Iran to execute Amir Rahimpour, convicted of spying for the CIA - New York Post

Iran’s top court has confirmed a death sentence for a man convicted of spying for the CIA and trying to pass on information about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said Amir Rahimpour would be executed soon.

“Amir Rahimpour, who was a CIA spy and got big pay and tried to present part of Iran’s nuclear information to the American service, had been tried and sentenced to death,” Esmaili said.

In a separate case, two people working for a charity were sentenced to prison terms of 10 years for spying and five years for acting against national security on similar charges, Esmaili said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Speaking at a press conference, Esmaili said the names of the two individuals working for a charity would not be released yet because their sentences had not been finalized.

He also did not provide information about their nationalities. Iran does not recognize dual nationality and the judiciary prosecutes dual citizens as Iranians.

Last summer, Tehran announced it had broken up a CIA spy ring of 17 people and that some had been sentenced to death.

The CIA did not immediately comment on Esmaili’s remarks.

After Iran’s announcement last summer. President Trump tweeted: “The Report of Iran capturing CIA spies is totally false. Zero truth.”

In the past, Iran has sentenced alleged US and Israeli spies to death.

Shahram AmiriGetty Images

The last such spy executed was Shahram Amiri, who defected to the US at the height of Western efforts to thwart Tehran’s nuclear program.

When he returned in 2010, he was welcomed by government leaders and even went on the local talk-show circuit before mysteriously disappearing.

He was hanged in August 2016, the same week that Iran executed a group of militants and a year after the country agreed to a landmark accord to limit uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Tensions remain high between Iran and the US since Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from Tehran’s nuclear deal.

In January, a US drone strike killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, prompting Tehran to retaliate with a ballistic missile strike on Iraqi bases housing American troops.

With Post wires

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2020-02-04 13:23:00Z
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EU rejects Trump Middle East peace plan, annexation - Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission holds a news conference in Brussels, Belgium, January 10, 2020. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union rejected parts of the new U.S. peace plan for the Middle East on Tuesday, saying the plan broke with “internationally agreed parameters”, and any Israeli annexation of Palestinian land would be subject to challenge.

President Donald Trump’s plan, announced last week, was warmly welcomed by Israel and rejected outright by the Palestinians. It would give Israel most of what it has sought during decades of conflict, including nearly all Palestinian land on which it has built settlements.

The EU, which often takes time to respond to international developments because of a need for unanimity among its 27 members, had said last week that it needed to study the Trump plan before it would give its verdict.

It made its conclusions public on Tuesday in a statement from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

“To build a just and lasting peace, the unresolved final status issues must be decided through direct negotiations between both parties,” Borrell said, noting the issues of the borders of a Palestinian state and the final status of Jerusalem were among those still in dispute.

“The U.S. initiative, as presented on 28 January, departs from these internationally agreed parameters,” Borrell said.

Steps by Israel to annex Palestinian territory, “if implemented, could not pass unchallenged,” Borrell said.

EU policy in the Middle East tends to be cautious, as the bloc includes members with varying degrees of sympathy towards the Palestinians and Israel. Some EU members have already recognized a Palestinian state, although the bloc as a whole says this is a matter to be resolved in peace talks.

The EU condemned Trump’s decision in 2017 to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying Washington had compromised its position as a mediator for peace.

Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Alison Williams and Peter Graff

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2020-02-04 12:07:00Z
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Iran sentences man to death for spying for the CIA - BBC News

Iran's top court has confirmed a death sentence for a man convicted of spying for the CIA.

Amir Rahimpour "earned a lot of money" to pass on information about Iran's nuclear programme to the US, judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said.

He added that "two more American spies" had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage and five years for acting against national security.

Mr Esmaili did not name them, but said they had been working for a charity.

There was no immediate comment from the US government or the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency).

But in July US officials cast doubt on an announcement by Iran that it had arrested 17 spies who were allegedly collecting information on the country's nuclear and military sectors for the CIA. The ministry said some had been sentenced to death.

"It's part of the nature of the ayatollah to lie to the world," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the time, referring to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "I would take with a significant grain of salt any Iranian assertion about actions that they've taken."

The previous month, a former contractor for Iran's defence ministry, Jalal Hajizavar, was executed after being found guilty of espionage. Hajizavar allegedly confessed that he had been paid to spy for the CIA.

And in 2016, Iran executed a nuclear scientist convicted of spying for the US. Shahram Amiri reportedly defected to the US in 2009, but he returned to Iran the following year after claiming that he had been kidnapped and held against his will.

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News of Amir Rahimpour's death sentence being confirmed comes at a time of high tension between Tehran and Washington.

In January, top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' overseas operations arm, was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad.

In response, Iran fired ballistic missile at two Iraqi military bases housing US forces.

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2020-02-04 11:50:00Z
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China could spend billions buying stocks if the coronavirus panic continues. It's done it before - CNN

Beijing already has a blueprint to work with. When the Chinese stock market bubble popped in 2015, sending shares into an even deeper tailspin, the government stepped in with a rescue plan. Using a state-owned financing company and its sovereign wealth fund, China spent more than 1.2 trillion yuan ($170 billion) buying shares to shore up prices.

This time, the country may have to do the same.

"I think the regulators are closely watching the situation and prepared to take direct action to intervene," said Mark Huang, an analyst for Bright Smart Securities, a Hong Kong-based brokerage firm.

It's too early to tell whether China is in for another prolonged markets rout. While the Shanghai Composite plunged nearly 8% Monday, it closed 1.3% higher Tuesday. Shenzhen stocks posted similar gains.

But the impact of the coronavirus is growing every day. The number of cases has now topped 20,000 worldwide, and more than 400 people are dead. Large parts of China are still on lockdown, while airlines have canceled flights to and from the country, and companies with ties to China are having to weigh the likely hit to sales and their supply chains.

A big intervention

The last time Chinese stocks performed this poorly, the country was in the middle of a massive market meltdown. In 2015, inflated share prices eventually gave way to a big crash, while the wider Chinese economy was slowing down. In Shanghai, stocks lost a third of their value in a matter of weeks.

Fearing an economic crisis, the government fired its big guns. That July, China's Securities Finance Corporation (CSF) announced it would lend billions to big Chinese brokerage firms so they could buy stocks. In the meantime, Central Huijin Investment, an arm of China's sovereign wealth fund, also piled into stocks.

Those moves were widely considered China's first steps toward creating a stock market intervention fund that it could deploy to keep markets stable when necessary. Chinese authorities were open about their plans, too, telling the public via editorials in state media not to panic and to have faith in the government.

The market recovery took several months. And even though the Shanghai market has yet to return to the levels it reached before the crash, the worst was over by February 2016.

Since then, the CSF and Central Huijin Investment have become better known as the driving force behind China's "national teams" — a nickname given to the investment managers that can be deployed to buy up stocks when necessary to keep the markets steady.

The "national teams" could come back

Now that the coronavirus is taking a toll on markets, the "national teams" could be ready for a comeback.

The government has already made clear that state intervention is on the table. The central bank on Monday said it would inject billions of dollars into the financial system by buying short term bonds to help keep bank lending flowing.

And the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which oversees the country's markets, said it would "keep fully alert" and "study and launch hedging tools" to stop people from panicking, as necessary.

In some ways, the government's response already appears to be echoing 2015. State media reported this week that the securities regulator introduced a partial ban on short selling — when traders borrow shares to sell in the hope of buying them back at a lower price — to mitigate the slide in the markets. Back then, the country blamed short sales for exacerbating the crash.

Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at Oanda, said he expected China to deploy its "national teams" when necessary. But he also suggested the government will likely wait until the coronavirus scare reaches a peak before making any more big moves.

China "is probably waiting to see how things develop before shooting more bullets," Halley said, "but I have no doubt they have plenty."

The worst may not be over

It's not yet clear, though, when the coronavirus outbreak will peak — and what kind of effect the continued spread of the virus could have on markets.

Monday's losses, while huge, were China's way of catching up to what overseas markets were already doing, according to Iris Pang, Greater China economist at ING. Chinese markets were closed for more than a week for a holiday while the number of confirmed coronavirus cases mounted, while other markets were able to price in the impact.

Pang said that while the "immediate, very short-term" selling is over, the outlook for markets is going to depend on when the outbreak reaches its peak.

That will depend on "the speed of new confirmed cases, mortality rate and community infection cases," she added. "It is more than a [quarterly] event."

The number of deaths from the coronavirus in mainland China has already overtaken the 2003 SARS epidemic, while the number of confirmed cases continues to grow. Some economists have also cautioned that the impact on China's economy could be severe — a troubling prospect for an already fragile economy, and for global growth.

"If the Coronavirus headcount doesn't start to improve and the Chinese economy deteriorates more than expected, it means there will be more legs in the selloff run," wrote Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp, in a recent research note.

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2020-02-04 11:12:00Z
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Kenya's longest serving President Daniel Arap Moi dies at 95 - CNN

"It is with profound sadness that I announce the death of a great man of an African state," Kenyatta said in a statement.

He ordered a period of national mourning and all flags to fly at half-mast until a state funeral is held at a later date.

The former president died in hospital in the early hours of Tuesday morning surrounded by his family, Kenyatta said.

He had been hospitalized in October for breathing problems but was discharged after a few weeks.

An autocratic rule

Daniel Arap Moi was Kenya's second President since independence and went on to rule the East African Republic from 1978 to 2002.

Born on September 2nd 1924 in Baringo County, Moi became the oldest living former Kenyan president, and his wily grasp of power earned him the nickname "Professor of Politics" amongst Kenyans.

His 24 years in power encompassed one party rule through the Kenyan African National Union, the party he controlled, and finally the reintroduction of democracy and multiparty politics, which culminated in his victory in the 1992 Presidential elections.

Educated at missionary and government schools, Moi became a teacher, as Kenya was moving towards independence from British rule.

He became the Minister of Home Affairs and President Jomo Kenyatta later named him Vice President in 1967.

Moi became Kenya's new leader after Kenyatta's death in 1978 heralding an era of autocratic and at times dictatorial rule.

Quashing rebellion

He toured the country and came into contact with ordinary people, boosting his popularity. Four years after coming to power, a coup was attempted by some members of the air force which Moi successfully crushed. His reaction was to send out military and police forces to quash the rebellion.

As a result, Moi's rule became more hardnosed -- he dismissed political opponents and reduced the influence of his predecessor Kenyatta's men in cabinet. He issued pardons for all except the main conspirators -- whom he sentenced to hang.

He went further to change the constitution and made his KANU party the only legally permitted political entity, triggering the wrath of many Kenyans who sought democracy.

The Moi regime then began to make more use of the secret police, who penetrated opposition groups agitating for democratic reforms.

Pressure from Western backers forced Moi back onto the democratic path in 1990 and he was compelled to allow opposition parties on to the ballot before the 1992 general elections, Kenya's first multi-party elections, which Moi won, despite allegations of electoral fraud by his party.

A violent time

Writers, artists trade unionists and even preachers agitating for a more diverse political atmosphere clashed with Moi's hard-line stance on dissent and single party rule.

One was the Reverend Timothy Njoya, 66, now a retired Presbyterian Church of East Africa Minister, who holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Princeton University.

As Moi's one-party state entrenched itself, Njoya was among those who chose to speak out against it, using his pulpit to urge civil disobedience to force the government to change the constitution, even demonstrating in the streets.

Speaking to CNN, Njoya recalled: "I was arrested so many times - one time in Nyeri the other time in Naivasha, again in Moro Rift Valley; then another time in Nairobi for saying that Kenyans should not pay taxes."

It was a violent time, full of overbearing state security operatives and deaths on the streets in various protests. And people like Njoya paid a heavy price. First, he was defrocked at Moi's insistence in 1997 and lost his collar. Then he almost lost his life too.

"I was almost killed at All Saints Cathedral. They left me for dead and I was being taken to the mortuary until a doctor insisted I should be taken to the Intensive Care Unit at Nairobi Hospital. I had a broken skull which was a centimetre from touching the brain. I had a fractured wrist. All four fingers on one hand were broken. I had to go to Canada for treatment. According to the doctor I had 52 injuries on my body including many broken ribs."

Two years later Njoya says Moi sent his henchmen after him again.

"That time they left me for dead again. They had used 'pangas', you know those long knives. I lost three of my fingers, but they were sewn back by the doctors. But emerging from hospital I went back on the streets because I couldn't disappoint the people."

Widespread influence

By now Moi's Kenya was firmly on the geopolitical map, particularly after jihadist terrorists blew up the US Embassy in Nairobi and the West sought to coopt him in the fight against terrorism when Bill Clinton was in the White House.

As a statesman Moi had widespread influence in cementing East African countries like Uganda, Tanzania into a coherent trading block. On the 14th of March 1996, full East African Cooperation efforts began and in July 1999 the new East African Community was born.

He also rallied to the cause of anti-apartheid in Southern Africa, sending Kenyan soldiers into pre-independence Zimbabwe as peacekeepers during the ceasefire there in 1979.

While he was the Chairman of the Organisation of African Unity, Moi was involved in securing peace in Chad. In Sudan, Moi chaired the talks that led to a referendum which ended a three-decade war in South Sudan and the creation of a new nation on the 9th of July 2011.

With 24 years at the helm of Kenya's government, Moi had a massive impact in shaping Kenya's politics and governmental structures. Subsequent presidents, Kibaki and Kenyatta, can be said to have been appointed by the elder statesman.

He appointed Kibaki as his Vice President and paved the way for him to later lead Kenya. He then plucked a largely unknown and untested Uhuru Kenyatta from relative obscurity and pushed him to the forefront of Kenyan politics.

A mixed and controversial legacy

As a former teacher, Moi's legacy also included a wide expansion of higher education. It was during the Moi era that the university sector grew starting with the opening of Kenya's second university in Eldoret, a town in the north.

A clutch of new universities were soon opening up, including private educational institutions run by Methodists. Today Kenya has more than 60 universities and public university colleges.

Daniel Arap Moi's life touched many Kenyans during a mixed and controversial 24 years - the longest rule of any leader in this powerhouse of East Africa.

Despite their differences Reverend Timothy Njoya says "Moi is the best President that ever lived," Njoya told CNN.

"Even if we had fought and died for multiparty democracy, he was the one who declared it. We were the ones who wanted a new constitution and he was the one who declared it. Admission to a mistake is the greatest thing in humanity. Future leaders can learn to admit when they are wrong."

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2020-02-04 08:34:00Z
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Coronavirus: First death outside China reported in Philippines - BBC News - BBC News

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2020-02-04 08:17:48Z
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Wuhan coronavirus: Confirmed cases top 20,000 as China marks deadliest day - CNN

The total number of confirmed cases in China stands at 20,438 as of Tuesday morning, an increase of 3,235 on the previous day -- an over 18% jump. The death toll is now at 425 in China, an increase of around 65 from Sunday.

Outside of China, the prevalence of the virus remains far lower, but more than 185 cases have been reported in over two dozen countries and territories. Two people have died outside mainland China since the outbreak began. One in the Philippines, and another in the semi-autonomous Chinese city of Hong Kong, which reported on Tuesday that a 39-year-old man who had traveled to Wuhan last month had died.

In a meeting with top officials Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called the virus outbreak a "major test of China's system and capacity for governance," as the extended Lunar New Year holiday and growing concerns began to take a toll on the country's economy.

According to state media, Xi demanded "resolute opposition against bureaucratism and the practice of formalities for formalities' sake in the prevention work," adding that those who disobeyed would be punished. His comments could be an indication that frustration is growing over the failure to rein in the virus, and the slow initial response by Wuhan officials, some of whom have already offered to resign over their handling of the crisis.

Xi also called for an improvement in the country's emergency management system, an "overhaul of environmental sanitation," improvements to public health, and a "crackdown on illegal wildlife markets and trade."

Worldwide crisis

Even as cases of the virus are reported worldwide, the majority of patients have a link to China, either tourists or people returning home from a visit to the country. Person-to-person transmission of the virus has been confirmed, however, including among some patients overseas, and countries are scrambling to ensure it does not spread further afield.

On Monday, authorities in Japan quarantined a cruise ship at a port in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, after an elderly male passenger on the vessel was found to be infected with the virus when he disembarked in Hong Kong in late January.

Japanese health authorities said around 2,500 passengers and some 1,000 crew members are on board the Diamond Princess, which returned to Yokohama after stops in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the Japanese prefectures of Okinawa and Kagoshima. At least seven people on board said they feel ill, though none have been confirmed to have the virus.

All passengers will be checked, authorities said, with the results expected Tuesday evening.

Japan is one of around a dozen countries which have evacuated citizens from Wuhan, which remains on tight lockdown along with much of surrounding Hubei province. Italy repatriated 56 nationals on Monday, as the US said it would send additional flights to evacuate hundreds of Americans who remain in Hubei.

Closer to China, the semi-autonomous city of Macao announced on Tuesday that it will suspend operations of gambling and related industries for half a month in an effort to contain the virus.

The outbreak has had a devastating impact on tourism in the gambling enclave, which relies heavily on mainland Chinese visitors. Gambling is illegal on the mainland and Lunar New Year is usually a particularly busy time for Macao's casinos. But not this year -- tourism to the city has dropped 73.6% year-on-year, the Macao government announced on January 29.

The self-governing island of Taiwan said on Tuesday that it will implement entry restrictions for foreign nationals who have been to China starting on Friday.

The restrictions mean that any foreign national who has visited or lived in mainland China in the past 14 days will be denied entry to Taiwan, barring exceptions for those needing to enter for "special reasons," according to the island's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Hong Kong on Monday announced further closures to its borders with the mainland. All but three crossings, including the two busiest land borders, are now closed.

The announcement by the semiautonomous city's leader Carrie Lam came after health care workers began strike action Monday to demand the city be fully sealed off from the mainland. Memories of the deadly 2003 SARS outbreak run deep in Hong Kong, where many businesses have sent workers home to avoid spread of the virus. Unions said strike action will continue Tuesday unless further action is taken by Lam.

Economic pain

With the virus outbreak in its third month with no signs of slowing, cities across China have announced further efforts to try and stop it.

Hangzhou, the capital of eastern Zhejiang province, on Monday reportedly announced some of the tightest quarantine measures outside Hubei. People returning to the city from outside Hangzhou could face up to two weeks in quarantine, while all public places will be closed for the foreseeable future, according to local media.

The stringent restrictions and extended holidays across much of China are beginning to impact the country's economy, however. China's stock markets posted major losses on Monday, their first day open following the Lunar New Year break.

The losses on the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets wiped out a combined $445 billion in value. Monday was Shanghai's worst day since 2015, and Shenzhen's worst since 2007.

The value of the Chinese yuan also fell, while global oil prices have suffered amid fears that the virus outbreak will destroy demand in China, the world's largest crude importer.

Authorities in China have already announced a 1.2 trillion yuan ($173 billion) injection into Chinese markets to help maintain "reasonably ample liquidity" in the banking system and keep currency markets stable. The net amount of cash flooding into the market will be closer to 150 billion yuan ($22 billion), according to Reuters, as more than 1 trillion yuan worth of other short-term bond agreements matured Monday.

Hong Kong is also bracing for further difficulties. The city was already in a technical recession after more than six months of anti-government protests and the US-China trade war, and many analysts fear the effects of the virus could wipe out many businesses.

While the national economy is already suffering, it's unclear how long Chinese workers can remain at home, with many facing several weeks out of work since the beginning of the Lunar New Year holiday. Many migrant workers will have traveled home for the festival, potentially leaving them trapped in their provinces and unable to return to the east coast, where most major manufacturing areas are.

Treating the virus

Amid all the misery, there are some small signs of hope.

Officials in Thailand said Monday that a second patient has been treated with a new combination of HIV and flu drugs, after doctors said the cocktail had been successful in treating a 71-year-old woman from China with the virus. Officials have yet to provide an update on the success of the treatment for the second patient.

Thailand's Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters that the 71-year-old had the most severe symptoms of all those in care in the country. While he cautioned against placing too much expectation on a tiny number of cases, Anutin said he hoped "other academic, medical or research institutions can take this treatment result and find more facts as much as they can do."

"And if it turned out the dosage and method of treatment we applied could cure every case, it will be beneficial to humanity, " Anutin added.

Gilead Sciences, a biopharmaceutical firm with an experimental antiviral drug called remdesivir that is used to treat the Ebola virus, said late Friday it is working with Chinese health authorities to see if the medication can combat the symptoms of coronavirus.

The company said in a statement that remdesivir has demonstrated some success in treating Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) -- two viruses similar to the Wuhan coronavirus -- in animals.

A purpose-built hospital dedicated to treating the virus also opened in Wuhan Monday. The institution was constructed in under a week, and a second is due to open Thursday. Both will only handle coronavirus patients, helping to take the pressure off the severely stretched Wuhan healthcare system.

CNN's Steven Jiang in Beijing; Kocha Alorn in Bangkok; Junko Ogura in Tokyo; and Carly Walsh, Laura He and Nectar Gan in Hong Kong contributed reporting.

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2020-02-04 07:54:00Z
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