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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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UK Couple Held in Iran Launch Hunger Strike

FILE PHOTO: People walk next to a mural with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, on a street, early hours of ceasefire, in Tehran, Iran, June 24, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People walk next to a mural with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, on a street, early hours of ceasefire, in Tehran, Iran, June 24, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY/File Photo
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UK Couple Held in Iran Launch Hunger Strike

FILE PHOTO: People walk next to a mural with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, on a street, early hours of ceasefire, in Tehran, Iran, June 24, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People walk next to a mural with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, on a street, early hours of ceasefire, in Tehran, Iran, June 24, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY/File Photo

A British couple detained in Iran for nearly a year on suspicion of espionage have gone on hunger strike having "lost all hope", a relative said on Thursday.

Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both in their early fifties, were seized in January as they passed through Kerman, in central Iran, while on a round-the-world motorbike trip.

"My mum and Craig shouldn't have to starve themselves to be seen," said Lindsay's son Joe Bennett in a statement.

"They're exhausted, frightened, and feel abandoned. If this doesn't wake our government up, what will?" he added.

The couple's family, who after their detention only spoke to them for the first time in early August, have grown increasingly frustrated at the handling of their case in Iran as well as at the support received from the British government in London.

According to the statement, issued by a support group set up by family and friends, Lindsay is currently being held in Evin Prison in Tehran "without anyone who speaks her language".

Craig remains at another prison and is still suffering from an untreated dental problem, AFP reported.

"They had been promised opportunities to see each other but this has not happened. Both have endured inhumane conditions, long stretches without contact, and repeated delays to their case," the Free Lindsay and Craig group statement said.

Tehran has insisted the couple are spies, an accusation their family has rejected while also complaining that they have been kept in the dark about the case.
The statement came after a UK parliamentary hearing on arbitrary detention and hostage affairs.

Calling for diplomatic efforts to free the couple to be stepped up, Bennett added: "I listened to story after story of families begging for action while their loved ones disappear into this diplomatic void."

"It's clear the system isn't just slow, it's broken."

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said they "continue to raise this case directly with the Iranian authorities".

Staff were also providing consular assistance and staying in close contact with their family members, a statement added.

World

Türkiye Says Two-State Solution is Most Realistic Option for Cyprus Issue

A Greek Cypriot protestor waves a banner, during a peace protest in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, April 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
A Greek Cypriot protestor waves a banner, during a peace protest in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, April 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
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Türkiye Says Two-State Solution is Most Realistic Option for Cyprus Issue

A Greek Cypriot protestor waves a banner, during a peace protest in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, April 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
A Greek Cypriot protestor waves a banner, during a peace protest in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, April 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Türkiye believes the most realistic way to resolve the Cyprus issue is having two states on the ethnically-split island, and added there was no point in holding negotiations that would yield no results.

Erdogan was speaking alongside Tufan Erhurman, the newly elected Turkish Cypriot president who has pledged to explore a federal solution - long supported by the United Nations - to end the island's nearly 50-year-old division, Reuters.

Türkiye, the only country which recognises the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and former Turkish Cypriot president Ersin Tatar have backed a two-state policy, which was ruled out by Greek Cypriots.

World

Iran Arrests Two Men After Posing in Military Uniform

A Pakistani woman holds a national flag of Iran during a rally in solidarity with the Iranian people, in Karachi, Pakistan, 22 June 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
A Pakistani woman holds a national flag of Iran during a rally in solidarity with the Iranian people, in Karachi, Pakistan, 22 June 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
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Iran Arrests Two Men After Posing in Military Uniform

A Pakistani woman holds a national flag of Iran during a rally in solidarity with the Iranian people, in Karachi, Pakistan, 22 June 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
A Pakistani woman holds a national flag of Iran during a rally in solidarity with the Iranian people, in Karachi, Pakistan, 22 June 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER

Iranian authorities arrested two men after a video went viral showing them dressed military uniforms while carrying a flag with a monarchist emblem, local media reported on Thursday.

The video, filmed inside a Tehran metro station, showed the two men brandishing a flag carrying the "lion and sun" emblem associated with Iran's former monarchy, said AFP.

It was circulated widely on social media in Iran, according to the Fars news agency.

Fars said that an investigation determined that the two men were not members of the Iranian armed forces, but did not specify their identity.

"The two men were arrested for abusing the military uniforms," said Fars, with other media also reporting the incident.

Iran's national flag -- green, white, and red -- was changed after the 1979 Iranina revolution that toppled the Western-backed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.

The monarchist "lion and sun" emblem was replaced with the current red insignia representing the word Allah, designed in the form of a tulip.