Ukrainian Acting Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha held a "frank" phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday, following a Ukrainian long-range strike on a vessel in the Caspian Sea that killed one Iranian sailor.

Sybiha asserted that the attack was unintentional regarding civilian targets and emphasized that all Ukrainian actions are aimed solely at countering Russian aggression, accusing Tehran of being a "direct accomplice" to the war by supplying weapons to Moscow.

"I called Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi for a frank conversation, Sybiha said. "Diplomacy is about direct conversation, even when it's difficult. I stressed that our goal is to avoid unnecessary escalation."

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had struck vessels in the Caspian Sea involved in transporting military cargo from Iran to Russia. In response, Araghchi condemned the strike as a "blatant UN Charter violation" allegedly done at Israel’s behest; he summoned Ukraine’s diplomats, demanded restitution for losses and warned that the attack "cannot go unanswered."

Sybiha said that while the strike targeted military logistics supporting Russia, there was no intent to harm civilians or civilian vessels. He urged Iran to halt support for Russia’s war against Ukraine, and refrain from escalatory steps, asserting that Russia bears full responsibility for all casualties.

In an X post, Araghchi acknowledged Sybiha’s assurance that Ukraine "seeks no escalation" but maintained that any attack on Iranian citizens is unacceptable. He insisted on accountability and restitution, dismissing Ukraine’s claims as "lies" and accusing Kyiv of trying to shift attention from Russia’s attacks on Black Sea shipping.

The Caspian Sea is a strategic supply route between Iran and Russia. This incident marks the first direct link between the war in Ukraine and broader Middle East tensions, with Iran having supplied Shahed drones to Russia since 2022, which have been used in strikes against Ukrainian forces.

X officially launched X Money in the United States on Monday, transforming the social media platform into a financial hub for Premium and Premium+ subscribers.

The service offers interest-bearing deposit accounts with up to 6% annual percentage yield (APY), instant peer-to-peer payments, and a customizable metal Visa debit card featuring 3% cashback and no foreign transaction fees, with Apple Pay and Google Pay integrations. Premium+ subscribers automatically qualify for the top APY rate, while Premium tier users reach 6% upon setting up qualifying direct deposits.

X Money is powered by Cross River Bank, an FDIC-member institution that holds user deposits. While standard coverage applies to the first $250,000, eligible users can access the X Cash Sweep Program, which distributes funds across multiple partner banks to provide aggregate FDIC insurance coverage of up to $10 million.

The rollout of X Money utilizes a "peer-activation" mechanism where receiving a payment can trigger account access, aiming to leverage X's existing social graph for rapid adoption. There is currently no support for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or stablecoin.

Access is currently limited to verified users in 41 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, excluding New York and Massachusetts where X Payments LLC's money transmitter license applications are pending. Worldwide rollout will follow later subject to regulatory approvals.

CEO Elon Musk has long stated his goal of turning X into an everything app, a Western equivalent of China’s WeChat—a single platform combining social media, messaging, video, and consumer finance. By offering yield and embedded payment rails, X aims to keep user capital and activity inside its ecosystem rather than relying on third-party banking apps.

Monday's launch represents a return to Musk's original online banking venture. In 1999, he co-founded X.com, an early online bank that subsequently merged with Confinity to become PayPal. Reacquiring the X.com domain and launching financial services under the "X" brand completes a decades-long ambition to build a central hub for digital money movement.

Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese descent, was killed by police on Sunday, following a nearly 24-hour manhunt for the deadly attack at Berlin's Christopher Street Day (Pride) celebration.

Authorities classified the incident as an Islamist terrorist attack, stating Ballout drove a white van into a crowd in Berlin’s Tiergarten park around 10 p.m. on Saturday (July 25) before allegedly stabbing several people with a machete.

The attack left one woman dead and 29 others injured, including three with life-threatening conditions, prompting the immediate cancellation of the festival’s closing rally.

Police spokesman Florian Nath earlier said the suspect was known to investigators because of his alleged ties to Islamic groups in Berlin.

"The suspect is known to police. He is known to us as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin, and our search for this person is proceeding at full speed," Nath said. "We still have no information whatsoever regarding his specific motives, the exact sequence of events, or his role in the crime itself."

Ballout had a documented history of attempting to join the Islamic State (IS) group, according to the authorities. In May 2025, he traveled to Lebanon and attempted to enter Syria to join IS militants but was arrested by Lebanese authorities and later extradited to Germany.

Although he had previously received a suspended sentence for planning attacks and disseminating IS propaganda, he was released from detention in May 2026. During the final confrontation in Berlin’s Spandau district, Ballout allegedly charged at SEK tactical police units with a weapon, leading officers to fatally shoot him.

"Everything we see here points to us dealing with an Islamic terror attack," German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said. 

Dobrindt and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the act as a heinous assault on German society and freedom.

The Christopher Street Day (Pride) event, which typically draws over one million participants, was shut down immediately after the violence, and police deployed more than 2,000 officers to secure the area. While Ballout was the primary suspect identified by prosecutors, another man was also arrested on the night of the attack and charged with multiple crimes in connection with the van incident.