Regional
Belgian aid worker held in Iran freed in prisoner swap
Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, who was detained for almost 15 months in Iran, landed in Belgium late Friday, according to images broadcast on television, after being freed in a prisoner exchange.
The 42-year-old Belgian was greeted by his parents, sister and other family members on the tarmac of the Melsbroek military base near Brussels following his release on Friday, AFP reported.
Earlier Friday, Iran freed Vandecasteele in a prisoner exchange for an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism.
Iran announced that the freed Iranian is diplomat Assadollah Assadi, who was jailed in Belgium over a 2018 plot to bomb an Iranian opposition rally outside Paris.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian tweeted that Assadi, “the innocent diplomat of our country… is now on his way back to his homeland and will soon enter our beloved Iran.”
Both Belgium and Iran thanked Oman for its role in securing the release.
Belgium has always insisted that Vandecasteele was innocent and his trial was rigged.
He was sentenced in January to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes for “espionage”, Tehran’s judiciary said at the time.
“Olivier spent 455 days in prison in Tehran in unbearable conditions. Innocent,” Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said, following news of his release.
“For me, the choice has always been clear. Olivier’s life has always come first. It’s a responsibility that I take upon myself, that I accept. In Belgium, we do not abandon anyone,” he added, without mentioning the prisoner swap.
Regional
Eight dead in explosion near Red Fort in India’s New Delhi
At least eight people were killed in an explosion near the landmark Red Fort in a densely populated district of the Indian capital New Delhi, city police said.
The blast occurred in a car near the Red Fort, but the exact cause was not immediately known, and was being investigated, city police spokesperson Sanjay Tyagi said, Reuters reported.
At least 11 people were injured, TV channels said.
Visuals on local media showed flames and smoke billowing from more than one vehicle in what was described as a congested street located near a metro station in the old part of Delhi.
At least six vehicles and three autorickshaws caught fire, Delhi’s deputy fire chief said, adding that the flames had been doused by firefighting teams.
“We heard a big sound, our windows shook,” one resident who did not give a name, told NDTV.
Police tried to clear crowds that gathered around the site of the incident.
The Red Fort, known in India as the Lal Qila, is a 17th-century, Mughal-era fort located in the old city and visited by tourists through the year.
Regional
Eleven dead, dozens missing after Rohingya migrant boat sinks near Thailand-Malaysia border
Officials said the wooden vessel, carrying an estimated 70 passengers, capsized off the coast of Langkawi late last week.
At least eleven people have died and dozens more are missing after a boat carrying members of Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya community sank near the Thailand-Malaysia maritime border, Malaysian and Thai authorities confirmed on Monday.
Officials said the wooden vessel, carrying an estimated 70 passengers, capsized off the coast of Langkawi late last week. So far, 13 survivors — mostly Rohingya — have been rescued, while the search continues for the remaining passengers.
Thai authorities reported four bodies recovered, including two children, adding to the seven found by Malaysia’s maritime agency. Another boat carrying around 230 people remains unaccounted for, prompting joint air and sea operations between Malaysia and Thailand.
“We have strong coordination with the Thai maritime agency and continue to exchange information closely,” said Romli Mustafa, director of Malaysia’s Maritime Enforcement Agency in Kedah and Perlis. “Air and sea assets are being deployed, and the search operation could continue for up to seven days.”
Preliminary reports indicate that the group departed from Myanmar’s western coast, near the border with Bangladesh, around two weeks ago. Some passengers were later transferred onto smaller boats, including the one that sank, in an apparent attempt to evade maritime patrols.
A desperate exodus
The Rohingya, a Muslim minority group long persecuted in Myanmar, continue to flee violence, discrimination, and poverty in the country’s Rakhine State. More than 1.3 million now live as refugees in Bangladesh’s overcrowded camps, while others undertake dangerous sea crossings in search of safety in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Between January and early November 2025, over 5,100 Rohingya are believed to have attempted sea journeys from Myanmar and Bangladesh, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Nearly 600 people have died or gone missing during that period.
Thailand’s maritime command confirmed that two of the recovered victims were carrying refugee cards identifying them as Rohingya.
Regional
Turkiye issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu over Gaza ‘genocide’
Türkiye has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several senior Israeli officials on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in connection with Israel’s war in Gaza.
According to a statement released on Friday by the Istanbul prosecutor’s office, arrest warrants have been issued for 37 Israeli officials, including Defence Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir. The full list of suspects was not made public.
The statement accuses Israeli leaders of carrying out “systematic acts of genocide and crimes against humanity” since the war began in October 2023. It cites several incidents, including the October 17, 2023 bombing of Gaza’s al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, which killed about 500 people, and the February 29, 2024 destruction of medical equipment by Israeli soldiers. It also references Israel’s blockade of Gaza and the denial of humanitarian access.
The prosecutor’s office further highlighted the bombing of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, built by Türkiye in the Gaza Strip, which was struck by Israeli forces in March.
Israel condemned the move as a “publicity stunt.”
“Israel firmly rejects, with contempt, the latest PR stunt by the tyrant [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian group Hamas welcomed Türkiye’s announcement, calling it a “commendable step that reflects the sincere commitment of the Turkish people and their leadership to justice, humanity, and solidarity with our oppressed Palestinian nation.”
The development comes nearly a year after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes. Türkiye also joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year.
According to Gaza’s health authorities, Israel’s war on the enclave has so far killed at least 68,875 Palestinians and wounded more than 170,000 since October 2023.
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