Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic scored 23 points to lead Montenegro to a much-needed 87-81 victory over Sweden at EuroBasket on Monday. Also, Serbia, Turkey and Germany extended their records to four group stage wins.
Vucevic also grabbed 15 rebounds and delivered four assists in Tampere, Finland, as Montenegro overcame a blip in the third quarter to post its first win at the continental tournament, keeping its hopes alive of reaching the round of 16.
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Britain's Carl Wheatle, left, and Germany's Dennis Schroeder, right, challenge for the ball during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship, group B match between Germany and Great Britain in Tampere, Finland, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
Britain's Joshua Ward-Hibbert, front, and Germany's Tristan da Silva during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship, group B match between Germany and Great Britain in Tampere, Finland, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
Britain's Carl Wheatle, left, and Germany's Dennis Schroeder, right, challenge for the ball during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship, group B match between Germany and Great Britain in Tampere, Finland, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
Germany's Dennis Schroeder plays the ball during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship, group B match between Germany and Great Britain in Tampere, Finland, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
Viktor Gaddefors of Sweden goes for the basket during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship group B match between Sweden and Montenegro in Tampere, Finland, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
From left, Simon Birgander of Sweden, Igor Drobnjak and Dordije Jovanovic of Montenegro during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship group B match between Sweden and Montenegro in Tampere, Finland, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
Pelle Larsson led the Swedes with 28 points.
Montenegro had a 40-34 halftime lead but Sweden was the better team returning from the locker room and out-scored its rival in the third quarter 31-24 to take the lead. A strong effort by Kyle Allman, who scored 10 points in less than two minutes for an 80-77 lead with 1:50 left, helped Montenegro recover and win the contest in Group B.
The group phase of 24 teams is being played in four countries. The top four teams from each group advance to the knockout phase in Riga, Latvia, from Sept. 6-14.
Montenegro can qualify with another victory against winless Britain, arguably the weakest team in the group.
Serbia remained unbeaten and knocked the winless Czech Republic out of playoffs contention after a comfortable 82-60 win.
A lineup with Nikola Jovic, Nikola Jokic and Nikola Milutinov propelled the Serbs to 27-5 after the first period. Milutinov finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals.
Serbia’s win also lifted Latvia into the round of 16.
Germany stayed unbeaten in Group B with a 120-57 victory over Britain, which resisted in the early stages before collapsing. Franz Wagner had a double-double of 18 points and 10 assists in just 18 minutes of play and Tristan Da Silva scored 25 points for the Germans.
Already qualified from Group A, Turkey made light work of Estonia by 84-64 in Riga. Turkey dominated and built a 12-point lead after 10 minutes.
Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun was again decisive for Turkey with 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
It was the first time since 2009 that Turkey managed to secure four wins in a single EuroBasket. Estonia dropped to 1-3 ahead of its final group game against Portugal on Wednesday. Turkey will face Serbia in a game that determines the group winner.
Latvia defeated Portugal 78-62 to improve its record to 2-2, with Kristaps Porzingis collecting 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists and a block for the hosts.
Lithuania clinched a spot in the round of 16 and handed host Finland its first loss by 81-78. Azuolas Tubelis posted 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Rokas Jokubaitis 16 points and nine assists before he was forced off injured in the final period.
Finland star Lauri Markkanen, held to 7 points in the first half, rallied to finish with 17, 11 rebounds and six assists.
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Britain's Joshua Ward-Hibbert, front, and Germany's Tristan da Silva during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship, group B match between Germany and Great Britain in Tampere, Finland, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
Britain's Carl Wheatle, left, and Germany's Dennis Schroeder, right, challenge for the ball during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship, group B match between Germany and Great Britain in Tampere, Finland, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
Germany's Dennis Schroeder plays the ball during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship, group B match between Germany and Great Britain in Tampere, Finland, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
Viktor Gaddefors of Sweden goes for the basket during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship group B match between Sweden and Montenegro in Tampere, Finland, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
From left, Simon Birgander of Sweden, Igor Drobnjak and Dordije Jovanovic of Montenegro during the Eurobasket, European Basketball Championship group B match between Sweden and Montenegro in Tampere, Finland, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss Iran's deadly protests at the request of the United States, even as President Donald Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic Republic.
Tehran appeared to make conciliatory statements in an effort to defuse the situation after Trump threatened to take action to stop further killing of protesters, including the execution of anyone detained in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “All options remain on the table for the president.”
Iran’s crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The sound of gunfire faded Thursday in the capital, Tehran. The country closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday and some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” travel to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.
Here is the latest:
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that U.S. President Donald Trump and his team had communicated to Iranian officials that there would be “grave consequences” if killing continues against protesters in Iran.
“The president understands today that 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday, were halted,” she said.
But Trump continues closely watching the situation, she said.
“All options remain on the table for the president,” Leavitt said.
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group, said on Thursday that “criminal gangs” were responsible for the situation in Iran, accusing them of carrying out an “American-Israeli” scheme.
“Criminal gangs in Iran killed Iranian citizens, security forces and burned mosques,” he said without providing evidence. “What’s being committed by criminal gangs in Iran is horrific, bearing an American stamp as it includes slaughter and burning some people alive.”
He also said that the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Iran to create a crisis leading to the current issues in the country with the end goal of controlling Iran.
Yet he said the U.S. has “failed in Iran” and that Iranians “will not yield to America.”
The president of the European Union’s executive arm says the 27-member bloc is looking to strengthen sanctions against Iran as ordinary Iranians continue their protests against Iran’s theocratic government.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday following a meeting of the EU’s commissioners in Limassol, Cyprus that current sanctions against Iran are “weakening the regime.”
Von der Leyen said that the EU is looking to sanction individual Iranians —apart from those who belong to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard — who “are responsible for the atrocities.”
She added that the people of Iran who are “bravely fighting for a change” have the EU’s “full political support.”
Canada’s foreign minister says a Canadian citizen has died in Iran “at the hands of the Iranian authorities.”
“Peaceful protests by the Iranian people — asking that their voices be heard in the face of the Iranian regime’s repression and ongoing human rights violations — has led the regime to flagrantly disregard human life,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand posted on social media Thursday.
“This violence must end. Canada condemns and calls for an immediate end to the Iranian regime’s violence,” she added.
Anand said consular officials are in contact with the victim’s family in Canada. She did not provide details.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced Thursday that a local staff member was killed and several others were wounded during the deadly protests in Iran over the weekend.
Amir Ali Latifi, an Iranian Red Crescent Society worker, was working in the country’s Gillan province on Jan. 10 when he was killed “in the line of duty,” the organization said in a statement.
“The IFRC is deeply concerned about the consequences of the ongoing unrest on the people of Iran and is closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the Iranian Red Crescent Society,” the statement continued.
U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed as “good news” reports that the death sentence has been lifted for an Iranian shopkeeper arrested in a violent crackdown on protests.
Relatives of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani had said he faced imminent execution.
Trump posed Thursday on his Truth Social site: “FoxNews: ‘Iranian protester will no longer be sentenced to death after President Trump’s warnings. Likewise others.’ This is good news. Hopefully, it will continue!”
Iranian state media denied Soltani had been condemned to death. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.
Trump sent tensions soaring this week by pledging that “help is on its way” to Iranian protesters and urging them to continue demonstrating against authorities in the Islamic Republic.
On Wednesday Trump signaled a possible de-escalation, saying he had been told that “the killing in Iran is stopping.”
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union’s main foreign policy chief said the G7 members were “gravely concerned” by the developments surrounding the protests, and that they “strongly oppose the intensification of the Iranian authorities’ brutal repression of the Iranian people.”
The statement, published on the EU’s website Thursday, said the G7 were “deeply alarmed at the high level of reported deaths and injuries” and condemned “the deliberate use of violence” by Iranian security forces against protesters.
The G7 members “remain prepared to impose additional restrictive measures if Iran continues to crack down on protests and dissent in violation of international human rights obligations,” the statement said.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has spoken with his counterpart in Iran, who said the situation was “now stable,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Abbas Araghchi said “he hoped China will play a greater role in regional peace and stability” during the talks, according to the statement from the ministry.
“China opposes imposing its will on other countries, and opposes a return to the ‘law of the jungle’,” Wang said.
“China believes that the Iranian government and people will unite, overcome difficulties, maintain national stability, and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests,” he added. “China hopes all parties will cherish peace, exercise restraint, and resolve differences through dialogue. China is willing to play a constructive role in this regard.”
“We are against military intervention in Iran,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists in Istanbul on Thursday. “Iran must address its own internal problems… They must address their problems with the region and in global terms through diplomacy so that certain structural problems that cause economic problems can be addressed.”
Ankara and Tehran enjoy warm relations despite often holding divergent interests in the region.
Fidan said the unrest in Iran was rooted in economic conditions caused by sanctions, rather than ideological opposition to the government.
Iranians have been largely absent from an annual pilgrimage to Baghdad, Iraq, to commemorate the death of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, one of the twelve Shiite imams.
Many Iranian pilgrims typically make the journey every year for the annual religious rituals.
Streets across Baghdad were crowded with pilgrims Thursday. Most had arrived on foot from central and southern provinces of Iraq, heading toward the shrine of Imam al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district in northern Baghdad,
Adel Zaidan, who owns a hotel near the shrine, said the number of Iranian visitors this year compared to previous years was very small. Other residents agreed.
“This visit is different from previous ones. It lacks the large numbers of Iranian pilgrims, especially in terms of providing food and accommodation,” said Haider Al-Obaidi.
Europe’s largest airline group said Thursday it would halt night flights to and from Tel Aviv and Jordan's capital Amman for five days, citing security concerns as fears grow that unrest in Iran could spiral into wider regional violence.
Lufthansa — which operates Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings — said flights would run only during daytime hours from Thursday through Monday “due to the current situation in the Middle East.” It said the change would ensure its staff — which includes unionized cabin crews and pilots -- would not be required to stay overnight in the region.
The airline group also said its planes would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace, key corridors for air travel between the Middle East and Asia.
Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for several hours early Thursday without explanation.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Airport Authority, which oversees Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, said the airport was operating as usual.
Iranian state media has denied claims that a young man arrested during Iran’s recent protests was condemned to death. The statement from Iran’s judicial authorities on Thursday contradicted what it said were “opposition media abroad” which claimed the young man had been quickly sentenced to death during a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in the country.
State television didn’t immediately give any details beyond his name, Erfan Soltani. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Thursday that his government was “appalled by the escalation of violence and repression” in Iran.
“We condemn the brutal crackdown being carried out by Iran’s security forces, including the killing of protesters,” Peters posted on X.
“Iranians have the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and access to information – and that right is currently being brutally repressed,” he said.
Peters said his government had expressed serious concerns to the Iranian Embassy in Wellington.
Women cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A demonstrator lights a cigarette with a burning poster depicting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of Iran's anti-government protests, in Holon, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
