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Germany Arrests a Lebanese Man Accused of Being a Member of Hezbollah

Mourners gather during the funeral of five Hezbollah fighters, who were killed during hostilities with Israeli forces, in the village Al-Sawana, southern Lebanon 03 December 2024. (EPA)
Mourners gather during the funeral of five Hezbollah fighters, who were killed during hostilities with Israeli forces, in the village Al-Sawana, southern Lebanon 03 December 2024. (EPA)
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Germany Arrests a Lebanese Man Accused of Being a Member of Hezbollah

Mourners gather during the funeral of five Hezbollah fighters, who were killed during hostilities with Israeli forces, in the village Al-Sawana, southern Lebanon 03 December 2024. (EPA)
Mourners gather during the funeral of five Hezbollah fighters, who were killed during hostilities with Israeli forces, in the village Al-Sawana, southern Lebanon 03 December 2024. (EPA)

German authorities have arrested a Lebanese man accused of being a member of Hezbollah and working for groups controlled by the organization in Germany.

Federal prosecutors said the suspect, identified only as Fadel R. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in the Hannover region on Tuesday. The man is suspected of membership in a foreign terrorist organization and is not accused of direct involvement in any violence.

Prosecutors said he joined Hezbollah in the summer of 2008 or earlier and took part in leadership training courses in Lebanon. From 2009, he allegedly had leadership duties in two groups controlled by Hezbollah in the Hannover area, organizing appearances by preachers close to the party.

According to prosecutors, he was briefly a correspondent for a Hezbollah media outlet in 2017 and was tasked with coordinating building work at a mosque.

Germany is a staunch ally of Israel. It is also home to a Lebanese immigrant community of more than 100,000.

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World

Murder, Terror Charges for Suspects in Trump Cage Fight Attack Plot

President Donald Trump, from left, sits at a lunch with Susan Dell and Dell CEO Michael Dell, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump, from left, sits at a lunch with Susan Dell and Dell CEO Michael Dell, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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Murder, Terror Charges for Suspects in Trump Cage Fight Attack Plot

President Donald Trump, from left, sits at a lunch with Susan Dell and Dell CEO Michael Dell, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump, from left, sits at a lunch with Susan Dell and Dell CEO Michael Dell, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Eight men accused in an alleged plot to attack a White House mixed martial arts fight hosted by President Donald Trump in June have been indicted on murder and terrorism conspiracy charges, the Department of Justice said.

The suspects, ranging in age from 19 to 32, were accused of planning to used armed drones to attack the event on the White House South Lawn, with snipers firing on "high value targets" in the chaos, AFP quoted prosecutors as saying.

Law enforcement officials said they foiled the plot in the lead-up to the June 14 "UFC Freedom 250" event, which coincided with Trump's 80th birthday and ultimately took place without incident.

It attracted 4,000 fans to the fight in a temporary arena called "The Claw" that towered over the White House.The eight alleged plotters were charged Thursday in a two-count federal indictment in Columbus, Ohio, the Justice Department said.

They were accused of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to commit murder on federal government territory and to murder a federal government official.The federal charges returned by a grand jury replace initial charges filed by prosecutors in various legal jurisdictions around the country.

Prosecutors said the plotters, who hailed from various states, had met in online chat groups to plan the attack, recruit members and encourage each other to carry out the assault.

The eighth suspect, 21-year-old Charles Scaggs of West Virginia, was arrested this week and had allegedly been assigned to be a sniper, prosecutors said.

The White House is one of the most heavily guarded sites in the world, ringed with anti-aircraft capabilities, blanketed by surveillance, and staffed with specially trained response units.

The "UFC Freedom 250" event kicked off this year's festivities for the 250th anniversary of the declaration of US independence.

Trump has faced several assassination attempts in recent years, most recently in April when a gunman tried to storm a gala dinner hosted by the White House Correspondents' Association that Trump was attending.

World

Security Official: Iran Will Respond Against Israel if Infrastructure Attacked

FILE - Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
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Security Official: Iran Will Respond Against Israel if Infrastructure Attacked

FILE - Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
FILE - Motorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Iran will respond to any attack against its infrastructure, including by striking Israel, the head of the country's top security body said on Friday, as Tehran and Washington have resumed fighting this week.

"Any attack on infrastructure will be retaliated against, and the criminal Zionist regime responsible for these atrocities will not be safe from the response of our fighters," Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr said in a statement carried by state TV.

Fighting picked up again this week between the US and Iran in the most significant exchange of fire since the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on June 17, seeking to formalize an April ceasefire and guide talks to conclusively end the war.

The US military carried out heavy strikes overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, saying it targeted 90 military sites.

But Iran accused Washington of also targeting civilian infrastructure in order to detract from the funeral of late supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Bridges and railway links between the capital Tehran and Khamenei's hometown of Mashhad, where he was buried on Thursday, were hit, according to Iran.

Iranian authorities say 17 people have been killed in US strikes.

Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that the Israeli prime minister spoke on Thursday with the US president, who informed him of the latest American moves in the Gulf.

Later on Thursday evening, Iranian state media reported a US-Israeli attack on a military headquarters near Bushehr, where Iran's only civilian nuclear plant is located.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was prepared to resume its military campaign against Iran if needed, vowing to do so "with even greater force".

World

Kremlin Says Putin Remains Open to Ukraine Talks but is Carving out a Bigger Buffer Zone

People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin on a summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 26 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin on a summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 26 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
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Kremlin Says Putin Remains Open to Ukraine Talks but is Carving out a Bigger Buffer Zone

People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin on a summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 26 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People walk on the Red Square outside the Kremlin on a summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 26 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

The Kremlin said on Friday that President Vladimir Putin remained open to achieving Russia's objectives through diplomacy, but that Moscow was carving out a wider buffer ‌zone in ‌Ukraine in ‌response ⁠to Kyiv's escalatory actions.

Kremlin ⁠spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to a question about a Reuters article a day ⁠earlier in which ‌three ‌sources close to the Kremlin ‌told Reuters that ‌Ukraine's recent drone strikes on Russia's oil refineries and ports were strengthening Putin's ‌resolve to keep fighting for now.

Peskov ⁠said ⁠Russia believed that Kyiv had no desire for talks at the moments and that Moscow was therefore continuing its military campaign in Ukraine.