Monday Briefing: French far right appears to triumph

July 1, 2024

	By Daniel E. Slotnik

Good morning. We’re covering elections in France and Iran, and terrorist attacks in Nigeria.

Plus, Japanese researchers are helping robots smile.

French President Emmanuel Macron, in a blue suit, and his wife Brigitte Macron, in a tan suit, stepping outside two voting booths while holding their ballots.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte leaving voting booths on Sunday. Pool photo by Yara Nardi

The far right appears to dominate the French elections

The National Rally party crushed its opponents in the first round of voting for the French National Assembly, according to early projections, bringing its long-taboo brand of nationalist, anti-immigrant politics to the brink of power.

Pollsters’ projections, which are normally reliable, suggested the party would take about 34 percent of the vote, far ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party and its allies, which got about 21 percent. A coalition of left-wing parties won about 29 percent of the vote, the projections showed.

The scores, in a two-round election that will end in a runoff on July 7 between the leading parties in each constituency, do not provide a precise forecast of the number of parliamentary seats each party will secure. But the National Rally now looks very likely to be the largest force in the lower house, although not necessarily with an absolute majority.

For Macron, the result represented a severe setback after he gambled that his party’s stinging defeat to the National Rally in the recent European Parliament election would not be repeated. His decision to hold the election now, just weeks before the Paris Olympics, astonished many people in France — not least his own prime minister, who was kept in the dark.

What’s next: Macron called “for a large, clearly democratic and republican alliance” to win out in the second round of voting, but he has struggled to form stable coalitions.

Analysis: Both France and the U.S. face nationalist forces that could undo their international commitments and pitch the world into uncharted territory.

A line of people stand in a busy room with intricate decorations on the walls and a plastic ballot box on a table.

Voters at a polling station in Tehran on Friday. Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times

Iran’s election moves to a runoff

Iranian voters used the country’s presidential election on Friday to signal their discontent with Iran’s system of clerical rule, trudging to the polls in record-low numbers to help two candidates limp to a runoff.

The final choice will be between a reformist former health minister, Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian, and an ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili. Neither won more than 50 percent of the vote, which means it will take a runoff on July 5 to establish who will tackle challenges like Iran’s struggling economy and the risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

The campaign was notable for how openly the candidates attacked the status quo, but the turnout reflected pessimism that a new president could effect change: They must govern with the ultimate approval of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Here’s more about the initial candidates, and these are four takeaways from the election.

A hospital in Maiduguri treated patients after the attacks in the city of Gwoza, in northern Nigeria. Audu Marte/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A string of suicide bombings rocks Nigeria

At least 18 were killed and dozens were wounded in a series of suicide bombings — all carried out by women, and striking events like a wedding and a funeral — on Saturday afternoon in Nigeria, local officials said.

The blasts resembled assaults carried out by Boko Haram, whose fighters have killed tens of thousands in Nigeria and whose aggression in the region has led to the displacement of more than two million people. Boko Haram insurgents have abducted thousands of teenage girls, coerced them into marriages and forced them to carry out suicide attacks at schools, markets, religious buildings and large gatherings.

As of yesterday afternoon, no group had claimed responsibility for the attacks.

MORE TOP NEWS

The clouds of a hurricane with a well-defined eye and land to its south.

A satellite image of Hurricane Beryl on Sunday morning. NOAA

Weather: Beryl strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane yesterday, the earliest in a season that a storm has reached that level in the Atlantic Ocean. Track it here.
West Bank: Israel said that it would legalize five settlements previously considered unlawful.
U.S.: After a disastrous debate performance, President Biden’s family urged him to stay in the race.
Taliban: Officials from the group agreed for the first time to attend a U.N.-led conference of global envoys, but only after Afghan women were excluded.
Borders: India and China have troops along an unmarked, contested boundary in some of the world’s most inhospitable terrain. A dangerous conflict could result.
Lebanon: The U.S. is in the midst of an intense diplomatic push to prevent full-on war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Business: The U.S. Justice Department plans to offer Boeing a plea deal over its 737 Max plane, but a lawyer for families of the victims of two crashes said the deal fell short.
Soccer: Amid a rising tide of nationalism across Europe, organizers of the European Championship have pushed back against “provocative” political displays.

War in Ukraine

Airstrikes: Moscow has maintained a punishing pace of attacks on Ukrainian cities, leaving dozens of civilians dead.
Front lines: Russian troops have used motorcycles and dune buggies to storm trenches, often driving into a hail of gunfire.
Escape: A young Nepali, facing grim job prospects, joined the Russian Army. Getting out turned into a tale worthy of Hollywood.

Sports News

Ticker tape rains down as the India team, in orange-and-blue uniforms and medals round their necks, wave, cheer and hold a trophy.

India’s team celebrates its victory in Barbados on Saturday. Randy Brooks/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Cricket: India won the T20 Cricket World Cup, ending a dry spell of over a decade.
Wimbledon: Andy Murray, the last British man to win the tournament, will bid farewell to it.
Euro fashion: We rated the dress sense of the 24 managers.

MORNING READ

A woman bends down next to two frames with pictures of men, a candle in front of each.

Mary Ann Domingo at the tombs of her partner and her son, who were killed by the police. Ezra Acayan for The New York Times

During his years as president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte promised immunity to the authorities for killing drug users and traffickers. Police officers and vigilantes summarily executed tens of thousands of people.

In the two years since Duterte left office, there has been little legal reckoning with the wave of killings. Now, many people in the Philippines hope that the International Criminal Court will take some action against Duterte.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

An animated GIF shows a pink, rubbery, shiny disc with eyeballs contracting into a smile.

Japanese researchers have used living skin cells to make a flexible 3-D facial mold for a robot. Shoji Takeuchi

Uncanny grin: Engineers in Japan are getting robots to smile — using artificial, living skin.
Dancing to freedom: Ballet was foremost in the mind of the dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov when he defected from Soviet Russia in 1974. Read an interview with the ballet luminary here.

Luxury produce: Extremely expensive fruits, like a $396 pineapple with a red skin, have long been popular in parts of Asia. Now they are finding a market in the U.S.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times .

ARTS AND IDEAS

Two men sit close to each other on a ledge

In “The Boyfriend,” premiering July 9 on Netflix, nine men live together in a beach house outside Tokyo. Netflix

Japan’s first same-sex reality dating show

On July 9, Netflix is introducing Japan’s first same-sex reality dating series, “The Boyfriend,” which follows nine men living in a luxury beach house outside Tokyo. Japan lags other wealthy democracies in L.G.B.T.Q. rights, and even though public sentiment has moved toward support for gay and transgender people there, they are still sometimes subjected to discrimination and hate speech.

Dai Ota, the show’s executive producer, said he wanted to “portray same-sex relationships as they really are,” as opposed to the exaggerated, stereotypical gay characters often depicted on Japanese television.

The vibe is wholesome and mostly chaste. Sex rarely comes up, and friendship and self-improvement feature as prominently as romance. Whether the show will lead to broader acceptance of the L.G.B.T.Q. community in Japan remains to be seen.

RECOMMENDATIONS

A bowl of salmon, avocado, cucumber, seaweed, radish and rice.

Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.

Cook: Grapefruit and honey take this miso salmon to a new level.

Read: “All the Worst Humans,” a memoir by a professional spin doctor, explores journalism’s shadow side.

Appreciate: Enumerating the things you admire about yourself can be affirming, not conceited, writes my colleague Melissa Kirsch.

Listen: Eddie Murphy spoke with my colleague David Marchese for the Interview podcast.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and the new Strands. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Dan

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