Iran releases American prisoner

Iran on Thursday granted medical furlough to U.S. Navy veteran Michael White. Iranian authorities detained White when he visited his Iranian girlfriend in 2018. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison on charges of insulting the country’s supreme leader and posting a private photograph on social media. Iran is requiring him to stay in the country, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. White has preexisting medical conditions and is under the care of the Swiss Embassy.

Are other U.S. prisoners going free? Lebanon released Lebanese-American Amer Fakhoury, who has late-stage cancer, from prison, President Donald Trump said Thursday. Fakhoury has been in prison since September 2019 on murder and torture charges. The United States is also working on the release of American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012, Trump said.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s report in Globe Trot about how coronavirus is spreading around the world.