Iran

• The five Americans who were released as part of the latest U.S.-Iran hostage swap were flown back to the U.S. yesterday.
• One of the freed Americans - Siamak Namazi, who Iran held for eight years - promptly denounced Iran's "vile path to profit" via hostage brokering.

• Pres. Zelensky dismissed all six of his deputy defense ministers yesterday without offering a reason. Their sacking is likely related to ongoing investigations into corruption in the ministry's procurement practices.
• The NYT says this turnover is unlikely to change the course of the war, given that Zelensky directly commands his military's generals - "largely bypassing the civilians at the defense ministry."

• The WSJ says Tesla is in talks with Saudi Arabia to build a new factory there. However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk denied the rumor.
• Separately, Musk met with Turkey's Pres. Erdogan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly yesterday. Musk wants Erdogan's permission to operate his Starlink satellite internet network in Turkey; Erdogan reportedly asked him to build a Tesla factory in Turkey in return.

• Residents of Derna - the Libyan city hardest hit by recent flooding that killed at least 11,300 - are protesting the government's (or rather, governments') lack of response to the disaster and demanding the ouster of those in charge.

• China's Premier Li Qiang met with Pres. Maduro during Maduro's state visit to China. They promised to deepen China-Venezuela ties without many specifics.
• Maduro didn't get to meet Pres. Xi or Foreign Minister Wang Yi: the latter is on a state visit to Moscow right now.

• Taliban officials reportedly arrested 18 charity workers - allegedly including a U.S. woman - for "propagating and promoting Christianity" in Ghor province. That's apparently a violation of the Taliban's strict rules for charities.

• Canada's PM Trudeau blamed "agents of the government of India" for the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist, on Canadian soil in June [Nijjar was an enemy of the Indian government - he advocated for an independent Sikh nation that would be carved out of Indian territory - and PM Modi's government had declared him a wanted terrorist].
• The matter is widening a rift between Canada and India: both countries expelled a senior diplomat from the other's embassy.