Besting all expectations, France’s leftist coalition pulled off an upset victory over the populist National Rally that quelled, for now, fears of a far-right takeover in a nation with a long history of keeping the far right out of government and at society’s fringes.
Japan and the Philippines are signing a key defense pact Monday that would allow the deployment of Japanese forces for joint military exercises, including live-fire drills, to the Southeast Asian nation that came under brutal Japanese occupation in World War II but is now building an alliance with Tokyo as they face an increasingly assertive China. The Reciprocal Access Agreement, which will similarly allow Filipino forces to enter Japan for joint combat training, will be signed by Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in a Manila ceremony to be witnessed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It would take effect after ratification by the countries’ legislatures, Philippine and Japanese officials said.
Embattled US President Joe Biden hit the campaign trail Sunday seeking to reassure voters he was up for a grueling reelection fight, even as more top Democrats reportedly joined the chorus urging him to quit the race.Two high-profile congressional Democrats on Sunday stopped short of calling for Biden to quit, but warned he still needed to win over worried voters.
A workers' union at Samsung Electronics in South Korea is set to stage a three-day strike from Monday and has warned it could take further action against the country's most powerful conglomerate at a later date. The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), whose roughly 28,000 members make up over a fifth of the firm's workforce in South Korea, is demanding the company improve its performance-based bonus system and give workers an extra day of annual leave. Lee Hyun-kuk, a senior union leader, said in a YouTube broadcast last week that another round of strikes could occur once the three-day stoppage is over if the workers' demands are not heard.
A millennium-old Danish Viking fortress is wowing tourists by offering visitors a broader view of Scandinavia's famed marauders."The Vikings are supposed to be primitive marauders and this doesn't seem like primitive marauders," archaeologist Soren Sindbaek said.
The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called South Korea’s recent front-line live-fire drills “suicidal hysteria” as she threatened unspecified military steps Monday if further provoked. The warning by Kim Yo Jong came after South Korea performed firing exercises in its tense land and sea borders with North Korea in the past two weeks. The exercises were the first of their kind since South Korea suspended a 2018 agreement with the North aimed easing front-line military tensions in June.
More than a handful of House Democratic ranking members told House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a Sunday call that President Joe Biden needs to step aside from the 2024 campaign, according to sources familiar with the call.
Israeli protesters marched through Tel Aviv and Jerusalem chanting "we will not give up" on Sunday, the second consecutive day of stepped-up pressure for a deal to free hostages in Gaza. Of the 251 hostages seized by militants on that day, Israeli forces have rescued seven of them alive.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Beijing on Monday for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Orban's press chief told state news agency MTI. "Prime Minister Viktor Orban's peace mission continues," Bertalan Havasi was quoted as saying. This is Orban's third surprise overseas trip since Hungary took over the European Union's rotating presidency at the beginning of July, after he travelled to Ukraine and Russia last week on what he called a "peace mission".
Moscow has vowed to respond to Ukrainian attacks within its borders after a drone set on fire a warehouse allegedly storing munitions, prompting a state of emergency in Russia’s south-western Voronezh region.
Thousands of Moroccans demonstrated Sunday in the northern city of Tangier in support of the Palestinian people and against Morocco's ties with Israel, an AFP journalist saw.The protesters took to the streets of the coastal city after reports last month of an Israeli ship's docking in Tangier port.
Election results show French voters have chosen to give a broad leftist coalition the most parliamentary seats in pivotal legislative elections, keeping the far right away from power. President Emmanuel Macron ’s centrist alliance arrived in second position and the far right in third — still drastically increasing the number of seats it holds in the National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament. No clear figure has emerged as a possible future prime minister.
Argentina's President Javier Milei addressed a conference of Latin American conservatives in Brazil Sunday, denouncing what he called the "judicial persecution" of far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro, under investigation for an alleged coup attempt."Look at the judicial persecution suffered by our friend Jair Bolsonaro here in Brazil," Milei said to the applause of thousands of attendees of the forum in Balneario Camboriu, a resort city in the country's south.
Indonesia's President-elect Prabowo Subianto wants to give school children free meals, but the plan and his pledge to be 'daring' on spending have the country's debt and currency markets on edge. Prabowo and his team have tried to distance themselves from any suggestions of fiscal profligacy, and to assure market participants the incoming government respects the legal debt limits that cap its budget deficit at 3% of economic output. But for a market just getting accustomed to stability and recognition for fiscal prudence under current Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the mere suggestion of heavy spending has been unsettling.
The West African bloc ECOWAS on Sunday warned the region faced "disintegration" after the military rulers of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso cemented a breakaway union."Our region is facing the risk of disintegration," he warned.
As the first projections showed the left in the lead of France's parliamentary polls, against all expectations, a large crowd of left-wing activists erupted in joy in Paris.We weren't expecting it."
Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to make landfall on the Texas coast as a hurricane early Monday and is forecast to bring life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds, according to the National Hurricane Center.
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — The most notable thing about the Mercosur trade bloc's meetings on Sunday in Paraguay was an absence — that of Argentine President Javier Milei. With the Argentine populist skipping the summit to star at a right-wing rally in Brazil, South America's biggest trade bloc — politically divided, notoriously slow-moving and beset by backsliding — faces an uncertain future. Milei has advocated for pulling Argentina, a leader of the alliance, out of the agreement altogether.
Officials at the remote site of a derailed train carrying hazardous materials that sparked a fire in North Dakota briefly issued a shelter-in-place notice Sunday for area residents during cleanup. The notice was issued as a precaution early Sunday after air monitors detected low levels of anhydrous ammonia after a railcar began venting during its removal from the site, said Andrew Kirking, emergency management coordinator for Stutsman and Foster counties in east-central North Dakota. No injuries from the leak were reported, and the notice was lifted later Sunday when air monitoring levels returned to zero, Kirking said.
A left-wing alliance is projected to win the most seats in the French parliament after tactical voting in Sunday’s second round election thwarted Marine Le Pen’s far-right party, but France may be left in limbo after no party won an absolute majority.