An Israeli court on Sunday extended for two days the detention of two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla, who were brought to Israel for questioning, a rights group representing them said.
The flotilla of more than 50 vessels had set sail from France, Spain and Italy to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and bring supplies to the devastated Palestinian territory.
They were intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off Greece early on Thursday, with Israel saying it had removed some 175 activists — two of whom were taken to Israel for questioning.
Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila appeared before a court in the southern city of Ashkelon on Sunday.
AFP footage showed the pair being escorted into the courtroom, with Avila walking with his hands behind his back and Abu Keshek’s feet in shackles.
“The court extended their detention by two days,” Miriam Azem, international advocacy coordinator at the rights group Adalah, told AFP.
Adalah said the state attorney had presented a list of suspected offences authorities said the pair was accused of committing, including “assisting the enemy during wartime” and “membership in and providing services to a terrorist organisation”.
But Adalah’s lawyers challenged the state’s jurisdiction, arguing against the “unlawful abduction” of the two activists in international waters.
Its lawyers told the court Avila and Abu Keshek had testified to “severe physical abuse amounting to torture, including being beaten and held in isolation and blindfolded for days at sea”.
Israel’s foreign ministry rejected accusations that the men were subjected to physical violence.
“Contrary to the false and baseless claims prepared in advance, at no point were Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago vila subjected to torture,” ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein told AFP.
“Following violent physical obstruction by Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago vila against Israeli staff members, staff were compelled to act in order to stop these actions. All measures taken were in accordance with the law,” he insisted.
No formal charges were filed against the two, Adalah said.
“We argued that … they were part of a humanitarian mission that aimed to provide humanitarian aid to the civilians in Gaza, and not to any other organisation, whether terrorist or not,” lawyer Hadeel Abu Salih told journalists after the court hearing.
“We deny all the accusations that were presented … and demand these two men be released immediately,” she said.
Spain’s government has called for Abu Keshek’s “immediate release”, the foreign ministry said in a statement to AFP, indicating the Spanish consul had accompanied Abu Keshek to the hearing.
Adalah’s lawyers had met the activists at Ashkelon’s Shikma Prison on Saturday.
They said Avila recounted being “subjected to extreme brutality” by Israeli forces when the vessels were seized, saying he was “dragged face-down across the floor and beaten so severely that he passed out twice”.
Abu Keshek was also “hand-tied and blindfolded … and forced to lie face-down on the floor from the moment of his seizure” until reaching Israel, it said.
Israel’s foreign ministry said the pair were affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA) — a group accused by Washington of “clandestinely acting on behalf of” Hamas.
It said Abu Keshek was a leading PCPA member, and that Avila was also linked to the group and “suspected of illegal activity”.
The Global Sumud Flotilla’s first Mediterranean voyage to Gaza last year drew worldwide attention, before being intercepted by Israeli forces off the coasts of Egypt and Gaza.
Avila was one of the organisers of that flotilla, which was also intercepted by Israeli forces, with crew members — including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg – arrested and expelled.
Israel controls all entry points into Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.
Throughout the Gaza war, there have been shortages of critical supplies in the Palestinian territory, with Israel at times cutting off aid entirely.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that his representatives were having “very positive discussions” with Iran that could “lead to something very positive for all”.
He made these remarks in a Truth Social Post, also announcing an initiative to guide vessels stuck in the Strait of Hormuz out of the waterway, hours after Tehran said on Sunday that the United States had responded to its 14-point proposal via Pakistan.
Iranian state media quoted a foreign ministry spokesperson as saying that Tehran was reviewing the response.
Later, US Special Envoy on Middle East Steve Witkoff told CNN the US was “in conversation” with Iran as they weighed negotiations to end the war.
This was followed by Trump’s post on Truth Social, where he said: “I am fully aware that my Representatives are having very positive discussions with the Country of Iran, and that these discussions could lead to something very positive for all.”
He also said that countries from across the world, “almost all of which are not involved in the Middle Eastern dispute going on so visibly, and violently, for all to see, have asked the United States if we could help free up their Ships, which are locked up in the Strait of Hormuz”.
“For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business.”
He added, “I have told my Representatives to inform them that we will use best efforts to get their Ships and Crews safely out of the Strait. In all cases, they said they will not be returning until the area becomes safe for navigation, and everything else”.
Trump announced that this process, “Project Freedom, will begin Monday morning, Middle East time”.
“The Ship movement is merely meant to free up people, companies, and Countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong — They are victims of circumstance. This is a Humanitarian gesture on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran.
“Many of these Ships are running low on food, and everything else necessary for largescale crews to stay on board in a healthy and sanitary manner. I think it would go a long way in showing Goodwill on behalf of all of those who have been fighting so strenuously over the last number of months. If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully,” he added.
Negotiations between the US and Iran had been deadlocked since a ceasefire, brokered by Pakistan, came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held in Islamabad so far.
And after it was reported that Iran had submitted its 14-point proposal, Trump was initially quick to cast doubt on it.
“I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years,” he had said on his Truth Social platform.
US news website Axios reported, citing two sources briefed on the proposal, that it set “a one-month deadline for negotiations on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end the US naval blockade and permanently end the war in Iran and in Lebanon”.
Separately, Al Jazeera reported, citing sources, that the proposal envisaged three main stages, aiming to “transform the ceasefire into an end to the war within 30 days”.
According to the report, the proposal “envisions a pledge of nonaggression, including from Israel, to ensure there’s no return to war and an end to fighting throughout the Middle East”.
It said the proposal suggested the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in the first phase, as well as lifting of the US blockade of Iranian ports.
Under the proposed plan, Tehran would take charge of dealing with sea mines, the report said.
It added that the second phase was proposed to include “Iran’s return to uranium enrichment after the time limit at 3.6 per cent in accordance with the ‘zero-storage principle’“.
Moreover, the plan includes the US and Israel refraining from attacking Iran and its allies in exchange for Iran refraining from launching strikes, the report said, adding that Iran had also rejected “dismantling nuclear infrastructure or destroying Iran’s facilities”.
“Lifting sanctions includes the gradual release of frozen funds,” it said.
In the third phase, Tehran proposed to enter “into a strategic dialogue with Arab neighbours and building a security system that includes the entire Middle East”, the report stated.
Following Trump’s remarks about the proposal likely being unacceptable, the Revolutionary Guards said he must choose between “an impossible operation or a bad deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
“The room for US decision-making has narrowed,” they said.
The day before, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told diplomats in Tehran that “the ball is in the United States’ court to choose the path of diplomacy or the continuation of a confrontational approach”.
Iran, he said, was “prepared for both paths”.
In a brief interview with reporters in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, the US president declined to specify what could trigger new American military action.
“If they misbehave, if they do something bad, but right now, we’ll see,” he said. “But it’s a possibility that could happen, certainly.”
Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said Iranian forces would sink US ships.
“The US is the only pirate in the world that possesses aircraft carriers. Our ability to confront pirates is no less than our ability to sink warships. Prepare to face a graveyard of your carriers and forces,” he posted on X.
His remarks came after Trump, while addressing a rally in Florida, compared the US action in the sea to that of pirates. “We’re like pirates” as he described an earlier helicopter raid on an oil tanker under the US blockade of Iranian ports.
“We … landed on top of it, and we took over the ship. We took over the cargo, took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” he remarked.
On Sunday, Iran’s envoy to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam also said that the continuation of talks between Tehran and Washington depended on the latter’s behaviour.
He expressed these views while speaking to Iranian official news agency IRNA.
The envoy said Iran had shared a comprehensive plan with the US, but “progress hinges on the US’s sincerity and willingness to resolve issues through genuine diplomatic efforts”.
He reiterated Iran’s commitment to safeguarding its national interests and defending its rights.
Moghadam also appreciated Pakistan for its efforts in facilitating dialogue between the US and Iran, and criticised US behavior, describing it as “unpredictable and aggressive”.
Sri Lankan police have arrested 37 Chinese nationals suspected of running a cyberscam centre in the capital Colombo, a spokesman said on Sunday, in the latest crackdown on foreign-run online fraud.
The suspects, aged between 23 and 44 and including one woman, were arrested after a tip-off, the police spokesman said.
“They had entered the country on tourist visas and were illegally employed, while two of them had overstayed their visas,” he added.
A local police source said 35 tablet computers, 147 mobile phones and 100 SIM cards were seized at the suspected scam centre in the Colombo suburb of Talangama.
The arrests came a month after 152 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese, were detained for allegedly running a cyberscam operation out of a hotel in the island’s northwest.
Immigration authorities arrested 135 Chinese men and women in March for allegedly running a similar scam operation. They have since been deported.
Beijing’s embassy in Colombo said at the time it was working closely with local authorities to prevent Chinese nationals from carrying out scam operations in Sri Lanka.
The embassy said Sri Lanka’s developed telecommunications infrastructure, favourable geographical location and relatively lenient visa policies encouraged fraud gangs to move to the South Asian nation.
In 2024, Sri Lankan authorities detained 230 Chinese nationals and 200 Indian nationals accused of operating cybercrime centres in various parts of the island.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Rome and the Vatican this week, an Italian government source said on Sunday, just weeks after a clash between Donald Trump and Pope Leo.
Rubio, who is a Catholic, is expected to meet Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, the source told AFP.
Italian media reported that he would also meet Defence Minister Guido Crosetto during the Thursday-Friday visit.
The meetings come several weeks after US President Trump’s extraordinary criticism of Pope Leo XIV over the Catholic leader’s anti-war rhetoric.
Trump also dismissed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — one of his closest European allies — as lacking courage after she defended the US pontiff.
Italian media on Sunday presented Rubio’s visit as a meeting to “thaw” relations.
Since taking over as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics on May 8, 2025, following the death of Pope Francis, Leo has criticised the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.
But it was his increasing anti-war rhetoric, particularly following the US-Israeli attack on Iran, that triggered Trump’s ire.
Leo, on April 7, declared Trump’s threat to destroy Iran “unacceptable” and urged Americans to demand that US lawmakers “work for peace”.
The US president subsequently slammed the pontiff in a social media post as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy”.
Trump also said he was “not a big fan of Pope Leo” and that he does not “want a pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon”.
Meloni condemned as “unacceptable” Trump’s criticism — prompting the president to turn his fire on her.
“I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” the US president said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
He also accused Meloni — a far-right leader who has sought to act as a bridge between diverging US and European views — of failing to help the United States with Nato.
Trump has threatened to pull US troops from Italy, saying Rome “has not been of any help to us” in the Iran war. He has made a similar threat towards Spain, while the Pentagon has announced it is withdrawing 5,000 US troops from Germany.
Wildfires that scorched forests in northern Japan, reportedly the second biggest in over 30 years, have been brought under control after 11 days, officials have said.
Hundreds of firefighters and more than 1,000 military personnel had battled the blazes since late April, as they burned around 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres) across the mountainous Iwate region.
The affected area is almost five times the size of New York City’s Central Park.
At least eight buildings were damaged, and two people suffered minor injuries, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Thousands of people were evacuated as fires picked up.
Otsuchi town mayor Kozo Hirano told reporters on Saturday that he had been “informed that… the fire had been brought under control” after visiting the area with fire officials.
He credited aerial and ground firefighting operations, as well as heavy rainfall, for containing the flames.
But Hirano said authorities would remain vigilant as there was a possibility that smouldering embers would remain.
Kyodo News described the blaze as Japan’s second-largest wildfire in over 30 years.
Increasingly dry winters have raised the risk of wildfires. Last year, Iwate suffered a separate wildfire that burned 2,600 hectares, the largest in Japan since 1975, when 2,700 hectares were scorched by fire in Kushiro, on the northern island of Hokkaido.
Scientists have long warned that climate change caused by mankind’s burning of fossil fuels will make periods of drought more intense and longer-lasting, creating the ideal conditions for wildfires.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te on Saturday announced his arrival in Eswatini — Taipei’s only diplomatic ally in Africa — after an earlier trip was cancelled when several countries revoked overflight permits.
Those various African nations withdrew overflight permission following “intense pressure” from Beijing, one of Lai’s closest advisers said at the time, forcing cancellation of the initially scheduled April 22-26 trip.
Lai on Saturday said only that his initial visit had been “suspended due to unexpected external forces”.
But “after days of secret arrangements by the diplomatic and national security teams, we arrived successfully today (Saturday),” he said in a Facebook post.
“I hope this trip will contribute to even deeper friendship between Taiwan and Eswatini, thanks to closer economic, agricultural, cultural and educational links, as well as promote Taiwan’s international cooperation,” he added.
“The 23 million Taiwanese people have the right to embrace the world and engage with the world,” Lai said in a speech before the Eswatini royal family and assembled dignitaries.
“And no country has the right and no country should ever block Taiwan from contributing more to the world,” he added.
Earlier Saturday, China’s foreign ministry accused Lai of making a “stowaway-style escape farce” that made him “an international laughing stock”.
“No matter how the DPP authorities collude with external forces … it is all in vain and cannot change the fact that Taiwan is part of China,” an unnamed spokesperson said in a statement on the ministry’s website, referring to Lai’s party.
“We urge Eswatini and other individual countries to see clearly the general trend of history … and not pull chestnuts out of the fire for a handful of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists,” the statement said.
Eswatini, a small enclave kingdom formerly known as Swaziland, is one of 12 countries that still recognise Taiwan. China has persuaded other nations to break diplomatic ties with the self-ruled island, which it claims as part of its territory.
Lai was due in Eswatini in April for the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession to the throne, but cancelled the visit after the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar revoked overflight permissions, “unexpectedly and without notice”, according to his office.
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