According to Agence France Presse, on July 2nd, at least 200 candidates from the centrist ruling coalition of French President Macron and the left-wing New People's Front withdrew before the final election of the National Assembly, working together to prevent the far right from taking power. According to data, as of the deadline for registration for the second round of voting, at least 200 candidates had withdrawn, with more than 110 being members of the left-wing New People's Front, including more than 70 representing the Macron camp. Both sides hope to use this tactical tactic to weaken the chances of the National League winning.

It is reported that in theOn June 30th, in the first round of voting in the French parliament, the right-wing party Marina Le Pen's National League and its allies received 33.2% of the vote, ranking first; The left-wing New People's Front received 28% of the vote, while the centrist coalition led by Macron received 20.8% of the vote. More than half of the 577 constituencies have three candidates running for the final election. In this case, the third ranked candidate can withdraw to strengthen the possibility of another mainstream political party defeating the National Alliance. In order to obtain an absolute majority in parliament, Baldella called on voters to support the candidates of his party in the second round of voting, and even hoped to win the support of "moderate left-wing voters who do not accept extremism and radicalism.". Atar called on all forces to join hands and prevent the far right from obtaining an absolute majority.

02The Cambodian court sentenced 10 environmentalists to six to eight years in prison

Phnom Penh comprehensive news: On July 2nd, a Cambodian court convicted 10 domestic and foreign environmental activists of conspiring to commit the crime, and sentenced them to six to eight years in prison. It is reported that these 10 criminals come from the environmental rights organization "Mother Nature", whose founder Gonzalez Davidson was expelled by Cambodian authorities in 2015. The accusation of offending the monarch this time is related to a political manga from an internal online meeting of the team, which was later leaked.

An insider revealed that in the pastFor over a decade, Mother Nature has launched a rights movement against infrastructure projects that damage the environment and has exposed corruption in Cambodia's natural resource management. The Cambodian authorities are attempting to block criticism of government policies through this trial.

military

01Many people in southern Gaza have been ordered to evacuate

According to reports from Gaza, on July 1st, after a gunfight with Hamas in the southern region of Gaza, the Israeli military demanded that Palestinians evacuate the eastern part of Khan Younis, Rafah, and most of the areas bordering Israel and Egypt. Two months ago, Israel also ordered the evacuation of the people of Rafah, and subsequently launched a large-scale ground battle against the city of Rafah. There are concerns that the new evacuation order may indicate that the Israeli military plans to launch long-term fighting in the southern region. The spokesperson of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the Near East, Vatic, said that the evacuation order is expected to affect 250000 people. Witnesses say that Palestinians have evacuated the eastern part of Khan Younis by driving, riding carriages, donkey carts, or hiking, and some people with nowhere to go can only sleep on the streets.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that the Israeli military's campaign to eliminate Hamas has entered its final stage, and the Israeli military has almost completed the task of eliminating Hamas's military strength in Gaza, and will continue to strike at the remnants of Hamas. But security analysts believe that Israel is at risk of falling into long-term conflict with Hamas. They pointed out that Hamas has demonstrated its ability to survive as a rebel organization and has gained the support of the general public in Gaza.

01Foreign debt doubles, Laos seeks grace to avoid default

Bloomberg News: On June 28th, the Ministry of Finance of Laos released its latest report, disclosing external debt data. As of the end of last year, the total amount of public debt and public guaranteed debt in Laos reached 13.8 billion US dollars, a decrease of only 1% from the previous year. The scale of these debts is also equivalent to 108% of Laos' gross domestic product. Preliminary data shows that the debt owed to China accounts for about half of Laos' foreign debt of 10.5 billion US dollars. International financial institutions and credit rating agencies have warned that the debt burden poses a high risk of default for Laos, which has a population of nearly 8 million. Laos is therefore forced to seek more leniency from creditors to avoid default due to debt exceeding economic output.

Currently, Laos is attempting to increase income and reduce borrowing and expenditure, with the goal of achievingReduce the debt to GDP ratio from 94% last year to 89% in 2025. The authorities expect that the debt will remain high for the next five years, with approximately $1.3 billion of external debt to be repaid annually from 2024 to 2028. Data shows that Laos' external debt repayment has surged from $507 million in 2022 to $950 million last year.