French far right ahead in 1st round of snap elections. Here’s how runoff works and what comes next
PARIS (AP) — French voters face a decisive choice on July 7 in the runoff of snap parliamentary elections that could see the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation — or no majority emerging at all. Projections by polling agencies suggest the far-right National Rally stands a good chance of winning a majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time. Yet the outcome remains uncertain amid the complex voting system. In Sunday’s first round, the National Rally arrived ahead with an estimated one-third of the votes. The French voting system is not proportionate to nationwide support for a party. Legislators are elected by district.
Gathered at Camp David, Biden’s family tells him to stay in the race and keep fighting
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s family has used a Sunday gathering at Camp David to urge him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite his dreadful debate performance. Some family members criticized the way Biden’s staff prepared him for the faceoff. That’s according to four people familiar with the discussions. Biden spent the day sequestered with first lady Jill Biden, his children and grandchildren at the presidential retreat in Maryland. It was a previously scheduled trip for a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz for the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
Hurricane Beryl closes in on southeast Caribbean after strengthening into dangerous Category 4 storm
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Hurricane Beryl is closing in on the southeastern Caribbean after strengthening into what experts call an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm, and government officials are pleading with people to take shelter. The storm is expected to make landfall in the Windward Islands on Monday morning. Hurricane warnings are in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The National Hurricane Center in Miami warns that Beryl is “forecast to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge.” Beryl was located about 150 miles southeast of Barbados late Sunday. Its top sustained winds were clocked at 130 mph and it was moving west at 20 mph.
Ultra-Orthodox protest against order to enlist in Israeli military turns violent in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (AP) — Thousands of Jewish ultra-Orthodox men have clashed with Israeli police in central Jerusalem during a protest against a Supreme Court order for them to begin enlisting for military service. The landmark decision last week ordering the government to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men could lead to the collapse of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition as Israel wages war in Gaza. Military service is compulsory for most Jewish men and women in Israel. But politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties have won exemptions for their followers to skip military service and instead study in religious seminaries. The long-standing arrangement has bred resentment among the broader public.
Ukraine’s convicts offered release at a high price: Joining the fight against Russia
DNIPROPETROVSK REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine is expanding its military recruiting to cope with battlefield shortages more than two years into fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion. That, for the first time, includes inmates at the country’s prisons and penal colonies. Prisoners can be granted parole after an interview, medical exam, and a review of their conviction, under a new law approved by parliament last month. Certain categories of serious offenders are excluded. Olena Vysotska, Ukraine’s deputy justice minister, told The Associated Press that more than 3,000 prisoners have already been released on parole and have been placed with military units.
The Republicans who want to be Trump’s VP were once harsh critics with key policy differences
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s hard to refer to someone as “Hitler” and end up in their good graces, let alone potentially become the person they choose to help lead the country. But Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s shifting position on Donald Trump over the years from one-time critic of the former president to staunch ally is a metamorphosis shared by many of Trump’s potential running mates. It’s not unheard of for a running mate to move beyond past disagreements with a presidential candidate. But the shift is more striking for Trump’s potential running mates, in some cases requiring them to abandon long-held policy positions and recant vehement criticism.
Street medicine teams search for homeless people to deliver lifesaving IV hydration in extreme heat
PHOENIX (AP) — As temperatures reach triple digits in metro Phoenix, heat illness is especially deadly for people who live outside under the broiling desert sun. Homeless people accounted for nearly half of the 645 people who died last year from heat-related causes in Arizona’s Maricopa County. A Phoenix health care nonprofit has begun a new program this year providing intravenous saline drips to dehydrated homeless people. Circle the City’s street medicine team goes where they are — by a major freeway overpass, alongside dry riverbeds, at a city park and near the city’s canals.
Economic turmoil in Bolivia fuels distrust in government and its claim of a ‘failed coup’
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivians have been hit hard by economic turmoil in the small South American nation fueled by a longtime hyper-dependence on, and now shortage of, U.S. dollars. The economic downturn has been exacerbated by an ongoing feud between President Luis Arce and his ally-turned-rival former President Evo Morales in the lead-up to next year’s presidential election. Many Bolivians impacted by the crisis have lost trust in Arce, who denies the country is even in an economic crisis. That deep distrust came to a head last week following a spectacle which the government called a “failed coup d’etat” and opponents called a staged “self-coup” meant to earn the unpopular leader political points in the lead-up to next year’s elections.
In a proud and troubled UK town, voters wonder whether their election choice will make a difference
HARTLEPOOL, England (AP) — A lot of politicians have promised change to voters in Hartlepool, a wind-whipped port town in northeast England. For decades, Labour Party representatives said they would fight for working people, even as well-paid industrial jobs disappeared. Later the Conservatives vowed to bring new money and opportunities on the back of Brexit. But as British voters prepare to elect a new government Thursday, Hartlepool’s many problems with unemployment, crime and drugs persist. Opinion polls put center-left Labour well ahead nationwide, but many voters remain undecided. To regain power after 14 years, Labour must win back disillusioned voters in Hartlepool and other former industrial towns where jaded voters say they have been disappointed before.
US wants Boeing to plead guilty to fraud over fatal crashes, lawyers say
The U.S. Justice Department plans to propose that Boeing plead guilty to criminal fraud in connection with two deadly plane crashes involving its 737 Max jetliners. That’s according to several people who heard prosecutors detail the offer on Sunday. They say Boeing will have until the end of the week to accept or reject the offer, which includes agreeing to an independent monitor. Lawyers representing relatives of some of the 346 people who died in the 2018 and 2019 crashes say their clients are dissatisfied with the offer. During the meeting, family members expressed anger that prosecutors did not plan to pursue additional charges and a trial. Boeing and the Justice Department declined to comment.
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