prowler caught on video by Nancy Guthrie’s doorbell camera outside her home around the time she went missing.

Nancy Guthrie, in frail health with limited mobility, was last seen alive on January 31 at her home in Tucson. She was reported missing on February 1 after a friend alerted family that she did not appear for Sunday church services as expected.

US Sen. Darline Graham (R-South Carolina) vowed to carry on the legacy of her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, in her support for Israel during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday.

She told Fox Carolina anchor Justin Dougherty that she met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu, when they visited the US for Lindsey Graham’s funeral last month. 

According to Graham, they had a “really good conversation,” during which they discussed Lindsey Graham’s friendship with Netanyahu and his allyship with Israel.

Netanyahu reportedly emphasized his deep appreciation for the late Graham’s friendship and support.

While Graham stated that she had not discussed what her relationship with Israel would look like if she were elected to the Senate, she affirmed to Netanyahu that she would continue to stand with Israel.

Graham was appointed as senator by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster in July after Lindsey Graham passed away suddenly on July 12.

Lindsey Graham’s funeral was held on July 28.

At a memorial dinner held the night prior, Netanyahu spoke about his personal and diplomatic relationship with Lindsey Graham, stating that "America has lost a great patriot. Israel has lost one of its greatest friends and supporters. And I have lost a dear friend.”

Afghan journalist Tahmina Usmani became one of the most visible women working in her country’s media after the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. She continued presenting news as female journalists disappeared from television screens, then appeared on air with her face covered when Taliban authorities imposed a new dress code.

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

Now living in Paris, Usmani told The Media Line that her decision to remain on television reflected both her commitment to journalism and her determination to preserve a public voice for Afghan women.

Originally from Panjshir, Usmani was born and raised in Kabul. Her father worked in the automobile business, while her mother, who had been denied an education herself, encouraged her children to study.

“Honestly speaking, she was a strong supporter of my dreams,” Usmani told The Media Line.

Usmani earned a bachelor’s degree in law and political science from Rana University in Kabul and completed a journalism course. She hoped to continue studying international relations, but Afghanistan’s political upheaval disrupted those plans.

She began her broadcasting career at Noor TV, where her income helped support her parents and three siblings. Usmani joined TOLOnews in August 2020 and returned to political news programming on August 27, 2021, less than two weeks after the Taliban captured Kabul.

Usmani described herself as the first female TOLOnews anchor to appear after the takeover. Contemporary reporting shows that presenter Beheshta Arghand interviewed a Taliban representative on August 17, making Usmani more accurately one of the first women to return to the network’s broadcasts and political programming under the new authorities.

Her presence soon became part of a larger battle over whether women would retain any place in Afghanistan’s media.

In May 2022, Taliban authorities ordered female television presenters to cover their faces on air. Women initially resisted, but broadcasters were told that presenters who refused would be reassigned or dismissed. Usmani appeared on TOLOnews wearing a face covering, with international photographs capturing what became an emblem of the Taliban’s tightening control over women journalists.

“It is very difficult for us,” Usmani said at the time, explaining that presenting while veiled made breathing and speaking harder. Male TOLOnews employees later wore masks in solidarity with their female colleagues.

Taliban officials said they did not intend to remove women from broadcasting, but the restrictions expanded. Television dramas featuring women were banned, female presenters were subjected to strict dress requirements, and journalists faced growing pressure over what they could report and ask.

“Women were required to cover their faces, and journalists faced censorship in both their reporting and interview questions,” Usmani told The Media Line.

By August 2022, Usmani was among the few female journalists still working inside Afghanistan. She told Agence France-Presse that joining TOLOnews and serving as a voice for Afghan women gave her a sense of purpose during an increasingly bleak period. 

Usmani now believes independent journalism has become impossible inside the country.

“In my view, nowadays, there’s no truly independent media in Afghanistan under Taliban rule,” she told The Media Line. “Media organizations can only operate if they publish content approved by the Taliban. Journalists who criticize the authorities risk arrest or torture or even death.”

Human Rights Watch reported in 2025 that Taliban intelligence officials monitor media content, morality authorities enforce dress and conduct rules, and journalists face punishment for perceived criticism. The organization said the restrictions had produced a sharp decline in the number of women working in Afghan media.

Usmani eventually concluded that remaining in Afghanistan was no longer safe.

“When I realized that I could no longer live and work freely or safely in Afghanistan, I decided to leave the country,” she said. “It was one of the most difficult decisions of my life.”

She moved to Pakistan and joined Afghanistan International, an exile broadcaster that reports for Afghan audiences from outside the country. Leaving brought a different set of hardships: separation from her family, uncertain residency status, cultural adjustment, language barriers, and the struggle to find stable work.

Usmani later relocated to France and is studying human rights and humanitarian action at Sciences Po in Paris through a professional certificate program in social and human sciences for young refugees.

She hopes to continue both her education and her journalism while using the opportunities available to her in exile to advocate for those denied them at home.

“I also hope that one day all Afghan girls, Afghanistan girls and women, as well as my fellow journalists and media colleagues, will have access to meaningful educational and professional opportunities,” Usmani told The Media Line.

“Above all, I hope to see Afghanistan one day become a free, peaceful, and prosperous country where everyone can live with dignity, freedom, and hope.”

Nearly four years after the last time they teamed up to play doubles, Serena Williams and Venus Williams lost a first-round match to Peyton Stearns and Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 1-6, 1-0 (8) on Monday at the Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio.

"I thought it was fun," Serena said. "I thought it was special. We kicked off a little rust in the middle of the match and just, you know, (we were) starting to feel it. I didn't come out here to win this tournament. Winning is obviously great. But in this position just, you know, having fun. It was really cool to be able to do this again."

It was the third doubles match of the year for Serena, 44, who returned to the tour this year for the first time since 2022. She won a doubles match while teaming with Canada’s Victoria Mboko in a Wimbledon warm-up tournament in London, but the pair couldn’t compete in the next round after Mboko got hurt. Serena lost a first-round doubles match with the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova in Berlin.

Serena has played just one singles match this year, a first-round loss to Australia’s Maya Joint at Wimbledon. In that match, the 23-time major singles winner sustained an injury that kept her from competing with her sister in the Wimbledon doubles event.

Serena has yet to reveal her plans for the US Open, which starts on August 30.

Venus, 46, is 3-9 in doubles matches and 0-10 in singles matches in 2026.

On Monday, Stearns and Kostyuk jumped ahead 6-0 in the decisive first-to-10 tiebreaker that the pro tennis tours use in place of a third set in doubles. The Williams sisters rallied within 8-7 and 9-8 before Venus served a match-ending double fault.

Venus said, "It's our first time playing together in forever. It was great for us to get out there and do it."

Luigi Mangione’s trial on New York state murder and weapons charges over the 2024 killing of a health insurance CEO was postponed on Monday, after the 28-year-old Ivy League graduate pleaded guilty last week to separate federal charges.

In court on Friday, Mangione for the first time admitted to shooting 50-year-old UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a brazen crime that was condemned by public officials but became emblematic of Americans' frustration with health insurance industry practices.

Mangione's lawyers cited his guilty plea to the federal stalking charges he faced in urging New York state Justice Gregory Carro to dismiss the state charges.

His lawyers argued that Mangione should not have to be punished for the same conduct twice under New York’s law prohibiting double jeopardy.

The state trial had previously been scheduled to begin on September 8. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the state charges.

In a brief written order on Monday, Carro gave prosecutors until October 9 to respond to Mangione’s motion. The judge set Mangione’s next appearance in state court for December 10, meaning the trial will not go forward next month.

A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the state charges against Mangione, referred to a Friday statement indicating that the office was prepared to litigate the defense motions. Mangione's defense lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mangione is due to be sentenced in his federal case on December 18. Federal prosecutors said on Friday that they intend to seek a life sentence, the maximum allowable.

In the state case, Mangione would face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.

US President Donald Trump's envoy Jared Kushner on Monday said conversations between the US and different areas of the Iranian government were probably more robust than ever, but the two sides had not yet reached an understanding.

Kushner, who is visiting the Middle East, made the comments in an interview with Fox News.

This is a developing story.