Iran Hangs Man for Spying during War with US, Israel, Says Judiciary

A security personnel stands guard as Iranians take part in a protest marking the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 13, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A security personnel stands guard as Iranians take part in a protest marking the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 13, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Hangs Man for Spying during War with US, Israel, Says Judiciary

A security personnel stands guard as Iranians take part in a protest marking the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 13, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A security personnel stands guard as Iranians take part in a protest marking the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 13, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran on Sunday hanged a man convicted of espionage, the judiciary said, the first known execution for a spying offence committed during the war with Israel and the United States.

"Mojtaba Kian... who sent information related to the country's defense industry units to the enemy, was hanged early this morning," the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported.

It said he shared information related to Iran's defense capabilities during the nearly 40-day war, reported AFP.

The execution is the first directly linked to spying offences carried out during the war, which broke out on February 28 when US-Israeli strikes killed senior Iranian leaders, triggering retaliatory attacks by Tehran across the region.

Since the start of the conflict, Iran has stepped up executions for spying or collaborating with Israel and the US, although prior to Sunday all those hanged were sentenced for offences carried out before the war.

According to Mizan, Kian "sent multiple messages to hostile networks affiliated with the Zionist-American enemy, including coordinates and information on facilities producing parts related to the country's defense industries".

Mizan said he sent information to satellite television networks. It did not identify those networks, but Iranian authorities have frequently accused Persian-language media outlets based abroad of cooperating with Israel.

The Mizan report said one "targeted location" in Iran was struck during the war after Kian passed on information about its whereabouts.

"The sentence was carried out early this morning after completion of legal formalities," Mizan said.

The website said Kian's execution took place "less than 50 days" after his arrest, while his assets were also confiscated.

On Thursday, the country executed two men convicted of armed rebellion and membership in what authorities described as "separatist terrorist groups", a phrase often used to refer to Iranian Kurdish groups based in neighboring Iraq's Kurdistan region.



North Korea Says Record-High Japan Defense Budget Would Risk ‘Turmoil’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju Ae and his wife Ri Sol Ju, visits the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on National Liberation Day, in Pyongyang, North Korea, August 14, 2026, in this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 15, 2026. (KCNA via Reuters)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju Ae and his wife Ri Sol Ju, visits the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on National Liberation Day, in Pyongyang, North Korea, August 14, 2026, in this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 15, 2026. (KCNA via Reuters)
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North Korea Says Record-High Japan Defense Budget Would Risk ‘Turmoil’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju Ae and his wife Ri Sol Ju, visits the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on National Liberation Day, in Pyongyang, North Korea, August 14, 2026, in this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 15, 2026. (KCNA via Reuters)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju Ae and his wife Ri Sol Ju, visits the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on National Liberation Day, in Pyongyang, North Korea, August 14, 2026, in this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 15, 2026. (KCNA via Reuters)

North Korea slammed Japan's reported plans to increase its defense budget, accusing Tokyo on Saturday of preparing for a "war of aggression" as its US ally pursues talks with Pyongyang.

Japan has been gradually moving away from its post-World War II pacifist stance, increasing military spending, ramping up defense pacts and deploying missile launchers to its outer islands.

The Japanese defense ministry is now seeking a "record-high" budget for the upcoming fiscal year, broadcaster NHK and other media outlets reported this week, putting the sum at 8.9 trillion yen ($56 billion).

The budget request "will once again break all-time records", a commentary carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

While not yet finalized, the move "clearly signifies a dangerous expansion of the war budget that will bring new turmoil to the region and the world", KCNA said.

"This massive increase in military spending will lead to a buildup of military power to complete preparations for a war of aggression".

The United States, an old Japanese and South Korean ally, meanwhile seeks its own engagement with Pyongyang, with President Donald Trump scaling back annual military drills with Seoul aimed at countering potential threats from the nuclear-armed North.

Trump's order has alarmed allies concerned about US commitments to security in East Asia. Japan this week underlined the "critical" importance of security cooperation with the United States and South Korea.

Trump also said he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year.

Japan occupied all of Korea before its 1945 surrender in World War II, after which the peninsula was divided into separate states along the 38th parallel.

The legacy of the violent colonial period continues to weigh on the foreign policies of both North and South Korea.

China, a key ally of North Korea, has recently expressed alarm at what it sees as "new militarism" by Japan.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration is undertaking a major update of the national defense strategy this year in the face of China's expanding military ambitions.

Tokyo has already lifted Japan's self-imposed ban on weapons exports and expanded defense spending, while pushing to amend the pacifist constitution.

Still, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi last week reaffirmed the government's "determination to continue fulfilling our responsibility to uphold Japan's postwar path as a peaceful nation", he said during a visit to a shrine honoring the country's war dead.


US Judge Strikes Down Policy Suspending Immigrant Visa Processing for 75 Nations

Trump pursued a strict immigration policy, which he says aimed to improve national security. (Reuters)
Trump pursued a strict immigration policy, which he says aimed to improve national security. (Reuters)
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US Judge Strikes Down Policy Suspending Immigrant Visa Processing for 75 Nations

Trump pursued a strict immigration policy, which he says aimed to improve national security. (Reuters)
Trump pursued a strict immigration policy, which he says aimed to improve national security. (Reuters)

A US judge on Friday struck down a Trump administration policy suspending the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries, saying that the policy exceeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statutory authority.

US District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan said the policy that the State Department announced in January was "patently unlawful" and ran afoul of federal immigration law, which explicitly stripped the secretary of state of authority over ‌consular officers' ‌processing of immigrant visas.

"The Policy, which ‌categorically ⁠prohibits the issuance ⁠of immigrant visas based upon the nationality of the applicant, represents a direct abrogation of this statutory scheme," she wrote.

The State Department's suspension that also took effect in January impacted applicants from Latin American countries including Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay; Balkan nations such as Bosnia ⁠and Albania; South Asian countries Pakistan and Bangladesh; ‌and those from ‌many nations in Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.

The State ‌Department said applicants from those countries were "at a ‌high risk for becoming a public charge and recourse to local, state and federal government resources in the United States." The department did not immediately respond to a request for ‌comment on the ruling.

Vargas, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, issued ⁠the ruling ⁠in a lawsuit filed by immigrant rights groups Catholic Legal Immigration Network and African Communities Together along with applicants for immigrant visas and US citizens who are sponsoring family members from the designated countries for immigrant visas.

President Donald Trump has pursued an aggressive immigration crackdown that he says is aimed at improving domestic security. Rights groups say the crackdown has violated free speech and due process rights and has created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities, who have raised concerns about racial profiling


US Navy Aircraft Transits Taiwan Strait Before Planned Xi-Trump Meeting

 US and Taiwan flags fly outside the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) in Taoyuan on March 30, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)
US and Taiwan flags fly outside the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) in Taoyuan on March 30, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)
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US Navy Aircraft Transits Taiwan Strait Before Planned Xi-Trump Meeting

 US and Taiwan flags fly outside the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) in Taoyuan on March 30, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)
US and Taiwan flags fly outside the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) in Taoyuan on March 30, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)

A US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace on Friday, in a move the US 7th Fleet said "demonstrates the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific".

The Chinese military tracked and monitored the patrol and reconnaissance aircraft throughout the transit, the state-backed Global Times newspaper reported, citing a military source, saying the "situation was under ‌control".

US military ‌ships or aircraft every few ‌months ⁠pass through or above ⁠the waterway that separates democratically governed Taiwan from China — missions that anger Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the United States next month to meet President Donald Trump as Washington and Beijing look to stabilize ⁠ties marred by issues including Taiwan, trade ‌disputes and technology ‌curbs.

"By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance ‌with international law, the United States upholds the ‌navigational rights and freedoms of all nations," the 7th Fleet said in a statement.

"The aircraft's transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States' commitment to ‌a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails, and ⁠operates ⁠anywhere international law allows."

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and says it has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the US say the strait is an international waterway.

Beijing has repeatedly said the Taiwan issue is its internal affair and at the core of Beijing's interests — a red line that must not be crossed or trampled on.

Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying that only Taiwan's people can decide their future.