VILNIUS: Supporters of jailed Belarusian Nobel Peace laureate Ales Bialiatski say the human rights activist should have been included in the biggest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War on Thursday.
Allies of Bialiatski and other jailed Belarusians are disappointed they were not included in the swap, which saw eight Russians, including a convicted murderer, exchanged for 16 prisoners in Russian and Belarusian jails, many of them dissidents.
Some of the Russian dissidents freed in the swap, including Ilya Yashin, an opposition activist, expressed anger or reservations on Friday at having been deported from their country against their will.
Bialiatski, 61, who is serving a 10-year sentence for financing anti-government protests after a trial in 2023 condemned by the US and the European Union as a “sham,” was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 — a year after his arrest.
“When we heard that the deal is imminent, we hoped that someone from Belarus political prisoners will surely be a part of it. First of all, of course, the jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner,” said Alena Masliukova, a member of Viasna — the human rights organization founded by Bialiatski.
“This was a total disappointment, and we still haven’t overcome it,” said Masliukova, who now lives in exile in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital.
Among those released in this week’s swap was German citizen Rico Krieger who had been sentenced to death on terrorism charges in Belarus, a close ally of Russia where — according to Viasna — 1,390 people are in jail for political reasons — many linked to mass protests four years ago.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, faced large protests after a disputed 2020 presidential election — the biggest challenge to his rule.
He has long dismissed accusations of human rights abuse.
Viasna says activists are still dragged before courts for their role in the protests, and Masliukova said political prisoners faced harsh conditions in jail.
“They are kept in cold cells, without contact with relatives. They leave jail with damaged health,” she said.
Bialiatski returned voluntarily from exile to Belarus in 2021 despite knowing he likely faced arrest, which supporters said meant he might not be willing to leave the country again, a process which legally requires the prisoner to ask for a pardon.
“I know his character and I am sure there is no way he would ask for pardon from Lukashenko,” said Siarhei Sys, a long-time friend. “I don’t know what happens in five years ... It all depends on the state of his health.”
Jailed Belarus Nobel winner should have been freed in prisoner swap, say supporters
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Jailed Belarus Nobel winner should have been freed in prisoner swap, say supporters
- Allies of Bialiatski and other jailed Belarusians are disappointed they were not included in the swap
- Alena Masliukova, a member of Viasna — the human rights organization founded by Bialiatski, said: “This was a total disappointment, and we still haven’t overcome it“
Migrant rescue NGO saves 25 people off Libyan coast
- Since the beginning of 2025, 247 people have disappeared or died in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe, according to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM)
MARSEILLE: French migrant rescue group SOS Mediterranee brought 25 people stranded off the Libyan coast aboard its Ocean Viking vessel on Sunday, the NGO said.
Those rescued, including three women and seven minors, are “currently being cared for by the Red Cross and SOS Mediterranee teams” aboard the Ocean Viking, the Marseille-based group said in a statement.
Five of the minors are unaccompanied while two of the children are aged under four, the statement added.
The boat in distress was spotted thanks to an alert issued by Alarm Phone, a number used by migrants who run into trouble while attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing in hope of a better life in Europe.
Since the beginning of 2025, 247 people have disappeared or died in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe, according to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
That toll follows the 2,360 people who died across the whole of 2024. The vast majority of the victims died in the central Mediterranean, one of the world’s deadliest migration routes.
UK seeks to scale back reviews that delay new housing projects
- Planning delays are widely blamed by housebuilders and government for the inability of new construction to keep up with population growth
LONDON: Britain set out plans late on Sunday to scale back lengthy public reviews that can delay housing developments, as part of its goal to get 1.5 million homes built in the next five years.
The housing ministry said it would hold a consultation over reducing the number of public agencies and civic groups whose views must be sought over new housing, including groups which represent sporting organizations, theaters and historic gardens.
Planning delays are widely blamed by housebuilders and government for the inability of new construction to keep up with population growth and for contributing to broader economic weakness.
In 2023, 193,000 homes were built across the United Kingdom and the construction industry has not exceeded the 300,000-a-year pace needed to meet the new government’s target since 1977.
“We need to reform the system to ensure it is sensible and balanced, and does not create unintended delays,” Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said.
Further legislation on planning reforms is due later in the week.
Britain’s housing and local government ministry, which Rayner heads, said more than 25 agencies now had a legal right to be consulted on housing developments, some of which often objected by default or insisted on expensive modifications.
The ministry cited the example of how the conversion of an office block into 140 apartments was delayed after a sports body judged insufficient expert advice had been sought over whether a 3-meter-high (10 ft) fence was enough to protect residents from cricket balls struck from an adjacent sports ground.
Around 100 such disputes a year had to be resolved by ministers, the government said.
Under the new proposals, local planning authorities would also be instructed to narrow the basis on which other bodies could object and stick more closely to standard rules and deadlines.
Japan’s worst wildfire in 50 years brought under control
- The fire engulfed about 2,900 hectares (7,170 acres) — around half the size of Manhattan — making it Japan’s largest in more than 50 years
TOKYO: Japan’s worst wildfire in more than half a century, which killed at least one person, has been brought under control, the mayor of the northern city of Ofunato said on Sunday.
The fire had raged in the mountains around the rural region since February 26, killing at least one person, damaging at least 210 buildings and forcing more than 4,200 residents to flee their homes, local officials said.
“Following an aerial survey, we assessed that the fire no longer posed the risk of further spread. I declare that the fire is now under control,” Ofunato Mayor Kiyoshi Fuchigami told a news conference.
The fire engulfed about 2,900 hectares (7,170 acres) — around half the size of Manhattan — making it Japan’s largest in more than 50 years.
It surpassed the 2,700 hectares burnt by a 1975 fire on Hokkaido island.
Wet weather that began on Wednesday following a record dry period helped firefighting efforts.
Japan endured its hottest summer on record last year as climate change pushes up temperatures worldwide.
Ofunato received just 2.5 millimeters (0.1 inch) of rainfall in February, breaking the previous record low for the month of 4.4 millimeters in 1967 and far below the average of 41 millimeters.
The number of wildfires in Japan has declined since a peak in the 1970s.
Wildfires in Japan tend to occur between February and May, when the air dries out and winds pick up. There have been around 1,300 a year in recent years.
UN humanitarian agency reports rise in attacks in Congo
- Security in Goma is threatened by “a resurgence of criminal acts including burgling of homes, thefts and attacks,” it said, adding that hospitals and schools had also been forced to close in other areas
KINSHASA: Escalating attacks have struck hospitals and other civilian infrastructure in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo during the ongoing anti-government assault by the armed group M23, the UN’s humanitarian agency said.
M23 fighters backed by Rwandan troops have made major advances in the region since January, seizing the key cities of Goma and Bukavu and displacing hundreds of thousands of people, according to the UN.
“Between March 1 and 3, several hospitals were targeted by armed actors in an escalation of violence against medical centers and health personnel, the UN Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs, or OCHA, said in a report.
Security in Goma is threatened by “a resurgence of criminal acts including burgling of homes, thefts and attacks,” it said, adding that hospitals and schools had also been forced to close in other areas.
It said at least four civilians were killed in fighting between M23 and rival groups in the Masisi district between Feb. 18 and 25, and more than 100,000 people were newly displaced in Lubero to the north.
DR Congo’s government accuses Rwanda of backing M23 to seize mineral-rich territory.
Rwanda has denied involvement in the conflict and says it faces a threat from ethnic Hutu fighters in DR Congo.
US pulls non-emergency staff from South Sudan after clashes
- South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, ended its five-year civil war in 2018 with the power-sharing agreement between bitter rivals Kiir and Machar
NAIRIBI: The US has ordered all non-emergency staff in South Sudan to leave, the State Department said on Sunday, as rising tensions provoke international concern.
A fragile power-sharing agreement between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar has been threatened by recent clashes between their allied forces in the northeastern Upper Nile State.
On Friday, a UN helicopter came under attack during a rescue mission, which killed a crew member. An army general also died during the operation, the UN said.
BACKGROUND
President Salva Kiir urged calm and told citizens there would be no return to war, but international observers sounded the alarm.
“Due to the risks in the country, on March 8, 2025, the Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency US government employees from South Sudan,” the State Department said on Sunday.
“Armed conflict is ongoing and includes fighting between various political and ethnic groups. Weapons are readily available to the population.”
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, ended its five-year civil war in 2018 with the power-sharing agreement between bitter rivals Kiir and Machar.
But the president’s allies have accused Machar’s forces of fomenting unrest in Nasir County, in Upper Nile State, in league with the so-called White Army, a loose band of armed youths in the region from the same ethnic Nuer community as the vice president.
Kiir urged calm late on Friday and told citizens there would be no return to war, but international observers sounded the alarm.
The UN human rights commission for South Sudan warned on Saturday that the country was seeing an “alarming regression” that threatened to undo years of progress to peace.
The International Crisis Group, a think tank, meanwhile, said: “South Sudan is slipping rapidly toward full-blown war.”
It warned the country risked “large scale ethnic massacres if the situation is not soon contained.”
