Platner Needs Guarantees Before Dropping Out Of The Race: NYTAs Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) considers whether to drop out of the race following allegations of sexual assault, he reportedly has some conditions he'd like met.Citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter on Monday evening, The New York Times reported that Platner would only consider withdrawing “with a guarantee of being replaced by a candidate who he believes is true to the values and vision and policy agenda of the campaign that Maine voted for."Read more in The New York Times:Latest Live UpdatesMarine Le Pen To Find Out Whether She's Eligible To Run For President In 2027French far-right leader Marine Le Pen will find out whether she will be eligible to run in the 2027 presidential election on Tuesday when a court issues a ruling on her appeal of a five-year election ban.A lower court ordered the ban, sentenced her to prison time — suspended pending appeal — and also issued an 100,000 Euro fine after Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement for misusing European Parliament funds by paying her party's staff with money intended for EU parliamentary aides between 2004 and 2016.Le Pen, who has denied wrongdoing, appealed the ruling.Tuesday's decision could upend the upcoming presidential contest to replace outgoing French President Emmanuel Macron who cannot run for reelection due to term limits.Italy Will No Longer Respond To Trump's Provocations, Foreign Minister SaysItaly will stop responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's provocative remarks, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in an interview on Tuesday, as NATO leaders prepared to meet in Turkey.Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni last month accused Trump of fabricating a story about her after the U.S. president told an Italian TV channel that she had "begged" him to take a photo with her at a G7 summit in France.With the two leaders due to attend the NATO summit in Ankara on Tuesday and Wednesday, Trump appeared to reignite the dispute when he posted on Truth Social a picture of Meloni looking up at him with the caption "RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED".Trump "speaks for himself. We have a U.S. President who loves to provoke, especially on social media. We have decided to stop responding to these remarks so as not to fuel disputes among our allies," Tajani told La Stampa newspaper."We are and will remain friends of the United States as our strategic partner and that of Europe," he added.Meloni was once a vocal supporter of Trump and was the only European leader to attend his inauguration in 2025.However, she criticised him this year for lashing out at Pope Leo over his condemnation of the Iran conflict. That in turn prompted a blunt rebuke from the U.S. president, who accused her of lacking courage.Italy's Il Foglio newspaper headlined its front page on Tuesday mocking Trump's jibe against Meloni, publishing a picture of the U.S. President with Russia's Vladimir Putin, under the same caption "RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED".Blasts Rock Damascus During Macron Syria VisitTwo bombs exploded near the hotel in Damascus where Emmanuel Macron held meetings on Tuesday, Syrian state media said, but the French president’s office said he did not hear the explosions and he met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa soon afterwards.The blasts underscore the major security challenges in Syria, where Macron is the first head of state of a major European Union country to visit since rebels led by Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad in 2024.Read more at Reuters:ICE Sent Officers To A Man's Home Over An Email. Now He’s Suing.An upstate New York resident sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for sending federal officers to his house with a warning over an email he sent to the agency’s one-time head.David Streever, who is a U.S. citizen, was on a trip to Finland when two officers showed up to his Rochester home in June and presented his wife with a warning notice informing him that the email he sent months earlier was considered a threat, his attorneys said. Streever sent the email in January to Todd Lyons, then the acting director of ICE, after an immigration officer fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good during an anti-ICE demonstration.Read more from The Associated Press:Trump To Signal Openness To Reversing His Own Ban On Turkey Buying F-35 Jets: NYTPresident Donald Trump is expected to say that he's ready to restore Turkey’s ability to purchase F-35 fighter jets and overturn a ban he imposed seven years ago, according to The New York Times, which cited four anonymous administration officials. In 2019, Trump barred Turkey from participating in the F-35 program due to the country’s purchase of a Russian air defense system and concerns that this could lead to information about the jets’ capabilities being shared with the Kremlin. He's expected to kick off efforts to reverse that decision, though the move could well face congressional resistance. Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey are set to meet this coming week at the NATO summit in Ankara. Read more from The New York Times: New Jersey Heat Wave May Be Tied To 29 DeathsA recent heat wave in New Jersey may be linked to as many as 29 deaths, according to the state’s Department of Health. Those fatalities occurred as temperatures surged above 100 degrees in some areas of the state in the last week and included people who were found in homes without air conditioning, outdoors and in parked cars. Although the potential death toll is still unconfirmed, it offers a reminder of the “public health risks associated with extreme heat” and the need for taking “heat safety measures,” a Department of Health spokesperson told NBC 4 New York. Read more from NBC 4 New York: Trump's Pardons For Jan. 6 Rioters Don't Apply To DC Pipe Bomb Suspect, Judge RulesPresident Donald Trump’s mass pardons for supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol don’t apply to a Virginia man charged with planting pipe bombs near the national headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, a federal judge ruled Monday.U.S. District Judge Amir Ali refused to dismiss the case against Brian J. Cole Jr., concluding that Trump’s blanket pardons for Jan. 6 rioters explicitly applied only to people who were convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack. Cole hadn’t been charged, let alone convicted, when Trump issued the pardons, Ali noted in his three-page order.Read more from The AP: Belgium Dominates U.S. 4-1 To Reach World Cup Quarterfinals After Days Of ControversyThe United States’ hopes for a deep World Cup run at home ended when Charles De Ketelaere scored twice and assisted on another goal, helping Belgium expose the Americans’ defensive liabilities in a 4-1 win Monday night that earned a quarterfinal berth.While the U.S. was boosted by the presence of star forward Folarin Balogun, whose one-game red-card suspension was controversially lifted by FIFA, American defenders were at fault in a pair of first-half goals and goalkeeper Matt Freese’s gaffe gave the Red Devils a third early in the second half.Second-half substitute Romelu Lukaku added Belgium’s final goal in the third minute of stoppage time.Seeking its first World Cup title, Belgium knocked the U.S. out in the round of 16 for the second time in 12 years and extended its unbeaten streak to 18 games. The Red Devils play 2010 champion Spain on Friday at Inglewood, California, for a semifinal berth against France or Morocco.Read more from the Associated Press here: Planned Parenthood Rescinds Platner Endorsement Just Weeks After Backing HimPlanned Parenthood rescinded its endorsement of Maine's Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner on Monday following the publication of a new sexual assault accusation.In a statement issued just two weeks after the organization endorsed him, Planned Parenthood Action Fund president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson called out Platner for his handling of the allegation. “The accusations against Graham Platner are damning and Platner’s failure to address them or Jenny Racicot directly is disqualifying," McGill Johnson said. Racicot, who had an on-and-off relationship with Platner, is the 41-year-old woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021. She shared her account with both Politico and CNN on Monday. "While Planned Parenthood Action Fund remains committed to protecting access to care for Mainers and all Americans, we also unequivocally believe women. And we are grateful to anyone who has the courage to speak up and share her story," Johnson continued."The best path forward for Maine is for Graham Platner to end his candidacy and give voters the chance to elect someone who reflects their values politically and personally," she added.Platner Has Not Made A Decision About Whether To Drop Out: NYTGraham Platner, the progressive Maine Senate nominee accused of sexual assault Monday, has not made a decision about whether to drop out of the race despite a number of Democrats calling for him to do so, a source familiar with his plans told The New York Times.“If he was to step down it would only be with a guarantee of being replaced by a candidate who he believes is true to the values and vision and policy agenda of the campaign that Maine voted for,” the source said.Democrats can replace Platner on the ballot if he drops out before next Monday. See All Updates