BBC

People react after the second round of the French legislative elections results at Place de la Republique in Paris, France, 07 July 2024.  Let’s hear some more of what French voters have been saying as they take to the streets to celebrate the left’s shock victory or express their anger at the far right’s defeat. The interviews were compiled by the French news agency AFP.

“I’m really happy, there’s this crazy energy and I’m getting the chills,” Marie Delille, a philosophy student, said at a gathering of the hard-left France Unbowed party in Stalingrad Square in Paris. “It’s a victory, but it’s a relative victory… so we have to continue to fight. It’s not over… But it’s a relief, that’s for sure. We weren’t expecting it,” said Hugo Chevalley, a history student.

In the crowd, there was a placard with the words: “No to the [far-right] RN, no to [President] Macron”.

North Korea: Kim Jong Un’s sister condemns South’s drills

DW

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister has condemned South Korea’s resumption of live-fire drills, calling it a provocation. Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, delivers a speech during the national meeting against the coronavirus, in Pyongyang, North Korea in 2022.

Kim Yo Jong warned of unspecified military steps if the North was further provokedImage: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP/picture alliance

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has called South Korea’s recent firing drills near the border “suicidal hysteria” and an “inexcusable and explicit provocation.” Describing South Korea as “the enemy” Kim Yo Jong warned of unspecified military steps if the North was further provoked.

“In case it is judged according to our criteria that they violated the sovereignty of (North Korea) and committed an act tantamount to a declaration of war, our armed forces will immediately carry out its mission and duty assigned by the (North Korean) Constitution,” she said, according to state media, without elaborating.

Israeli protesters demand Gaza truce after 9 months of war

CGTN

Israel’s war with Hamas militants hit its nine-month mark on Sunday, with Israeli protesters blocking highways across the country, calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure a truce and hostage-release deal or step down. The nationwide “disruption day” began at 6:29 am to correspond to the start of Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel that started the war.

Palestinians flee the area following a warning by the Israeli military to evacuate during the Israeli military bombardment of Gaza City, July 7, 2024. /CFP

The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Of the 251 hostages seized by Hamas militants on that day, Israeli forces have rescued seven of them alive. Another 105, including 80 Israelis, were freed during the war’s only truce, which lasted one week in November. In the last two weeks, the South Korean military has resumed live-fire artillery exercises near the tense western maritime border.

Japan and Philippines ink key military pact in defense ties upgrade

Japan Times

Ground Self-Defense Force personnel take part in a joint amphibious landing exercise with Philippine and U.S. troops in San Antonio, in the Philippines’ Zambales province, in October 2018. Japan and the Philippines on Monday signed a highly anticipated visiting-forces agreement, paving the way for greater bilateral and multilateral defense cooperation amid escalating tensions between the two partners and Beijing in the disputed East and South China Seas.

The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) was signed by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Philippine defence chief Gilberto Teodoro in a ceremony witnessed by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the presidential palace.