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Daily Briefing: Stories from Iran's infamous prison

Nicole Fallert   Paste BN

Americans who survived years in a notorious Iranian prison were set to arrive on U.S. soil early Tuesday. Also in the news: Michigan State University Head Coach Mel Tucker will be fired this week amid a sexual misconduct investigation and why Katy Perry's name keeps making its way into the conversation about Russell Brand.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Where are all my TV shows?

Here are Tuesday's headlines.

Americans freed from Iran survived the infamous Evin Prison

President Joe Biden said Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, Emad Sharghi and two other Americans freed in a prisoner swap with Iran braved years of “agony, uncertainty and suffering.”

All had been accused – falsely, according to the White House – of being spies or working on behalf of the U.S. government in Iran.

  • In exchange for the prisoners' freedom, $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil revenues was released by the Biden administration and five Iranians charged or convicted of non-violent crimes were freed by the United States.
  • The prisoner exchange came ahead of a United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York this week, where President Joe Biden and Iranian hardline President Ebrahim Raisi will both speak.
  • Telling stories of captivity: A lawyer for Siamak Namazi, 52, the longest-held American prisoner in Iran, said Namazi "spent several years in a cell that was so small with no bedding and on a concrete floor and no toilet." He was "taken out every day and beaten and tased and lots of horrific things done to him."

Related: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.

Michigan State to fire football coach Mel Tucker amid sexual harassment investigation

 Michigan State University plans to fire head football coach Mel Tucker a week after an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint from a prominent rape survivor was reported by Paste BN. The university is investigating a complaint filed in December by Brenda Tracy, a national advocate for sexual assault survivors. It is scheduled for a hearing on Oct. 5 and 6. In her complaint, Tracy said that Tucker made sexual comments and masturbated without her consent during a phone call in April 2022. Although Tucker has denied the allegations, on Monday Michigan State said the conduct he has already admitted to is sufficient to fire him. Read more

More news to know now

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Here's why a GOP funding plan may not stop a government shutdown

With the House no closer to avoiding a potential government shutdown in less than two weeks, two key factions of House Republicans have crafted a short-term, stopgap measure called a continuing resolution that would temporarily fund the government through Oct. 31. The bill would impose an 8% spending cut on federal agencies, but that doesn't include the national defense budget, the Department of Veterans Affairs and amounts designated for disaster relief. The temporary measure would also include border security provisions that have been on conservative wish lists during the ongoing spending fight. But whether the continuing resolution can pass in the House and the Senate remains to be seen. Read more

Forecasters tracking Hurricane Nigel

Far out in the open Atlantic Ocean, about 1,500 miles from the East Coast, Hurricane Nigel is forecast to power up to near major hurricane status on Tuesday. The storm's forecast shows it curving out to sea long before nearing U.S. shores. Although Nigel was the only active storm on Monday, the National Hurricane Center was also keeping a wary eye on two other developing systems in the Atlantic, including one that's close to the Southeast U.S. coastline. Read more

Russell Brand allegations mount amid calls for an investigation

Comedian, actor and social influencer Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and abuse based on allegations from four women who knew him over a seven-year period at the height of his fame. Brand is denying the allegations, and he said all of his relationships have been consensual. The women said that they only felt ready to tell their stories after being approached by reporters, with some citing Brand's newfound prominence as an online wellness influencer as a factor in their decision to speak. Since the allegations, Brand has been dropped from his agent, had affiliation cut with a women's addiction recovery charity and had calls to be investigated criminally. Read more

Quick hits

Photo of the day: Prince William attends NYC Climate Week

Prince William is getting in on the action at New York City's annual Climate Week, which coincides with the U.N. General Assembly. The Prince of Wales is in attendance as the United Nations and the city that hosts it are focusing this upcoming week on climate change and the burning of coal, oil and natural gas that causes it.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to Paste BN here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

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