STOCKHOLM – Sweden and Iran conducted a prisoner exchange on Saturday, with Sweden releasing a former Iranian official convicted of involvement in a 1980s mass execution, and Iran freeing two Swedes held there.

The swap was facilitated by Oman, whose foreign ministry announced, “Omani efforts resulted in both sides agreeing to a mutual release, with those freed being transferred from Tehran and Stockholm.”

Sweden released Hamid Noury, a former Iranian official convicted for his role in the 1988 mass execution of political prisoners in Iran. Iran’s IRNA news agency showed footage of Noury arriving at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport, welcomed by his family on a red carpet.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson confirmed that Swedish citizens Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi, detained in Iran, were on their way back to Sweden. He criticized Iran for using the two Swedes as “pawns in a cynical negotiation game” to secure Noury’s release, noting that Noury was convicted of serious crimes committed in the 1980s.

“As prime minister, I have a special responsibility for the safety of Swedish citizens. The government has worked intensively on this issue, alongside the Swedish security services negotiating with Iran,” Kristersson stated.

Noury, 63, was arrested at a Stockholm airport in 2019 and sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes, including the mass execution and torture of political prisoners at Gohardasht prison in Karaj, Iran, in 1988. He denied the charges.

An Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson called Noury a hostage, claiming his imprisonment resulted from an “illegal Swedish court decision that lacked legitimacy.”

Upon his return to Iran, Noury told reporters, “They said even God cannot free Hamid Noury, but he did,” acknowledging the complexity and sensitivity of his case.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, a coalition opposing Iran’s Islamic Republic government, criticized Sweden for yielding to blackmail and hostage-taking, suggesting this move would embolden Tehran.

Kenneth Lewis, a lawyer representing a dozen plaintiffs in Noury’s case in Sweden, expressed dismay over Noury’s release, calling it “an affront to the entire justice system and everyone who participated in these trials.” He acknowledged his clients’ sympathy for the Swedish government’s efforts to bring its citizens home but deemed Noury’s release “totally disproportionate.”

Floderus, an EU employee, was arrested in Iran in 2022 and charged with espionage for Israel and “corruption on earth,” a crime punishable by death.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine withdraw from four eastern regions partially occupied by Russian forces as a precondition for peace talks, a requirement Kyiv dismissed as “manipulative” ahead of a war conference to which Moscow is not invited.

Putin stated that Ukrainian forces should vacate the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions in exchange for a ceasefire by Russian troops. He also insisted that Ukraine abandon its bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, speaking in a televised address to Foreign Ministry officials on Friday.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry accused Putin of attempting to “mislead the international community, undermine diplomatic efforts for a just peace, and fracture global unity.” They argued that these demands, made on the eve of a Kyiv-backed conference, show that “Russia is afraid of genuine peace.”

The Swiss-hosted summit, beginning Saturday, aims to rally support for Ukraine’s demands for a complete Russian withdrawal. Putin’s offer essentially asks Ukraine to surrender its territories for peace talks, a proposition Kyiv has consistently rejected since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Putin declared, “As soon as Kyiv announces readiness for such a decision, begins the actual withdrawal of troops from these regions, and officially renounces plans to join NATO, our side will immediately cease fire and start negotiations.”

The Kyiv government refuses to negotiate until Russia vacates the occupied territories, arguing that any halt in the war would allow Moscow to regroup and resume its aggression.

Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of the political consultancy R.Politik, stated, “This is an attempt to dictate terms for ending the war,” noting that Putin’s proposals involve no concessions from Russia and are strategically timed to coincide with the peace conference in Switzerland.

Putin insisted that Ukraine must recognize the four regions, along with Crimea annexed in 2014, as Russian territory and that Ukraine’s neutral status must be enshrined in international law. Additionally, he demanded the lifting of all sanctions against Russia by the US and its allies as part of a peace deal.

These demands followed a Group of Seven summit where leaders agreed to use the profits from roughly $280 billion in frozen Russian sovereign assets to provide Ukraine with about $50 billion in aid. The US also imposed further sanctions on Russia, leading the Moscow Exchange to halt trading in US dollars and euros.

In September 2022, Putin declared the four regions “forever” part of Russia, despite incomplete control over those areas. Prior to the invasion, he demanded that Ukraine drop its NATO ambitions and accept a neutral, demilitarized status.

Presenting his terms as a new initiative for negotiations, Putin said, “If Kyiv and Western capitals reject it as they did before, that’s their decision. The situation on the front line will continue to change, and not in Kyiv’s favor.”

Putin mentioned that there are nearly 700,000 Russian troops in Ukraine, an increase from over 600,000 reported in late January.

Bloomberg reported on Saturday that a rare “flesh-eating bacteria” causing disease and capable of killing individuals within 48 hours is spreading in Japan.

By June 2, there were 977 cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) recorded in Japan, surpassing the previous year’s record of 941 cases, as reported by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, which has monitored the disease since 1999.

The Group A Streptococcus (GAS) bacteria, often causing swelling and sore throat, can sometimes lead to severe symptoms such as limb pain, swelling, fever, low blood pressure, necrosis, respiratory issues, organ failure, and death, according to Bloomberg.

“Most deaths occur within 48 hours,” stated Ken Kikuchi, a professor of infectious diseases at Tokyo Women’s Medical University. “A patient may notice foot swelling in the morning, which can spread to the knee by noon, resulting in death within 48 hours.”

Kikuchi warned that at the current infection rate, Japan could see up to 2,500 cases this year, with a “terrifying” mortality rate of 30%. He also emphasized the importance of hand hygiene and treating open wounds.

The US CDC notes that while anyone can contract STSS, it is most common in adults aged 65 and older. Individuals with open wounds, diabetes, or alcohol use disorder are at increased risk.

Bloomberg also reported that several other countries have recently experienced outbreaks of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. In late 2022, at least five European nations informed the World Health Organization of an increase in invasive group A streptococcus (iGAS) disease cases, which includes STSS. The WHO linked this rise to the lifting of Covid restrictions.

On Saturday, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, called for the removal of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) from U.S. elections.

Musk, who is also the CEO of SpaceX, made this comment in response to a post by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential candidate, regarding alleged voting irregularities in Puerto Rico’s primary elections involving EVMs.

In a post on X, Kennedy Jr. stated, “Puerto Rico’s primary elections just experienced hundreds of voting irregularities related to electronic voting machines, according to the Associated Press. Luckily, there was a paper trail so the problem was identified and vote tallies corrected. What happens in jurisdictions where there is no paper trail?”

Kennedy Jr. emphasized that U.S. citizens need assurance that every vote is counted and that elections are secure from hacking.

He further advocated for a return to paper ballots to prevent electronic interference in elections.

Responding to Kennedy Jr.’s post on X, Elon Musk suggested that electronic voting machines should be eliminated, citing the risk of hacking by humans or AI, despite it being small, as still too significant.

Musk’s remark has received over 100,000 likes on X, with 20,000 reposts and more than 8,000 reactions.

Among the reactions, one user suggested eliminating mail-in voting and drop boxes as well. Another agreed, claiming that electronic voting machines enable election cheating. A user named Shame Horne remarked that Musk would have been banned from Twitter for election interference if he hadn’t purchased the platform. Another user suggested that electronic voting machines with paper backups and separate tabulators are a good solution. “Each state should have 1 day to count! That’s all it takes,” said another user.

On Friday, the Supreme Court struck down a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, a gun accessory that enables semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns, which was used in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

The court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled that the Trump administration did not adhere to federal law when it banned bump stocks following a 2017 attack in Las Vegas. During this incident, a gunman used assault rifles with bump stocks to fire over 1,000 rounds into a crowd at a country music festival, resulting in 60 deaths and hundreds of injuries within 11 minutes.

A Texas gun shop owner challenged the ban, contending that the Justice Department incorrectly classified the accessories as illegal machine guns.

The Biden administration defended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), asserting that it made the correct decision to classify bump stocks as enabling firearms to fire at rates of hundreds of rounds per minute.

This case marked the latest gun-related issue before the Supreme Court, where a conservative supermajority had previously expanded gun rights in a landmark 2022 decision and is currently considering another case about federal laws preventing individuals under domestic violence restraining orders from possessing guns.

The arguments in the bump stock case focused more on whether the ATF had overstepped its authority rather than on Second Amendment rights.

Justices from the court’s liberal wing argued that it was “common sense” to classify anything capable of unleashing a “torrent of bullets” as a machine gun under federal law. In contrast, conservative justices questioned why Congress had not enacted a ban on bump stocks and expressed concerns about the implications of the ATF reversing its stance a decade after declaring the accessories legal.

The Supreme Court took up the case following a division among lower courts regarding bump stocks, which were invented in the early 2000s. Under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the ATF determined that bump stocks did not convert semi-automatic weapons into machine guns. The agency reversed this position at Trump’s urging after the Las Vegas shooting and another mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school, which left 17 dead.

Bump stocks are accessories that replace a rifle’s stock, utilizing the gun’s recoil energy to bump the trigger against the shooter’s stationary finger, thus enabling a firing rate comparable to a machine gun. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have their own bans on bump stocks.

The plaintiff, Texas gun shop owner and military veteran Michael Cargill, was represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance, funded by conservative donors like the Koch network. His attorneys acknowledged that bump stocks allow rapid fire but argued they require more effort from the shooter to maintain firing.

Government lawyers countered that the effort required from the shooter is minimal and does not legally differentiate bump stocks from machine guns. The Justice Department maintained that the ATF reversed its position on bump stocks after a more thorough examination prompted by the Las Vegas shooting, reaching the correct conclusion.

Elon Musk gave a nod to Donald Trump in front of his numerous fans and Tesla Inc. shareholders at the automaker’s annual meeting, mentioning that the former president often calls him and is a “huge fan” of the futuristic Cybertruck.

“I have had some conversations with him, and he does call me out of the blue for no reason,” Tesla’s CEO said during the meeting at the company’s Austin headquarters on Thursday. “I don’t know why, but he does.”

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has stated that he would dismantle President Joe Biden’s policies aimed at boosting electric vehicle sales. He has also claimed that EVs won’t work and will harm US auto workers.

Despite this, Trump and Musk have recently grown closer, with Musk advising the former president on cryptocurrency policy.

At a rally in Arizona, Trump recently praised Musk, saying he was a “big fan” of both EVs and Musk.

Musk noted that Trump is “very nice when he calls.” The Tesla CEO said he told Trump that EVs are beneficial for the future and that the US leads in battery-powered cars.

“A lot of his friends now have Teslas, and they all love it, and he’s a huge fan of the Cybertruck,” Musk said at the shareholder meeting. “So I think maybe those are contributing factors.”

During a lengthy Q&A session at Tesla’s meeting, Musk also responded to questions about his physical, mental, and emotional health. One man, calling Musk an “absolute idol,” asked if he was doing everything to “take care of yourself, safety and health, for the future of the company.”

Musk thanked him for the concern and remarked, “I probably need to work out and not get assassinated or something.”