Justice Alito says he is staying on Supreme Court for another term

2026-08-07T22:09:21.51Z / Reuters

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito attends an event organized by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, in Rome, Italy, September 20, 2025. REUTERS/Vincenzo Livieri Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• Alito tells Wall Street Journal he intends to remain on court at least another term
• Supreme Court’s next term begins in October and runs until end of June or ​early July 2027
• Republicans hold 53-47 Senate majority ahead of any potential confirmation fight

Aug 7 (Reuters) – U.S. Supreme Court ‌Justice Samuel Alito tamped down speculation that he could soon retire, telling the Wall Street Journal in an article published on Friday that he intended to remain on the court for at least another term.

“Obviously I’m here for another term,” Alito, 76, said in an interview published in the ​newspaper’s opinion section.

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The court’s new nine-month term – when it hears arguments and issues rulings – begins in October and will ​run until the end of June or early July 2027. The justices are currently on their ⁠summer recess.

Alito and fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, 78, have faced some calls by conservatives to step down, which would ​give Republican President Donald Trump a chance to appoint a fourth Supreme Court justice to the lifetime post.

Trump appointed three others during his ​first term in office – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, giving the court a 6-3 conservative majority that has issued a series of major conservative rulings since 2020.

“It’s not pleasant, in the sense that it’s a reminder of mortality,” Alito told the Journal about the calls to retire. “It’s ​like, what are those vultures doing up there? They are flying around. But it goes with life tenure.”

A spokesperson for the ​Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment concerning Alito’s plans.

Any retirement has taken on greater political significance with the ‌November U.S. ⁠congressional elections looming. If Democrats take control of the Senate, they would be expected to try to block Trump’s nominee to fill any vacancy created by a retirement or the death of a sitting justice.

The U.S. Constitution assigns the Senate the power to confirm a president’s judicial nominations. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 Senate majority.

Alito, who joined the court in 2006 after being appointed ​by Republican President George W. ​Bush, has become one of ⁠its staunchest conservatives. He all but ensured his legacy by authoring the landmark 2022 decision overruling the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had recognized women’s constitutional right to abortion.

He has ​repeatedly sided with Trump in recent cases, including dissenting from major rulings rejecting the president’s ​efforts to impose ⁠sweeping global tariffs, fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and curtail birthright citizenship.

Asked by the Journal to respond to critics who say he is a rubber stamp for the administration, Alito said, “I vote in every case the way I think the case should be decided.”

“If that means a ⁠high correlation ​with what Trump wants, fine. If it means zero correlation with what ​Trump wants, fine as well,” he added.

Alito’s forthcoming book, “So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country,” is set to go on ​sale on October 6.

(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in the first name of Neil Gorsuch in paragraph 5)

Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani

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Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has security clearance revoked over Air Force One disclosure

August 7, 2026 7:16pm EDT / Fox News

The move follows what officials say was an unauthorized disclosure about Air Force One’s capabilities

By Brittany Miller Fox News

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The U.S. Department of War has revoked former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s eligibility to access classified information over what the department says was an unauthorized disclosure involving Air Force One’s capabilities.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the move Friday on X, saying it took effect immediately and also bars Kendall from holding any sensitive position.

“Effective immediately, the Department of War has REVOKED former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall’s eligibility for access to classified information and his ability to hold any sensitive position. This action follows his unauthorized disclosure of classified information regarding Air Force One’s capabilities to a media outlet. Safeguarding classified information is a non-negotiable duty. Those who violate that trust forfeit the privilege of access and any role requiring it.”

US AIR FORCE SECRETARY KENDALL FLIES IN COCKPIT OF PLANE CONTROLLED BY AI

Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall had his eligibility to access classified information revoked on Friday.(Drew Angerer/Getty Images, File)

Kendall served as secretary of the Air Force under former President Joe Biden.

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This is a developing story; check back later for updates.

Brittany Miller is a Fox News Digital breaking news writer and former Independent reporter who graduated from Syracuse University in 2023.

By Jennifer Hansler

Updated 2 hr ago

Updated Aug 7, 2026, 4:36 PM ET

PUBLISHED Aug 7, 2026, 4:34 PM ET

Concerns are mounting about the wellbeing of an American detained in Russia since 2022, with an advocate alleging he has been subjected to physical and psychological torture.

Robert Gilman is “near death” after falling into a dissociative stupor more than six weeks ago, according to Eric Lebson, the chief strategy officer of Global Reach, an advocacy organization representing his family.

The US government is “deeply concerned” about Gilman’s “health and continued detention in Russia,” a State Department spokesperson said Friday.

“Given these health concerns, the US government has raised his case repeatedly with the Russian government and has requested his release on humanitarian grounds,” the spokesperson said.

Gilman, a 32-year-old former Marine, was forced to take psychotropic drugs and told lies about his family being beaten up and about being forgotten by the United States, Lebson told CNN.

More than six weeks ago, “he flipped into a dissociative stupor.” He was moved from the hospital in his prison some six hours outside of Moscow to the psychiatric ward of a civilian hospital, Lebson said.

Lebson said they have received information that Gilman is being fed through a tube and is handcuffed to his hospital bed, “even though he is physically not cognizant.”

However, neither Gilman’s lawyer nor his mother, who flew to Russia with a Russian court order allowing her to see her son, have been permitted to visit him since he was moved to the civilian hospital, he said.

Former US Marine Robert Gilman, who serves a prison sentence for assaulting a Russian police officer in 2022, attends a court hearing in Voronezh, Russia, on April 6.

Vladimir Lavrov/File/Reuters

This photo provided by the family shows Robert Gilman and his sister, Lexie Hudson, in Lilburn, Georgia, in 2019.

Gilman family/AP

“The fact that his mother went all the way there … and was not allowed to see him gives us very serious concern that he may either be dead or he may be in such situation that it’s going to be an Otto Warmbier type situation,” Lebson said.

Warmbier, an American college student, spent 17 months in North Korean detention before he was returned to the US in 2017 with severe brain damage. He died less than a week later. His family believed he was tortured into a vegetative state.

“I am more afraid for my brother than I have been since this horrible nightmare started. I’m worried that I ⁠may never see him again if the Russians don’t release him. I’m worried that he could die,” Lexie Hudson, Gilman’s sister, said in a statement.

“We want our government to make it clear to the Russians that they need to release Robert now before it is too late,” she added. “Whatever deal is required to make that happen is better for the US and Russia than having to navigate the death of my brother because both didn’t seize on the urgency of acting when there was time.”

The potential death of an American in Russian custody would test the US’ thorny relationship with Moscow, which the Trump administration has sought to improve.

Gilman’s family said they were told that Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised Gilman’s case with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a meeting in the Philippines in late July.

Reuters first reported on the concerns about Gilman’s condition.

Gilman was arrested in January 2022. The Russians alleged that he was drunk and got into an altercation with a police officer. Lebson denies this, saying Gilman was hit by the police, got sick, and accidentally kicked the officer.

Former US Marine Robert Gilman, who serves a prison sentence for assaulting a Russian police officer in 2022, attends a court hearing in Voronezh, Russia, on April 6.

Vladimir Lavrov/Reuters/File

Gilman was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. He is one of multiple former US Marines who have been arrested in Russia, including Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan.

Gilman is one of numerous Americans who remain detained in Russia, including Andre Khachatoorian, Olga Jezler, Chuck Zimmerman, David Barnes, Aleksander Antonov and Stephen Hubbard. Only Hubbard has been designated by the US State Department as wrongfully detained.

陈婧：当大学老师也难保“铁饭碗”

2026年8月8日 05:00 / 联合早报

中国财政部官员上月底在记者会上披露，今年中央财政把科技作为重点领域予以优先支持，中央本级基础究预算比上年增长16.3%。图为一名研究员在位于上海的中国科学院生物与化学交叉研究中心核磁实验室装配样品。 （新华社）

中国职场的内卷风刮进象牙塔。过去一周，上海同济大学的一份内部文件在网上流传，令学术圈人心惶惶。

这份7月31日公布的《关于开展2026年度全校专业技术职务评聘及考核续聘工作的通知》明确，学校对专业技术职务实行聘期考核管理，不再签订长期聘任协议。今后，预聘教师每三年考核一次，原有长聘教师每六年考核一次、每三年中期考核。考核不合格者，将面临降薪、降级、转岗甚至解聘。

这意味着，同济大学不会再与新入职教师签终身合同。即便是此前已经获得长聘职位的教师，也必须接受每三年一次的考核。用大白话说，大学教师不再拥有“铁饭碗”。

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台封锁“台青e家” 大陆国台办指戳中民进党当局痛点

2026年8月8日 07:18 / 联合早报

中国大陆推出针对台湾青年赴大陆找学习、工作机会的”台青e家“网站。 （台青e家网站截图）

针对民进党封锁中国大陆推出的“台青e家”平台，大陆国台办称，民进党当局越封越证明“台青e家”契合台湾青年需求、戳中民进党当局痛点。

据新华社消息，大陆国务院台办星期五（8月7日）以发言人陈斌华答记者问形式回应，“台青e家”是面向台湾青年的公益性综合服务平台，旨在回应台湾青年到大陆交流发展的需求，为台湾青年提供交流、学习、实习、就业等全链条资讯服务。“上线以来，得到台湾民众尤其是岛内青年的欢迎和认可”。

陈斌华指，民进党当局封锁“台青e家”，借口是个资外泄、拉拢统战、未统先治，全是“台独”话术，“难道给台湾青年多一个机会就叫‘统战’，让台湾青年自己比较就叫‘风险’？”

陈斌华强调，大陆“十五五”开局良好，高质量发展蕴藏广阔机遇，是台湾青年交流、学习、就业、创业的热土。大陆方面始终秉持“两岸一家亲”理念，将持续为台湾青年来大陆筑梦圆梦创造更好条件、提供更多便利。欢迎台湾青年积极使用“台青e家”，感受家的温暖，体验越来越好的服务。

“台青e家”服务平台于7月15日正式上线运行，大陆方面称旨在为台湾青年到大陆交流、求学、实习、就业和创业提供一站式资讯与便利服务。台湾陆委会则指这一平台涉及对台“未统先治“，将下架或屏蔽网站。

大陆在台推“台青e家” 陆委会称将封禁对抗“未统先治”

台湾陆委会星期五晚称，台湾政府依法封锁违法网站，建议对岸多费心降低自己的青年失业率，不用担心台湾。

Unearthed clip of El-Sayed revealing his ‘hate’ for iconic Michigan town sparks online firestorm: ‘Dark heart’

August 7, 2026 4:04pm EDT / Fox News

The resurfaced 2020 documentary clip shows El-Sayed disparaging the island during his failed run for governor

Abdul El-Sayed says he ‘hates’ Mackinac Island in resurfaced documentary

El-Sayed made the remark in a 2020 documentary about his 2018 campaign. (Credit: How to Fix a Primary/Version One Productions, Oct. 2020)

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Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is facing pushback online over a resurfaced clip in which he says he “hates” arguably the most treasured location in the state.

In the documentary clip from 2020, which resurfaced in a story by The Midwesterner Friday, El-Sayed walks through Michigan’s Mackinac Island during his failed run for governor.

“I hate Mackinac so much,” El-Sayed said of one of the state’s most recognizable vacation spots, which sits on an island in Lake Huron between Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsula’s.

“It’s funny cause, like, if we win, this is gonna be, like, the summer home,” El-Sayed added, referencing the governor’s summer residence on the island.

DEM SENATE HOPEFUL ABDUL EL-SAYED RECOUNTS SMASHING VODKA BOTTLE AFTER BEARD CRITICISM

The Michigan Democratic Senate nominee is facing criticism online over a resurfaced clip of him saying he hates one of the state’s most cherished locations.(Getty Images)

“I’m just gonna be like every time I’ve ever come here. I’ve hated it. Why am I here?”

The clip went viral on social media Thursday with conservatives blasting El-Sayed for looking down on the quaint village town.

MICHIGAN SENATE RACE: EL-SAYED’S TIES TO EXTREMIST FUEL ANTISEMITISM CONCERNS AMONG JEWISH VOTERS

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed claps during a news conference in front of the Spirit of Detroit statue Aug. 5, 2026, in Detroit.(Finn Gomez/Getty Images)

“The rising stars of the Democrat Party loathe America and seek to destroy it,” Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway posted on X. “And unlike their spiritual forebears, they see less of a reason to hide it for political gain. “

“I got engaged on this island,” Outkick founder Clay Travis posted on X. “It’s an awesome place. Honestly, I don’t understand how anyone could hate northern Michigan in summer, absolutely beautiful, most underrated spot in the country.”

“Wow hating Mackinac!” former Trump advisor Steve Cortes posted on X. “A place that is so iconic to Michigan, to America. Abdul has a dark heart.”

“Abdul el-Sayed is a repellent terror-loving anti-Semite–and that’s not even the worst thing about him,” Commentary Magazine editor John Podhoretz posted on X.”He hates Mackinac Island, one of the most wonderful places on earth. A person who hates Mackinac Island has had his soul ripped from his body.”

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Visitors can also take in the sights on Market Street by bike. There are no cars allowed on Mackinac Island.(Getty Images)

“He would rather summer at his property in Dubai,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesperson Sarah Gallagher posted on X.

“Bro has no soul,” On Brand Strategies communications associate Carly Moran posted on X. “It’s literally Heaven on Earth.”

“Abdul speaks fondly of his Egyptian summers yet he shows utter disdain for one of Michigan’s most beautiful summer destinations,” former Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon told Fox News Digital. “He wants his history to be respected but belittles Michigander’s favorite memories. He doesn’t respect us, and, therefore, he cannot represent us.”

“Abdul El-Sayed hot mic: ‘I hate Mackinac so much,’” conservative influencer account End Wokeness posted on X. “This is the most American place in MI.”

Some, including journalist Brad LaPlante, defended El-Sayed’s comments as being taken “out of context.”

“El-Sayed was talking about the Mackinac Policy Conference, an annual gathering of policy pros and insiders that he argues brings together well-connected and powerful people and shuts most voters out of politics,” LaPlante wrote.

Others weren’t so sure, including Michigan Young Republicans board member James Asher, who responded in a post on X, “Brad, are you dizzy from the way you’re spinning this?”

Mackinac Island is beloved in large part because it has retained a character increasingly rare in American tourist destinations. Motor vehicles have been largely prohibited since the 1890s, leaving visitors to travel by foot, bicycle or the island’s famous horse-drawn carriages.

The island has Victorian homes, historic hotels, waterfront streets, natural scenery and celebrated fudge shops which draw more than a million visitors from around the world each summer, while landmarks such as the Grand Hotel and Fort Mackinac have helped make the island an enduring symbol of Michigan history and culture.

Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for comment but did not receive a response.

El-Sayed responded to the post from End Wokeness on Friday afternoon saying, “Not sure about ‘End Wokeness,’ but I don’t think the most ‘American place in MI’ can be a place that…bans cars.”

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

“白海豚”预计明晚在浙江舟山到福建福鼎沿海登陆

2026年8月8日 07:45 / 联合早报

台风“白海豚”逼近，地处浙江舟山东端的旅游海岛白沙岛星期四（8月6日）组织游客撤离。 （中新社）

中国气象部门最新预告，台风“白海豚”预计星期天（8月9日）晚在浙江舟山到福建福鼎一带沿海登陆。

据中国央视新闻消息，中央气象台星期六（8日）6时发布台风橙色预警和强对流天气蓝色预警。

中央气象台称，今年第13号台风“白海豚”（强台风级）的中心星期六早晨5点位于浙江省温州市东偏南方大约600公里的东海南部海面上，预计将以每小时10-15公里的速度向西偏北方向移动，强度变化不大或略有增强，将于星期天晚上至下星期一（10）日早晨在浙江舟山到福建福鼎一带沿海登陆（38-45米/秒，13-14级，台风级或强台风级），登陆后继续向西偏北方向移动，强度逐渐减弱。

中国多部门已针对“白海豚”启动应急响应：国家防总星期五（7日）下午4时将针对浙江、福建的防汛防台风四级应急响应提升至三级；研判浙江大部、福建北部发生地质灾害的风险高，应急管理部星期五针对浙江、福建启动国家地质灾害四级应急响应。

此外，自然资源部已启动浙江海洋灾害三级应急响应，江苏、上海、福建海洋灾害四级应急响应，浙江、福建地质灾害防御Ⅳ级响应。

台风逼近华东沿海 宁波舟山港部分集装箱业务暂停

中国水利部于星期五下午6时也针对上海、江苏、浙江、安徽、福建、江西启动洪水防御Ⅳ级应急响应。

Trump’s attack on ‘birth tourism’ faces uphill legal battle after Supreme Court ruling

2026-08-07T21:31:31.114Z / reuters.com

Aug 7 (Reuters) – When the U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled in favor of broad citizenship rights for babies born in the United States, one of the most conservative justices complained that the decision was so sweeping it would even cover so-called birth tourists.

Women “who come here solely for the purpose of giving ​birth” would be able to get automatic citizenship for their children, Samuel Alito wrote, dissenting from the 6-3 ruling that invalidated President Donald Trump’s first attempt to curtail U.S. birthright citizenship.

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Undeterred by the ‌court’s ruling, Trump tried again on Thursday, signing two executive orders, largely aimed at birth tourism. That part of Trump’s action, which is certain to face legal challenges, is likely doomed, legal experts said. It targets a category of people that legal experts said the Supreme Court already addressed.

“These children are citizens based on their birth on U.S. soil,” said University of Virginia law professor Amanda Frost, who studies birthright citizenship. “Illegal conduct by their parent can have no bearing on their status.”

The Republican president has for years threatened to tighten ​birthright citizenship as part of his restrictive immigration agenda. On the first day of his second term in January 2025, Trump issued a sweeping order that targeted immigrants in the country illegally or even ​temporarily on a legal basis, including those on work visas or students.

The court’s June 30 ruling striking it down, in a case called Trump v. Barbara, held that the ⁠policy violated language in the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment that confers citizenship to those born in the United States who are “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

To curtail birth tourism, one of Trump’s new orders directs federal agencies not to ​recognize a child’s citizenship if either parent is “engaged in fraudulent activity to obtain citizenship.”

A second executive order seeks to bar visas for foreigners suspected of birth tourism, although it was unclear how it would be enforced. Federal regulation ​currently bars using temporary visas for the purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a newborn.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump renewed his criticism of the ruling and said that “people are building businesses around” birth tourism, suggesting that “hundreds of thousands” are wrongly benefiting. Some analyses cite smaller numbers, with Penn State University scholars estimating 5,000 to 10,000 births each year from 2014 to 2024.

Besides birth tourism, Trump’s new directive also seeks to expand historical exceptions to automatic birthright citizenship, which include children of diplomatic representatives ​such as ambassadors and hostile foreign troops occupying U.S. territory. The order would widen the categories to include foreign government employees and those deemed foreign terrorists.

SCHOLARS DIVIDED

Scholars were divided over whether courts might allow some of these expansions.

Expanding ​the category of diplomats is potentially legal, depending on how it is done, said Frost, “though that requires giving those people significant immunity from US law.”

University of California, Berkeley law professor John Yoo, who worked as a Justice Department official during Republican ‌George W. Bush’s ⁠presidency, said that the order’s attempt to define foreign enemy forces on U.S. soil as including terrorist organizations “will eventually pass constitutional muster.”

Others said certain expansions may stretch too far. “Japanese immigrants to the U.S. were deemed enemy aliens during World War II,” said University of Michigan law professor Sam Erman. “Under the administration’s rule, their U.S.-born children could have been denied citizenship.”

The legality of the various provisions could also depend on how agencies implement them. Some of the terms are elastic, such as the definition of an “alien enemy,” or the “purpose” of a stay, said Hiroshi Motomura, an immigration law expert at the University of California, Los Angeles.

This creates “huge zones of discretion that allow officials of the U.S. government ​to deny visas or admission based on suspicions or ​a need to vet further,” Motomura said.

COURT RULING

The ⁠Supreme Court in June struck down Trump’s prior order, even though the administration argued that automatic birthright citizenship encourages illegal immigration and birth tourism.

“Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights – to freely participate in our political community,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote, adding that the authors of the 14th Amendment extended that promise to every ​free-born person in the land.

“We keep that promise today,” Roberts wrote.

Alito did not mince words in his dissent. “In my judgment, the court has made a mistake that ​will seriously affect the country’s ⁠future,” he wrote.

He faulted the court for ruling that “even a child born to a mother who is here for only a brief time is a citizen under the Fourteenth Amendment.”

Such a view yields “grotesque results,” Alito said. “While foreigners who wish to immigrate lawfully must sometimes wait for many years, a child born here to a birth tourist is automatically a citizen,” he said.

White House aides defended the orders on Thursday.

“There’s absolutely nothing in here that runs afoul of any of the Supreme ⁠Court’s opinions on ​the subject,” White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf said.

Yoo disagreed. “I do not see any exception to birthright, as defined by the court ​in Barbara, that would include parents who fraudulently violated federal law to give birth to children on American territory,” he said.

Rachel Rosenbloom, an immigration law professor at Northeastern University, said she would be surprised if the order’s new exclusions survived a legal challenge, calling them “clearly unconstitutional.”

“This order ​seems like a desperate measure by a president who is having a hard time accepting that he just suffered a significant loss at the Supreme Court,” Rosenbloom said.

Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Amy Stevens and Sanjeev Miglani

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Pentagon revokes access to classified information for former Air Force secretary

2026-08-07 7:10 PM ET / CNN

By Aleena Fayaz

Updated 16 min ago
Updated Aug 7, 2026, 7:21 PM ET
PUBLISHED Aug 7, 2026, 7:10 PM ET

Then-Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall testifies before the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Tuesday, April 9, 2024.

Jose Luis Magana/AP/File

The Pentagon on Friday revoked former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s access to classified information following an “unauthorized disclosure” to a media outlet about President Donald Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet, Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced.

“Effective immediately, the Department of War has REVOKED former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall’s eligibility for access to classified information and his ability to hold any sensitive position,” Parnell wrote on X.

The Pentagon spokesman said the action comes after Kendall’s “unauthorized disclosure of classified information regarding Air Force One’s capabilities ” to a media outlet.

CNN has reached out to Kendall, the former Air Force secretary under the Biden administration, for comment.

Reporting on safety concerns regarding the Qatari-gifted plane infuriated Trump, spurring an extraordinary leak investigation that included subpoenaing New York Times reporters who first reported on the issue. Officials at the White House were also asked to turn over their phones as part of the probe.

CNN previously reported Trump’s newer plane does not possess the same capabilities as the older Air Force One models to ensure the president’s safety in international settings.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

From inside Iran’s Evin Prison, U.S. citizen Reza Valizadeh gives update on conditions, fears exposure to disease

2026-08-07T17:13:00-0400 / CBS News

By
Updated on: August 7, 2026 / 6:46 PM EDT / CBS News

This week, CBS News received another recording from inside the notorious Evin Prison in Iran with an update from U.S. citizen and journalist Reza Valizadeh.

He last reached out in June, and he wants his most recent statement to be made public, as well, according to his attorney Ryan Fayhee.

Valizadeh is one of the five U.S. citizens still trapped in Iran, two of them at Evin. Three others are believed to be under exit bans, which means Iranian authorities are preventing them from leaving the country.

In this latest recording obtained by CBS News, Valizadeh shared updates about his condition and that of fellow American Kamran Hekmati, who was just ordered back to prison after having been granted medical leave that lasted under 30 days.

File: Kamran Hekmati Foley Foundation

Hekmati attempted to get medical care for what is believed to be a recurring cancer, according to his U.S.-based advocate, Kieran Ramsey, of Global Reach. He was unable to obtain chemotherapy treatment, however. Hekmati is a Jewish Iranian-American from New York, and about to turn 62 next week. He was arrested after the 12-day Israel-Iran war in 2025 on charges related to past travel to Israel. The State Department considers both Hekmati and Valizadeh to be wrongfully detained.

Valizadeh is a dual Iranian American citizen who used to work for Radio Free Europe’s Persian language service and has been imprisoned in Iran since 2024. He said that for the past five months, the Iranian authorities haven’t allowed his family to visit, which he believes is punishment.

File: Reza Valizadeh Courtesy of Valizadeh Family

He said he is also worried about exposure to a fellow prisoner who was suffering symptoms of tuberculosis, like coughing up blood, and says for more than a year now the prisoners have had little to no medical care. CBS News shared the remarks with the Iranian mission based at the United Nations, and was told it had no comment.

Valizadeh’s lawyer, Ryan Fayhee, said in a statement that it is essential that President Trump prioritize the release of wrongfully detained Americans in his negotiations with Iran.

The Trump administration has never publicly confirmed that it has raised the specific cases of the American detainees in Iran during past months of negotiations.

In June, a Trump administration official told CBS News in a statement that the administration is closely tracking Valizadeh’s case, along with the other U.S. citizens currently detained in Iran, and is “working diligently” to secure their release.

It is risky for Valizadeh to release this message, but he’s desperate.

Here is a transcript of the part of Valizadeh’s voice memo from inside Evin Prison that CBS News received this week and that has been cleared for release by his attorney and advocate:

We, the prisoners of Evin Prison, have been denied access to the prison library and sport facilities for more than a year. Medical care in the prison is almost non-existent. Only the most basic medications are available.

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Even worse, many medicines purchased and delivered by prisoners’ families are stolen by prison staff before reaching the prisoners. The prison’s doctors are rude, unmotivated and lack professional competence. As a result, most prisoners avoid seeking medical treatment unless they have no other choice.

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Diseases that were eradicated decades ago have returned inside the prison, including pulmonary and gastrointestinal tuberculosis. One prisoner suffered TB symptoms, including coughing up blood and severe weight loss for six months. He was sent to a hospital outside the prison only when his condition became life-threatening. Before that, he had lived in close quarters with other prisoners for about 10 months. No one knows how many inmates may have been exposed to or infected with tuberculosis.

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On the other hand, because of the poor quality of prison food, most prisoners refuse to eat the meals provided by the prison. Recently, authorities have started transferring non-political prisoners, mainly those convicted of financial crimes, from other prisons into our ward. This appears to be an attempt to weaken the unity of political prisoners and change the composition of our ward. Our ward already lacks the space and facilities to accommodate more prisoners.

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Whenever prisoners raise even minor protests about prison conditions, they are punished by losing family visits and phone calls.

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For example, I have not been allowed to see my family for the past five months. Part of this has been imposed as punishment, while the rest has been justified by the authorities due to the wartime situation…. Regarding other American citizens imprisoned in Evin, my knowledge is limited to Kamran Hekmati. Based on what I know, there are no other U.S. citizens in my ward, and they are most likely being held in another prison.

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Kamran Hekmati, an Iranian American prisoner, was guaranteed medical leave for cancer treatment. However, after only one month and before the end of his approved 45-day medical furlough, he was ordered back to prison. This happened, even though his leave should have been extended so he could begin chemotherapy.