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American held in Iran launches hunger strike and writes to Biden asking him to do more for detainees | CNN Politics

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American held in Iran launches hunger strike and writes to Biden asking him to do more for detainees | CNN Politics


Washington
CNN
 — 

An American wrongfully detained in Iran is asking on President Joe Biden to take discover of US detainees there, launching a starvation strike Monday to mark seven years since he was left behind in a prisoner swap that introduced different People house.

In a letter to Biden, Siamak Namazi known as on the US president to think about him on daily basis for the seven days he intends to hold out the starvation strike commemorating the grim milestone.

“Prior to now I implored you to succeed in on your ethical compass and discover the resolve to carry the US hostages in Iran house. To no avail. Not solely can we stay Iran’s prisoners, however you haven’t a lot as granted our households a gathering,” wrote Namazi, who’s one in all three People who stay wrongfully detained in Iran. Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz have additionally been imprisoned there for years.

“All I need sir, is one minute of your days’ time for the subsequent seven days dedicated to interested by the tribulations of the U.S. hostages in Iran,” Namazi wrote to Biden. “Only a single minute of your time for annually of my life that I misplaced in Evin jail after the U.S. Authorities might have saved me however didn’t. That’s all.”

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“Alas, given I’m on this cage all I’ve to give you in return is my further struggling. Due to this fact, I’ll deny myself meals for a similar seven days, within the hope that by doing so that you gained’t deny me this small request,” he stated.

Namazi was blocked from leaving Iran after visiting in July 2015 and underwent months of interrogations earlier than being arrested in October 2015. He was not included within the prisoner swap with Iran in January 2016 that led to the discharge of Washington Put up journalist Jason Rezaian, Marine veteran Amir Hekmati and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini. A fifth American was additionally individually launched at the moment.

“When the Obama Administration unconscionably left me in peril and freed the opposite Americans Iran held hostage on January 16, 2016, the U.S. Authorities promised my household to have me safely house inside weeks,” Namazi wrote in his letter Monday. “But seven years and two presidents later, I stay caged in Tehran’s infamous Evin jail, holding that lengthy overdue IOU together with the unenviable title of the longest held Iranian-American hostage in historical past.”

A Nationwide Safety Council spokesperson stated the Biden administration stays “dedicated to securing the liberty of Siamak Namazi and we’re working tirelessly to carry him house together with all US residents who’re wrongfully detained in Iran, together with Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz.”

The spokesperson added that it’s “outrageous” for Iran to detain US residents for political leverage.

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“Our precedence is bringing all our wrongfully detained residents house safely and as quickly as doable and resolving the circumstances of lacking and kidnapped US residents,” the spokesperson stated.

The US doesn’t have diplomatic relations with the Iranian regime, although it has known as on the federal government there to launch the detained People. Tensions between Tehran and the West have additional ratcheted within the wake of brutal crackdowns towards protests in Iran and the executions of protesters. Over the weekend, Western governments condemned the execution of Alireza Akbari, a twin British-Iranian citizen who was hanged after being accused of espionage and corruption.

Namazi’s brother, Babak Namazi, informed CNN that this week is very painful for his household yearly.

“It’s only a horrific week, as to suppose that seven years, seven entire years have passed by, which might have been prevented if at the moment Siamak would have been included with the 5 different People,” Babak stated.

In February 2016, Namazi’s father Baquer was lured to Iran below the false premise that he would have the ability to see his son. He was as a substitute instantly taken into custody at the moment. Siamak and Baquer Namazi have been sentenced to 10 years in jail in October 2016. Baquer was launched from Iran after greater than six years in October 2022. That very same month, Siamak was granted furlough from Evin Jail, however was pressured to return a short while later.

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Babak stated his “household is in fact gravely involved for Siamak’s well being and distraught that he has resorted to such determined measures” as a starvation strike.”

“President Biden, Siamak is begging you, my household is imploring you. Please, please, take what it takes to make these brave selections that we all know you’re able to,” Babak informed CNN.

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Live news: SingPost shares slump after CEO fired over handling of whistleblower report

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Live news: SingPost shares slump after CEO fired over handling of whistleblower report

While the holiday spirit will dominate the news agenda, there are notable developments to watch across the world, as the three defining themes of 2024 — elections, war and inflation — continue to hum in the background.

On Tuesday, Moldova’s pro-EU president-elect Maia Sandu will attend her inauguration. Her narrow election victory in October, despite alleged Russian meddling in the process, will set the former Soviet country on a path to EU membership.

Maia Sandu © Dumitru Doru/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Georgia, on the other hand, will on Sunday swear in Mikheil Kavelashvili to the presidency, a pro-Russian firebrand and Croatia will hold a first-round presidential vote on Sunday.

On Monday, Mozambique’s top court is set to give a verdict on the country’s disputed election in October, while Albanian opposition parties block roads demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation

Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda will deliver a speech on Christmas Day. Economists will pore over his words for clues on how president-elect Donald Trump’s tariffs will affect the pace and trajectory of monetary policy.

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UK third-quarter GDP figures will be out on Monday, after months of disappointing economic releases for chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Read more in The Week Ahead

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Who is Sebastian Zapeta? Guatemala migrant set a woman on fire on New York City subway

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Who is Sebastian Zapeta? Guatemala migrant set a woman on fire on New York City subway

A Guatemala migrant has been arrested for allegedly setting a woman on fire and burned to death on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York, early Sunday morning. The incident occurred at the Stillwell Avenue Subway station in Coney Island around 7:30 a.m.

NYPD apprehends suspect after deadly subway attack; community rallies for justice.(Mario Nawfal)

The suspect, identified as 33-year-old Sebastin Zapeta, is believed to have entered the US from Guatemala approximately a year ago. It remains unclear whether he entered the country legally or illegally.

During a press conference Sunday evening, New York Police Department (NYPD) officials, including Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, explained, “As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim. The female victim was in a seated position.”

ALSO READ| German Christmas market attack suspect enjoyed beer and ate shrimp hours before killing spree: ‘He was always on…’

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“The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds.”

Officers on patrol at the station were alerted to the situation by the smell and sight of smoke. While responding at the scene, they discovered a person inside the train car fully engulfed in flames. The fire was extinguished with assistance from an MTA employee using a fire extinguisher. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Elon Musk and Mayor Eric Adams condemns subway attack

Zapeta remained at the scene after the incident. He was found seated on a bench outside the train car. Body-worn cameras worn by responding officers captured clear footage of the suspect. Tisch noted, “Body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a clear and detailed look at the killer.”

Following the release of the suspect’s description and photographs to the public, three high school students recognized the man and called 911. Transit officers confirmed the description and located the suspect on a moving train. The train was stopped at the next station, where officers boarded, identified the man, and arrested him without further incident.

ALSO READ| Can Elon Musk become US president? Donald Trump big remarks amid raging debate

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams expressed his condolences to the victim’s family, calling the attack a “senseless killing.”

“Grateful to the young New Yorkers and transit officers who stepped up to help our NYPD make a quick arrest following this morning’s heinous and deadly subway attack. This type of depraved behaviour has no place in our subways, and we are committed to working hard to ensure there is swift justice for all victims of violent crime.”

Tesla boss Elon Musk also took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his frustration. “Enough is enough,” he posted, along with the Guatemala migrant’s subway CCTV shot.

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Trump names Treasury adviser from first term to chair economic panel

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Trump names Treasury adviser from first term to chair economic panel

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Donald Trump has tapped Stephen Miran, an economist who served during his first term, to chair his Council of Economic Advisers.

With the nomination, the president-elect is seeking to elevate to a White House economic post not only a critic of Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell but one who has accused the Biden administration of manipulating the economy and “usurping” the central bank’s role.

“Steve will work with the rest of my Economic Team to deliver a Great Economic Boom that lifts up all Americans,” Trump said in a statement on Sunday.

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Miran was a senior adviser for economic policy at the Treasury department in the first Trump administration.

Currently a senior strategist at hedge fund Hudson Bay Capital Management, he said he was honoured. “I look forward to working to help implement the President’s policy agenda to create a booming, noninflationary economy that brings prosperity to all Americans!” he posted on X.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers is a three-person group that advises the president on economic policy.

Trump has threatened US trading partners, vowing to impose sweeping tariffs, including 25 per cent levies on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10 per cent on China’s imports, on his first day in office.

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to impose blanket levies of 20 per cent on all US imports, as well as tariffs of 60 per cent on those from China, suggesting his second-term policies could be more protectionist and disruptive to the global economy and markets than his first.

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The president-elect has also pledged to renew tax cuts he enacted during his first spell in the White House.

Earlier this year, Miran co-wrote a paper accusing Biden’s Treasury department of manipulating the economy during the election, arguing the government’s dependence on short-term debt amounted to “stealth quantitative easing and impedes the Fed’s ability to fight inflation.

“By adjusting the maturity profile of its debt issuance, Treasury is dynamically managing financial conditions and, through them, the economy, usurping core functions of the Federal Reserve”, he wrote with economist Nouriel Roubini.

“We dub this novel tool ‘activist Treasury issuance,’ or ATI. By manipulating the amount of interest-rate risk owned by investors, ATI works through the same channels as the Fed’s quantitative easing programs.”

In FT Alphaville last year, Miran co-authored a piece warning against the perils of a two-tier bond market, which “would impair Treasuries’ ability to serve as risk-free collateral underpinning the global financial system” and bring to the US the chaos of a defaulting emerging economy.

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Miran has also hit out at Powell for urging more aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus in October 2020, about a month before that year’s election, to aid the economic recovery amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Powell was wrong politically and economically when he urged Congress to ‘go big’ on fiscal stimulus in October of 2020, on the eve of a Presidential election, suggesting that voters favour Democrats’ $3 trillion proposals over Republicans’ $500 billion”, Miran wrote on X in September. “We know what happened next.”

Miran must be confirmed by the US Senate.

Last month, Trump named Kevin Hassett as chair of the National Economic Council.

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