Israel pounds Gaza City suburbs, Netanyahu to convene security cabinet
Israeli forces struck Gaza City’s outskirts overnight with air and ground fire, destroying homes and prompting further civilian displacement. Prime ...
Iran has officially confirmed the arrest of 18-year-old Franco-German cyclist Lennart Monterlos, after he was reported to be missing since mid-June.
"He was arrested for committing a crime, and an official notification regarding his situation was sent to the French embassy," Abbas Araghchi told French daily newspaper Le Monde, without providing further details.
France's foreign ministry said it was in contact with Iranian authorities and the family of Lennart Monterlos. The French ministry said it would give no further comment, as his safety was at stake.
Monterlos was undertaking a solo Europe-to-Asia biking expedition and had last made contact on 16th June. Prior to his disappearance, he had been documenting his journey on Instagram and had expressed optimism about his experiences in Iran, despite concerns from family and friends about the risks of travelling through the country.
Reuters reported that the arrest is likely to worsen already strained ties between Paris and Tehran.
Iran has already been holding two other French citizens, Jacques Paris and Cecile Kohler, for more than three years in conditions France has said are akin to torture.
France has called their detention state-sponsored hostage taking and demanded they be released immediately.
Earlier on Thursday, France's foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said Paris was trying to get permission to visit them.
The pair were moved from Tehran's Evin prison following airstrikes by Israel that targeted the prison in June. French consular officials visited them at a new location on July 1, but no longer knew where they were being held now, he said.
Kohler's sister on Sunday said that the two had been moved from Evin prison in Tehran after Israel bombed the site but that she had not been told where the two were now being held.
Lemoine reiterated that French nationals should not travel to Iran given the risk of arbitrary arrests.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards have detained dozens of foreign and dual nationals in recent years, often on espionage-related charges. Rights groups and Western countries accuse Tehran of using foreign detainees as bargaining chips, which it denies.
France in May filed a case at the World Court against Iran for violating the right to consular protection, in a bid to pressure Tehran over the detention of its two citizens.
A powerful eruption at Japan’s Shinmoedake volcano sent an ash plume more than 3,000 metres high on Sunday morning, prompting safety warnings from authorities.
According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the Oaxaca region of Mexico on Saturday.
The UK is gearing up for Exercise Pegasus 2025, its largest pandemic readiness test since COVID-19. Running from September to November, this full-scale simulation will challenge the country's response to a fast-moving respiratory outbreak.
A Polish Air Force pilot was killed on Thursday when an F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training flight ahead of the 2025 Radom International Air Show.
Norway will purchase a fleet of British-built frigates to reinforce its naval strength, the government confirmed on Sunday. The move marks a decisive step in what is expected to be the country’s largest-ever military procurement and a significant boost to NATO’s northern maritime defences.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Saturday cancelled a planned visit to China as nationwide protests spread beyond Jakarta, with several regional parliament buildings set on fire.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 31th of August, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Sunday for a regional security summit, Chinese and Russian state media reported.
China’s largest city and global financial hub, Shanghai, has set a new heat record, state media reported on Saturday. Temperatures in the city exceeded 35°C (95°F) for 25 consecutive days, breaking the previous record set in 1926.
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