From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting.

A 22-year-old Iranian protester has died in custody, according to two Iranian lawmakers, intensifying fears of a repeat of the prisoner abuse that followed similar 2009 protests.

Although the details of the incident were not immediately clear, it is thought to be the first death of a protester in custody as a result of the current wave of protests that have swept Iran.

Iranian authorities have arrested more than 1,000 people in response to the demonstrations which broke out nearly two weeks ago. At least 21 people have been killed in the unrest.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Monday all officials can be criticized and protesters in Iran are upset about more than economic issues. He also called for the lifting of bans on social media.

The race to find survivors on a flaming Iranian oil tanker continues following its collision with a Chinese cargo ship off the eastern coast of China on Saturday.

The impact of the oil spill left behind by the collision is unclear. However, the tanker was carrying over 130,000 metric tons of oil condensate.

As many as 64 migrants [are] feared dead when rescuers found an overcrowded trafficker's boat sinking off the coast of Libya.

The Italian coast guard rescued 86 of the nearly 150 people traveling on the boat through the Mediterranean on Saturday. Eight bodies, all women, have been recovered so far.

The boat was initially spotted by a plane from a European naval mission that was combating trafficking on Saturday.

This is VOA news.

There have been diverse reactions in Cameroon after the arrests in Nigeria of nine separatist leaders who declared the independence of the English-speaking regions of the central African state and gave it the name Ambazonia.

Correspondent Moki Edwin Kindzeka reports from southwestern Cameroon.

The unrest in Cameroon began in November, when English-speaking teachers and lawyers in the Northwest and Southwest regions, frustrated with having to work in French, took to the streets calling for reforms and greater autonomy.

In October, secessionist groups declared independence of Ambazonia and armed conflicts erupted, prompting a cut-down by the military.

The U.N. has said the violence pushed at least 7,500 English-speaking Cameroonians to flee to Nigeria.

Last month, Cameroon's Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo visited deserted towns in the border regions and called on the population that fled to return.

"... want them to come back to their villages and to take their activities, their normal activities, since security has already been re-established in all these villages."

Moki Edwin Kindzeka, for VOA news, Boya, Cameroon.

South Korea said it will announce Tuesday whether it will respect an agreement between the country's previous government and Japan that was aimed at resolving a feud over "comfort women," the women forced to work in Japan's World War II brothels.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will hold a news conference to say what measures the government intends to take to follow up on a public-private panel that concluded last week that the agreement had failed to meet the women's needs.

Japan said any attempt to revise it could damage relations.

And in a boost for the gay community in India, the country's Supreme Court said Monday that it would review a British-era law that criminalizes homosexuality. It said no one should have to live in fear because of their sexual orientation.

In 2013, the top court reinstated the law that considers same gender sex as "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" and made it punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

But now it says "societal morality changes from age to age."

You can find more on these and other late breaking and developing stories, from around the world, around the clock, at voanews.com and on the VOA news mobile app. I'm Jonathan Jones reporting from the world headquarters of the Voice of America in Washington.

That's the latest world news from VOA.