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Spain Says Israel Frees Its Last Gaza Flotilla Members

Mas Madrid MP Jimena Gonzalez (R) is welcomed by her mother upon her arrival, along with other Spanish activists from the Thousands Madleens Flotilla detained by Israeli forces, at Terminal T1 of Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport in Madrid, central Spain, 11 October 2025. (EPA)
Mas Madrid MP Jimena Gonzalez (R) is welcomed by her mother upon her arrival, along with other Spanish activists from the Thousands Madleens Flotilla detained by Israeli forces, at Terminal T1 of Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport in Madrid, central Spain, 11 October 2025. (EPA)
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Spain Says Israel Frees Its Last Gaza Flotilla Members

Mas Madrid MP Jimena Gonzalez (R) is welcomed by her mother upon her arrival, along with other Spanish activists from the Thousands Madleens Flotilla detained by Israeli forces, at Terminal T1 of Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport in Madrid, central Spain, 11 October 2025. (EPA)
Mas Madrid MP Jimena Gonzalez (R) is welcomed by her mother upon her arrival, along with other Spanish activists from the Thousands Madleens Flotilla detained by Israeli forces, at Terminal T1 of Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport in Madrid, central Spain, 11 October 2025. (EPA)

Israel has released the five remaining Spanish detainees from flotillas it blocked while they were carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists to devastated Gaza, sources at Spain's foreign ministry said on Sunday.

Israel has this month intercepted in international waters two flotillas aiming to break its blockade of Gaza, where the United Nations has declared a famine after two years of brutal conflict.

Israel arrested the crews, with Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg among the dozens of activists of various nationalities, sparking huge protests in Europe.

Israel has been releasing them over recent days, with Spanish foreign ministry sources saying: "The last five members of the flotilla held by Israel are now on their way to Spain."

Among them is a member of the first flotilla who was not included in a first wave of releases after allegedly biting an Israeli prison officer.

"There are no more Spaniards from the flotilla detained in Israel," the ministry sources added.

Almost 50 other Spanish flotilla members had returned home during the past week.

The activists have complained of mistreatment during their detention in Israel. Israeli authorities have denied the allegations.

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World

Poland Seizes Major Heroin Shipment from Iran

Polish police secure an area at the Warsaw University campus after an attack with an axe, in Warsaw, Poland, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Polish police secure an area at the Warsaw University campus after an attack with an axe, in Warsaw, Poland, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Poland Seizes Major Heroin Shipment from Iran

Polish police secure an area at the Warsaw University campus after an attack with an axe, in Warsaw, Poland, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)
Polish police secure an area at the Warsaw University campus after an attack with an axe, in Warsaw, Poland, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)

Polish authorities said Monday they had seized over a ton of heroin from Iran, hidden in a shipment of decorative bricks, at the Baltic port of Gdynia.

"This is the largest operation of its kind in over a decade," Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski said at a press conference.

The drugs, worth 220 million zlotys (51.8 million euros), were concealed in the brick shipment coming and were first flagged by British customs officials

The drugs originated from Iran, Chief of Police Marek Boron said.

Last month, three Polish nationals were detained in connection with the investigation, and later charged by prosecutors in Gdansk.

Since 2022, the quantity of drugs seized by Poland's Central Investigation Bureau has increased by 650 percent, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

More than 83 tons of drugs worth 600 million zlotys (141.4 million euros) were confiscated since the start of 2026 alone, compared with 29 tons in the whole of last year.

World

At Least 11 Dead after Migrant Boat Capsizes off Malta

FILE: The Greek Coast Guard conducts a search and rescue operation after a migrant boat collided with a coast guard boat off the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean Sea on February 4, 2026 (Reuters)
FILE: The Greek Coast Guard conducts a search and rescue operation after a migrant boat collided with a coast guard boat off the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean Sea on February 4, 2026 (Reuters)
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At Least 11 Dead after Migrant Boat Capsizes off Malta

FILE: The Greek Coast Guard conducts a search and rescue operation after a migrant boat collided with a coast guard boat off the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean Sea on February 4, 2026 (Reuters)
FILE: The Greek Coast Guard conducts a search and rescue operation after a migrant boat collided with a coast guard boat off the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean Sea on February 4, 2026 (Reuters)

At least 11 people have died after a migrant boat capsized in waters off Malta, charity group Sea-Watch said on Monday, while around 50 more were rescued at sea by a fishing vessel in the area.

On Sunday, the Italian coastguard said the vessel had departed from Libya carrying around 60 people before overturning about 45 nautical miles east-southeast of Malta. Rome dispatched a patrol boat to the area, saying it had initially recovered 10 bodies.

Sea-Watch said on social media platform X that the death toll was at least 11, adding that 48 survivors had been rescued by the vessel Tuncay Sagun 2.

As the summer season approaches, migrant departures typically rise along the North Africa-Europe route, with Italy, Malta and Greece the nearest landing points for those attempting the perilous sea crossing.

According to the UN's International Organization for Migration, at least 827 people have died or are missing so far this year while attempting to cross the central Mediterranean, including 14 children.

In Italy, the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has taken a hard line against irregular arrivals, approving measures to curb human trafficking and make it more difficult for migrants to obtain asylum.

Some 12,000 people have disembarked in Italy so far in 2026, interior ministry data show, less than half the nearly 25,000 reported in the same period in 2025.

World

Indian Navy Rescues Sailors on Tanker Ablaze off Oman

An Indian Navy ship (File Photo- Reuters)
An Indian Navy ship (File Photo- Reuters)
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Indian Navy Rescues Sailors on Tanker Ablaze off Oman

An Indian Navy ship (File Photo- Reuters)
An Indian Navy ship (File Photo- Reuters)

Indian navy helicopters airlifted 24 sailors off a tanker on fire off the coast of Oman on Monday, New Delhi officials said, without saying what caused the blaze.

India's Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said a fire was reported at around 1:30 pm (0800 GMT) on the MT Marivex, a Palau-flagged tanker.

"There has been a fire reported on a vessel, MT Marivex, on which there were 24 Indian seafarers... all Indian seafarers are safe," ministry director Opesh Kumar Sharma told reporters.

Images posted on social media by the Forward Seamen's Union of India showed crew members being winched from the vessel by helicopter as thick black smoke billowed from its bridge and accommodation cabins.

The tanker's position was shown by ship-tracking service MarineTraffic as being off the coast of Oman, south of the capital Muscat.

Indian authorities did not provide details about the extent of the damage to the vessel and did not indicate what may have sparked the fire.

Iran has largely blocked shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel on February 28. The vital waterway normally carries about one-fifth of the world's oil and LNG shipments in peacetime.

New Delhi's foreign ministry condemned recent violence in a statement earlier on Monday.

"This conflict has now lasted over 100 days and has already caused immense human suffering," it said.

"It has also had a debilitating impact on the global economy and energy supplies."