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Europe urged to raise plight of Iran’s political prisoners in any future talks

Iranian human rights groups are urging MEPs and European governments to escalate the issue of Tehran’s mistreatment of political prisoners, arguing that the crackdown on internal dissent must be on the agenda in any talks about future relations between Europe and Iran. The Iranian foreign ministry appears to be in no rush to stage further talks with the west without clear US assurances that it will not be attacked again. Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister, travelled to China on Monday for a summit between foreign ministers in Shanghai, implying talks with the US were not imminent. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, on Monday defended the principle of future negotiations but said: “We will not enter into such a process until we are sure of the effectiveness of diplomacy and the negotiation process.” But Iranian human rights groups say Tehran has used the delay to move against those it has long opposed, weakening groups urging national unity. A debate has been raging inside Iran whether the upsurge in patriotism created by the Israeli attacks, which began on 12 June, could be nurtured by freeing political prisoners and commuting some of the death sentences. Emadeddin Baghi, a human rights activist, said he had recently been invited to Iran’s interior ministry for a meeting with senior government officials and a minister along with other civil activists. He said: “I spoke about several imprisoned and death-sentenced women and men, and the minister of interior gave promising assurances for discussions with the judiciary.” As many as 60 political prisoners are listed for execution. But there are widespread concerns of further repression as the security forces elide political dissent with espionage. Attention has focused on the fate of five Kurdish men, especially Rezgar Babamiri, a farmer who was arrested in 2023 in connection with the “women, life, freedom” protests after the death of Mahsa Amini. He faced charges both in the criminal and revolutionary courts. Babamiri’s supporters say he was detained after providing aid and medical supplies to wounded protesters in the north-western Iranian city of Bukan. Initially, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by Iran’s criminal court on charges of complicity in the murder of a member of the Basij paramilitary force – a verdict rights groups say was based on confessions extracted under torture. However, Iran’s revolutionary court also sentenced him to 15 years for collaborating with the Mossad and possession of a Starlink device. His situation escalated dramatically when, at the point of sentencing, a new and severe charge was abruptly introduced – plotting to assassinate the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei – a charge absent from all previous investigations and court hearings. The charge was derided on social media, since Babamiri had been in prison at the time of the alleged conspiracy, but on 7 July human rights lawyers reported he had been given the death sentence, suggesting reconciliation is not high not on the judiciary’s agenda. Zhino Babamiri, his 24-year-old daughter who has been tirelessly advocating for his release at the European parliament, has written to the Norwegian government urging it to raise his and other cases if Oslo acts as host for the planned talks between the US and Iran. Norway’s foreign affairs minister, Andreas Kravik, has said he is aware of the Babamiri case from local NGOs and opposes the death penalty in all circumstances – a message regularly conveyed as part of Norway’s dialogue with Iran. Norway also condemned the Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. Zhino believes her father and others have been falsely accused of murder in order to justify their execution and deter further unrest. She said the punishments are meant to send a message. “They’re using my father to scare others into silence,” she said. “If they are truly confident my father is guilty, they should allow him a fair trial and the right to defend himself.” The reputation of the ministry of intelligence has suffered after Israel was able to penetrate Iran’s security so completely that it was able to bomb a secret meeting of the supreme national security council, injuring the president, Masoud Pezeshkian. The prospect of a breakthrough in talks with the US remains hazy after two meetings between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump ended without any public resolution on how to handle the security threat posed by Iran. Netanyahu made a new demand that Iran should not be allowed to possess missiles with a range longer than 300 miles (480km). Araghchi responded by saying: “Having miserably failed to achieve any of his war aims in Iran and compelled to run to ‘daddy’ when our powerful missiles flattened secret Israeli regime sites, which Netanyahu is still censoring, he is openly dictating what the US should or shouldn’t say or do in talks with Iran.” Araghchi’s remarks are part of an Iranian government pattern of trying to drive a wedge between the US and Israel.

Kyiv hails US weapons deal as Moscow dismisses Trump’s sanctions threat

Politicians in Kyiv have welcomed Donald Trump’s announcement that billions of dollars worth of US military equipment will be sent to Ukraine, while officials in Moscow dismissed his threat of sanctions against Russia as hot air. In a meeting with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, at the White House, Trump said the US would send Patriot anti-aircraft batteries and interceptor missiles, paid for by European allies. He promised that additional Patriot systems would arrive within days, funded by Germany and other Nato partners, which would be a significant step in helping Ukraine to defend itself. Kyiv is believed to have only six functioning Patriot batteries. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, expressed gratitude to Trump on Monday evening. “I am grateful to President Trump for his readiness to support the protection of our people’s lives,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. Zelenskyy also said he had had a “productive” discussion in Kyiv with Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special representative to Ukraine. He later said he had spoken to Trump and Rutte since the announcement. Andrii Kovalenko, a member of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, earlier summed up the positive response from Zelenskyy’s government in a one-word reaction: “Cool.” Others acknowledged that Ukraine’s relations with Washington had signally improved since Zelenskyy’s disastrous meeting with Trump in the Oval Office in February. But there was also scepticism that the new package – coupled with the threat of sanctions on the Russian economy in 50 days’ time – would be enough to persuade Moscow to stop fighting. One former Ukrainian military officer said it was unlikely to make a meaningful impression on the Kremlin, or act as a strong deterrent. The independent MP Mariana Bezuhla – a prominent critic of Zelenskyy and his top military team – dismissed the announcement as an empty “game”. “Trump gave Putin another 50 days to seize Ukraine,” she posted on social media. Referring to cities in the east of the country, where Russian troops are advancing, she said: “Well, then, let’s see, carte blanche, so to speak. To the Dnipro or Kramatorsk – everything is so appetising.” Russian officials and pro-war bloggers largely dismissed Trump’s threats, portraying them as far less serious than anticipated. Konstantin Kosachev, a senior Russian lawmaker, wrote on Telegram that the US president’s ultimatum amounted to “hot air”, suggesting he could easily walk it back. “A lot can change in 50 days – on the battlefield and in the mindset of those in power, both in the US and in Nato,” he wrote. Yuri Podolyaka, a popular pro-Kremlin military blogger, similarly wrote on Telegram that Trump “could change his ‘opinion’ several times in the next 50 days”. Podolyaka and other commentators pointed to the main Moscow stock index, which gained more than 2.5% after Trump’s announcement. The shift in tone stood in stark contrast to the earlier anxiety in Moscow, where state media had speculated that Trump might announce the delivery of long-range missiles capable of reaching the Russian capital. Some voices in Moscow, however, lamented that Trump’s once-positive relationship with Putin may have fundamentally shifted. “A new reality on Ukraine began today with Trump’s statement,” said Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin commentator. “As of today, he’s pressuring only Russia and supporting Ukraine,” he wrote on Telegram. In Ukraine, there was frustration that it had taken the Trump administration nearly six months to agree to send substantial military support, at a time when Ukrainian cities were under heavy fire. Russia pounded Kyiv in a seven-hour attack last week, killing two people, and dispatched a record 741 drones and ballistic missiles across the country. The journalist and blogger Illia Ponomarenko suggested Trump had allowed himself to be deceived in his dealings with Putin. “How many Ukrainian lives could have been saved if, from the very beginning, Trump had listened to wise and honest people about helping Ukraine, instead of the artful lies of that cannibal Putin on the phone?” he wrote. Rather, Trump had believed he could ‘“achieve peace’ by indulging and encouraging the aggressor’s appetite”, he said.

Trump’s hazy Ukraine arms announcement marks a tonal U-turn

For those looking for details, Donald Trump’s rambling half-hour press conference in the Oval Office with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, offered only a handful of clues. The US will sell weapons to Ukraine, the president said, with other Nato countries paying the bill – but otherwise specifics were scant. No sums of money were mentioned – making it hard to calibrate how much of a difference the proposed weapon supply would make to Kyiv. Details were light on what munitions would be supplied though Trump mentioned complete Patriot missile systems and Rutte added there would be “missiles and ammunition” too. It is hard to know precisely what amount of military purchases would make a difference and perhaps force Vladimir Putin to consider calling for a ceasefire. But in the crudest sense, any package worth more than $10bn would certainly send a signal to Moscow, when considered in the light of the $67bn previously given by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, to Ukraine over nearly three years. There was one specific threat to Moscow. Trump did promise to levy a 100% tariff on Russia if Putin did not agree a deal to halt the fighting within 50 days, although the president’s previous record on levying and dropping tariffs has been so confusing that it cannot be presumed what will come to pass if Russia does not comply. But make no mistake, tonally, Trump’s statements on Monday amount to a significant moment. Although the president did not sound annoyed or angry with Putin when he said “we’re very unhappy – I am – with Russia”, there was a clear measure of exasperation with his Russian counterpart. The US president came to office convinced he could do a deal with Putin to end the war in Ukraine, in discussions that at first seemed to involve Ukraine as an afterthought. But, as Trump made clear, conversations with the Russian leader have slowly led him to conclude Putin has so far not been serious. In this, Ukraine’s most influential lobbyist may have been Melania Trump, the president’s Slovenian-born wife. “I go home and I tell the first lady: ‘I spoke with Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation,’” Trump said. “And she said: ‘Oh really? Another city was just hit’” – prodding him gently to reconsider his warmth to the Russian leader, at least on this retelling. Four times, Trump said, he thought he reached an agreement with Putin but he reiterated that immediate Russian bombing of Kyiv and other big cities had led him to reconsider. “And then the deal wouldn’t happen because bombs would be thrown out that night and you’d say we’re not making any deals,” he said. For Volodymyr Zelenskyy, this is a moment of vindication. At the end of February, the Ukrainian president was essentially kicked out of the White House, after an ugly televised row. Weapons shipments to Ukraine were halted, intelligence sharing stopped, and though both were resumed the relationship seemed fragile. Less than a fortnight ago, weapons shipments were briefly halted again. Instead Zelenskyy adopted a more cautious tone, expressing the hope in the spring that Trump would gradually come to realise that Putin was insincere. Over the past few days, it is the conclusion that Trump has come to reach. While for the moment the lack of detail may not be enough to force the Kremlin into suing for peace, the change in tone (and Europe’s willingness to pay the bills) means that Ukraine’s most important ally remains willing to support it in its fight for survival.

German doctor on trial for allegedly murdering 15 patients in his care

Hearings have begun in the Berlin trial of a German palliative doctor accused of murdering 15 patients in his care using a deadly cocktail of sedatives and setting fire to many of their homes to try to cover up his crimes. Prosecutors have charged the 40-year-old defendant with 15 counts of “murder with premeditated malice and other base motives” and are seeking a life sentence, which in Germany usually amounts to 15 years in prison. They aim for the Berlin state court to establish “particularly serious guilt”, which would result in the doctor being detained on a preventive basis even after that sentence is up, as well as receiving a lifetime ban on practising medicine. As the trial opened on Monday, the prosecutor Philipp Meyhöfer said the doctor arranged house calls with the intention of killing his patients “without their knowledge or consent” using “a deadly mix of various medications”. “He acted with disregard for life … and behaved as the master of life and death,” Meyhöfer told the court. Two of the killings are believed to have taken place on the same day in 2024. Authorities are still investigating dozens of other suspected killings possibly committed by the defendant, who has been identified only as Johannes M in accordance with German privacy rules. He was arrested last August. The doctor worked for a mobile nursing service offering palliative at-home care to terminally ill patients. His alleged victims – 12 women and three men – ranged in age from 25 to 94 and died between September 2021 and July 2024. He is believed to have given patients an anaesthetic and a muscle relaxant, incapacitating their respiratory muscles and leading them to asphyxiate within minutes. While all were gravely ill, none had been expected to die imminently. A suspicious co-worker called attention to the fact that at least five of Johannes M’s patients had purportedly died in fires, leading authorities to open a criminal investigation. The Berlin prosecutor’s office said another 70 cases potentially linked to the defendant were still being examined, including the death of his mother-in-law in Poland in early 2024. She had been suffering from cancer. The defendant declined an opportunity to address the court as his trial opened as well as a psychiatric evaluation. His alleged motive remains unclear. The trial is scheduled to run until at least late January 2026, with about 150 people expected to be called as witnesses, the news agency DPA reported. Thirteen relatives of the dead patients have joined the proceedings as co-plaintiffs. The case recalls that of the German nurse Niels Högel, who received a life sentence in 2019 for murdering 85 patients in his care with lethal injections between 2000 and 2005. Högel is often called postwar Germany’s most prolific serial killer. The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.

Muhammadu Buhari obituary

The soldier and politician Muhammadu Buhari, who has died aged 82, was both military dictator and, three decades later, democratically elected president of Nigeria. His reputation as a no-nonsense general gained him lasting popularity, but also much criticism, with charges of repression and human rights abuses, as well as failure to tackle the economy or jihadist terrorism. His election in 2015 was notable for being the first to unseat an incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan. However this success was also his fourth attempt. Buhari had secured millions of votes in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections, but fell short of the required voting margins partly because, as a Muslim from the north, who supported sharia law, he was unpopular in southern and central Nigeria. He finally succeeded in 2015 by marketing himself as a “reformed democrat” and appointing a top clergyman from the country’s biggest Pentecostal megachurch, Yemi Osinbajo, as his deputy. “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody,” he said on his inauguration day, a quote that became his mantra. At 72, he was also the oldest person elected to the office in Nigeria, and that set the pace of his presidency, earning him the nickname “Baba Go Slow”. In his first term, the goodwill began to dissipate after he took five months to appoint a cabinet and reintroduced the same economic policies from his military days. His “hands-off” management style led to the view that others, in particular his nephews and chief of staff, were running the show. This was reinforced by a viral photo of Buhari picking his teeth in the presidential palace, and a 104-day absence on medical grounds in 2017, fuelling conspiracy theories that he had died and been replaced by a Sudanese body double. During his two-term tenure, Nigeria faced some of its worst security crises since the Biafran war (1967-70). Boko Haram – which Buhari had promised to crush – abducted, displaced and killed thousands of civilians, and split, as one faction became the Islamic West Africa Province. Still, his government claimed the jihadists had been “technically defeated”. After the army shot peaceful protesters during anti-police brutality demonstrations in 2020 in Lagos, Buhari’s national address days later ignored the killings entirely. By the time he left office in 2023, Nigeria, then Africa’s largest economy, had slumped to two recessions in eight years, despite there being none in the two decades before. The naira became one of the worst performing global currencies, forcing the central bank to try unorthodox measures. One of those was cutting down trees in the capital Abuja so that streetside bureau de change operators would have no shade to do business under. Thousands of young people left the country in its biggest emigration wave in decades. Nevertheless, Buhari remained popular, especially in northern Nigeria, where many acknowledged the failure of his policies but blamed those around him. Born in Daura, in northern Nigeria, he was the son of Adamu and Zulaiha Buhari. After school in Katsina, at 19 he joined the army, and underwent training in the UK, at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot (1962-65). He was commissioned as a second lieutenant two years later and progressed through the ranks, serving as a minister in the military regime that ruled Nigeria from 1975 to 1979. His hardline character was spotted in April 1983 when, as a commanding officer of an armoured division, his troops pursued invading Chadian forces across the border disregarding orders by the then president Shehu Shagari. By 31 December, he had overthrown Shagari in a coup. Buhari and his never-smiling deputy, Tunde Idiagbon, emphasised anti-corruption and discipline under a “war against indiscipline” campaign, which manifested itself as authoritarianism, press suppression and human rights abuses. In April 1985, for instance, three men were executed by firing squad for drug offences instead of the maximum six-month jail term, after a new decree was retroactively applied. Three months later came the “Umaru Dikko affair”: the attempted kidnapping of a former minister in London using a crate uncovered by British customs officials at Heathrow airport, which led to a breakdown in diplomatic relations between Nigeria and the UK. In August 1985 Buhari was ousted from office by another junta. He spent three years under house arrest, then led a relatively quiet life until democracy was restored in Nigeria in 2003, and he began his presidential campaigns. Following his 2011 election loss, Buhari said in a speech: “If what happened in 2011 should happen again in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood.” The remarks caused alarm given that post-election violence had already led to the deaths of more than 800 people. But his supporters framed it as a metaphor for resistance to electoral malpractice. In 2019, the popular Nigerian newspaper the Punch announced in an editorial that it would prefix Buhari’s name with his military rank and refer to his administration as a “regime” to protest about the government’s “serial disregard for human rights, court orders, and the battering of other arms of government and Nigeria’s democratic institutions”. Buhari’s spokesperson responded by saying that as he had earned the rank, the newspaper was free to use it, a “testimony to press freedom in Nigeria”. After stepping down in 2023, Buhari confined himself mostly to his Daura home until he arrived in London for medical care. His first marriage, to Safinatu Yusuf, in 1971, ended in divorce. Buhari is survived by his second wife, Aisha (nee Halilu), whom he married in 1989, their son and four daughters, and three daughters from his first marriage (another daughter from that marriage predeceased him). • Muhammadu Buhari, soldier and politician, born 17 December 1942; died 13 July 2025

Syrian boy goes on trial over alleged role in Taylor Swift concert bomb plot

A Syrian teenager has gone on trial in Berlin accused of involvement in an Islamic State-inspired plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last summer. The case brought by federal prosecutors against the 15-year-old defendant, identified only as Mohammad A in keeping with German privacy rules, includes charges of preparing a “severe subversive act of violence” and supporting a terrorist organisation abroad. He is accused of translating a video on bomb-building from Arabic and sending it to a then 19-year-old man, named as Beran A, who was allegedly behind the plot in Austria. Mohammad A is also alleged to have helped to establish contact with a member of Islamic State. The Vienna leg of Swift’s blockbuster Eras tour was called off last August after two people were arrested over an apparent plot to launch an attack on a public event in the Austrian capital. Authorities said they had arrested a 19-year-old man for allegedly planning an attack in the Vienna region and suggested that Swift’s shows had been the “focus” of the plot. The 19-year-old suspect intended “to kill himself and a large crowd of people”, said Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of state protection and intelligence at the Austrian interior ministry, at the time. Swift later reacted to the foiled terror attack on Instagram, saying she felt “a new sense of fear” and a “tremendous amount of guilt” about the potential risk to her fans. Mohammad A was arrested on the day the concerts were cancelled. He attended a school in the eastern German city of Frankfurt an der Oder and was 14 when the events in question occurred. His name was found among Beran A’s contacts. The presiding judge at the Berlin superior court of justice granted the request by his defence lawyers to try their client behind closed doors owing to his young age and the “heated press coverage” of his case. The judge agreed public hearings could enhance the already significant stigma against the teenager, who was not in custody but has been barred from normal school instruction, the daily Berliner Morgenpost reported. Prosecutors say Mohammad A became a follower of Islamic State ideology at the latest in April 2024 and sent a text to one of the plot conspirators in Austria containing a loyalty oath to the group. German authorities have reported increasing radicalisation of younger suspects among the far right and radical left as well as among Islamic extremists. The trial, which began on Monday, is expected to last until at least 26 August. The main suspect in Austria was still under investigation, prosecutors in Vienna told the German news agency dpa.