10 things you need to know today: July 7, 2019

Iran&#039;s Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi, government spokesman Ali Rabiei, and Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi

(Image credit: HAMED MALEKPOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

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1. Tehran announces it will begin increasing uranium enrichment beyond deal's limits
2. U.S., Netherlands brace for Women's World Cup final
3. Jeffrey Epstein reportedly arrested, charged with sex trafficking minors
4. Joint Russian, Syrian offensive in rebel-held Syria kills over 500 civilians
5. Car bomb kills 12 in Afghanistan, Taliban claims responsibility amid talks
6. Hong Kong protesters seek to inform tourists from mainland China
7. Biden apologizes for remarks about segregationist senators, defends his record on racial issues
8. Conservatives look to supplant Syriza in Greek snap parliamentary elections
9. U.K. ambassador criticizes Trump administration in leaked diplomatic memos
10. 'Massive' Florida restaurant explosion injures 23

published 7 July 2019

1. Tehran announces it will begin increasing uranium enrichment beyond deal's limits

Iran announced on Sunday that it will increase its uranium enrichment beyond limits set by the 2015 nuclear pact amid growing tensions between Tehran and Washington. Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, said Iran wanted to salvage the deal, but blamed the European signatories, whom Tehran had previous allotted 60 days to come up with new terms, for failing to live up to their own commitments. Iran says that while it will enrich its uranium beyond the pact's 3.67 percent threshold, the country has no intention of building nuclear weapons. Weapons-grade uranium is 90 percent enriched or more. Diplomacy likely still remains an option, however. On Saturday French President Emmanuel Macron told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that he is trying to resume dialogue between Iran and its Western partners by July 15.

The 2019 Women's World Cup will come to a close on Sunday in Lyon when the defending champion United States takes on the upstart Netherlands in the tournament final, which kicks off at 11 a.m. E.T. Both sides are coming off close semifinal wins — the U.S. defeated England 2-1, while the Netherlands advanced past Sweden 1-0 thanks to a 99th minute goal. Neither team has lost a game yet in the tournament. The U.S. is seeking its second consecutive and fourth overall World Cup title, while the Netherlands, the reigning European champion, has never reached this stage before. The U.S. team, as it has been all tournament, is the heavy favorite.

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Jeffrey Epstein, a multimillionaire financier and convicted sex offender, was reportedly arrested on Saturday in New York and charged with sex trafficking minors. The charge reportedly relates to incidents that allegedly occurred in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005, three law enforcement sources told The Daily Beast. Epstein will reportedly appear in federal court in New York on Monday. The new indictment will reportedly allege that Epstein sexually exploited dozens of underage girls in his Upper East Side and Palm Beach homes. The 66-year-old Epstein will reportedly face a sentence of up to 45 years. In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to Florida state charges of soliciting prostitution while avoiding more serious federal charges relating to allegations of molesting dozens of young girls.

A Russian-led assault on the last rebel bastion in northwestern Syria, which began two months ago, has resulted in at least 544 civilian deaths and over 2,000 injuries. Russian jets joined the Syrian army in April to launch the offensive in the rebel-held Idlib province. The Syrian Network for Human Rights said on Saturday that 130 children were among the victims. "The Russian military and its Syrian ally are deliberately targeting civilians with a record number of medical facilities bombed," Fadel Abdul Ghany, the chair of SNHR, said. Russia and Syria deny that their jets hit civilian areas indiscriminately. Moscow, instead, says that its forces are fending off terror attacks by al Qaeda militants.

A car bomb in central Afghanistan killed at least 12 people — eight members of the security forces and four civilians — and wounded more than 179 on Sunday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, which was reportedly targeting an intelligence unit compound in Ghazni. The attack occurred just as Taliban officials were meeting with Afghan leaders in Qatar in an effort to end Afghanistan's wars. It also came just one day after United States peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said the most recent round of negotiations between the U.S. and the Taliban in Doha had been "the most productive" since they began in September. He also said that "substantive progress" had been made on the withdrawal of foreign troops, Taliban anti-terror guarantees, and a permanent cease-fire.

Hong Kong's protesters again gathered in the streets for their fourth mass rally in a month on Sunday. This time, the demonstrators marched through shopping areas popular with tourists from mainland China before winding up at the West Kowloon station, a new high-speed rail station that connects Hong Kong with the mainland. Protesters said the route was chosen as part of an effort to bring the rallies to the attention of mainlanders. Beijing has provided limited coverage of the protests — which were sparked by fears that Hong Kong's autonomy was eroding at the hands of Beijing — since they began. "We hope they will know the truth and spread the word in mainland China," a 17-year-old student said.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, on Saturday apologized for recent comments in which he spoke fondly of working with segregationist senators during his early days in the United States Senate. "I regret it, and I'm sorry for any of the pain or misconception that caused anybody," Biden said of the remarks during a campaign stop in Sumter, South Carolina. Biden also defended his record on racial issues and emphasized his ties with his former running mate and friend, former President Barack Obama. "I'm going to let my record speak for itself and not be distorted or smeared," Biden said.

Greece is headed to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament. The center-right opposition is reportedly mounting a strong challenge to the ruling leftist Syriza party government. Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras called for snap elections after suffering a defeat in May's European elections. The New Democracy party of Kyriakos Mitsotakis is hoping to end Syriza's four-year rule. Mitsotakis is promising to lower taxes, privatize public services, and renegotiate with Greece's creditors to allow more money to be invested into the country. Tspiras, has also promised more investment and recently boosted pensions, but he needs to overcome a 10-point deficit in the polls to remain in office. Three new opinion polls predict a clear victory for New Democracy.

Leaked diplomatic cables sent from the United Kingdom's Ambassador to the United States Kim Darroch back to London describe President Trump as "inept," "insecure," and "incompetent," a U.K. government official confirmed to CNN on Saturday. The memos reportedly span from 2017 to the present day. Darroch reportedly also said that the Trump administration could end "end in disgrace" and that the reported infighting and chaos within the White House is mostly true. "The British public would expect our ambassadors to provide ministers with an honest, unvarnished assessment of the politics in their country," a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said. "Their views are not necessarily the views of ministers or indeed the government. We pay them to be candid."

A vacant pizza restaurant in Plantation, Florida, exploded on Saturday, injuring 23 people. The restaurant was destroyed and nearby businesses and cars were damaged by flying concrete. Firefighters reportedly found ruptured gas lines afterward, but authorities said it was too early to determine a cause. They do, however, still believe that a gas explosion is most likely the cause. All the victims have been located after a search of the blast zone and there were no fatalities. The restaurant, called PizzaFire, had been out of business for several months. Witnesses described the explosion as "massive" and reported that they initially thought they were hearing thunder.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.