Iran TV Videos Target 2 Detainees Accused of Espionage

Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Iranian state television aired videos Sunday targeting a Briton and an American serving time on espionage charges, likely trying to pressure the U.S. and Britain as London considers making a $530 million payment to Tehran. The case of Iranian-British national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has gained momentum in recent weeks as British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson faces tremendous criticism at home over his handling of it.

Meanwhile, state television aired footage of an emotional Chinese-American national Xiyue Wang as U.S. President Donald Trump continues his hard line against Tehran and its nuclear deal with world powers.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, already serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the “soft toppling” of Iran’s government while traveling there with her toddler daughter, faces new charges that could add 16 years to her prison term.

Syria: At Least 23 Civilians Killed Ahead of UN Talks

Beirut — Government airstrikes and shelling outside the Syrian capital killed at least 23 civilians, activists reported Sunday, as fighting in the area showed no signs of letting up ahead of the resumption of U.N. peace talks in Geneva.

The government’s jets and artillery launched a wave of attacks on residential areas in the Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, which reported that 25 people had been killed.

Rescuers arriving at the scene in Misraba, a town in the eastern Ghouta region, picked up the dead and wounded from the streets of a residential area in the town, as seen in a video posted by the Ghouta Media Center and the Syrian Civil Defense search-and-rescue group, also known as the White Helmets.

Saudi Crown Prince Leads Islamic Military Alliance Meeting

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia’s assertive crown prince on Sunday opened the first high-level meeting of a kingdom-led alliance of Muslim nations against terrorism, vowing that extremists will no longer “tarnish our beautiful religion.”

Mohammed bin Salman’s words come as the Islamic State group, which sparked the creation of the alliance, has been driven out of Iraq and lost its self-described capital in Syria. However, the alliance doesn’t include Iran, Iraq or Syria, while member nation Qatar sent no one to attend the one-day Riyadh gathering.

Background Checks for Gun Sales Hit Black Friday Record

On Friday, the FBI received 203,086 requests for instant gun background checks, according to USA Today — nearly a 10 percent increase from the year before and a new record for background checks in a single day.

According to the FBI, the previous two records for background checks were also set on the day after the federal holiday in which Americans give thanks for the year’s blessings. The FBI didn’t provide any analysis behind the spike.

— Wire reports