released

American and six Ukrainians released by India after six months in jail | Crime News

Matthew VanDyke and six Ukrainians were accused of smuggling weapons and drones to armed ethnic groups fighting India.

Matthew VanDyke, a United States citizen held in India for more than six months and accused of supporting ethnic separatist groups, has been temporarily released on bail and returned to the US.

The 47-year-old arrived on Saturday morning and reunited with his family, according to a family spokesperson.

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VanDyke, who runs a Washington, DC-based consultancy that says it provides “free security consulting, training, supplies and other services to vulnerable populations”, was detained in March by Indian authorities, along with six Ukrainian nationals who were also released on Saturday.

India’s main opposition Congress party said that, despite being “accused of plotting terrorist acts”, VanDyke was allowed to return home from New Delhi.

“Obviously US pressure determined this outcome, but what did India get in return?” Jairam Ramesh, a legislator and spokesperson for the party, posted on X.

VanDyke’s family told Al Jazeera before his release that his health was failing and he had lost weight after going on a month-long hunger strike in Tihar Jail to try to improve conditions in prison. He had to use a wheelchair to attend hearings, according to his mother, Sharon. VanDyke denied the accusations against him, and his family said he was in the region documenting the situation faced by minority ethnic groups.

Matthew VanDyke, who spent months in Libyan prisons before joining rebel forces who opposed dictator Moammar Gadhafi, speaks with reporters after his flight arrived at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Saturday, November 5, 2011.
Matthew VanDyke, who spent months in Libyan prisons before joining rebel forces who opposed dictator Moammar Gadhafi, speaks with reporters after his flight arrived at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Saturday, November 5, 2011. [Patrick Semansky/Reuters]

Earlier this month, Indian prosecutors declined to bring terrorism charges against VanDyke and the others. Instead, prosecutors formally accused them of visa violations for entering restricted areas along the Myanmar border.

The Maryland native is a former filmmaker and rebel fighter during the Arab Spring and spent about six months in a Libyan prison during the Muammar Gaddafi regime. He was held alongside James Foley, a journalist who was later killed by ISIL in Syria. In recent years, VanDyke was based in Ukraine, where his consultancy helped train Ukrainian military forces.

In a statement to Al Jazeera before VanDyke’s release, James Foley’s mother, Diane, who now heads a foundation named after him, said she was “deeply saddened by his arrest in India and by his apparent poor health.” She added that her foundation called for “his release on humanitarian grounds.”

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When are Oasis codes released? Ticket sale schedule for the 2027 tour explained

OASIS fans who are eager to grab tickets for their 2027 tour must keep an eye on their emails over the next few days.

This is because those who have been selected from the ballot will be given a unique code in order to access the site to buy tickets. Here’s what you need to look out for.

A digital billboard advertises the Oasis Live '27 tour dates at Knebworth, featuring images of Liam and Noel Gallagher.
Oasis start their latest tour in May 2027 at Celtic Park, Glasgow Credit: Alamy Live News.

When are Oasis codes released?

Codes for tickets will be released between Thursday 24th and Sunday 27th September 2026.

As published on oasisnet.com, if you have been selected to buy an Oasis Live ’27 ticket, a unique code and full details of how to buy tickets will be sent to the email address and name fans registered with.

There will be no general sale for the tour, but there is also no set time on when fans will receive their codes.

This means that fans who are invited to buy a ticket on Sunday 27th September may receive their code later.

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Fans have been warned to check their junk folders over this period just in case the email with the code attached drops in there.

When do tickets go on sale?

General sale for tickets will be across three dates, but you’ll only be able to access the sale on your allocated day.

Registration closed on Thursday 17th September at 4pm, with fans now having to wait to see if they are lucky enough to have been selected.

The three days the general sale will be on are:

  • Friday September 25
  • Saturday September 26
  • Sunday September 27

Ticket prices are fixed and will range between £71.50 to £266.60. Ticket prices will vary depending on the location of the concert and where you are stood or sat.

What are the confirmed tour dates?

Oasis are returning to Knebworth house in 2027, for the first time since their iconic 1996 gigs which saw 250,000 people attend over two days.

They have 11 nights booked at the Etihad stadium, home of the Gallagher brothers beloved Manchester City, having last played there in 2005.

The icons will also return to France for the first time since their acrimonious split at Rock en Seine festival in Paris in 2009.

Oasis’ 2027 tour schedule revealed

OASIS will play 38 nights across 11 cities in 2027, they announced today at 4pm

May 2027
May 21 Glasgow, Celtic Park
May 23 Glasgow, Celtic Park
May 25 Glasgow, Celtic Park
May 28 Glasgow, Celtic Park
May 29 Glasgow, Celtic Park

June 2027
June 04 Manchester, Etihad Stadium
June 06 Manchester, Etihad Stadium
June 08 Manchester, Etihad Stadium
June 11 Manchester, Etihad Stadium
June 12 Manchester, Etihad Stadium
June 15 Manchester, Etihad Stadium
June 18 Manchester, Etihad Stadium
June 19 Manchester, Etihad Stadium
June 22 Manchester, Etihad Stadium
June 25 Manchester, Etihad Stadium
June 26 Manchester, Etihad Stadium

July 2027
July 02 Munich, Allianz Arena
July 03 Munich, Allianz Arena
July 10 Barcelona, Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
July 11 Barcelona, Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
July 16 Amsterdam, Johan Cruijff ArenA
July 17 Amsterdam, Johan Cruijff ArenA
July 23 Paris, Stade de France
July 24 Paris, Stade de France
July 29 Rome, Stadio Olimpico
July 30 Rome, Stadio Olimpico

August 2027
August 10 Boston, Gillette Stadium
August 13 Boston, Gillette Stadium
August 14 Boston, Gillette Stadium
August 20 Las Vegas, Allegiant Stadium
August 21 Las Vegas, Allegiant Stadium
August 24 Las Vegas, Allegiant Stadium

September 2027
September 04 Slane Castle, Ireland
September 05 Slane Castle, Ireland
September 11 Knebworth, UK
September 12 Knebworth, UK
September 18 Knebworth, UK
September 19 Knebworth, UK

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Arab News | A New York jeweler has been released from prison in Iran but is banned from leaving war-torn country

NEW YORK: An Iranian American jeweler from New York has been released from prison in Iran, but he is prohibited from leaving the country, according to his family and federal officials.

Kamran Hekmati was let out of Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on Sept. 5 after completing about half of a two-year sentence, his family recently wrote on a website advocating for his release.

The family said they are also “desperately afraid for his health and well-being” as he requires regular medical checkups to ensure his bladder cancer doesn’t relapse.

“The Iranian regime couldn’t care less,” the family wrote of Hekmati’s medical challenges. “Much like other wrongful detention cases in Iran, Kamran appears to be caught up in Iran’s traditional approach of detaining Americans to obtain political concessions from the US.”

Representatives for the family and the federal government didn’t say where Hekmati, who turned 62 in August, is currently staying in Iran.

But Shohreh Nowfar, Hekmati’s cousin in California, said Friday that the family is “excited” and hopeful that his passport can be returned soon so he can leave the country, which has been at war with the US and Israel for more than six months now.

“We continue to hope this is a signal from the Iranian side as to their willingness to send Kamran home,” added Kieran Ramsey, chief investigative officer at Global Reach, a US nonprofit working on Hekmati’s case.

The Iranian American, who is also Jewish, owns a jewelry business in Manhattan’s Diamond District and has lived with his family for years in Great Neck Estates, on suburban Long Island.

He was arrested by Iranian authorities last July after having his passport seized while trying to fly out of the airport in Tehran that May.

Hekmati’s family says he was charged under an Iranian law that bans Iranian citizens from visiting Israel within the last 10 years. But they maintain his last trip to Israel was 13 years ago — prior to the passage of the law — for his son’s bar mitzvah.

“Mr. Hekmati did nothing wrong,” said US Rep. Thomas Suozzi, a Long Island Democrat who advocated for the State Department to officially designate Hekmati as wrongfully detained earlier this year. “We cannot rest until he is reunited with his family.”

The State Department similarly called on Iran to lift its so-called exit ban so Hekmati can return to the US It also said the country should “immediately release” Iranian American journalist Reza Valizadeh and other Americans “unjustly detained in Iran.”

Valizadeh and Hekmati are the two Americans so far officially designated as wrongfully detained in Iran, while up to eight others who have not been publicly named are prohibited from leaving the country, according to Ramsey.

Valizadeh’s lawyer, Ryan Fayhee, declined to comment Friday, citing the risks his client could face behind bars.

But in recent months, the journalist has sent voice messages describing conditions inside Evin prison, a high-security facility that holds many of the Islamic Republic’s political prisoners.

In an August recording, Valizadeh, who has been imprisoned since 2024, said prison officials have not allowed his family to visit for the past five months. He also said medical care is “almost non-existent,” save for the most basic medications.

“Diseases that were eradicated decades ago have returned inside the prison, including pulmonary and gastrointestinal tuberculosis,” he said in the voice message, which was shared by CBS.

Valizadeh also said that prior to his release, Hekmati had been granted a medical furlough for cancer treatment but was ordered back to prison after about a month, rather than being allowed to begin chemotherapy.

Valizadeh is among at least nine reporters currently jailed in Iran, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

He was arrested after returning to Iran to visit his elderly parents and charged with collaborating with the US government.

Valizadeh obtained US citizenship in 2022 while working in Washington, D.C., for Radio Farda, the Persian-language arm of Radio Free Europe, which receives US government funding.

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Arab News | Pilots in Amazon cargo plane Miami crash released from hospital

Miami: The two pilots of an Amazon cargo plane that overran the runway while landing at Miami International Airport, striking a van and killing five people, have been released from hospital, officials said Tuesday.

Three people are in hospital, two in critical condition and one stable, following Sunday’s accident, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said at a news conference.

Cordero-Stutz said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was leading the investigation into the accident while the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office would conduct its own inquiry into the deaths on the ground.

NTSB chief Jennifer Homendy said officials were reviewing flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the plane.

Flight data released by investigators on Tuesday suggests the plane tried to abort a landing, before it tore through a perimeter fence and slammed into two vehicles.

NTSB investigator Chihoon Shin said the plane attempted to perform a “go-around” — a routine safety maneuver where a pilot stops a landing attempt and returns to the air to safely make another approach — before abandoning it.

The pilots then applied the brakes to try to stop the plane and put the throttle into idle, Shin said.

Homendy said the plane’s pilot and co-pilot, aged 55 and 37, would be interviewed on Wednesday.

The plane came to a halt about 1,300 feet (400 meters) past the end of the paved runway surface, Homendy said. The five fatalities were in a cleaning-services van.

Hundreds of flights were delayed at Florida’s busiest airport following the crash.

Homendy said the plane was a Boeing 767-300 built in 1994 and operated by 21 Air LLC, based in Miami and contracted to Amazon.

It was on its third flight of the day, and arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico.



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Harry and Meghan surprised by the way Buckingham Palace released letter on non-working royal status

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, were surprised by the way Buckingham Palace released a letter that made clear they remain non-working members of the royal family even though they have returned to the United Kingdom.

The letter, sent on behalf of King Charles III to senior government and military officials, caught the couple off guard when it was released to the media on Monday in part because they were given little time to review or comment on its contents, a person familiar with the discussions said.

The couple’s representatives received a copy of the letter just one hour and 12 minutes before it was released to news outlets, the person said. That left them with little time to respond because they were unable to reach Harry, who was in a meeting, until just two minutes before the letter was released, the person added.

The letter said Harry and Meghan would continue to refrain from using the formal royal titles, such as his royal highness and her royal highness, as they have done since stepping back from official royal duties in 2020. Any charity work the couple undertakes will be carried out in a private capacity, and operational security decisions are matters for the relevant police agencies, the letter said.

“To help avoid doubt or confusion, The King has directed that (this) information be shared,” the Lord Chamberlain, the most senior official in the royal household, said in the letter.

Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties in 2020 when they moved to North America to make their own living through lucrative deals with Netflix and Spotify. At the time, Queen Elizabeth II made clear that the couple could not be part-time royals and they had to give up their royal positions if they wanted to pursue such commercial arrangements. Charles reiterated that position after he became king in 2022.

The couple’s reaction to the letter, which confirms that their status remains unchanged, highlights tensions surrounding their return to the U.K. Some palace observers have expressed concern that Harry and Meghan’s presence in Britain could allow them to establish a sort of parallel royal court that would compete with working members of the royal family.

The security question is particularly sensitive because Harry has fought a long-running battle with the government for the restoration of publicly funded police protection, which was canceled when the couple gave up their royal roles.

Any decision about whether to restore the couple’s round-the-clock police protection is a matter for a government panel known as RAVEC, or the Royal and VIP Executive Committee. The committee is expected to meet this week, the person familiar with the discussions said.

Kirka writes for the Associated Press.

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