Candidate who wanted city as white 'as possible' withdraws from council race in Michigan

Marysville Mayor Dan Damman said Jean Cramer submitted a letter withdrawing Monday, after she said she wanted the town to be as white "as possible."

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Exclusive: Iran says it will not negotiate missile work, wants to export more oil

Iran wants to export a minimum of 700,000 barrels per day of its oil and ideally up to 1.5 million bpd if the West wants to negotiate with Tehran to save a 2015 nuclear deal, two Iranian officials and one diplomat told Reuters on Sunday. A second official said "Iran's ballistic missile programme cannot and will not be negotiated.

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Trump promotes unfounded Ilhan Omar conspiracy and shares claim Justin Trudeau 'assumes submissive position' with him

Donald Trump unleashed a series of controversial late-night tweets from the G7 Summit in France over the weekend, reigniting his feud with Ilhan Omar and attacking Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.The president promoted an unfounded and incendiary claim purported by the far right online that Ms Omar, a Democratic congresswoman of colour and former refugee from Somalia, married her brother years before she took office in 2018.

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U.S. Says South Korea’s Exit From Intel Pact Endangers Troops

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. said that South Korea’s decision to pull out of an intelligence-sharing deal with Japan endangers American troops -- an usually blunt criticism of one of Washington’s closest allies.The Trump administration is disappointed in South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s announcement Thursday that his government would stop participating in the 2016 General Security of Military Information Agreement with Japan, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said Sunday. The pact allowed the two neighbors to directly share intelligence about joint security concerns including North Korea and China, without going through the Americans.“We are deeply disappointed and concerned that the ROK’s government terminated the General Security of Military Information Agreement,” Ortagus said in a Twitter post. “This will make defending Korea more complicated and increase risk to U.S. forces.”The criticism is perhaps the clearest sign yet of the Trump administration’s frustration with the months-long feud between South Korea and Japan. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump criticized Moon and his government at a Group of Seven meeting in France, the Sankei newspaper reported, citing unidentified Japanese government sources.On Monday, South Korea’s foreign ministry said there had been “close communication” with the U.S. regarding the tensions between Seoul and Tokyo and the reasons for withdrawing from the agreement, without mentioning the risk to U.S. troops.The acrimonious dispute is rooted in historical grievances over Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula, but has recently escalated to include trade and security cooperation. While South Korea and Japan are protected by tens of thousands of U.S. troops, the Moon administration had argued after withdrawing from the pact that it would strengthen its alliance with the U.S. by increasing defense spending.The dispute risks complicating a coordinated response to North Korea’s continued missile tests and China’s rising military power projection in the region. On Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally guided the test firing of a rocket launcher and sent two more short-range ballistic missiles into the sea between South Korea and Japan.The U.S. Department of Defense had previously expressed “strong concern and disappointment” with South Korea’s decision to exit the security pact. While the agreement doesn’t require the exchange of intelligence and both countries are part of a similar three-way pact with the U.S., the deal was significant because it demonstrated their ability to cooperate independently from Washington.South Korea’s defense minister, Jeong Kyeong-doo, told the National Assembly’s defense committee Aug. 5 that there had been 26 instances of intelligence-sharing with Japan since the agreement was signed. He nevertheless played down its practical importance, telling the committee the pact was more about relationships than utility.(Updates with South Korean response in fifth paragraph.)\--With assistance from Jihye Lee.To contact the reporter on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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Muslims in China's most oppressed, closed-off region are turning to China's version of Gen Z favorite TikTok to communicate with the world

Dozens of Uighurs in Xinjiang are using Douyin to tell the outside world about their plight. This is their first contact with the outside world.

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Venezuelan migrants to get regional vaccination cards under 10-nation pact

Venezuelan migrants will be provided with a regional vaccination card beginning in October, health officials from 10 countries agreed on Monday, in an effort to ensure they receive needed vaccines and are not given double doses.

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Donald Trump Upstaged at G7 By Foreign Minister of ... Iran

Jeff J Mitchell/ReutersIt looked like President Donald Trump was set up for a diplomatic ambush at the Group of Seven summit on Sunday when Iran’s foreign minister suddenly flew into town.The arrival of the smooth-talking Javad Zarif at the elegant French beach resort of Biarritz, where the leaders of the seven most industrialized democracies are gathered, underscored a key conflict between Trump and the rest about how to deal with Iran’s nuclear ambitions. ‘Absolute Amateur Hour’: Team Trump Mangles Messages to IranLast year, the U.S. pulled out of an agreement that severely limited for several years Iran’s production and stockpiling of nuclear fuel and imposed an extensive inspection regime. Trump claimed the accord forged under Barack Obama was a disastrous deal, and he could do better.A senior French diplomat told reporters at the G7 summit in Biarritz that Macron informed Trump over lunch on Saturday that Zarif would be coming, and told the rest of the summit participants at dinner that night. The Trump administration imposed sanctions specifically targeting Zarif earlier this month, but when Trump was asked for a reaction after the the visit became public, his initial comment was, “No comment.”Although Trump has said he would be willing to meet with Iran’s leaders, they have so far declined, and a tweet from the Iranian foreign ministry stated flatly, “There will be no meetings or negotiations with the American delegation on this trip.”Trump has insisted he can force Iran to make more concessions, not only about nukes, but about its missiles and extensive proxy forces outside its borders, most notably Hezbollah, and to that end the U.S. has imposed draconian sanctions crippling the Iranian economy while punishing its trading partners.Germany, France and Britain–all signatories of the Iran deal, and all represented at the G7–have sought desperately to shore up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the agreement is called. They share Trump’s view that missiles and proxies are serious issues, but they believe it makes more sense to keep the nuclear agreement that exists rather than throw all the cards up in the air.To try to keep Iran on board, the Europeans have been discussing various mechanisms to try to bypass the American sanctions, but with little success. Meanwhile, step by calculated step, Iran terminates bits of the JCPOA. As Iran-U.S. Tensions Rise, Hezbollah Readies for War With IsraelIn June, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, also at the G7 this weekend, visited Tehran to try to calm the situation, but to no avail. Indeed, holes were blown in a Japanese tanker by mysterious, presumably Iranian, agents at the same time as Abe’s visit.It’s likely that Zarif’s visit to Biarritz is mainly political theater orchestrated by Macron, and there is little hope it will resolve an increasingly dangerous standoff between the U.S. and Iran. Already we have seen attacks on shipping near the strategic Strait of Hormuz and the recent British seizure, then release against U.S. objections, of an Iranian tanker at Gibraltar. Last month, when Iran downed an American drone it claimed was over its territorial waters, Trump gave a green light, then a red one, to a retaliatory attack that would have killed a number of Iranian personnel.Meanwhile, as The Daily Beast has reported, Iran’s clients in Lebanon and Syria, the Hezbollah militias, are preparing for war with Israel as part of a wider conflagration, and Israel is attacking Iranian installations in Iraq as well as Syria.What Zarif’s visit to the G7 summit might do is calm the situation and buy some time.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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A Giant Raft of Volcanic Rock From an Underwater Eruption Could Help Revive the Great Barrier Reef

Chunks of rock from an underwater volcano are carrying living organisms

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Macron attacks 'extraordinarily rude' Bolsonaro after insults about wife Brigitte

A war of words broke out between the presidents of France and Brazil as Emmanuel Macron responded angrily on Monday to Jair Bolsonaro’s “extraordinarily rude comments” about his wife Brigitte. Mr Bolsanaro appeared to endorse a Facebook comment posted by one of his supporters mocking Mr Macron, 41, for being married to a woman who is nearly 25 years his senior.  The comment suggested that Mr Macron was attacking Mr Bolsonaro over the Amazon fires because the Brazilian president was married to a much younger woman. “[Mr Bolsonaro] has made some extraordinarily rude comments about my wife,” Mr Macron said at a press conference. “What can I say? It’s sad for him, firstly, and for Brazilians … I think Brazilian women will probably be ashamed to read that from their president.” He added: “As I feel friendship and respect for the Brazilian people, I hope that they will very soon have a president who behaves in the right way.” The Facebook comments which the French president found offensive appeared below a picture of the Macrons beside one of Mr Bolsonaro, 64, and his wife Michelle, 37 years his junior. Brigitte Macron, wife of the French President (C) poses with children and Japan's Prime Minister's wife Akie Abe(R) during a meeting with surfers at the Cote des Basques beach, in Biarritz Credit: AFP “Do you understand now why Macron persecutes Bolsonaro?” read a comment under the pictures. Mr Bolsonaro posted a response: “Don’t humiliate the guy. Ha ha.” Abraham Weintraub, Brazil’s education minister, joined the attack on Mr Macron on Sunday with a Twitter post calling him a “calhorda", a Portuguese term designating a rascal or a cretin. The row between Mr Macron and Mr Bolsonaro broke out over the French president’s attempt last week to put international pressure on Brazil to deal with vast fires that were raging unchecked in the Amazon. He threatened to block ratification of an ambitious free trade pact between the EU and the South American common market, Mercosur, until the fires were put out. Mr Bolsonaro, a far-Right climate sceptic, accused the centrist French president of having “a colonial mindset” and interfering in Brazil’s domestic affairs by declaring the fires to be a global emergency. Mr Macron retorted that Mr Bolsonaro had “lied” about his environmental commitments at the G20 summit in Japan in June. “President Bolsonaro has decided not to respect his commitments on the climate. nor to involve himself on the issue of biodiversity,” he said.

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Candidate who wanted city as white 'as possible' ends run

A city council candidate in Michigan who said last week that she wants to keep her community white "as much as possible" withdrew from the council race on Monday. Jean Cramer stopped by Marysville City Hall to say she was leaving the race and later, at the request of city officials, put her withdrawal in writing in a one-sentence letter that did not give a reason for why she dropped out, the Times Herald in Port Huron reported. Her name will remain on the Nov. 5 election ballot. "Just checking the calendar here and making sure it's still 2019," Mike Deising said.



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Driver kicks pregnant woman in stomach during fight at Chick-fil-A, police say

The pregnant woman tried to pull in front of her in the drive-thru lane, police said.

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Tom Cotton Urges Trump Administration to Buy Greenland in NYT Op-Ed

Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) encouraged the Trump administration to purchase Greenland in a New York Times op-ed published Monday, one week after the president publicly floated the idea to the consternation of his critics.In the piece, Cotton pushed back on presidential critics who have dismissed the notion of acquiring Greenland as a fantasy, pointing out that President Trump is following in the footsteps of previous American policymakers who were motivated by their belief that the acquisition would serve vital U.S. strategic interests.“In 1946, the Truman administration offered $100 million to Denmark to acquire Greenland, arguing that the island was ‘indispensable to the safety of the United States’ in confronting the growing Soviet threat, just as it had been in World War II when American forces used bases in Greenland to deter Nazi aggression,” Cotton writes.Cotton — who himself raised the prospect of purchasing Greenland during a meeting with the Danish ambassador last year — goes on to argue that the purchase would help deter Chinese expansion into the Arctic Circle, and weaken the Chinese monopoly on rare-earth minerals.“Beijing understands not only Greenland’s geographic importance but also its economic potential. Greenland is rich in a wide array of mineral deposits, including rare-earth minerals — resources critical to our high-tech and defense industries," Cotton writes after detailing China's failed efforts to establish military bases in Greenland. “China currently dominates the market in these minerals and has threatened to withhold them from us to gain leverage in trade negotiations. Greenland also possesses untold reserves of oil and natural gas.”Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen called President Trump's desire to purchase Greenland “absurd” last week after the president confirmed reports that he had discussed the possibility of making the purchase.“Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland,” Frederiksen told the Danish newspaper Sermitsiaq last Sunday. “I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously.”Trump cancelled a previously scheduled visit to Denmark in response to Frederiksen's comments.Greenland is a Danish territory with a population of 56,000 people who would, according to Cotton, benefit greatly from the economic resources that the U.S. could bring to bear on its relatively undeveloped territory.

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Man found with mummified remains called dangerous to society

Prosecutors called a New Jersey man "dangerous to society" after pieces of a human body were found in his closet, including a head, part of an arm, and a torso dressed in a necktie and suit jacket. Robert Williams, of Newark, pleaded not guilty Monday to desecrating human remains and separate charges of child sexual abuse. Police initially went to Williams' home to investigate allegations he abused a 12- to 13-year-old boy over several months, but when they searched the apartment they found an altar and mummified human remains that had apparently been used in religious ceremonies, according to prosecutors.

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Hezbollah chief denounces Beirut 'drone attack'

The head of Hezbollah on Sunday denounced a "drone attack" targeting the Lebanese Shiite movement's Beirut stronghold, vowing to "do everything" to thwart Israeli attacks. "What happened yesterday night was a suicide drone attack on a target in Beirut's southern suburb," Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech broadcast to thousands of supporters. "I say to the Israeli army along the border: from tonight be ready and wait for us," he went on.

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Lebanon says Israel drone attack 'declaration of war'

Lebanon's president on Monday said an Israeli drone attack on Beirut at the weekend was a "declaration of war" that justified a military response. "What happened is a declaration of war," Michel Aoun told Jan Kubis, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, in a meeting. The army said two Israeli drones had violated Lebanese airspace over Beirut before dawn on Sunday, with one exploding in the air.

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Rejection of international law on the rise, Iran's foreign minister says

The rejection of international law is on the rise, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday, during a meeting in Beijing with the Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi. "Rejection of international law, not just lack of respect for international law, but, in fact, contempt for international law, is on the rise and we need to work together," Zarif told Wang, in comments in front of reporters. Zarif said he was in Beijing to brief the Chinese official on his recent meetings in France on the Iran nuclear deal, but he gave no details.

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5 Facts About Queen Elizabeth's Scottish Summer Retreat

The monarch is currently hosting Prince William and Duchess Kate at Balmoral Castle

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Tropical Storm Dorian could strengthen to hurricane as it reaches Caribbean

Forecasters say Tropical Storm Dorian, the fourth tropical storm of the season, has maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.

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Armed Jewel Thieves Rob New York Diamond District Store Popular With Rappers, Celebrities

Avianne and Co's customers have included Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne

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Russian authorities seek to take children of stroller-pushing protesters into care

State prosecutors are seeking to take a newborn and a toddler into state custody after their parents were filmed with them at a street protest, the second such case as huge demonstrations for free elections have shaken the Russian capital this summer. Authorities have responded to the peaceful protests, which were sparked by the disqualification of independent candidates from September's city council elections on technicalities, by bringing criminal cases and other forms of pressure against those filmed or arrested there.  Prosecutor Yana Starovoitova filed a complaint to strip Pyotr and Yelena Khomsky of their parental rights, alleging that they brought their three-month-old and three-year-old daughters to a protest on August 3 “to prevent their own possible arrest by police officers”. A court will begin hearing the case next week.  The complaint reports by the REN TV channel that showed the two parents wheeling the girls in strollers away from a line of advancing riot police. The channel bizarrely claimed that the couple had “pushed law enforcement with their backs” and falsely described the father as the bodyguard of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.  Speaking with the Telegraph, Mr Khomsky denied the prosecutor's allegations and said the family had not been yelling slogans or carrying signs. Police detain a man during the July 27 protest Credit: Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters “What law are we violating?” he asked. “We're endangering our kids? You're endangering our kids!” “They want to make a show trial out of us, accuse us of putting our children at risk, accuse of us of all sorts of sins and take away our kids so that others won't go to demonstrations with children,” he added. “They want to intimidate protesters.” On Wednesday, a court will hear a state prosecutor's motion to strip another couple of parental rights after they were filmed with their young child at a demonstration on July 27, even though the national children's rights ombudswoman has criticised the case.  State television accused protesters of exploiting the infant as a “human shield” after father Dmitry Prokazov was seen handing the child to his wife's cousin near police. The relative now faces up to eight years in prison on charges of participating in mass riots.  Mr Prokazov said the young family and the cousin had simply been walking in the city centre when they were caught up in a cat-and-mouse game between protesters and police, who forced crowds down various side streets and arrested more than 1,300 people.  The children's ombudswoman said she was looking into the case against the Khomskys and that taking a child away from parents should be a “last resort”. The Moscow children's rights ombudsman called the prosecutor's complaint “political blackmail”. “Only in rare cases when nothing helps does the question of removing parental rights arise. In these two cases this state policy is being completely destroyed,” Yevgeny Bunimovich told Interfax news agency. “This worries me. It's a signal for everyone. Every family will feel unsafe if these things happen.” As part of the “Moscow case” opened after the July 27 protest, a dozen people face prison time on charges of mass rioting and fighting with police, accusations that look dubious given the nonviolent nature of the demonstrations.  Opposition leader Alexei Navalny after what he said may have been a poisoning attempt in jail Credit: AFP/Getty/Navalny.com On Monday, guards refused to let press or relatives into court hearings involving a defendant charged with attacking a national guard soldier at the protests and another accused of tweeting about a movement to “de-anonymise” riot police by publishing their names and personal details.  Other people arrested at the protests have suddenly come under official scrutiny for outstanding debts or dodging Russia's universal military conscription, a widespread practice. Several independent candidates have been jailed for weeks as Moscow has seen the biggest protests since the 2011-12 movement against a fraudulent parliamentary elections and Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency.  Mr Navalny spent a month in jail and was briefly hospitalised after what he said may have been a poisoning attempt.

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5 years after murders, man accused of killing Spring family execution-style goes to trial

Investigators say Ronald Haskell, Jr. tied the Stay family up and shot them all because he was angry about his recent divorce.

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In a divided US community, Syrian refugee family settles in

Hussam Alhallak and his wife kept thinking that the war in Syria would end, or that at least conditions would improve. The family fled as refugees to Turkey and two years later to the United States, where they are rebuilding a life for themselves far away from war-torn Syria, in the small, working-class city of Rutland, Vermont. The family has made great strides in a short time.

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