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French Reports: Franco-Iranian, German Citizens Arrested in Iran

Iran police officers stand in Tehran, Iran, July 1, 2020. (AP)
Iran police officers stand in Tehran, Iran, July 1, 2020. (AP)
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French Reports: Franco-Iranian, German Citizens Arrested in Iran

Iran police officers stand in Tehran, Iran, July 1, 2020. (AP)
Iran police officers stand in Tehran, Iran, July 1, 2020. (AP)

A person with dual French and Iranian citizenship and a German national were arrested in Iran more than two weeks ago, French daily newspaper Le Figaro reported on Friday.

Without citing its sources, the newspaper said the two individuals were arrested and detained before Feb. 4 as leverage in anticipation of the sentencing of Iranian diplomat Assadolah Assadi in Belgium that day.

The diplomat was sentenced to 20 years in prison for planning to bomb an Iranian opposition rally in France in 2018, Reuters reported.

Le Figaro said the Franco-Iranian was arrested in the desert flying a drone.

France's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither German nor Iranian officials were immediately reachable.

The arrests, if confirmed, would come at a sensitive time. The United States on Thursday signaled it was ready to talk with Iran about how both nations could return to a 2015 agreement that aimed to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

In a joint statement, the United States, France, Britain and Germany also called on Iran to release all their arbitrarily detained nationals.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals in recent years, mostly on espionage charges.

Rights activists have accused Iran of arresting dual nationals to try to win concessions from other countries. Tehran denies it holds people for political reasons and has accused many of the foreigners in its jails of espionage.

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World

Türkiye’s Relations with Russia, China Don’t Mean Turning Its Back on the West, Erdogan Says

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, September 1, 2026. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, September 1, 2026. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)
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Türkiye’s Relations with Russia, China Don’t Mean Turning Its Back on the West, Erdogan Says

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, September 1, 2026. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, September 1, 2026. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters)

Türkiye is not backing away from the West as it seeks deeper ties with the East, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday as he headed back from a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.

The conference in Kyrgyzstan saw Erdogan hold a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at which they discussed further nuclear cooperation.

In comments made to journalists aboard the presidential plane, Erdogan reiterated Türkiye’s goal of becoming a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or SCO, whose ten current members include Russia, China, India and Iran.

“I would also like to particularly emphasize that Türkiye’s membership perspective in the organization does not mean a break from a bloc or turning our backs on the West,” the president said.

Turning to the war in Ukraine, during which Ankara has maintained friendly relations with both Moscow and Kyiv, Erdogan said it was his and Putin’s “expectation ... that the war between Russia and Ukraine ends peacefully as soon as possible.”

He also underlined the importance of maritime security in the Black Sea, where civilian shipping has come under increasing attack.

“There is a need for a mechanism that will permanently ensure the safety of commercial maritime transport in the Black Sea,” Erdogan said, adding that it would be “beneficial” to prevent a “resurgence of the grain crisis.”

Türkiye brokered a grain deal in 2022 that opened Ukrainian ports and allowed the movement of Russian food and fertilizer. The agreement, which Putin pulled out of a year later, was vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

The SCO, founded in 2001, also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Belarus. The growing bloc has been billed as a counterweight to US global influence, although its goals and programs remain vague.

World

Apple Changes Lake Ontario Name to ‘Lake America’ for US Users of Its Maps, Following Trump’s Order

The Toronto, Ontario skyline is seen across Lake Ontario from Fort Niagara State Park, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Youngstown, NY. (AP)
The Toronto, Ontario skyline is seen across Lake Ontario from Fort Niagara State Park, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Youngstown, NY. (AP)
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Apple Changes Lake Ontario Name to ‘Lake America’ for US Users of Its Maps, Following Trump’s Order

The Toronto, Ontario skyline is seen across Lake Ontario from Fort Niagara State Park, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Youngstown, NY. (AP)
The Toronto, Ontario skyline is seen across Lake Ontario from Fort Niagara State Park, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in Youngstown, NY. (AP)

Apple has relabeled Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for US users of its Maps app, following competitor Google days after President Donald Trump ordered a new name for the body of water amid his escalating trade war with Canada.

As of Wednesday morning, Apple Maps displayed “Lake America” for US users looking at the lake that sits between the state of New York and Canada’s Ontario province. Users outside of the US still saw the Lake Ontario name.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Earlier this week, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox that Trump had reached out to the company “directly” about the change.

The president declared the new “Lake America” name last week, marking one of the latest provocations during his trade war with Canada that is now hiking tariffs on both sides of the border. His executive order on Friday directed the Interior Department to update the lake’s name in the US geographic naming service.

Google Maps rolled out the change over the weekend, citing Trump's order and its already-established practice of using names assigned by the US Geographic Names Information System (or GNIS).

“People using Maps in the US will see ‘Lake America,’ those in Canada will continue to see ‘Lake Ontario,’ and those outside of the US and Canada will see both names,” Google said in a brief statement on Saturday, reiterating that such updates “follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country.”

Trump cannot force Canada to also change the name of Lake Ontario. And America’s northern neighbors quickly panned the idea.

“It’s Lake Ontario to Canadians and the rest of the world. Now and forever," Ontario Premier Doug Ford wrote on social media Friday.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also rejected the move last week, invoking the lake’s Indigenous roots and noting that the name predates both the Canadian Confederation and US Declaration of Independence. The name Lake Ontario comes from the Huron Indigenous people’s word “oniatarí:io,” which means “lake of shining waters.”

This isn’t the first time Trump has moved to rename water spanning beyond US borders. Last year, Trump ordered that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America and both Apple and Google later updated the name on their maps in the US.

But not all map providers have followed suit. MapQuest, in particular, has declared it won't be changing Lake Ontario's label and gave users the option to name the lake “whatever you want" through a separate online tool. Both the Lake Ontario and Gulf of Mexico names still appear as default on its platform.

World

Iran Arrests 11 Foreigners Suspected of Fuel Smuggling

Drivers queue at a petrol station to refuel in Tehran, on August 25, 2026. (AFP)
Drivers queue at a petrol station to refuel in Tehran, on August 25, 2026. (AFP)
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Iran Arrests 11 Foreigners Suspected of Fuel Smuggling

Drivers queue at a petrol station to refuel in Tehran, on August 25, 2026. (AFP)
Drivers queue at a petrol station to refuel in Tehran, on August 25, 2026. (AFP)

Iranian authorities have arrested 11 foreign nationals on suspicion of attempting to smuggle fuel out of the country, state television reported on Wednesday.

The arrests in the country's south come as Iran faces difficulties importing enough fuel to meet demand as the US maintains a naval blockade of Iranian ports.

"Border guards arrested 11 foreign suspects," state television reported, without specifying their nationalities.

It said the guards acted on intelligence reports of smuggling attempts using a tugboat in Gulf waters.

During a search of the boat, the guards "discovered 382,000 liters of diesel fuel", it added.

Iranian authorities have for years sought to curb widespread fuel smuggling, particularly in the south along the Gulf, where it has contributed to local shortages.

More recently, Washington imposed its blockade of Iranian ports in retaliation for Tehran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for Gulf oil and gas shipments, after the Middle East war broke out in February.

On Tuesday, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf called on citizens to curb petrol consumption. Long queues have formed at filling stations in Tehran in recent days.