Latest news

Political situation in France
Police raid National Rally headquarters in Paris

French police have carried out a search of the headquarters of the far-right National Rally party in Paris.

The raid concerns suspected crimes linked to campaign financing and fraud during the 2022 and 2024 election campaigns, according to Reuters.

Party leader Jordan Bardella calls the raid a “harassment campaign.”

Inequality in France at its highest in 30 years

Poverty and inequality in France are at their highest in 30 years, Le Monde reports.

The richest 20 percent of the population had 4.5 times higher income last year than the poorest 20 percent. That gap has not been this wide since the early 1970s, according to data from the country’s statistics agency INSEE.

“The standard of living, together with a favorable labor market, increased faster than inflation, except for those with the lowest incomes,” said Michel Duée, head of the department for household resources and living conditions at the agency.

Last year, 650,000 people fell into poverty, the largest increase since 1996. 9.8 million live below the income-based poverty line of 1,288 euros in France.

The situation in North Korea
South Korea sends back North Koreans who drifted away

Six North Koreans have been sent back from South Korea, reports the BBC. The North Koreans drifted into South Korean waters by mistake earlier this year. They are said to have had a “strong desire” to return to their homeland.

This is the first time since Lee Jae-myung took office as South Korean president in early June that North Koreans have been sent back home. Historically, this type of coordination has occurred from time to time, but not since April 2023 when Pyongyang severed all ties with South Korea.

Lee Jae-myung was elected on improved relations on the Korean peninsula. 

The flight to Europe
Greece closes the door to North African migrants

Greece will no longer process asylum applications from North African migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean by boat, writes Reuters. The decision will apply for three months.

– The road to Greece is closed, says the country's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The announcement comes after the number of people arriving in Crete by sea increased.

Floods in Texas
No survivor found since Friday – 173 missing

After the floods, at least 173 people are missing in Kerr, Texas, writes the New York Times.

Among those missing in Kerr, no person has been rescued since Friday.

“Our primary job is to continue to locate everyone affected by this flood,” said Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

The confirmed death toll is at least 111, including 30 children, making the flood one of the deadliest in the United States for children in decades. 

Bangladesh activist killings
Former Bangladesh leader approved deadly crackdowns

Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is said to have approved the deadly crackdowns on student-led protests last year, according to an audio recording verified by the BBC.

In the leaked recording, Hasina is said to have approved that security forces were allowed to use “lethal weapons” against protesters and that “wherever they find [them], they will shoot.”

According to UN investigations, up to 1,400 people were killed during last summer’s unrest, which started after the reintroduction of a controversial quota system for filling public sector jobs.

Sheikh Hasina, who has fled to India, and her party deny all charges. 

At least nine dead after brother’s death in India

A bridge has collapsed in Gujarat in western India, killing at least nine people, TT reports.

According to Al Jazeera, several vehicles were on the bridge when it collapsed. The area has been hit by heavy rainfall in recent days.

As recently as 2022, another bridge in the region collapsed, killing 132 people.