Politics
At least 45 people were killed in Rafah after an Israeli air strike hit a tent camp. Israel said it was targeting two Hamas commanders and that the other deaths were caused by secondary explosions. Palestinians claimed large bombs hit an area for displaced people. America said Israel’s actions did not cross the administration’s red lines and would not trigger a change in policy. Meanwhile, Hamas launched a rocket attack on central Israel, including Tel Aviv, for the first time in months.
The International Court of Justice ordered Israel to limit its military offensive in Rafah and cease any operations that may cause widespread civilian deaths and suffering.
An Egyptian soldier was killed, apparently by accident, in an incident involving the Israel Defence Forces and the Egyptian army in the border area near Rafah. Both sides are investigating the event. A few days later Israel took full operational control of the Philadelphi corridor, a strip of land between Gaza and Egypt, which Hamas uses to smuggle weapons. Israel found 20 tunnels crossing into Egypt near the corridor and 82 shafts.
A temporary pier built by America off the coast of Gaza to receive supplies of aid was damaged in rough seas. America said it would need to be taken to Israel for repair.
Early projections based on about 10% of votes counted suggested that the African National Congress might lose its parliamentary majority in South Africa’s election. This would probably require it to form a coalition with an opposition party. Stockmarkets and the currency fell.
Peru’s attorney-general’s office filed a formal complaint against Dina Boluarte, the president, regarding the provenance of luxury watches she is fond of wearing. Ms Boluarte denied any wrongdoing in the scandal, dubbed Rolexgate, though Congress may act on the complaint.
Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, reshuffled his cabinet, naming Guillermo Francos as his new chief of staff. Mr Francos is seen as assertive and energetic, characteristics he will need to persuade Congress to approve Mr Milei’s wide-ranging economic reforms.
In Haiti the governing council named Garry Conille as prime minister. Mr Conille held the office for seven months from 2011 to 2012. He has an extensive background in development, experience he will need in office as a multinational security force, led by Kenya, prepares to deploy troops in the country to help end months of violent chaos fomented by criminal gangs.
EU aren’t allowed in
Venezuela’s electoral commission said it would not allow observers from the European Union into the country to monitor a presidential election in July. The head of the commission said this was because of “genocidal” sanctions the EU has imposed on Venezuela. Observers from Latin America, the Caribbean and other regions will be granted entry.
Six months after a general election, Dick Schoof was chosen to be prime minister of the Netherlands by the new coalition government, which is headed by the hard-right Party for Freedom (pvv). Before his new job Mr Schoof was the most senior official in the Justice Ministry and he is a former chief of the Dutch domestic intelligence service. He will oversee a coalition consisting of the PVV, conservative-liberals, centrists and a populist farmers’ party. The new government has pledged to reduce immigration.
A meeting of foreign ministers in the European Union reportedly called on Hungary to stop blocking aid to Ukraine, including a new €6.6bn ($7.2bn) package of measures. Lithuania’s foreign minister accused the pro-Russian Hungarian government of systematically undermining the EU’s foreign policy.
Meanwhile, Sweden said it would supply Ukraine with two early warning and control aircraft to bolster air defences. Belgium promised to provide Ukraine with 30 F-16 fighter jets by 2028, but for use only within Ukrainian territory. Volodymyr Zelensky has become frustrated with the conditions that some donors put on the deployment of their weapons. But France has joined a number of NATO members calling for a policy shift to allow the arms to be used against targets in Russia. Vladimir Putin warned that this would “lead to serious consequences”.
A Russian guided bomb killed at least 16 people at a DIY store in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, where Russia has intensified its assault. An earlier missile strike killed seven people at a printing house that produced half of Ukraine’s textbooks. Russia claimed to have captured two more villages, one in the Kharkiv region and one in Donetsk.
In Hong Kong’s largest national-security trial, 14 pro- democracy activists were convicted of conspiracy to commit subversion. Their crime was to have held an unofficial primary election in 2020 to improve their chances of winning control of the local legislature. Another 31 defendants pleaded guilty. Two were acquitted. Amnesty International described it as “a near-total purge of the political opposition”.
Estimates of the death toll from a landslide in a remote part of Papua New Guinea ranged from the mid-hundreds to 2,000. Thousands of people were being prepared for evacuation amid fears of another landslide.
Respect your majesty
Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister of Thailand, is to be indicted for remarks he made about a former king. He must appear in court to answer charges that he broke the kingdom’s lèse-majesté laws, which forbid even mild criticism of the monarchy. Mr Shinawatra is accused of insulting the then king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, in an interview with Korean media nine years ago. He denies it.
Taiwan’s government rejected a series of contentious procedural reforms pushed through parliament by opposition parties. The cabinet feared the law could be unconstitutional and said it would send it back to parliament to reconsider. Thousands of people took to the streets in protest against the measures that would curb the president’s powers.
Temperatures in Delhi approached 500C (1220F), the highest ever in the Indian capital. Officials said a severe heatwave would continue across much of north India, with little respite at night, and warned that people may suffer from heat stroke.