TWO WOMEN FREED FROM ISLAMIC STATE CAPTIVITY AFP reported that Austrian Eva Gretzmacher, 76, and Swiss Claudia Abbt, 69, kidnapped in Niger in 2025 by Islamic State in the Sahel, were freed after more than a year. BBC News said they were handed over in Benghazi, Libya.

DAUGHTER STILL SEARCHING FOR ISIS VICTIM'S REMAINS ITV News reported that Bethany Haines, daughter of Perth aid worker David Haines, who was kidnapped and beheaded by Islamic State in Syria, is still trying to find her father's body more than a decade on. She told ITV that coordinates sent to her by an anonymous social media account could point to his burial site, but efforts to investigate it have stalled.

1,194 MIGRANTS REACH CRETE FROM LIBYA IN THREE DAYS Kathimerini reported that 1,194 migrants arrived or were rescued off Crete and Gavdos from the Libyan coast between 19 and 21 October, with some sleeping in Ierapetra's central square for lack of space. Footage from Kriti TV shows migrants crowded into the former AGREX depot in Ierapetra, where the deputy mayor told Kathimerini the situation is out of control.

ILFORD TEENAGER JAILED FOR HELPING TERRORIST GROUPS BBC News reported that Yusuf Shah, 18, from Ilford, was jailed for four years and two months at Kingston Crown Court on 20 October for giving terrorist groups advice on cyber security and hiding cryptocurrency donations. The Metropolitan Police said he was stopped at Heathrow aged 16, and officers found al-Qaeda material and instructions for making explosives on his devices.

MELONI SAYS HALF OF RIOT DETAINEES FOREIGN-ORIGIN Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a video statement on Tuesday that police stopped or arrested 330 people after the weekend riots in Milan and other cities, half of them of foreign origin, either born abroad or born in Italy to foreign families. Corriere della Sera reported that of the 271 people taken to Milan police headquarters on Sunday, 60 were foreign nationals and 220 were minors, as her cabinet approved a decree with up to five years in prison for violent rioting.

LABOUR ROW OVER 15-YEAR SETTLEMENT WAIT The i Paper reported that talks between Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Unison leader Andrea Egan collapsed on Wednesday after Mahmood refused the union's request to bring a migrant care worker, amid a Labour revolt over plans to raise the wait for indefinite leave to remain from five years to up to 15. On LBC, presenter Shelagh Fogarty said a 15-year wait was "unacceptable, full stop".

PARENTS OF STABBED TRIER STUDENT SPEAK OUT NIUS reported that the parents of Marius Dick, a 22-year-old history student stabbed to death in Trier on 15 July by a 22-year-old Afghan man, say nothing has changed since Chancellor Merz phoned them after the killing. Euronews reported the man's asylum claim had been rejected but he could not be deported as a minor, and prosecutors are examining whether mental illness makes him not criminally responsible.

LANDLORDS OFFERED DOUBLE RENT TO HOUSE ASYLUM SEEKERS The Sun reported that a Home Office contractor offered a Southwark landlord £4,500 a month for a three-bed flat to house asylum seekers, roughly double the going rate. Labour MP Graham Stringer told GB News on Wednesday that landlords should not be offered higher rents to house asylum seekers, and presenter Michelle Dewberry agreed.

MIGRANT MINORS MARCH THROUGH CEUTA Footage published by El Pueblo de Ceuta on Wednesday shows around twenty migrant minors marching along the Paseo del Revellín under police escort, chanting that they want a centre for minors. RNE reported that Spain's Migration Minister Elma Saiz said more than 3,300 migrant minors have been taken into care in Ceuta, with 288 sent on to mainland Spain.

NEARLY 3,800 MIGRANTS WAITING IN FRENCH CAMPS The Daily Mail reported that Border Security Commander Duncan Capps told the Commons Home Affairs Committee on Wednesday that French authorities estimate almost 3,800 people are in the Calais and Dunkirk camps waiting to cross, about double the usual 2,000. In this footage from the same session, the National Crime Agency's Rob Jones tells MPs the higher numbers show intent is high but people are struggling to make the crossing, while The Independent reported Capps warning that a mass-casualty event in the Channel is only a matter of time.