U.S. President Donald Trump said he gave his approval to the unannounced invitation of Iran's top diplomat on the margins of the G-7 summit, denying Monday that he was surprised or angered. French President Emmanuel Macron's invitation was a bold gamble that he could secure a breakthrough in global tensions over Iran's nuclear program following Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal and impose new sanctions. Some of those sanctions directly target Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, whose government plane landed Sunday afternoon in the locked-down seaside resort of Biarritz. Get More

President Donald Trump, under pressure to scale back a U.S.-China trade war partly blamed for a global economic slowdown, claimed Monday that the two sides will begin serious negotiations soon. Trump said his trade negotiators had received two "very good calls" from China Sunday, hours after Trump waffled on whether he regretted the one-upmanship on tariffs Friday. Trump at first seemed to express regret over the escalating trade war, but the White House later said Trump's only regret was that he didn't impose even higher tariffs on China. Trump claimed the Sunday evening conversations were a sign China is serious about making a deal. "I think we're going to have a deal, because now we're dealing on proper terms. They understand and we understand," Trump said as he met with Egypt's president on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in France. Get More

Iran on Monday announced that the 2.1 million barrels of crude aboard an Iranian oil tanker pursued by the U.S. has been sold to an unnamed buyer as the ship, at the center of a crisis roiling the region, continued its voyage in the Mediterranean Sea. The announcement by government spokesman Ali Rabiei represent just the latest twist in the saga of the Adrian Darya 1, which had been known as the Grace 1 when authorities seized the vessel off Gibraltar on July 4, on suspicion of breaking European Union sanctions targeting Syria. The seizure of the ship, and Iran's subsequent seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker, came amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran over the collapse of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. Get More

An Oklahoma judge is expected to rule in the first state case to go to trial accusing an opioid drugmaker of being responsible for the devastating consequences of addiction to powerful painkillers. Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman is scheduled to deliver his judgment in open court at 3 p.m. CDT Monday. The Oklahoma case is at the forefront of a wave of lawsuits against drug companies over the opioid crisis. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter has called consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson a "kingpin" company that helped fuel the most devastating public health crisis in the state's history. Company attorneys say they acted responsibly and that the evidence doesn't support the state's claim. Get More

Shares mostly fell Monday after the latest escalation in the U.S.-China trade war renewed uncertainties about global economies, as well as questions over what President Donald Trump might say next. France's CAC 40 recouped early losses to inch up nearly 0.1% in early trading to 5,330.86, while Germany's DAX fell nearly 0.2% to 11,589.71. Markets were closed in Britain for a national holiday. U.S. shares were set to recover with Dow futures up 0.2% at 25,725. S&P 500 futures were up nearly 0.2% at 2,859.60. Stephen Innes, managing partner at Valour Markets in Singapore, compared the difficulty of assessing the volatile market situation to reading tea leaves. Get More

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has insulted adversaries and allies, disparaged women, blacks and homosexuals, and even praised his country's 1964-1985 dictatorship. Yet nothing has rallied more anger at home and criticism from abroad than his response to fires raging in parts of the Amazon region. The far-right populist leader initially dismissed the hundreds of blazes and then questioned whether activist groups might have started the fires in an effort to damage the credibility of his government, which has called for looser environmental regulations in the world's largest rainforest to spur development. In response, European leaders threatened to end a trade deal with Brazil and other South American nations. Thousands of people have demonstrated in cities across Brazil and outside Brazilian embassies around the world. #PrayforAmazonia became a worldwide trending topic. Pope Francis added his voice to the chorus of concern, warning that the "lung of forest is vital for our planet." Get More

Injecting fresh uncertainty at a time of global economic jitters, President Donald Trump sent mixed messages Sunday on the U.S.-China trade war as leaders at a global summit pushed the unpredictable American president to ease frictions over tariffs and cooperate on other geopolitical challenges. Trump's head-snapping comments at the Group of Seven summit about his escalating trade fight with China — first expressing regret, then amping up tariff threats — represented just the latest manifestation of the hazards of the president's go-it-alone mantra. Allies fault his turbulent trade agenda for contributing to a global economic slowdown. Despite Trump's insistence that reports of U.S. tensions with allies are overblown, fissures between the U.S. and six of the world's other advanced economies were apparent on trade policy, Russia and Iran as the leaders gathered at a picturesque French beach resort. Get More

A top Iranian official paid an unannounced visit Sunday to the G-7 summit and headed straight toward the heart of the city where leaders of the world's major democracies have been debating how to handle the country's nuclear ambitions. France's surprise invitation of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was a high-stakes gamble for French President Emmanuel Macron, who is the host of the Group of Seven gathering in Biarritz. Zarif spent about five hours in Biarritz after his plane touched down at the airport, which has been closed since Friday to all flights unrelated to the official G-7 delegations. Get More

Lawmakers on each side of Hong Kong's political divide said Monday the other side bears responsibility after violence during anti-government protests over the weekend. Pro-government members of the Legislative Council condemned the acts of protesters who blocked streets, threw gasoline bombs and assaulted police officers. "You can say a lot of different opinions to the government," said Starry Lee, chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. "But violence is different. If we can accept violence, our city will be ruined." Get More

President Donald Trump is painting a false picture of a U.S. economy unaffected by his trade war with China and other countries. He describes a blue-sky world in which rapidly escalating tariffs have no impact on American consumers even as a raft of businesses and economists say otherwise, chastising those who caution of potential weakness in the economy as partisans. "Our Country, economically, is doing great - the talk of the world!" he tweeted Sunday. He's glossing over the facts. Get More

China allowed its yuan to sink Monday and U.S. President Donald Trump said the two sides will talk "very seriously" about a war over trade and technology following tit-for-tat tariff hikes and Trump's threat to order American companies to stop doing business with China. The escalations prompted warnings that the chances of a settlement of the fight that threatens to tip the global economy into recession were disappearing. But at a conference in France, Trump said serious negotiations would begin. "We are going to start talking very seriously," Trump said at the meeting of the Group of Seven major economies in Biarritz. He said the Chinese "mean business." Get More

It might not be obvious at the supermarket, but the banana industry is fighting to protect the most popular variety of the fruit from a destructive fungus. A disease that ravages banana crops has made its long-dreaded arrival in Latin America, the biggest exporter of the crop. That's reigniting worries about the global market's dependence on a single type of banana, the Cavendish, which is known for its durability in shipping. For years, scientists have said big banana companies like Chiquita and Dole would eventually need to find new banana varieties as the disease spread in countries in Asia and elsewhere. Then this month, the fungus was confirmed in Colombia, one of the top exporters in Latin America, prompting officials in the country to declare a state of emergency. Get More

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Saturday a new state commission to review educational standards for teaching black history in the state, as officials observed the arrival of enslaved Africans to what is now Virginia 400 years ago. Northam, who noted "we are a state that for too long has told a false story of ourselves," spoke at the 2019 African Landing Commemorative Ceremony in Hampton. The event was part of a weekend of ceremonies that are unfolding in the backdrop of rising white nationalism across the country and a lingering scandal surrounding Northam and a blackface photo. Northam said he signed a directive to create the commission to review instructional practices, content, and resources currently used to teach African American history in the state. Get More

Three women who were arrested for going topless at a New Hampshire beach are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case. Heidi Lilley, Kia Sinclair and Ginger Pierro were arrested in Laconia in 2016. They're part of a global campaign advocating for the rights of women to go topless called Free the Nipple. The New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld their convictions earlier this year, ruling that Laconia did not violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution with its ordinance barring women from showing their nipples in public. Get More