[arista]

[American schoolteacher and former
diplomat Marc Fogel has been released
from prison in Russia and is on his way
home to the US, according to the White House.
Mr Fogel's release was negotiated
as part of an exchange with Russia,
said US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz,
without providing further details.
He said Mr Fogel, 63, was on a plane
with Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's
special envoy to the Middle East,
and would be reunited with his
family by Tuesday evening.

Russia did not immediately comment
on the matter. Mr Fogel's sister
has told the BBC of her "great relief"
at his freedom.
"I plan to celebrate through the
next 24 hours," Anne Fogel said.
"We're so happy."
She said her brother was moved
last Wednesday from a penal colony
in Rybinsk,
and the family knew his release
was a possibility, but also that
"these negotiations are very tenuous".

He is flying into Joint Base Andrews
just outside Washington DC,
where he will see his wife
and children, Ms Fogel said.]



[In a statement obtained by CBS News,
the BBC's US news partner,
his wife Jane and sons Ethan and Sam said:
"This has been the darkest
and most painful period of our lives,
but today, we begin to heal."
Mr Fogel was arrested at an airport
for illegal possession of cannabis in 2021.
He was charged with carrying a small amount
of medical marijuana, which had been prescribed
in the US, and given a 14-year prison sentence.

Mr Fogel's legal team thanked Trump for
his role in the negotiation
and criticised what they called
the "bureaucratic inaction" of the previous
Biden administration.]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c15z8983kvzo

[arista]

President Trump now meeting the Teacher
in the Snow under a canopy
outside the Whitehouse.

[Ammi]

….ahhhh, such a wonderful and long awaited reunion with his family……