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The suicide bomber stood in the middle of the dancing, clapping crowd as hundreds of Afghan children and adults celebrated a wedding in a joyous release from Kabul's strain of war. Then, in a flash, he detonated his explosives-filled vest, killing dozens — and Afghanistan grieved again. The local Islamic State affiliate claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in the capital this year, with 63 killed and 182 wounded, while outraged Afghans questioned just how safe they will be under an approaching deal between the United States and the Taliban to end America's longest war.

Israel said it opened fire on armed Palestinians on Gaza's border overnight and Hamas's health ministry reported three dead Sunday, the latest in a series of incidents along the tense barrier. Israel's tank and helicopter fire came after Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired three rockets at Israel late Saturday, the army said, the second such attack in 24 hours.

Russia will not deploy new missiles as long as the United States shows similar restraint in Europe and Asia, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said on Sunday, after Washington's withdrawal from a Soviet-era arms pact. The United States formally left the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia earlier this month after accusing Moscow of violating the treaty and deploying one banned type of missile, allegations the Kremlin denies. Russia has also pulled out of the deal, but Shoigu said it had no plans to deploy new missiles.

(Bloomberg) -- Tens of thousands of Hong Kong protesters defied a torrential downpour as they gathered in the centrally located Victoria Park for the weekend’s major rally, after two nights of demonstrations ended peacefully and without police firing tear gas.Sunday’s rally was organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, which has drawn some of the biggest crowds in about three months of protests, and was confined to the park after police denied a request for a march from the site. The demonstrations that started in early June against a bill that would allow extraditions to the mainland have since morphed into a broader criticism of China’s rule over the financial hub.Thousands of pro- and anti-government supporters came out on Saturday in rival demonstrations that expressed support for Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s administration on one side, and criticized her and police actions in another. China urged Hong Kong to punish demonstrators who break the law, after they massed at the city’s international airport and forced its closure last week.There is a growing list of demands made by various groups and directed at the government to address. One rally on Saturday called for curbs on visitors from China, while a planned gathering that was later canceled wanted to highlight the impact of tear gas used by police on animals.Here’s the latest (all times local):Rain, what rain? (Sunday 4 p.m.)Protesters in Victoria Park ignored the driving rain and dark skies as they took cover in a multicolored shield of umbrellas. People exited the venue and made their way toward the train station in line with organizers’ requests to make space for throngs waiting to get into the rally.Economic Typhoon Signal 3 raised (Sunday)Hong Kong should brace for an “economic typhoon” because of social unrest and the U.S.-China trade war, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said in a blog post Sunday. He likened current economic conditions to a Signal 3 cyclone warning and said that the city could suffer a direct hit.Park rally (Sunday 1.30 p.m.)People poured into Victoria Park in Causeway Bay in orderly queues snaking around the site hours before the rally was scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Organizers said they would try to ensure the gathering went off peacefully and that the park wasn’t overcrowded.“We will be totally peaceful today but it depends on how the police react,” said Bonnie Leung, a vice convener of the Civil Human Rights Front. “Police have imposed a lot of unnecessary conditions, so we don’t have a march but we have a large number of people which cannot be contained in this Victoria Park. Our legislators will lead the crowd to hopefully peacefully leave the park so that more people can come inside.”‘Return to Reason’ (Sunday 11 a.m.)Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung said violence must stop immediately to solve problems facing the city. While protesters say their “extreme actions” are to strive for a better future, the situation needs to “return to reason” before steps that can be taken to achieve that, he said.“Destruction is easy and construction is difficult,” Cheung said in a blog post on Sunday. Violent acts during protests “have seriously affected and damaged the lives of the people, disrupted social order, impacted the rule of law in Hong Kong and the moral bottom line, and hit Hong Kong’s international image.”An Early Night (Saturday 8 p.m)Protesters dispersed after some clashes with police, and the day ended without the use of tear gas for the first time in weeks.Eggs and laser beams (Saturday 7 p.m.)Hong Kong police said a “large group of protesters” who surrounded its station in Mong Kok posed a threat to its officers at the scene. Some demonstrators were seen aiming laser beams at the police officers, and pelting eggs at the station.Police in riot gear cleared the area around the station of protesters.Pro-China rally (Saturday 5 p.m.)Tens of thousands joined a pro-government rally in Tamar Park, Admiralty, filling the space adjacent to the central government offices. “Support the motherland, support one country two systems; anti-violence, save Hong Kong,” they chanted. Organizers estimated the crowd size at 476,000, while the police said it was around 108,000, broadcasters reported.China calls for punishment (Saturday 4.30 p.m.)Protesters who have broken laws must be punished accordingly, You Wenze, spokesman for China’s National People’s Congress Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview with state TV Saturday. Some protesters have challenged the one-China principle, You said.“There’s no majesty in laws if breaking laws can go unpunished,” said You, whose committee is a panel of China’s legislature that crafted the Basic Law of Hong Kong -- its mini constitution.Pro-China crowd in Sydney (Saturday 2:30 p.m.)Demonstrations are taking place in hubs across the world this weekend, including San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza to London’s Trafalgar Square and cities in Canada, Australia, Germany and Taiwan.In Sydney, hundreds of China supporters draped in the red national flag protested against “selfish” Hong Kong demonstrators. They marched down Sydney’s George Street in the central business district, chanting “One China” and “We support Hong Kong police.”“We support Hong Kong, this is why we are here,” said Jonah Zhu, who hails from the Chinese city of Guangzhou and is studying teaching in Sydney. Protesters “are destroying the Hong Kong economy, they’re trying to block the airport, they are being selfish.”Kowloon rally (Saturday 3.30 p.m.)Thousands set off from a park in west Kowloon, extended the list of demands to include a call for a limit to the number of tourists from mainland China.“Although we do not forget the five demands of the Hong Kong people themselves, the main demand of this rally would be to set a capped number on mainland Chinese tourists,” said Timothy Lee, a community officer in Kowloon who organized the march. “We call upon the police to remain restrained and calm at all times.”Teachers on the streets (Saturday 11.30 a.m.)Thousands of teachers gathered in Chater Garden in pelting rain and an amber rainstorm warning from Hong Kong Observatory. The educators marched to Government House, Lam’s official residence, as the weather cleared. They tied white ribbons to the railings around the residence and then moved on to make way for arriving protesters.At least 22,000 people took part in the demonstration, Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union president Fung Wai-wah said, while police estimated that there were 8,300 protesters in the march at its peak.March granted permission (Friday 11 p.m.)A march in west Kowloon was granted approval by the Appeal Board after organizers changed the planned route. The earlier course was denied permission by police on grounds of public-safety concerns.Protesters Gather in Central District (Friday 9:59 p.m.)Hundreds of protesters gathered in centrally located Chater Garden, the site of previous peaceful gatherings by civil servants and finance professionals. Protesters called on the U.S. and the U.K. to support their cause.Cathay Pacific CEO Resigns (Friday 5:08 p.m.)Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.’s Chief Executive Officer Rupert Hogg stepped down to take responsibility after the airline got caught in the middle of the protests.Hong Kong’s flag carrier is the most visible corporate victim of the demonstrations: After its staff took part in protests and strikes, China levied a raft of curbs on the airline, which increasingly relies on mainland passengers. Its Board of Directors “believes that it is the right time for new leadership to take Cathay Pacific forward,” the statement said. Augustus Tang, 60, replaced Hogg.\--With assistance from Justin Chin, Natalie Lung, Sybilla Gross and Jinshan Hong.To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Karen Leigh in Hong Kong at kleigh4@bloomberg.net;Shawna Kwan in Hong Kong at wkwan35@bloomberg.net;Aaron Mc Nicholas in Hong Kong at amcnicholas2@bloomberg.net;Jinshan Hong in Hong Kong at jhong214@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, ;Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Stanley JamesFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Abdulmalik Abdulaziz, an Uighur student, was arrested and handcuffed by Egyptian police and when they removed his blindfold he was surprised to see Chinese officials questioning him in custody. "They never said their names or mentioned who they were exactly," said Abdulaziz, 27, who spoke to AFP helping to uncover new details of the 2017 arrests of over 90 Uighurs from the mostly Muslim Turkic minority. Abdulaziz, like most swept up in the three-day crackdown in the first week of July 2017, was an Islamic theology student at Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world's most prestigious educational institution.

An Afghanistan peace agreement that the US seems close to reaching with the Taliban has prompted worries that President Donald Trump's desire to quickly withdraw US troops could further plunge the country into civil war. Trump said Friday he was pleased with talks on ending the war, 18 years after the September 11, attacks that prompted the US invasion of Afghanistan in the first place. In recent days several US officials have suggested that an accord could be imminent in discussions with the Taliban in Qatar.

Jeremiah Button was sleeping in a homemade bunker in the woods on the morning of Aug. 9 when his three-year run from the law came to an end.

The Isis fighter known as Jihadi Jack has been stripped of his British citizenship, prompting a diplomatic row between the UK and Canada, it has been reported.  Muslim convert Jack Letts, 24, who had held dual UK and Canadian citizenship, declared he was an "enemy of Britain" after travelling from Oxfordshire to Syria at the age of 18 to join the terror group. He has begged to be allowed to return to the UK, insisting he had "no intention" of killing Britons, after he was captured by Kurdish forces in 2017.  The Home Office has now stripped Letts of British citizenship, meaning he is the responsibility of the Canadian government, The Mail on Sunday said. It was reportedly one of the last actions of Theresa May’s administration. Isil Rise and fall of a caliphate The decision is understood to have angered officials in Ottawa, prompting fears of a row between Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Boris Johnson when they meet at the G7 summit in France next weekend. Letts, who travelled to the Middle East in 2014, is now among more than 120 dual nationals who have been stripped of their British citizenship since 2016, including Isis bride Shamima Begum. Ms Begum was one of three girls from Bethnal Green, east London, who left the UK aged just 15 in February 2015 and travelled to Syria to join Islamic State. It was thought Ms Begum may have a claim in Bangladesh because of her family background, something Bangladeshi officials denied. The move can only be made against people with two passports, because international law prevents the Government from making anyone "stateless".  John Letts and Sally Lane, the parents of a Muslim convert dubbed Jihadi Jack Credit: PA It will come as a blow to Lett's parents, Sally Lane and John Letts, who were found guilty at the Old Bailey in June of funding terrorism and given 12-month sentences suspended for 15 months. In an interview after their conviction, they said: "Jack is still a British citizen and we have pleaded with the Government to help us to bring him to safety, even if that meant that he might be prosecuted in the UK." A Home Office spokesman said: "This power is one way we can counter the terrorist threat posed by some of the most dangerous individuals and keep our country safe." In an interview with ITV earlier this year, Letts said he felt British and that he wanted to return to the UK, but admitted he did not think that would be likely. "I'm not going to say I'm innocent. I'm not innocent. I deserve what comes to me. But I just want it to be... appropriate... not just haphazard, freestyle punishment in Syria," he told the broadcaster. Struggling with obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette's when he was at school, Jack converted to Islam at the age of 16. He used to attend the Bengali mosque in Cowley Road, Oxford, before he came into contact with men with a more radical ideology. Jack has previously admitted he was at one time prepared to carry out a suicide attack, telling the BBC: "I used to want to at one point, believe it or not. Not a vest. I wanted to do it in a car. I said if there's a chance, I will do it." He also said in the interview, which took place in October last year but was not broadcast until after his parents' trial had ended, that he realised he had been "an enemy of Britain" but added that he had made "a big mistake".

The pilot of a small plane in a deadly crash near New Orleans' Lakefront Airport radioed the control tower shortly after takeoff about unspecified problems and sought clearance to return, federal investigators said Saturday. The pilot and an award-winning television journalist aboard were both killed in the crash Friday afternoon. The National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement that the pilot contacted the tower just before the Aerotek Pitts S-2B went down in a field not far from the airport.

A Phoenix woman's complaint says a "cuddling" session with a massage therapist turned sexual.

A suicide-bomb blast ripped through a wedding party on a busy Saturday night in Afghanistan’s capital and dozens of people were killed or wounded, a government official said. More than 1,000 people had been invited, one witness said, as fears grew that it could be the deadliest attack in Kabul this year. Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi told The Associated Press the attacker set off explosives among the wedding participants. Both the Taliban and a local affiliate of the Islamic State group carry out bloody attacks in the capital. The blast occurred near the stage where musicians were and "all the youths, children and all the people who were there were killed," witness Gul Mohammad said. One of the wounded, Mohammad Toofan, said that "a lot of guests were martyred." Officials were not expected to release a toll until daytime on Sunday. "There are so many dead and wounded," said Ahmad Omid, a survivor who said about 1,200 guests had been invited to the wedding for his father’s cousin. "I was with the groom in the other room when we heard the blast and then I couldn’t find anyone. Everyone was lying all around the hall." An Afghan man mourns near the body of his brother after he was killed in an explosion at wedding hall in Kabul Credit: AP Outside a local hospital, families wailed. Others were covered in blood. The blast at the Dubai City wedding hall in western Kabul, a part of the city that many in the minority Shiite Hazara community call home, shattered a period of relative calm. On August 7, a Taliban car bomb aimed at Afghan security forces detonated on the same road, killing 14 people and wounding 145 - most of them women, children and other civilians. Kabul’s huge, brightly lit wedding halls are centres of community life in a city weary of decades of war, with thousands of dollars spent on a single evening. "Devastated by the news of a suicide attack inside a wedding hall in Kabul. A heinous crime against our people; how is it possible to train a human and ask him to go and blow himself (up) inside a wedding?!!" Sediq Seddiqi, spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani, said in a Twitter post. The wedding halls also serve as meeting places, and in November at least 55 people were killed when a suicide bomber sneaked into a Kabul wedding hall where hundreds of Muslim religious scholars and clerics had gathered to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. The Taliban denied involvement in an attack that bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State affiliate. A wounded man receives treatment at a hospital after an explosion at wedding hall in Kabul Credit: AP Saturday night’s explosion came a few days after the end of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, with Kabul residents visiting family and friends, and just before Afghanistan marks its 100th independence day on Monday under heavier security in a city long familiar with checkpoints and razor wire. The blast comes at a greatly uncertain time in Afghanistan as the United States and the Taliban near a deal to end a nearly 18-year war, America’s longest conflict. The Afghan government has been sidelined from those discussions, and presidential spokesman Seddiqi said earlier on Saturday that his government was waiting to hear results of President Donald Trump’s meeting on Friday with his national security team about the negotiations. Top issues include a US troop withdrawal and Taliban guarantees not to let Afghanistan become a launching pad for global terror attacks. While the Taliban earlier this year pledged to do more to protect civilians, it continues to stage deadly attacks against Afghan security forces and others in what is seen by many as an attempt to strengthen its position at the negotiating table. The conflict continues to take a horrific toll on civilians. Last year more than 3,800, including more than 900 children, were killed in Afghanistan by the Taliban, US and allied forces, the Islamic State affiliate and other actors, the United Nations said.

While small in size, this off-roader fetched a huge amount. Monterey Car Week always has some surprises. While there are the planned “surprise” reveals of concept cars by automakers, what’s far more shocking is when a vehicle that seems fairly interesting sparks a bidding war. That’s exactly what happened with this 1967 Ferves Ranger when it crossed the block as the first lot on August 16, fetching $175,000.While that’s a considerable amount for a little off-roader, consider this: official estimates were that it would sell at $30,000 to $40,000. It more than quadrupled those expectations. Not bad for a vehicle that borrowed heavily from the Fiat 500 and 600.The Italian micro off-roader is full of personality. When it was revealed in 1966 at the Turin Motor Show, the little thing caused quite the stir. Designed by Carlo Ferrari, its name is actually an abbreviation of Ferrari Special Vehicles, something you might not imagine as a connection. There’s little doubt that pedigree played into the inflated bidding war on Friday.A rear-mounted engine in the Fevres Ranger produces 18-horsepower, which was sourced from the Fiat 500. This example was a two-wheel-drive model, which is a popular option. Today, it’s believed only about 50 Fevres Rangers have survived.Another big winner on Friday was a McLaren F1 with LM factory modifications, such as an unrestricted V12 engine and aero body kit. It sold for a spectacular $18 million. It was a record amount for a McLaren at auction, which was impressive, despite the supercar not hitting the estimated range of $21-$23 million.The sale of the 1965 Ford GT Competition Prototype Roadster for $7.65 million caused quite the stir.It just goes to show that with auctions pretty much anything can happen, especially with cars that are offered with no reserve. Surely more surprises are coming this weekend, and we’ll keep you posted with highlights.Image credit: RM Sotheby’s Read More * Check Out The Sights At Monterey Car Week * Monterey Car Week Auctions Live Stream

Police say a Gainesville, Florida, mom of two young boys told a friend she was going to kill herself and her sons by crashing her car with everyone inside.

DOJ argued that Title VII does not protect transgender people

Firefighters in California have mostly contained two of the wildfires threatening parts of Northern California this week, according to Cal Fire.

Hundreds of flag-waving members of the Proud Boys and Three Percenters militia group, as well as black-clad anti-fascist counterprotesters, gathered downtown Saturday. Police used concrete barriers and closed bridges to keep the rival groups separated.

Italy's hard-line interior minister buckled under pressure Saturday and agreed to let 27 unaccompanied minors leave a migrant rescue ship after two weeks at sea, temporarily easing a political standoff that has threatened the viability of the populist government. In recent days, Premier Giuseppe Conte had written to Interior Minister Matteo Salvini demanding that minors be allowed off the boat. After initially refusing, Salvini wrote back Saturday with a three-page missive of his own saying he would do so but made clear it was Conte's choice and that it didn't set a precedent.

Montreal (AFP) - The mayor of Ottawa revealed Saturday that he is gay, an announcement that comes on the eve of gay pride week in the Canadian capital city.

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration will move forward within days with a plan to cancel certain foreign aid payments authorized by Congress, setting up a fight with lawmakers opposed to the move.A senior administration official confirmed that the so-called rescissions package would be announced early next week.Some of the funding being zeroed out was for projects like installing solar panels in the Caribbean and creating safe spaces in Ireland for people upset about Brexit, said the administration official, who declined to be identified discussing plans not yet made public.CNN reported Saturday that the move would take aim at funding for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as the United Nations for certain peace-keeping operations in the Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.The official said that Congress during the Trump administration has funded State and USAID at about $12 billion above the president’s budget requests, and that the rescission package would return some of that excess back to the budget.Republican lawmakers who are typically Trump allies, notably Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, this week urged the president to reconsider “in the strongest possible terms” after word of the possible rescissions was reported.“We share your concern about our mounting national debt, which in itself creates security risks to the country,” Graham and Representative Hal Rogers of Kentucky said in a letter to Trump. “However, it has been reported that this proposal makes sweeping and indiscriminate cuts without regard to national security impacts.”(Updates throughout with detail.)To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Steve GeimannFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesDespite years of fighting calls to “defund Planned Parenthood,” the reproductive healthcare organization may now voluntarily remove itself from a massive government funding program, after a federal appeals court allowed a controversial new abortion rule to go forward.For months, Planned Parenthood has been battling a new Trump administration rule that bars taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from talking with their patients about abortion, or referring them to abortion providers. Planned Parenthood deemed the measure a “gag rule” and said it would pull out of Title X—the program that administers the funds—rather than comply with the new regulations.The court ruling Friday put that declaration to the test: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear its previous order allowing the rule to go forward. “The full court has been advised of the motions for full court en banc reconsideration and no judge has requested a vote on whether to rehear the matter as a full en banc court,” Chief Judge Sidney Thomas wrote. “The motions for full court en banc reconsideration are denied.”In a statement, Planned Parenthood leadership said they would consider their options and announce next steps on Monday. “We refuse to cower to this president,” acting PPFA President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said. “The gag rule is unethical, dangerous, and we will not subject our patients to it.”The Title X program provides funding for family planning services to an estimated 4 million people every year, the majority of whom are low-income and people of color. While Planned Parenthood serves more than 40 percent of these patients, the rule will also affect independent clinics and doctors' offices. Approximately 60 percent of women get their usual medical care from a Title X-supported healthcare center, according to the Guttmacher Institute. “If Planned Parenthood is forced to withdraw from Title X funding because of Trump, countless patients will not have access to basic services like contraception and pap smears,” NARAL president Ilyse Hogue tweeted. “This will disproportionately affect low income and rural women. This Administration may not care but we do!”Planned Parenthood, several medical organizations, and 21 states filed a challenge to the new Title X rule in May, claiming the change would cause “significant public health impacts.” A federal judge in Oregon blocked the rule in April, calling it a “ham-fisted approach to public health policy,” but the 9th circuit court ruled in June that it could go forward. Planned Parenthood appealed the 9th circuit's decision in July, and this month issued a letter saying they would pull out of the Title X program if the ruling was not overturned. “Planned Parenthood has long been firmly committed to its Title X patients and to the Title X program, which it has served for nearly 50 years,” attorneys for the organization wrote. “With deep regret, however, its direct grantees now have no option but to withdraw from the Title X program.”HHS fired back with its own letter, claiming the healthcare provider sought “extraordinary, if not unprecedented, relief, based on self-inflicted harms.”“If the seven Planned Parenthood direct grantees insist on providing abortion referrals even within a federally funded program, and feel so strongly that they would withdraw from the program and the public they serve, that is their own choice, not a consequence of the Rule,” attorneys for HHS wrote.HHS officials have already begun enforcing the rule, according to a notice it sent to Title X grantees last month. An HHS spokesperson told CNN they would consider funding a new organization that complies with the rules to fulfill Planned Parenthood’s obligations.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.