The president of France calls for new elections after the EU vote
President Emmanuel Macron of France, who suffered a crushing defeat to the far right in the European elections, yesterday dissolved the lower house of parliament. He called for legislative elections starting June 30.
Macron’s decision was a measure of the devastating nature of the European Parliament election results. His centrist party was about to end up with about half the support of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party, which will become the main French party.
“The rise of nationalists and demagogues is a danger for our nation and for Europe,” Macron said. “After this day I cannot continue as if nothing had happened.”
Early projections for the European Parliament elections, held in 27 EU countries, appeared to show strong gains for several far-right parties. If confirmed, the results would amount to a powerful measure of voter dissatisfaction and a harsh rebuke to the political mainstream. Here are the live results.
“The move was not widely expected and its consequences are still unclear, so it’s a bit difficult to say definitively why Macron decided to take this step now,” my colleague Aurelien Breeden, who covers France, told me. “But his domestic agenda has been hampered by a weak majority in the lower house of Parliament for the past two years, and the strong showing of the far right appears to have convinced him that he could no longer continue with things as usual.” habit”.
The rise of the right: Right-wing parties made gains as voters focused on nationalism and identity, issues often linked to migration and some culture war policies. Lingering anger over Covid policies could also have played a role.
More about France: Macron The decision comes weeks before the Summer Olympics begin in Paris in July and marks the beginning of a period of deep political uncertainty in France.
In Germany: Alternative for Germany, a far-right party that the country’s authorities officially labeled a “suspected” extremist group, performed well. The projected results would make it Germany’s second game.
Benny Gantz resigns from the government of Israel
Israeli politician Benny Gantz, a key member of the war cabinet, resigned from the government yesterday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza. The move is unlikely to force Netanyahu from office, but Gantz’s moderate positions have helped boost the government’s international credibility.
Last month, Gantz threatened to resign unless Netanyahu worked to immediately respond to important issues, including the return of the hostages and the future governance of Gaza. Without Gantz’s party, the prime minister’s government will be made up of the right-wing Likud party, two far-right parties and two ultra-Orthodox factions. Analysts have said Gantz’s departure could embolden the coalition’s far-right ministers.
War: Israel’s operation to rescue four hostages in central Gaza on Saturday unleashed intense aerial bombardment and ground operations that killed more than 200 people, according to two hospital officials in the area.
In Israel: The euphoria over the rescue quickly gave way to a harsh reality. Around 120 captives remain in Gaza and Israelis fear time is running out to save the hostages; around a quarter of them have already been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
In central Gaza: Satellite images show new tent cities rising as people who fled to Rafah move in once again.
Modi begins third term
A humble Narendra Modi was sworn in yesterday for a third term as Prime Minister of India. He is adopting a more modest tone now that he has been forced to form a coalition government and has lost his parliamentary majority.
In his speech on Friday he adopted a conciliatory tone: “A majority is necessary to run the government. But to govern the nation a consensus is necessary.” He has also publicly spotlighted his key coalition partners at events. But the question remains: can Modi really become a consensus builder, something he has not been for more than two decades in elected office?
As a step: Here’s a map of where he won and lost voters.
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T20 Cricket World Cup
India beat Pakistan yesterday in the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup, which was held on Long Island, outside New York City. India won by six runs: batting first, they scored 119 to Pakistan’s 113.
Geopolitical tensions increased the rivalry between the two cricketing nations and the audience was going to be huge. In fact, clashes between the two countries are rare: they do not collaborate outside of ICC events due to political hostility. More than 400 million people were expected to watch it, more than three times the audience of the Super Bowl this year.
New York may have been a surprising location choice. In fact, the stadium was built just for the event and will disappear after the tournament. But the United States played host, along with the West Indies, to try to boost the growth of cricket in America. Proceeds raised from the New York matches will go towards raising awareness of the sport.
Background: Pakistan emerged from a surprising defeat against the American team. Some commentators called the upset one of the biggest in sports history.