BROTHER OF IRAN PRESIDENT ARRESTED FOR FINANCIAL CRIME

TEHRAN/WASHINGTON:The younger brother of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Hossein Fereydoun, was arrested on financial crime charges, the judiciary said on Sunday.

“Multiple investigations have been conducted regarding this person, also other people have been investigated, some of whom are in jail,” deputy judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie said in a televised press conference.

“Yesterday, bail was issued for him but because he failed to secure it he was referred to prison,” Ejeie said, adding that he would be released if he secures bail, pending trial.

Fereydoun has acted as a key advisor to Rouhani.

US CALLS FOR RELEASE OF DETAINED CITIZENS The United States called on Iran to immediately release its citizens detained on “fabricated” national security charges, after Tehran said an unnamed American has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The statement made no specific reference to any individual, but came after an Iranian spokesman announced the sentencing of an unidentified US citizen for alleged “infiltration”. BEIJING: Ai Xiaoming, known in China for her gritty documentary films and as a feminist scholar, was Nobel Laureate and democracy activist Liu Xiaobo’s contemporary at the Beijing Normal University’s (BNU) Chinese department in the 1980s.

Liu, considered a dissentient by China for his pro-democracy activism, was undergoing his fourth stint in prison when he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. He was granted medical parole, but was not allowed to travel abroad for treatment. He died on July 13, mere weeks after being released.

His wife Liu Xia — under house arrest since 2010 — scattered his ashes after cremation at sea, with the Communist Party of China (CPC) ensuring that there would be no grave on land to serve as a magnet for protests.

“We were friends, though we were in different majors in the Chinese language department. He was already a radical literary critic then,” Ai said.