World
Sister of EU diplomat captive in Iran calls for his release
The sister of Johan Floderus, the 33-year-old Swedish EU diplomat who has been held captive in Iran’s notorious Evin prison for more than 600 days, has said her brother is being used as a “pawn” in a “political game.”
Floderus was arrested by Iranian authorities in April 2022 at Tehran airport, after visiting a friend working for the Swedish embassy in Iran. He has since been held under harrowing conditions in the country’s Evin prison.
At the time of his arrest, Floderus worked on the Afghanistan desk of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the bloc’s diplomatic arm.
The Iranian prosecutor is reported to have said last Sunday he is seeking the death sentence for Floderus, who has been accused of spying for Israel and “corruption on earth,” a crime that carries the death penalty under Tehran’s Islamic laws.
Floderus is the latest EU citizen to be arbitrarily detained by the Iranian regime on widely contested criminal charges, known as ‘hostage diplomacy’. While many before him have been released after Tehran secured concessions from governments, the prosecutor’s call for the death penalty has come as a devastating blow to the family. No date has yet been set for the final verdict.
His sister Ingrid Floderus spoke to Euronews at an event in Brussels organised by the #FreeJohanFloderus campaign to call for his release.
“It’s about time that he got home. He is an innocent man,” Ingrid said. “I don’t think that anyone really feels like my brother has done those crimes that he has been accused of.”
“This is about some big political game where my brother is being used as a pawn, and that is really, for me, something I cannot accept,” she added.
“I don’t think we (Sweden) as a nation or the European Union either should accept that.”
Officials in Stockholm and Brussels have said they are working tirelessly to ensure his release. But Ingrid says that efforts will only be enough once her brother is safely home.
“For me and for our family (…) as long as he’s still there and accused of (these) horrific crimes, then maybe I don’t feel like it’s a success story so far,” she explained.
In a statement, an EU spokesperson said: “We have been very clear from the beginning: Mr. Floderus is innocent. There are absolutely no grounds for keeping (him) in detention.”
“The High Representative persistently raises the case at every occasion and contact with the Iranian authorities, since his detention, requesting his liberation,” the spokesperson explained, adding that the EU is in close cooperation with Swedish authorities on the issue.
His family have described the harrowing conditions under which has bheeen held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, saying that he has been on a hunger strike at least seven times in order to be able to call his family.
Prison officers have now warned he will not be able to call his family again if he goes on another hunger strike, according to his family. His cell, which he shares with three others, has lighting 24 hours of the day.
“I think he is doing worse and worse,” Ingrid said. “I can see from the pictures from his trial that he looks very different from the brother I know. He looks much skinnier, very pale, of course, since he’s basically never going out and I know that he doesn’t get this much food.”
Floderus is a graduate of the universities of Oxford, Uppsala and SOAS London. He previously held positions at the European Commission’s Department for international partnerships and the cabinet of Swedish Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson.
“Johan is fond of his family, dogs and CrossFit and has great interest in history, literature and culture,” reads a description from his family.
Present at the event in Brussels on Thursday were two other EU nationals held hostage in Iranian prisons and released in 2022, French-Irish citizen Bernard Phelan and Belgian citizen Olivier Vandecasteele.
ADVERTISEMENT“There is a pattern of people of certain nationalities being used for diplomatic leverage by Iran’s government. It’s called hostage diplomacy but I see little diplomacy in this. It’s basically blackmail,” Vandecasteele said at the event.
Floderus’s arrest came during Sweden’s trial of Hamid Noury, an Iranian accused of mass executions of dissidents in Tehran in 1988.
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US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his comments on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, saying she asked him “over and over” for a photo when the pair met at the G7 summit in France earlier this week.
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Following the summit, Trump told an Italian journalist that he “felt sorry for Meloni” after she “begged me to take a picture with her”.
Meloni hit back in a video posted to social media, branding Trump’s claims as “completely made up” and insisting that neither she nor Italy begs anyone for anything.
The once close pair’s relationship has grown increasingly fractious in recent months, particularly since Rome refused to provide the US support for its operations in Iran and after Meloni defended Pope Leo XIV, who was criticised by the Trump administration over his remarks on the war and the US’s immigration policies.
“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Saturday. “She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon”.
“Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her “numbers up.” No thanks!!!” Trump added.
World
‘X-Men’ Star Famke Janssen Says Marvel ‘Made a Mistake’ By Not Asking Her to Return as Jean Grey in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
Famke Janssen said during a recent conversation with Nerdtropolis at Spacecon 2026 that Marvel “made a mistake” by not bringing her back as Jean Grey for December’s “Avengers: Doomsday.”
“I am so bad at keeping secrets that I always say to everyone I’m the worst actor in the world. It’s all on my face. You right away will read it,” Janssen said. “I think they made a mistake, but hey, who am I? I’m just a little me who thinks that.”
Janssen first appeared as the telepath Jean Grey, aka Phoenix, in 2000’s “X-Men,” and then reprised the role for 2003’s “X2: X-Men United” and 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand.” She also briefly appeared as Grey in 2013’s “The Wolverine” and 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”
Janssen’s absence from “Doomsday” is notable, considering Marvel is bringing back many of her “X-Men” co-stars for the film. Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Kelsey Grammer (Beast), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique) are all set to return.
In an October 2025 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Janssen said in every interview she does, she’s asked about the future of Jean Grey in the MCU.
“It’s interesting,” Janssen said. “I didn’t realize that was such a big part. Every interview I do, that will come up, and of everything I say, that is going to be the only thing that’s gonna be printed.”
“I should be flattered, I suppose, that this character has resonated with people,” she added. “It’s been so long, but it’s nice that people are still talking about her. I’m sure every single time there’s a new movie that they’re doing, like [is it] ‘Doomsday?’ … it’ll come up again.”
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Authorities are responding after two passenger trains crashed into each other Friday near Bedford, England, killing at least one person and injuring nearly 90 others.
The East of England Ambulance Service said it was called to a collision involving two trains at Elstow, near Bedford, at about 5:15 p.m. local time and quickly declared a “major incident.”
One person died at the scene, 11 people suffered very serious injuries, 22 were seriously injured and 56 people had minor injuries, officials said.
Bedford is roughly 60 miles north of London.
2 TRAINS COLLIDE IN DENMARK, LEAVING 5 PEOPLE CRITICALLY INJURED
Two passenger trains collided Friday in the United Kingdom. (Fox News)
All the patients with the most serious injuries have been taken from the scene to hospital.
The ambulance service said it sent numerous resources to the scene, including more than 20 ambulances, specialist hazardous area response teams and six air ambulances.
MULTIPLE STABBED IN UK TRAIN ATTACK NEAR CAMBRIDGE AS POLICE ARREST 2 SUSPECTS
Emergency crews were pictured working near the scene. (Fox News)
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected, and we thank all emergency service colleagues for their swift response,” the ambulance service wrote in a statement.
The Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed its crews were also responding.
“Please avoid the area,” fire officials wrote in a statement on X.
Sources told The Telegraph the train driver was on the phone with maintenance staff discussing a safety issue at the time of the crash.
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This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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