Istanbul’s jailed Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu appeared in a prison courtroom Friday over claims he had fraudulently obtained his university diploma, the first hearing in the case of the popular opposition figure whose arrest earlier this year triggered nationwide protests. Imamoglu was greeted with cheers and applause by supporters as he entered the courtroom in Silivri Prison, west of Istanbul. His family, senior opposition politicians and former university classmates were present for the hearing, according to media reports. The prosecution is demanding a prison sentence of between 2½ and 8¾ years and a political ban for alleged forgery of official documents....

 Russian bobsled and skeleton athletes will not compete at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, the governing body for those two sports decided on Friday. The International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation voted down a notion that could have let Russian athletes compete as individuals with neutral status. The vote was held at the federation’s congress in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy — the site of the sliding events for the Winter Games in February. Friday’s move follows a similar decision made by the International Luge Federation in June. Both the bobsled-skeleton and luge federations have kept Russian athletes from competing in major international events —...

 Limited access and scarce funds are the key challenges facing health officials trying to respond to the latest Ebola outbreak in southern Congo, the World Health Organization said Friday. It is the first Ebola outbreak in 18 years in Kasai province, a remote part of Congo with poor road networks, which is more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the nation’s capital of Kinshasa. A United Nations peacekeeping helicopter was used to help deliver 400 vaccine doses Friday to the outbreak’s epicenter, in the locality of Bulape, Patrick Otim, WHO’s program area manager, said at a briefing in Geneva. An additional 1,500 doses will...

Amnesty International on Friday called for a public trial of a South Sudanese opposition figure facing treason and other criminal charges, in a case that some worry could deepen political tensions in the east African country. South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir announced Thursday that he suspended Riek Machar as the country’s first vice president, effectively ending the transitional government of unity that forestalled a return to full-blown war. In addition to treason, Machar and seven others face charges of murder, conspiracy, terrorism, destruction of public property and military assets and crimes against humanity. Authorities have kept Machar and his wife under house arrest...

Iran’s foreign minister says Iran and France are close to agreeing to an exchange of prisoners, including the release of an Iranian woman arrested in France over her online posts related to the war in Gaza. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state TV late on Thursday that Mahdieh Esfandiari is expected to be released as part of a swap that he hoped would happen “in the coming days.” Esfandiari, a translator living in the French city of Lyon since 2018, was arrested in February on a terror-related charge for alleged posts on Telegram about the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel that triggered the...

The Assembly convened today and passed the “New York Declaration” by a vote of 142 in favor, 10 against, and 12 abstentions. In favor: UK, France, Australia, China, India, Pakistan. Against: US, Israel, Argentina, Hungary and others. The declaration addresses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the implementation of a two-state solution. The proposal, introduced by France and Saudi Arabia, was first adopted at the New York Conference held in July. It outlines an action plan intended, according to its sponsors, to establish an “irreversible” path toward the creation of a Palestinian state. Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, spoke at...

France said it’s deploying fighter jets to Poland and Britain announced fresh sanctions on Russia’s oil revenues and war machine Friday as European countries took steps to deter Moscow’s aggression after an incursion by Russian drones into Polish territory. French President Emmanuel Macron said he would deploy three advanced Rafale fighter jets to help protect Poland ’s airspace and NATO’ s eastern flank to fulfill a commitment to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The Rafales will patrol alongside other NATO aircraft in a deployment that also will include munitions and personnel on the ground, the French Defense Ministry said. “The security of the European continent...