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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news:
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
France’s far-right National Rally has won the first round of the snap parliamentary elections with 33% of the vote, the interior ministry said. The leftwing New Popular Front alliance came in second, securing 28%, while President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Together coalition reached 20%. The chances of National Rally winning power will depend on political deal-making by its rivals in the coming days, ahead of Sunday’s runoff. The Guardian reports; Noemie Bisserbe and Stacy Meichtry report for the Wall Street Journal.
Several U.S. military bases across Europe were put on heightened alert over the weekend amid concerns that a terrorist attack could target U.S. military personnel or facilities, two U.S. officials said. The bases raised their alert level to Force Protection Condition “Charlie” on Sunday, which often indicates the military has received an “active-reliable threat,” according to one official. The official said they hadn’t seen that threat level in “at least 10 years.” Natasha Bertrand and Oren Liebermann report for CNN.
An attacker who fired a crossbow at a police officer guarding the Israeli embassy in Serbia’s capital city of Belgrade was shot dead Saturday. President Aleksandar Vucic described the incident as a terrorist attack against Serbia. No embassy staff were wounded in the attack, and the police officer is in a stable condition. Ivana Sekularac reports for Reuters.
At least 18 people were killed and dozens wounded in a series of suicide bombings, all carried out by women, on Saturday afternoon in northeastern Nigeria. As of yesterday, no group had claimed responsibility for the bombings in Gwoza, a city in Borno State that has been the center of an insurgency by the militant group Boko Haram over the last 15 years. Ismail Alfa and Eilan Peltier report for the New York Times.
Iran will hold a run-off election on July 5 after hardline candidate Saeed Jalili and rival reformist Massoud Pezeshkian both failed to secure a majority in the presidential race. Voter turnout was low, with more than 60% of voters casting no ballot on Friday. Kasra Naji and Sofia Ferreira Santos report for BBC News; Jon Gambrell and Amir Vahdat report for AP News.
Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán and his far-right Fidesz party are forming a new political alliance with Austria’s Freedom Party and the Czech Action of Dissatisfied Citizens Movement. The group, called the “Patriots of Europe”, is aiming to become “the largest right-wing group in European politics,” Orbán said at a press conference in Vienna yesterday. Marianne Gros reports for POLITICO.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a new coalition government following May’s elections. His African National Congress party will hold 20 out of 32 cabinet posts, while the Democratic Alliance (DA) – until now the main opposition party – will hold six. The remaining six portfolios are shared among smaller parties. Jaroslav Lukiv reports for BBC News.
The Taliban yesterday told the West to overlook measures they have imposed on Afghan women and girls for the sake of advancing foreign relations. At the opening of a U.N.-led meeting in Qatar, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson said they uphold certain religious and cultural values that “must be acknowledged” to facilitate progressive bilateral relations. No country officially recognizes the Taliban, and U.N. has said that recognition remains near impossible while women are banned from education and employment. NBC News reports. Readers may also be interested in Nasir Andisha’s analysis of the Taliban and the Doha Envoy Talks for Just Security.
North Korea test-fired two ballistic missiles today, South Korea’s military said, a day after the North vowed “offensive and overwhelming” responses to a new trilateral U.S. military drill with South Korea and Japan. Seoul said one of the missiles flew abnormally and likely landed in an inland area of the North. Hyung-Jin Kim reports for AP News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli forces yesterday advanced further into the Shejaia neighborhood of Gaza City while pushing deeper into western and central Rafah, residents said, killing at least six Palestinians and destroying several homes. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed yesterday that fighting in Gaza will continue until Hamas is eliminated and “all the other goals of the war are achieved.” Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Kamel Hamdan report for Reuters; Marianne Gros reports for POLITICO.
Gaza’s remaining hospitals, health centers, and oxygen stations will stop functioning within 48 hours due to fuel shortages, the Hamas-run health ministry said yesterday. Aid groups say that Israel’s closure of the Rafah crossing last month cut off key supply lines, limiting humanitarian and medical supplies entering the enclave. Jennifer Hassan, Claire Parker, Sarah Dadouch and Heidi Levine report for the Washington Post.
Tens of thousands of Jewish ultra-Orthodox men clashed with Israeli police in central Jerusalem yesterday at a protest against the Supreme Court decision ordering conscription. Police said they had to use force to disperse protesters, as rioters threw stones at law enforcement and the car of Israel’s housing minister. Ohad Zwigenberg reports for AP News; Lauren Izso and Hande Atay Alam report for CNN.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
The United States has proposed new language to bridge the gaps in ceasefire discussions, according to three sources. The efforts are focused on an article in the proposal relating to negotiations during the first stage of the deal to set conditions for the second stage, including reaching “sustainable calm” in Gaza. Hamas wants the negotiations to only focus on the number and identity of Palestinian prisoners who will be released, while Israel wants to have the ability to raise demilitarization of Gaza and other issues. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH TENSIONS
A drone strike in the northern Golan Heights along Lebanon’s border injured 18 soldiers yesterday, the Israeli military said. The Israeli Air Force said it had struck two “Hezbollah terror targets” in southern Lebanon, and that Israeli forces fired artillery into southern Lebanon “to remove threats in multiple areas.” The New York Times reports.
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday on the scope of the obstruction law used to charge hundreds of people with obstructing Congress during the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Readers may be interested in Ryan Goodman, Mary McCord, and Andrew Weissmann’s analysis of the ruling for Just Security, including its impact on former President Trump’s D.C. criminal case and the Jan. 6 defendants.
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s request to remain out of prison while he continues to appeal his contempt of Congress conviction. Bannon is set to report to a federal prison in Connecticut today to begin his four-month sentence. Devin Dwyer reports for ABC News; Sara Murray, Katelyn Polatnz, and Devan Cole report for CNN.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS
Russia’s glide bombs are striking their own territory likely due to faulty guidance systems, an internal Russian document has revealed. At least 38 of the bombs, which have been credited with assisting Russia’s recent territorial advances, crashed into the Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine between April 2023 and April 2024. Mary Ilyushina and Isabelle Khurshudyan report for the Washington Post.