WASHINGTON: Marc Fogel, an American teacher who was deemed wrongfully detained in Russia, has been released in what the White House described as a diplomatic thaw that could advance negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
Steve Witkoff, a special envoy for President Donald Trump, left Russian airspace with Fogel, a history teacher from Pennsylvania, and he’s expected to be reunited with his family by the end of the day.
Fogel was arrested in August 2021 and was serving a 14-year prison sentence. His family and supporters said he had been traveling with medically prescribed marijuana, and he was designated by President Joe Biden’s administration as wrongfully detained in December.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, said the US and Russia “negotiated an exchange” to ensure Fogel’s release. He did not say what the US side of the bargain entailed. Previous negotiations have occasionally involved reciprocal releases of Russians by the US or its allies.
Waltz said the development was “a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine.” Trump, a Republican, has promised to find a way to end the conflict.
Trump also has talked about having a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago. Last month, Trump said that his administration was having “very serious” conversations with Russia about the war.
Fogel’s relatives said they were “beyond grateful, relieved and overwhelmed” that he was coming home.
“This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today, we begin to heal,” they said. “For the first time in years, our family can look forward to the future with hope.”
There was no immediate comment from Moscow about Fogel’s release on Tuesday.
Other Americans also remain detained in Russia when they weren’t included in a massive prisoner swap last August that freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Those include US-Russian dual national Ksenia Khavana, who was convicted in August of treason and sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine. The Biden White House at the time called the conviction and sentencing “nothing less than vindictive cruelty.”
Russia has released detained American teacher Marc Fogel, the White House says
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Russia has released detained American teacher Marc Fogel, the White House says
- Steve Witkoff, a special envoy for President Donald Trump, left Russian airspace with Marc Fogel
- Fogel was arrested in August 2021 and was serving a 14-year prison sentence
King Charles leads UK service to mark end of WWII
Arriving at the abbey, Charles and his eldest son Prince William laid wreaths at the church’s tomb of the unknown warrior.
The King’s message on the wreath read simply: “We will never forget” and was signed Charles R.
William’s message, which was signed “William” and “Catherine,” added: “For those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Second World War. We will remember them.”
This year’s commemorations have had an extra poignancy due to the great age of the dwindling numbers of surviving veterans.
War-time prime minister Winston Churchill’s 10-year-old great-great-grandson Alexander lit a candle of peace during the service, which was preceded by a nationwide two-minute silence.
“It feels really amazing that I can represent my family and also the younger generation to know and remember everyone involved in World War II,” the younger Churchill said.
Other younger members of the congregation handed out white roses to veterans.
Charles, who is undergoing treatment for an unspecified cancer, was also accompanied by Queen Camilla, William’s wife Princess Catherine, also known as Kate, and other senior members of the royal family.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other politicians and dignitaries also attended.
Eighty years ago on May 8, 1945, central London was thronged with huge crowds celebrating the end of the war.
In a radio address to the nation Churchill announced that the day would be “Victory in Europe Day.”
He added: “We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing,” despite the conflict with Japan not yet having ended.
Later that day the crowds even included the late Queen Elizabeth II, then a 19-year-old princess, and her younger sister Margaret, who were allowed to leave Buckingham Palace and join the jubilant crowds incognito.
The Westminster Abbey service featured a rendition of the favorite 1940s song “The White Cliffs of Dover,” readings of wartime letters to loved ones, and an excerpt of Churchill’s 1945 victory speech.
Before leaving, Charles and other members of the royal family spent time chatting to veterans and their families, some of whom are now over 100 years of age.
Kate and Camilla then led other royals in laying flowers at the Innocent Victims’ Memorial in tribute to all victims of war and oppression.
This year’s anniversary events will be the last major commemoration for which “anyone will still be alive who actually served in the Second World War,” monarchy specialist Robert Hazell of University College London told AFP earlier.
The four-day celebration which began on Monday was set to wrap up later Thursday with a concert at London’s Horse Guards Parade, with pubs allowed to stay open two hours later than usual.
Cardinals vote in the Vatican for a second day to elect a new pope
The cardinals have been sworn to secrecy in the centuries-old ritual
VATICAN CITY: Black smoke again billowed out of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, the second day of the conclave, indicating that no new pontiff has been chosen after the second or third ballots. There are still two more votes possible later in the day.
The 133 cardinals had resumed voting in the morning, after spending the night sequestered at the Vatican residences. On Wednesday evening, black smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney indicating no pope was elected on the first ballot of the conclave.
The cardinals have been sworn to secrecy in the centuries-old ritual to elect a new leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church. To become pope, a cardinal needs a two-thirds majority, or 89 votes. This conclave is the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith’s 2,000-year history.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, expressed hope that a new pope would be elected within hours, according to reports in major Italian newspapers.
“I hope that when I return to Rome this evening, I’ll find the white smoke already rising,” he said, speaking from the city of Pompei on Thursday.
Re is 91 years old, which makes him too old to participate in the conclave of 133 cardinals who are electing the next pope and who all have to be under 80.
However, he has been prominent and delivered a Mass on Wednesday before the cardinals began their conclave.
As the Mass ended he was caught on a hot mic saying to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, viewed as a favorite for the papacy: “auguri doppi” (“double best wishes”)
Saudi minister visits Delhi as tensions rise between India, Pakistan
- Adel Al-Jubeir holds ‘good’ talks with Indian counterpart
- India launched missile strikes on Pakistan on Wednesday following deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir last month
NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir made a surprise visit to India on Thursday to meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, amid escalating tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.
Al-Jubeir’s trip comes a day after India launched Operation Sindoor, hitting nine locations in Pakistan’s densely populated Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, from where Delhi said terrorist attacks against India had been planned and directed.
Jaishankar said on X that he had a “good meeting” with Al-Jubeir on Thursday morning, during which he “shared India’s perspectives on firmly countering terrorism.”
India said Wednesday’s missile strikes were in response to an attack on tourists near the resort town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, in which 26 people — 25 Indians and one Nepali citizen — were killed.
At least 31 people were killed in the retaliatory strikes, Pakistani officials said. With the two militaries engaged in escalating exchanges, world leaders have urged both sides to exercise restraint and called for a de-escalation of hostilities.
Kashmir has been the subject of dispute since the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
Both countries claim the Himalayan region in full and rule in part, and have fought two of their three wars over it.
Indian-administered Kashmir has for decades witnessed outbreaks of separatist insurgency to resist control from the government in Delhi, which accuses Pakistan of arming and training militants since 1989. Islamabad denies the allegations, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people in their struggle for self-determination.
German spy agency pauses ‘extremist’ classification for AfD party
- The agency would not publicly refer to the AfD as a “confirmed right-wing extremist movement“
- The extremist classification allows the Cologne-based spy agency to step up monitoring of the AfD
BERLIN: Germany’s domestic spy agency BfV has paused its classification of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as an extremist organization in what the AfD on Thursday called a partial victory for its challenge against the decision.
The agency would not publicly refer to the AfD as a “confirmed right-wing extremist movement” until an administrative court in the western city of Cologne has ruled on an AfD bid for an injunction, a court statement said.
The BfV’s move last week to classify the far-right AfD as extremist produced sharp reactions along the fault lines of German politics, with some lawmakers calling for the AfD to be banned and the AfD casting it as an attack on democracy.
It also sparked strong criticism from US President Donald Trump’s administration, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on the German authorities to reverse their decision.
The extremist classification allows the Cologne-based spy agency to step up monitoring of the AfD, for example by recruiting informants and intercepting party communications.
“The measures associated with the classification will also be suspended,” a court spokesperson said without elaborating.
The agency’s 1,100-page experts’ report, which will not be released to the public, found the AfD to be a racist and anti-Muslim organization.
Founded in 2013, the AfD has surged to become Germany’s second biggest party but other parties have shunned it as toxic.
The AfD says its designation is a politically motivated attempt to discredit and criminalize it.
Its leadership welcomed the decision by the BfV, which the court said was not acknowledging any legal obligation.
“This is a first important step toward our actual exoneration and thus countering the accusation of right-wing extremism,” party leaders Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel said in a joint statement.
The BfV did not immediately comment.
The agency’s decision to pause the AfD’s classification does not mean the BfV has revised its assessment of the party.
The AfD has previously lost a legal challenge when its now-defunct youth organization was classified as right-wing extremist.
On Wednesday, the Republican chairman of the US Senate intelligence committee called for American spy agencies to “pause” intelligence sharing with the BfV, whose mission includes counter-terrorism.
Senator Tom Cotton called for the pause until Germany’s government “treats the AfD as a legitimate opposition party,” according to a letter to Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of National Intelligence.
Diners Club International® Announces $750,000 Donation for World Central Kitchen
- “Diners Club is proud to collaborate with World Central Kitchen as part of our 75th Anniversary celebration,” said Leite
- WCK halted on Wednesday its work in the Gaza Strip, saying it had run out of supplies as it had been prevented by Israel from bringing in aid
RIVERWOODS, USA: Diners Club International announced on Thursday a donation of $750,000 to World Central Kitchen to aid communities impacted by natural disasters and humanitarian crises worldwide.
For every purchase made with a Diners Club card globally on May 7, 2025, the company provided one meal, up to a total of $750,000.
Diners Club’s $750K donation to World Central Kitchen will provide approximately 150,000 meals to impacted communities worldwide.
This contribution is part of its 75th-anniversary celebrations that began in February. Through this collaboration, Club members will have a direct role in providing comforting meals to survivors of natural disasters and humanitarian causes.
“Diners Club is proud to collaborate with World Central Kitchen as part of our 75th Anniversary celebration,” said Ricardo Leite, president of Diners Club International.
As part of Diners Club’s Together for Change program, this global initiative empowers Diners Club Issuers and Club members to support causes that matter most in their communities. For over 20 years, Diners Club has supported various causes, with a focus on sustainability, health care, education and disaster relief.
Meanwhile, US-based World Central Kitchen charity halted on Wednesday its work in the Gaza Strip, saying it had run out of supplies as it had been prevented by Israel from bringing in aid.
“After serving more than 130 million total meals and 26 million loaves of bread over the past 18 months, World Central Kitchen no longer has the supplies to cook meals or bake bread in Gaza,” it said in a post on X.
The charity said it would continue to support Palestinian families by distributing critically needed potable water where possible, but vital food distribution cannot resume until Israel allows aid back into the enclave.
