A year after the United States pulled out of the Iran nuclear agreement, the pact is at severe risk of collapse and the European Union is caught in the middle, struggling to keep supply lines open to the Islamic Republic's wilting economy under the threat of U.S. sanctions. With few real options left, their trust in the Trump administration running low, and fears rising that conflict could break out, major powers Germany, France and Britain have been reduced to repeating calls for restraint as pressure builds and Iran threatens to walk away from the painstakingly drafted 2015 deal. In an effort to keep Iran's economy afloat and save an agreement they believe has stopped Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, the Europeans are turning to diplomacy to try to encourage other countries to buy more Iranian oil.

A party of fishermen about 30 miles southeast of the Manasquan Inlet got a shocking visitor: a huge great white shark.

A teenager masterminded the murder of her best friend after a stranger she met online promised her £7m to carry out the act, police say.Denali Brehmer, 18, allegedly began plotting the murder of 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman after meeting Darin Schilmiller on a chat site.Mr Schilmiller, 21, is said to have posed as a millionaire called Tyler and offered the mother-of-one, from Anchorage in Alaska, millions of dollars to send him pictures and videos of the killing.The teenager allegedly recruited Kayden McIntosh, 16, Caleb Leyland, 19, and two unnamed juveniles - a boy and a girl - to help her carry out the killing in exchange for a cut of the money.She then lured Ms Hoffman, who was said to have had a developmental disability, to her death under the guise that they were going for a hike on 2 June, according to the Alaska Department of Law.Ms Brehmer and Mr McIntosh are said to have driven Ms Hoffman to Thunderbird Falls near the Eklutna River in Mr Leyland’s car.She was then bound with duct tape before Mr McIntosh allegedly shot her in the back of the head and pushed into the river.Police found Ms Hoffman’s body two days later in a creek near Thunderbird Falls.On Friday, all six suspects were charged with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder and two counts of second degree murder.Mr Schilmiller, from Indiana, is awaiting extradition to Alaska, where he will join the other five defendants in custody.A search of Ms Brehmer’s phone also allegedly revealed evidence that she produced child pornography videos and sent them to Mr Schilmiller at his request.Court documents show they have both been charged with conspiracy to produce child pornography, production of child pornography, receipt and distribution of child pornography, and coercion and enticement of a minor.Mr Leyland is also accused of sexually assaulting the juvenile female suspect and faces additional charges of sexual assault and sexual abuse of a minor, according to Anchorage Police Department.

Mere minutes after Fox News aired a segment on Monday that seemingly laid out the case for military strikes against Iran, President Trump cryptically—and without context—tweeted out verbatim a graphic displayed by the network, noting Iran has threatened to exceed uranium stockpile limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal.“Iran to defy Uranium Stockpile Limits,” the president tweeted at 11:49 a.m. ET, three minutes after America’s Newsroom aired a chyron with the same wording:As first highlighted by Media Matters’ Matthew Gertz—who often tracks the president’s habit of live-tweeting Fox News programming—the segment itself included commentary that encouraged strikes against Iran, claiming that Iran only responds to strength and brief action against the nation won’t necessarily lead to a protracted war.Fox News anchor Julie Banderas first highlighted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s assertion over the weekend that America doesn’t want war as tensions increase with Iran but will take military action if needed.“History will tell you Iran only responds to strength,” Banderas noted after Fox News contributor Daniel Hoffman said the stockpiling of low-grade uranium was a “real threat” to the United States. “Strength in numbers, strength in military action is needed according to Mike Pompeo, who says the president would back that. Do you believe that military action is needed?”Stating the United States is not interested in returning to the Iran Nuclear Deal that the Trump administration withdrew from last year, Hoffman went on to say that the administration is hinting at a “flexible response” that could include B-52 bombers if the United States felt under attack.“If there’s something smaller, then we might respond with something less serious than that,” the former CIA official added.Banderas, meanwhile, responded by replaying an earlier segment that featured Fox News analyst and retired general Jack Keane, noting Keane claimed military action would not necessarily lead to war and that viewers shouldn’t be that concerned over potential military strikes.After playing Keane’s remarks, in which he said Iran doesn’t want a war but is willing to “escalate militarily” so the United States has to “have enough resolve to stand up to that,” Banderas reiterated Keane’s belief that America needs to be tougher with Iran.“The United States does not want war as well with Iran,” the Fox News anchor declared. “But they are going to step up the game because these war game that are being played by Iran, the United States isn’t going to go for that.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet 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.

(Bloomberg) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is standing by China over a collision involving the two nations’ boats in the South China Sea, with his spokesman casting doubts on local fishermen’s accounts of the incident.In his first public statement about what he described as a “maritime incident,” Duterte said China’s side should be heard on the collision that resulted in a Philippine vessel carrying 22 fishermen sinking in disputed waters on June 9. The crew were rescued by a Vietnamese fishing boat and a Philippine Navy ship.“It is best investigated. I don’t issue a statement now because there’s no investigation and no result," Duterte said in speech at a Philippine Navy event on Monday night. "The only thing we can do is wait and give the other party the right to be heard.”The Philippines will not escalate tensions with China by sending military ships to the South China Sea following the collision, he added, reiterating his nation isn’t ready to go to war with Beijing.At a briefing Tuesday, Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said there are "circumstances that give doubt to the version" of the Filipino fishermen, including how most of them were asleep when the collision happened.“The President doesn’t want this to be blown into an international crisis,” Panelo said. “We are being careful because there will be repercussions if we make the wrong move.”‘Passive’ PolicyDuterte stuck to his pro-China stance despite calls from the opposition, led by Vice President Leni Robredo, to change his “passive” China policy by actively asserting the nation’s rights in the disputed waters. Robredo, in a Facebook post Sunday, also called on Duterte’s government to demand the Chinese fishermen’s trial in the Philippines.Duterte now has to convince the public that friendly ties with China is still the way to go, said Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea.“Between the Philippine government and the Chinese government the friendship policy has been set, but this incident has happened and casts doubt on the sincerity and wisdom of it to the Filipino people,” Batongbacal said.The Philippines’ long-term position in the South China Sea dispute may be weakened if Duterte maintains his pro-Beijing stance after the incident, said Professor Jeffrey Ordaniel, a fellow at Hawaii-based foreign policy research institute Pacific Forum. “The Duterte administration’s China policy is unfortunately helping the Chinese pursue their maritime ambitions.”Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang described the incident as an “accidental collision" at briefing on Monday, adding that politicizing the collision “is not appropriate.” Beijing’s embassy in Manila earlier said the Chinese vessel’s captain tried to rescue the Philippine fishermen after bumping into their boat, but was afraid of being "besieged" by other Filipino fishing boats.The incident took place near Reed Bank, an area claimed by both Manila and Beijing where there’s a pending oil exploration plan by Philippines company PXP Energy Corp.\--With assistance from Dandan Li and Philip J. Heijmans.To contact the reporter on this story: Andreo Calonzo in Manila at acalonzo1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecilia Yap at cyap19@bloomberg.net, Ruth Pollard, Caroline AlexanderFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.