Greeks vote in 1st election since bailout end — Greeks have begun voting in the first parliamentary election since their country emerged from three successive international bailouts. The vote is held three months earlier than originally planned after left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras saw his support erode during European elections. Opinion polls suggest Greeks are set to defy the recent European trend of increasing support for populist parties, with conservative opposition party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis a clear favorite to win. Sunday’s vote comes as the country gradually emerges from a brutal nearly decade-long financial crisis that saw unemployment and poverty levels skyrocket, and Greece’s economy slashed by a quarter. Greece was dependent for survival until last summer on international bailouts, and had to impose deep reforms, including massive spending cuts and tax hikes, to qualify for the rescue loans.
Iran poised to raise its uranium enrichment — Iran appears poised to raise its enrichment of uranium and break another limit from its faltering 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Sunday marks the end of a deadline set by President Hassan Rouhani for Europe to find a way for Iran to get around American sanctions. State TV reports officials are scheduled to hold a news conference Sunday to discuss their plans. This comes a year after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal. America since has imposed sanctions blocking Iranian crude oil from being sold on the world market. The U.S. also sanctioned top officials in the Islamic Republic, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In response, Iran on July 1 acknowledged breaking the deal’s 661-pound limit on its low-enriched uranium stockpile.
Biden apologizes for segregationist comments — Former Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday apologized for recent comments about working with segregationist senators in his early days in the U.S. Senate, saying he understands now his remarks could have been offensive to some. “Was I wrong a few weeks ago?” Biden asked a mostly black audience of several hundred in Sumter during the first day of a weekend visit to South Carolina. “Yes, I was. I regret it, and I’m sorry for any of the pain of misconception that caused anybody.” Biden’s comments came as he and rival presidential candidate Kamala Harris were set to circle each other while campaigning Sunday in South Carolina, the first Southern state to vote in next year’s primary and a crucial proving ground for candidates seeking support of black Democrats. Biden defended his record on racial issues and reminded voters of his ties to former President Barack Obama, whose popularity in South Carolina remains high.
Seized North Korean ship sought — The parents of Otto Warmbier have filed a claim for a seized North Korean cargo ship in a bid to collect a multimillion-dollar judgment in the American college student’s death. Attorneys for the Warmbiers said in a court filing Wednesday they have a right to the assets after North Korea failed to respond to their wrongful death claim. The Warmbiers say their son was tortured after being convicted of trying to steal a propaganda poster and imprisoned for months. He died days after being returned to the U.S. in a vegetative state in 2017. A U.S. judge has ordered North Korea to pay more than $500 million in the Warmbiers’ wrongful death suit. North Korea has denied mistreating Warmbier.
Mystery of NSA leak lingers — Federal agents descended on a suburban Maryland house with the flash and bang of a stun grenade, blocked off the street and spent hours questioning the homeowner about a theft of government documents that prosecutors would later describe as “breathtaking” in its scale. The suspect, Harold Martin, was a contractor for the National Security Agency. His arrest followed news of a devastating disclosure of government hacking tools by a mysterious internet group calling itself the Shadow Brokers. It seemed to some that the United States might have found another Edward Snowden, who also had been a contractor for the agency. “You’re a bad man. There’s no way around that,” one law enforcement official conducting the raid told Martin, court papers say. “You’re a bad man.” Later this month, about three years after that raid, the case against Martin is scheduled to be resolved in Baltimore’s federal court. But the identity of the Shadow Brokers, and whoever was responsible for a leak with extraordinary national security implications, will remain a public mystery even as the case concludes.
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