First Thing: US and Iran expected to complete $6bn prisoner swap deal
Conservationist Morad Tahbaz among prisoners to be swapped in deal involving unfreezing of Iranian oil money. Plus, has the Chinese economy reached its peak?
Good morning.
The US and Iran are expected to pull off a controversial prisoner swap today involving the unfreezing by the Biden administration of $6bn (4.8bn) of Iranian oil money held in South Korea since 2018.
The US says the prisoner swap's mediator, Qatar, will ensure that the unfrozen money is only spent on goods - primarily food, agricultural goods and medicine - that are not subject to sanctions. Critics say it will be impossible to police, and that the US threat to pull out if Iran breaks the agreement is bogus.
How many people attended? Organizers estimated that between 50,000 and 75,000 people attended the march in Manhattan and had anticipated it would be the biggest climate march in the US in the past five years. The NYPD said it did not comment on crowd numbers.
Continue reading...