World
Taliban releases Austrian far-right activist held in Afghanistan
Vienna says its national has arrived in Doha after mediation by the Qatari government helped secure his release.
The Taliban has released Herbert Fritz, an 84-year-old Austrian far-right nationalist, who was arrested in Afghanistan last May.
The Austrian government said in a statement on Sunday that Fritz arrived in Doha, Qatar earlier in the day after mediation by the Qatari government helped to secure his release.
Fritz was arrested last year after defying Austria’s long-standing warning against travel to Afghanistan, which in 2021 returned to the rule of the Taliban.
“I think it was bad luck but I want to visit again,” he told reporters on arrival in Doha, when asked about his ordeal.
“There were some nice people but there were some foolish people also, I’m sorry,” Fritz added, describing his captors.
After his arrest, Austria’s Der Standard newspaper said Fritz had gone to Afghanistan and reported positively on life there. He published an article titled “Vacations with the Taliban” via a far-right media outlet.
This helped fuel anti-immigration arguments that Afghanistan was a safe country to which refugees could return, the newspaper said.
The Taliban arrested him on suspicion of spying, and Austrian neo-Nazis made his case public via Telegram channels, Der Standard said.
Austria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had been working to secure Fritz’s release since May, and thanked Qatar and the European Union representation in Kabul for assisting its efforts to bring about his return to Austria.
A spokesperson for the Austrian ministry told the Associated Press news agency that Fritz had been held in a prison in Kabul.
Writing on X, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer thanked the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his team for their “strong support in releasing one of our citizens from prison in Afghanistan”.
“It is only due to our trusted collaboration that this Austrian citizen will be able to return home to his daughter and grandchildren,” Nehammer said.
Fritz was a founding member of the country’s National Democratic Party (NDP), an extreme right group banned in 1988, according to Der Standard and other media outlets.
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party, which has been leading in opinion polls ahead of parliamentary elections due later this year, had pressed for Fritz’s release. The party has said he was researching a book in Afghanistan.
Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed gratitude on X for the “caretaker government in Afghanistan” for releasing the Austrian.
“The State of Qatar has proven, regionally and globally, that it is a trusted international partner in various important issues,” the ministry said. “It spares no effort in harnessing its energy and ability in the areas of mediation, preventive diplomacy, and settling disputes through peaceful means.”
World
Peru’s Sanchez visits jailed ex-president as votes are counted
Peruvian presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez visited jailed former president Pedro Castillo as officials counted ballots from the closely contested runoff election against conservative rival Keiko Fujimori.
Published On 8 Jun 2026
World
Lawsuit seeks to stop the UFC fight on the White House South Lawn for Trump’s birthday
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal lawsuit seeks to halt the upcoming UFC fight card on the White House South Lawn in a mixed martial arts show timed for President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and part of the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The filing Saturday by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of two Virginia residents contends the Trump administration’s authorization of the June 14 event was unlawful. The lawsuit says such approval violated National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands, Congress did not consent to the towering arch overlooking the event space and no environmental review was conducted before the construction.
“This is fundamentally a private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain,” said Brendan Ballou, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “And that is what is motivating this lawsuit.”
The White House said in a statement that the legal challenge was “an obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory” attempt to prevent Trump from hosting the fight and that the event was “no different than the various other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year.”
UFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Crews are erecting an octagon-shaped cage on the South Lawn. Trump has said the finished UFC project will feature “a 5,000-seat arena right outside the front door of the White House.” Additional large screens broadcasting the fights will be set up in a park at the nearby Ellipse, and the UFC has said it plans to issue as many as 85,000 free tickets to accommodate spectators at both locations.
The octagon and surrounding structures are the latest project in the White House building boom Trump is leading.
World
Suspected Hamas terrorist arrested in Greece for allegedly plotting attack on Israeli cruise ship
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A suspected Hamas terrorist, reportedly granted asylum a year from the Gaza war, was arrested by Greek police for allegedly plotting an attack on an Israeli cruise line.
The Gaza man, 37, was arrested on the Greek island of Crete on Sunday for his alleged ties to one of four suspected Hamas terrorists previously arrested in Cyprus, having traveled with him to Malaysia, where they allegedly received training in making explosives from commercially available chemical agents.
The Israeli cruise ship MS Crown Iris was the believed target of the attack before it was scheduled to arrive in Crete on Tuesday. Police did not publicly identify the man or name a target in their initial statement.
Searches in homes in both Crete and the Greek capital, Athens, turned up a number of mobile phones, a laptop, external hard drives and bank cards, The Associated Press reported.
3 ALLEGED HAMAS MEMBERS ACCUSED OF PLOTTING AGAINST JEWISH INSTITUTIONS IN GERMANY
A Wednesday protest at the port of Piraeus near Athens, Greece, opposing the arrival of the Crown Iris cruise ship was a prelude to the arrest of a suspected Hamas terrorist who is alleged to have plotted an attack. (Costas Baltas/Anadolu)
The suspect, an electrician who has been reportedly living in Crete for the past year and working at a hotel there after being granted asylum, will appear before a magistrate later Sunday.
The suspected terrorist had placed an online order for what police said were “chemical agents” that could be used in the manufacture of explosives, according to the report.
State broadcaster ERT, cited by Israeli and Greek media, reported that police also found laboratory equipment.
TWO CONVICTED OF TERRORISM IN DENMARK FOR GRENADE ATTACK NEAR ISRAELI EMBASSY
The case appears to be part of a broader regional counterterrorism probe. Cypriot authorities arrested two Palestinians on May 22 after intelligence led investigators to materials in two residences that police said could be used to manufacture explosives. Two more Palestinian men were detained May 29 as part of the same investigation, according to Greek police.
The Crown Iris has become a recurring flashpoint at Greek ports amid anger over the war in Gaza. Protesters gathered near the ship when it docked in Piraeus on Wednesday, June 3, and demonstrations against the vessel have followed it at Greek ports since last year.
Protesters allege that Mano Maritime, the owner of the MS Crown Iris, is profiting from the Hamas-Israel war by selling tourist services to Israel Defense Forces soldiers during breaks from active duty.
In July 2025, Greek police used tear gas and made arrests as demonstrators tried to block the ship at Agios Nikolaos on Crete.
Greek security forces were forced to protect Israeli tourists traveling on buses to board the Israeli-owned cruise ship MS Crown Iris at the port of Piraeus in Athens on June 3, 2026. (Aggelos Nakkas/AFP)
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The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities have not announced formal charges against the suspect.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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