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The Canadian provinces of Alberta and Ontario announced Monday a joint proposal to build a major pipeline carrying western Canadian crude oil eastward, with the possibility of eventually reaching Atlantic export terminals — a move driven by Canada’s desire to find new buyers beyond the United States.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith outlined the plan, describing a proposed 3,300-kilometer (roughly 2,050-mile) pipeline running from Hardisty, Alberta, to Sarnia, Ontario. The line would be capable of moving up to 500,000 barrels of oil per day, with the potential to scale up to 800,000 barrels. Smith said the corridor could one day be extended to Canada’s Atlantic coastline, creating a pathway for oil exports to European markets.

Canada’s crude oil flows primarily to the United States, its largest buyer by a wide margin, while Alberta holds one of the biggest proven oil reserves on the planet.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford expressed support for the plan, saying it would be a worthwhile investment whether funded through public or private money. Officials said a feasibility study is in the works.

“There is still a lot of work ahead of us to deliver,” Ford said.

The proposal comes with significant obstacles, including securing financing, navigating regulatory approvals, and holding required consultations with Indigenous communities. A comparable project known as Energy East was scrapped in 2017 after facing years of political, regulatory, and environmental opposition, including strong resistance from Quebec.

Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal, offered a cautious assessment. “It’s technically feasible but it would be a massive undertaking. We are only at a very early stage of the project and we don’t have the final route or cost estimates yet,” he said. “It’s not even sure the Hardisty-Sarnia pipeline will ever be built so the idea it could at some point reach the Atlantic sounds quite speculative at this stage to say the least.”

Just last week, Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney moved forward on a separate pipeline proposal — a taxpayer-subsidized project targeting the Pacific coast to boost exports to Asian markets. That effort involves a partnership with the federally owned Trans Mountain Corp. and Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline. Smith noted that the extent of any private-sector involvement in that project has not yet been finalized.

Smith has publicly stated her goal of doubling Alberta’s oil output to 8 million barrels per day over the next decade to 15 years. She has also argued that the previous federal government under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau harmed Alberta’s energy sector and stoked sentiment in favor of provincial independence.

Alberta is set to hold a vote this fall on whether to pursue a referendum on breaking away from the rest of Canada.

Andrew Leach, an energy economist and professor at the University of Alberta, described Smith’s production targets as “incredibly ambitious,” pointing out that Alberta dealt with serious inflation the last time it tried to ramp up output at a similar pace. He also raised questions about whether oil producers would have any incentive to route their crude to Sarnia if there was no infrastructure in place to move it further from there.

Prime Minister Carney acknowledged last week that Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions would likely climb in the short term as his government pushes forward with pipeline expansion. He has made broadening Canada’s export reach a central priority in response to the trade conflict with U.S. President Donald Trump, pledging to pursue greater access to markets across Europe and Asia.

CARACAS — Venezuelan authorities announced Monday that the death toll from the country’s twin earthquakes has climbed to 3,535, with nearly 18,000 people still left without homes more than a week after the disaster hit the capital and surrounding coastal regions.

Top lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez released the latest official figures, which show 16,740 people were injured and 17,854 left without housing following the June 24 quakes. The two tremors, measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, struck within seconds of one another.

The updated numbers highlight the enormous scope of destruction in and around Caracas and La Guaira, the coastal area that suffered the worst damage, as public frustration over the government’s handling of the crisis continues to grow.

Venezuela’s social vice presidency reported that at least 12,800 displaced people are currently sheltering in 80 facilities spread across Caracas and La Guaira.

Acting President Delcy Rodriguez has pushed back against criticism of the government’s disaster response, which many Venezuelans have described as slow and insufficient. She said security forces were deployed immediately following the earthquakes and announced the establishment of a new military unit dedicated to handling future emergencies and disasters.

Reuters reporters on the ground in La Guaira Monday observed trucks and forensic workers carrying coffins, while heavy equipment dug trenches in an open field marked with white crosses — the site where authorities were burying unidentified victims.

The United Nations confirmed it is continuing to expand aid operations in coordination with the Venezuelan government in Caracas.

“Some search and rescue teams remain deployed in the affected areas, while other specialized engineering teams and medical support continue to arrive,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters Monday.

Dujarric added that a full assessment of humanitarian needs — which will guide an updated relief plan — is nearly finished, though he did not provide a timeline for its release. U.N. agencies are already delivering services at three camps and evaluating additional sites where support could be expanded.

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — A total blackout plunged all of Cuba into darkness Monday as the nation’s dwindling fuel supply and deteriorating power grid pushed the island to a breaking point.

Cuba’s state-run Electric Union announced the outage on X, noting that the cause is still being investigated. The country’s Ministry of Energy and Mines also posted on X, stating that emergency protocols to restore power have been set in motion.

The island’s fuel shortage has been mounting since January, when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs against any nation that sells or provides oil to Cuba. The threat deepened an already severe economic and financial crisis on the island, bringing public transportation to a near standstill and forcing officials to cancel tens of thousands of scheduled surgeries.

In Havana, the sudden darkness left residents anxious and scrambling. Lina May, 36, said she was left wondering when the lights would return so she could simply prepare a meal.

“I just told my dad that we have to buy charcoal because otherwise we won’t eat and we’ll starve,” she said.

Richard Valdés, 40, described the blackout as just the most recent in a long string of hardships.

“We’re without power again,” he said. “Now we have no water, no gas, nothing until they restore it.”

Cuba currently produces only 40% of the fuel it requires. A Russian tanker delivered 730,000 barrels of oil to the island in late March, but that supply was fully depleted by the end of April.

To cope with the shortage, the Cuban government has been implementing intentional power cuts that can last more than 24 consecutive hours at a time.

Previous major outages include a mid-May blackout that darkened the island’s eastern provinces and a mid-March event that knocked out power across the entire island.

Mario Pedroso, a 33-year-old Havana resident, reflected the weary acceptance shared by many Cubans when asked about Monday’s total blackout.

“Oil hasn’t come in here for a while, and we have no way to solve the problem,” he said. “We have to resist, as we Cubans say. That’s all.”

Paris-based fashion house Christian Dior has landed one of the most talked-about bridal commissions in recent memory, dressing both Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in Haute Couture designs for their wedding held at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The designs were crafted by Dior creative director Jonathan Anderson, a Northern Irish designer who took the reins at the French luxury house just one year ago after spending 11 years leading Loewe. The wedding outfits were made at Dior’s ateliers located at 30 Avenue Montaigne in Paris and were developed through close collaboration between Anderson and the couple.

No photographs from the tightly controlled ceremony have yet been released to the public, but the fashion world is already buzzing. The win gives Dior a clear advantage over rival Chanel in the competition for fashion’s most sought-after celebrity partnerships.

Chanel’s own creative director, Matthieu Blazy — also new to his position — made waves earlier this year when he designed an intricately beaded bridal gown for pop star Dua Lipa’s wedding in Sicily in June. However, the massive media attention surrounding Swift’s nuptials is expected to generate far greater visibility for Dior, one of the flagship brands under the LVMH luxury group, as it works to reignite consumer interest in a slowing luxury market.

Swift’s 273 million Instagram followers and devoted global fanbase represent a level of exposure that few traditional marketing campaigns could achieve.

Thomai Serdari, a luxury brand strategist and marketing professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, explained the significance of the moment. “The commission ensures that Dior, and by extension Jonathan Anderson, are commemorated for years to come in the history of pop culture,” she said.

At Dior’s Haute Couture show held Monday in Paris, guests in the front row were eagerly discussing Swift’s wedding gown. Sheila Hicks, a 91-year-old American textile artist who previously collaborated with Anderson on a Dior bag design, shared her reaction with reporters. “When she picked Jonathan I thought, someone was advising her correctly,” Hicks said. “It projects that she’s on the ball — that she’s working with the right people.” Hicks also offered her vision for the gown, saying it “shouldn’t be overwhelming, but it should definitely have a very strong personality.”

In the weeks before the ceremony, speculation ran high about who would design Swift’s dress. Stella McCartney, one of the singer’s frequently favored designers, and Givenchy’s Sarah Burton were among the names most often mentioned as possible choices.

While Swift regularly wears a variety of high-end labels, she is rarely seen at fashion industry events and has frequently spotlighted smaller or lesser-known brands. Her engagement ring, for instance, came from independent jeweler Artifex Fine Jewelry. She wore Ralph Lauren for her engagement photo shoot, but ultimately chose French couture for her wedding day.

Anderson has had a particularly active bridal season. Within just the past month, Dior revealed two additional Haute Couture wedding gowns he designed — one worn by Chinese model Ming Xi and another by Brazilian influencer Elisa Zarzur.

Still, dressing celebrities for their weddings does not always translate into broader business success for luxury fashion labels. Lauren Sanchez wore a custom Dolce & Gabbana gown for her Venice wedding to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos during a lavish three-day event last year, yet the Italian brand has since been seeking financing and is currently in debt renegotiations with banks. Similarly, Valentino — which designed a gown for Nicola Peltz’s 2022 wedding to Brooklyn Beckham — reported a financial loss last year and is also working through negotiations with creditors.

DAMASCUS, Syria — French President Emmanuel Macron touched down in the Syrian capital on Monday, becoming the first major leader from western Europe or North America to set foot in the country since Bashar al-Assad was driven from power in 2024.

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had made a visit in April, Macron’s arrival marks a significant milestone as the first visit by a Western leader of his standing.

The trip comes at a time of relative calm across the Middle East following a month of conflict involving Iran and Lebanon. After leaving Syria, Macron is scheduled to travel to Ankara, Turkey, for the NATO summit. Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is also expected to attend that gathering and is anticipated to hold a high-profile meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported that Macron arrived alongside a business delegation, with talks planned around regional security as well as economic and investment opportunities.

Upon landing, Macron was welcomed at the Damascus airport by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani.

In a post on X, Macron stated: “I have come to express France’s commitment to the Syrian people. For a sovereign Syria, united in its diversity and at peace with its neighbors. Together, let us open a new chapter of stability and peace.”

Macron’s office indicated that France stands behind all those who can “contribute to build a new Syria,” in keeping with the aspirations that emerged during the 2011 Arab Spring — a wave of uprisings across the Middle East that demanded political reform and change.

The French president was set to meet with al-Sharaa at the presidential palace and to connect directly with a range of Syrian citizens, his office noted. Specific details of the visit were withheld for security purposes.

Macron had previously hosted al-Sharaa in Paris in May 2025, during which he pushed European and U.S. leaders to remove long-standing economic sanctions on Damascus. The majority of those sanctions have since been lifted.

France stood by Syria’s new leadership even when other nations remained skeptical, given al-Sharaa’s background as the former head of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham militant group, which had previously been tied to al-Qaida and operates under Islamist leadership.

Western governments had raised particular concerns about the rights of women and minority groups under the new administration, and whether Syria’s leadership would move toward a more democratic system of governance.

Syria has largely avoided being drawn into the region’s recent armed conflicts, but the nation continues to bear the scars of 13 years of internal war. That prolonged conflict left vast portions of the country in ruins, pushed millions of people into poverty, and is estimated to require hundreds of billions of dollars in reconstruction funding. While Syria has signed memorandums of understanding with various countries and major corporations for large-scale investment projects, those agreements have not yet translated into concrete results.

LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — Noel Márquez was at his girlfriend’s apartment when twin earthquakes brought down the high-rise building where he lived with his family, setting it ablaze. He rushed back and called out desperately. The only response came from his 17-year-old brother Leonel, whose legs were trapped beneath concrete columns that would have required heavy machinery to move.

Márquez and his father, both of whom survived, could hear Leonel through the layers of debris — crying out in pain, begging for help, choking on smoke — as they waited for a crane that never arrived. After several agonizing hours, Leonel went silent.

As devastating as that was, Márquez said the worst part came next: attempting to retrieve his family members’ remains with little more than his bare hands and a saw. He was forced to cut off limbs to free the bodies of Leonel and his mother. He could not reach his eight-months-pregnant sister, his grandmother, or other relatives still buried in the wreckage — and with them, any chance of giving them a proper burial.

“It’s unfair. It’s inhumane, everything that is happening,” said Márquez, 26, speaking from an overcrowded temporary morgue set up at the La Guaira port. “We couldn’t get my brother out because we didn’t get a response from the state … and after 11 days, we are still requesting a crane.”

Márquez represents a vast number of Venezuelans who, after days of torment, have been left largely on their own — searching not for survivors, but for the remains of the people they loved, and for some measure of peace.

International rescue teams, quietly accepting that the odds of finding anyone alive after 12 days under the debris are essentially zero, are preparing to leave the country. Local officials have shifted their attention toward finding shelter for the thousands of people displaced by the disaster. But the task of recovering the dead has fallen heavily on the families themselves.

“I found her hand, but her torso is crushed,” said Norely Rodríguez, working to free her 5-year-old daughter from the ruins in La Guaira, the hardest-hit area. “I want to see if I can get her out whole.”

Survivors say that just as the government failed to respond quickly enough to rescue the living in the immediate aftermath of the quakes, families are now similarly under-resourced as they try to recover the dead nearly two weeks later.

The passage of time has made the process increasingly grim. “It has been difficult because the bodies are already in an advanced state of decomposition, decomposed to such an extent that many times when we try to remove them, they fall apart,” said William Gomez, a firefighter working in La Guaira.

Authorities announced Sunday that the confirmed death toll had climbed to 3,342, with an additional 16,740 people reported injured. Beyond those numbers lies an unknown count of victims still buried beneath the rubble. While no official tally exists, more than 30,000 missing persons reports have been submitted to a website created by the Venezuelan opposition.

Over the weekend in La Guaira, no government civil defense workers or security personnel were observed helping families dig through the wreckage. The overwhelming majority of those searching were ordinary civilians using their hands or basic tools like pickaxes and shovels, with occasional assistance from firefighters and Mexican rescue workers still in the country.

“We are the ones helping ourselves: our family. Nobody else helps us except for a few volunteers,” said Yeikhary Urbina, who on Saturday discovered the bodies of her mother and brother suspended under mounds of concrete, appearing to be locked in an embrace.

Rescue teams from Italy, Argentina, Spain, and other nations have already gone home. The Venezuelan government has not officially called off the search for survivors, but officials have shifted their public messaging — moving away from highlighting dramatic rescues on social media and toward announcing rebuilding plans under a program called Venezuela Reborn.

“Venezuela is entering a process of infrastructure recovery, of housing recovery,” acting President Delcy Rodríguez said on state television Saturday.

Families still searching face new horrors with each passing day. Some have spent days digging only to find remains so badly decomposed that identification is nearly impossible. Others have found nothing at all. “She kept asking, ‘Why did God play this trick on me?’” said Geraldine Perdomo, describing her sister’s desperate search through the rubble of her home for any confirmation that her two daughters had died.

And some, like Márquez, endured days of grueling effort to recover their loved ones’ bodies, only to lose track of them again in the disorder of the makeshift morgue beneath grain silos at La Guaira port, where bodies have been arriving in a near-constant stream since the June 24 earthquakes. Márquez said that on Sunday — a week after he brought in the bodies — he learned authorities had located his mother and grandfather. But his brother Leonel, he said, “is still missing because of the negligence here.”

Márquez and many other residents of the country’s public housing towers — built years ago for low-income families under former socialist leader Hugo Chávez — say their concerns about government neglect go back long before this disaster. Several of those high-rise buildings, each housing hundreds of families, collapsed entirely during the earthquakes, renewing questions about the quality of their construction.

Alexander, a 42-year-old police officer who lived in one of the towers, was shaking with anger on Sunday. He blamed the government for ignoring residents’ longstanding concerns about the structural integrity of the building, for failing to send rescue crews in time to save his wife and three daughters, and now for not providing the heavy equipment needed to help him recover their bodies.

“Not a single person from the government was here,” he said. He asked to be identified only by his first name, fearing that as a government employee, speaking out against authorities could put him at risk of retaliation.

After 11 days of searching, he finally reached the last member of his family still unaccounted for — his 12-year-old daughter. Her body was decomposed but intact.

“She was waiting for me to pull her out,” he said, holding the black plastic body bag in his arms.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke out Monday about what he described as a critical shortage of weapons needed to shield Ukraine from Russian ballistic missile attacks.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy called the situation deeply troubling, saying: “It is simply absurd that, in the modern world, production has still not been scaled up to the level actually required to protect people from ballistic terror.”

The Ukrainian leader went on to say that Ukraine already possesses the technical knowledge to manufacture the necessary defense systems. He added that if Ukraine were granted U.S. licenses to produce U.S. Patriot missile systems, “our production would be sufficient not only to defend Ukraine but also to assist partners who need them.”

ANKARA, Turkey — The Netherlands is set to unveil a package of defence agreements and plans valued at more than €3 billion — roughly $3.43 billion — at a NATO forum taking place Tuesday in Ankara, according to Dutch Defence Minister Dilan Yesilgoz.

Speaking with Reuters during an interview in the Turkish capital on Monday, Yesilgoz outlined some of what is expected to be announced, including a partnership with Belgium focused on air defence and a collaboration with Britain involving naval vessels. She also indicated the Netherlands is seeking to expand joint defence projects with Germany.

“We have several levels of plans with countries around us, within NATO,” Yesilgoz said. “For the Netherlands, it will be … well over 3 billion euros that we will have new — not only pledges, but concrete plans.”

The minister held back additional specifics ahead of the formal announcements, which are part of a broader wave of declarations expected from NATO member nations at the forum. The flurry of pledges is designed to demonstrate that alliance members are ramping up their defence budgets — a priority pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump is scheduled to join the leaders of NATO’s 31 other member nations for the summit, which kicks off Tuesday evening with a dinner. The gathering continues Wednesday with a session of the alliance’s top decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council.

When asked whether she felt confident the United States would stay committed to NATO despite Trump’s past remarks questioning his dedication to the alliance, Yesilgoz was measured but firm. “I have to be confident, because I know that we need each other,” she said.

She went on to say that “we need each other … for our own safety and security,” and described it as “healthy for Europe to invest more in its own defence and defence industries regardless of who is at the White House at the moment.”

French President Emmanuel Macron touched down in Syria on Monday, according to Syria’s state news agency, becoming the first leader of a European Union nation to visit Damascus since rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

The historic trip signals a major shift in how the international community views Syria under its new leadership. The country is now led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander who has managed to forge strong relationships with Western and Middle Eastern nations — governments that had previously refused to engage with the Assad regime.

Sharaa is working to rebuild a nation left in ruins after 13 years of devastating civil war, and Macron’s visit underscores Syria’s rapidly changing role in the geopolitical landscape of the region.

LIMA — Peruvian leftist presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez formally stepped aside Monday, acknowledging conservative Keiko Fujimori as the winner of Peru’s presidential election — several days after the country’s electoral authorities made their official declaration.

Sanchez and his political party released a joint statement Monday saying they “recognized that the National Elections Board had officially proclaimed the electoral results.” According to the final vote count, Fujimori received 50.135% of the vote in the June 7 runoff election.

Cuba’s national power grid went dark Monday afternoon, with the country’s grid operator confirming a total collapse that left approximately 10 million people on the Caribbean island without electricity.

Grid operator UNE announced the complete nationwide outage and said crews are actively investigating what triggered the failure.

The island has been dealing with a worsening energy situation for months, enduring blackouts that have stretched from several hours to multiple days at a time. Officials have pointed to a badly deteriorated power infrastructure and a U.S.-imposed oil blockade that has severely restricted the island’s fuel supply as contributing factors.

For everyday Cubans, Monday’s total grid failure is another blow in an already exhausting situation. Rolling blackouts have already made it difficult for many residents to work or get a good night’s sleep during the sweltering Caribbean summer.

Cuba’s Communist-run government has faced a prolonged economic crisis for years, but the situation has reached new levels of severity under mounting pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Adding to the severity of Monday’s collapse — nearly two-thirds of the island was already experiencing power outages before the grid failed entirely.

WARSAW — Four European nations say they are well on their way to establishing a new joint defence financing plan. Britain, the Netherlands, Finland, and Poland issued a joint statement Monday declaring they have made “significant progress” on what is being called the Multilateral Defence Mechanism, with a goal of having it fully in place by 2027.

The announcement arrives just ahead of a NATO summit taking place this week in Ankara, Turkey, where the question of how to fund military buildup across allied nations is expected to dominate discussions. The MDM is one of several competing efforts designed to draw more private investment into defence spending among allied countries.

In their joint statement, the four nations noted, “We have benefited from the support of a broader group of allies in developing the technical details of this model.”

The countries also outlined plans to grow the coalition behind the initiative, stating they intend to move into the next phase of development alongside nations that formally declare their participation this autumn.

The MDM is not the only initiative vying for attention in the increasingly busy world of defence financing. Another major effort, known as the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, is also gaining momentum. Canada is working to announce approximately 10 founding member nations for the DSRB at the upcoming NATO summit.

Poland’s finance ministry did not respond to questions about whether it is in talks to join the DSRB. Britain, for its part, has already ruled out joining that initiative, choosing instead to focus its efforts on the MDM project.

ANKARA — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte emphasized that the freedom to protest and a free press are fundamental pillars of democracy, speaking out after Turkey carried out a sweeping crackdown on dissidents in the days leading up to this week’s major alliance summit.

Turkey is hosting leaders from all 32 NATO member nations, along with officials from partner countries, at a summit in Ankara scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. In preparation, Turkish authorities have significantly tightened security throughout the capital, prohibiting public demonstrations, putting up barricades, and shutting down roadways.

On Sunday alone, more than 100 people were taken into custody during protest marches organized by leftist parties and groups. Separately, 103 additional individuals were arrested during anti-terror raids conducted across Ankara.

When reporters asked Rutte at a press conference about those detentions and arrests — which included journalists and a well-known comedian — he made clear that democratic governance involves far more than holding elections.

“And of course democracy is for people to organise demonstrations if they so choose. So it’s much more than only free elections, and when it comes to media,” Rutte said, adding that it was important for NATO that journalists be able to attend major events in person. A number of independent Turkish journalists were reportedly denied press credentials for the summit.

Turkish officials maintain that the detentions and security operations were aimed at rooting out militant activity and have no connection to the NATO gathering.

In recent years, Western nations — including Turkey’s fellow NATO allies — have largely gone quiet on concerns about human rights and civil liberties in Turkey. Critics of President Tayyip Erdogan’s government argue that this silence has allowed an authoritarian drift to take hold, weakened the country’s political opposition, and sidelined NATO’s core founding principles of democracy and the rule of law.

DAKAR — Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is moving forward with plans to establish his own political party, according to a statement from a coalition that supports him — the clearest sign yet of a lasting break between Faye and the prime minister he recently removed from office.

The pro-Faye coalition announced late Friday that the president has directed senior adviser Aminata Toure to put together a task force responsible for building the new party.

Up until now, Faye had been a member of the ruling Pastef party, which is led by Ousmane Sonko. Faye removed Sonko from the prime minister’s post in May, bringing to a head months of growing friction between the two men.

Sonko has since taken on the role of speaker of the National Assembly, where he has been pushing for changes to the constitution. Among those proposed changes is a provision that would prohibit a sitting president from also leading a political party.

Lawmakers approved those constitutional changes last week, but Faye has decided the matter should go to a public referendum. No date for that vote has been announced.

All of this political turmoil is playing out while Senegal faces a significant financial crisis tied to the discovery that the previous government had misreported the country’s debt levels.

Both Faye and Sonko are now looking ahead to local elections set for 2027, which are expected to reveal how much grassroots support each leader commands throughout the country.

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE — With France’s 2027 presidential election drawing closer, centrist political hopefuls are making their case to the country’s business community, promising they can bring government spending under control without putting the brakes on economic growth.

The push comes as French corporate leaders grow increasingly anxious about whether centrist politicians — scrambling to reclaim voters lost to the far right and the hard left — will stay committed to fiscal responsibility.

Current polling shows that the far-right National Rally’s eventual presidential nominee will likely be a strong contender to reach the election’s second-round runoff. At least one survey has also suggested that hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon could make the runoff if the political center stays divided.

The question of who will represent the far right may be answered soon. Marine Le Pen and her protege Jordan Bardella are waiting on a Paris court ruling set for July 7, when judges will decide on Le Pen’s appeal of an embezzlement conviction and a five-year ban from seeking elected office.

Two former prime ministers who served under President Emmanuel Macron — Edouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal — were among the declared and potential candidates who appeared at an annual business conference in Aix-en-Provence last week, each making the argument that he is best suited to repair the country’s finances.

Attal, 37, drew enthusiastic applause from the audience when he promised to run the government with the efficiency of a private company and remove ministers who fail to deliver results.

“In your company, when a finance director fails to meet their targets or overspends, there’s usually a consequence. It must be the same for those who run the government,” he said.

Tackling the Deficit

France has repeatedly broken European Union rules that limit budget deficits to 3% of gross domestic product. Attal, who held the prime minister’s post in 2024, told the newspaper Le Parisien that he would reduce the deficit from its current 5.1% down to 3% before 2032. He said the bulk of those savings would have to come from welfare spending, which makes up two-thirds of the budget, along with further changes to the pension system and unemployment benefits.

Philippe, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2020 and currently serves as mayor of Le Havre, told the business publication Les Echos that he would also cut the deficit — from 5% of GDP this year down to 2% by the end of the next presidential term in 2032. He has proposed holding a national referendum to enshrine budget discipline rules in the French constitution and said he would push to raise the retirement age further. The government had paused a gradual increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64, putting that change on hold until after the upcoming election.

Opinion polls suggest Philippe may have the strongest chance among centrists of preventing a far-right candidate from reaching the presidency. At the Aix-en-Provence gathering, he pledged to help dismantle trade barriers within the European Union and work toward consolidating the bloc’s fragmented capital markets.

Xavier Girre, the CEO of French utility group Suez, said his message to any presidential contender is simple: regulatory and tax stability are essential for any future government to give businesses the clear outlook they need to make investment decisions.

A Crowded Field

For years, France’s top business figures kept their distance from Le Pen and her party, which has had little success breaking into corporate boardrooms. But with polls now pointing toward a possible far-right victory next year, some business leaders are beginning to show interest in understanding the movement’s economic positions.

“Business leaders believe that far-right politicians have made progress in their economic analysis and in their understanding of the French economy,” said Alexandre Medvedowsky, who leads the lobbying firm NSI.

Despite that shift in attitude, neither the National Rally nor Jean-Luc Melenchon’s France Unbowed party received invitations to the three-day business conference — consistent with prior years. The event’s organizers said in an emailed statement that the decision to exclude both parties was reached through a group vote.

Benoit Derigny, who oversees the French operations of staffing company ManpowerGroup, noted that center-left and center-right politicians largely agree on what is wrong with France, including its heavy debt burden. He told Reuters that with so many candidates crowding the political center, they will need to differentiate themselves by explaining how they would prioritize limited government resources.

On the beachfront of the coastal city of Tyre, the sounds of war have faded just enough for children to splash in the waves and families to relax under umbrellas — a fragile glimpse of normalcy slowly returning to southern Lebanon.

But just steps away from that shoreline calm, a far grimmer reality awaits the hundreds of thousands of people trickling back to their hometowns after months of displacement. They face the twin burdens of rebuilding lives shattered by Israeli airstrikes and living under the constant shadow of renewed fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

“People are coming back to Tyre to rebuild, to work — all the restaurants are open again,” said local resident Ali Skaiky, still dripping from a swim and clutching a rubber float. “We still hear strikes and fighting at night, but it’s far away. There’s destruction beyond imagination, but we hope everything will stay calm.”

Skaiky is one of roughly 400,000 people who have returned to southern Lebanon since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. The truce has not ended the fighting entirely, but it has significantly reduced its intensity.

Those coming home are clearing debris, reopening shops, and trying to piece back together the routines the war tore apart. For many, however, the new normal means keeping a bag packed, staying glued to the news, and never venturing too far from home.

For Fadlallah Qassim, 42, coming home meant facing devastating destruction head-on — including a direct hit on his own house.

“We returned to find the whole house caved in with rubble, and all the furniture ruined,” he said. “I cleaned up, fixed it, and brought some basic things for the house, now my wife, children and I all live in one room.”

In the nearby village of Srifa, where entire neighborhoods were left in ruins, 55-year-old Suzan Fakih described the emotional blow of returning to a place that no longer felt familiar.

“The moment you arrive, it doesn’t feel like your village anymore,” she said. “Everything is black and grey. It hurts your soul. You look around and think, ‘This can’t be the village I’ve lived in all my life.’”

Srifa sits deep in southern Lebanon, near where Israeli forces continue to occupy a stretch of territory and carry out regular strikes on what the Israeli military describes as Hezbollah targets. In surrounding areas, Israel has demolished nearly entire villages.

Fakih said the fear of being forced to flee again never fully leaves residents’ minds.

“I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t living with a bag packed, ready to leave. A few quiet years pass, then you pack your bags and run again,” she said.

Lebanon’s social affairs ministry reports that 600,000 additional people remain internally displaced due to the ongoing violence and widespread destruction. Many families whose homes were completely destroyed are still sheltering in schools or the rented accommodations they escaped to during the fighting.

Lebanon has endured the deadliest regional fallout since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in February set off a broader conflict. Fighting spread to Lebanese soil on March 2, when Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in solidarity with Tehran, prompting an Israeli air and ground campaign in response. Lebanon’s health ministry reports that more than 4,300 people have been killed in the country since the conflict began.

About 20 miles farther north, in the Bekaa Valley town of Sohmor, residents who recently returned home describe living with the same persistent uncertainty. Mohammad Sweid, 31, a manual laborer, continues to pay rent on the house his family fled to during the war — keeping it as a safety net should they need to leave again.

“If something happens again, we may not find another place,” he said.

In the Lebanese capital Beirut, residents of Dahiyeh — a suburb controlled by Hezbollah that has been repeatedly struck by Israel over the past two years due to its role as a hub for Hezbollah’s leadership — are also cautiously working to rebuild.

Moussa Ghamloush, 68, has been repairing his bomb-damaged home and working to reopen his restaurant, which was completely leveled in a separate strike. Despite everything, he says he has no intention of leaving permanently.

“We’re not the kind of people who leave. Our roots are here. We stayed, and if there’s a third war, we’ll stay again.”

Morocco’s counterterrorism agency announced Monday that it had successfully broken up a plot to carry out attacks on sensitive sites and public security targets — a scheme tied to an Islamic State affiliate operating in the Sahel region of Africa.

The Central Bureau for Judicial Investigations, known by its French acronym BCIJ, said ten individuals were taken into custody during coordinated operations carried out across the cities of Agadir, Taroudant, Casablanca, Hajeb, Tetouan, Fqih Ben Salah, and Safi.

According to the agency, early investigative findings revealed that the suspects had sworn loyalty to Islamic State and were receiving direct orders from the group’s Sahel-based branch to execute attacks on Moroccan soil.

The case highlights the growing threat from extremist organizations operating in the Sahel, where both Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked groups have significantly expanded their foothold in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

When authorities conducted searches, they uncovered bladed weapons, military-style clothing, documents with instructions for constructing explosive devices, digital materials, and chemical substances, the BCIJ stated.

Investigators also discovered a modified vehicle suspected of being prepared for use in either a suicide bombing or a vehicle-ramming attack.

At a warehouse connected to the group, security forces additionally found butane gas cylinders and pressure cookers — some packed with nails and others wired to electrical components.

BCIJ data indicates that Islamic State branches operating across Africa have recruited more than 130 Moroccan fighters in recent years.

Since the agency was founded in 2015, it has broken up dozens of militant cells and detained more than 1,000 individuals suspected of jihadist activity.

The most recent jihadist attack to occur on Moroccan territory took place in 2023, when three IS loyalists fatally shot a Moroccan police officer in Casablanca.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas announced Monday that it has disbanded its governing body in the Gaza Strip and is getting ready to hand over authority to a technical committee that has United Nations backing, as part of a ceasefire arrangement facilitated by the United States.

The militant group stopped short of addressing whether it would take the critical step of laying down its weapons or turning over security responsibilities to an international force. However, Hamas framed the decision as a demonstration of its dedication to rebuilding Gaza following years of devastating conflict.

It remained uncertain whether the announcement — which came from a lower-ranking official — would result in any real, tangible changes on the ground.

The Board of Peace, the newly formed entity led by President Donald Trump and tasked with governing and rebuilding Gaza, acknowledged the Hamas announcement but made clear it would evaluate the situation based on “actions, not promises.” In a statement posted to X, the board emphasized that the technocratic committee must take control of all weapons in Gaza, as outlined in the ceasefire agreement.

At a press conference held Monday in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Ismail al-Thawabta, general director of the Hamas-run Government Media Office, stated that “only technical and professional staff” would remain in place to handle the day-to-day operations of the Palestinian territory.

“All employees working in service provision are ‘state employees’ and are fully prepared to work under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza,” al-Thawabta said. Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem described the development as “a positive step forward on the path to implement the ceasefire deal.”

Israel, however, rejected the announcement outright. “The alleged resignation of the Hamas government, where all of the Hamas members stay in their positions, is a spin that has no significance,” said an Israeli official who spoke anonymously because they lacked authorization to address the media.

The committee of technocrats is headquartered in Cairo and is led by Ali Shaath, an engineer born in Gaza who previously served as an official with the Palestinian Authority. The committee’s role is to restore basic services and oversee civilian affairs under the watch of both the United Nations and the Board of Peace.

Even nine months after the ceasefire was signed, talks between Israel and Hamas remain largely at a standstill over how to carry out the agreement’s second phase, which includes Hamas disarming and the rebuilding of Gaza. Hamas has maintained that the terms of the first phase must be fully implemented before any discussion of its weapons can take place.

The war was ignited by the October 7, 2023 attack carried out by Hamas-led militants, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people in Israel and the taking of 251 hostages. Since then, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed 73,098 Palestinians, according to figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-led government, is run by medical professionals and keeps detailed records that United Nations agencies and independent experts generally consider reliable. The ministry does not separate civilian deaths from militant deaths, though it reports that women and children account for roughly half of all fatalities.

Israeli military strikes have dropped off significantly since the ceasefire took hold on October 10, but they have continued on a near-daily basis. Israel’s military maintains that it is targeting Hamas operatives and other militants, frequently stating those individuals were in the process of planning attacks.

On Monday alone, Israeli strikes claimed the lives of at least five people across Gaza — three in Khan Younis in the southern part of the territory and two others in an apartment building in Gaza City, according to health officials. The Israeli military stated it struck a Hamas operative in the Gaza City attack and a Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant in the Khan Younis strikes.

Militants have also continued launching shooting attacks against Israeli troops inside Gaza, and five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire went into effect.

ANKARA, Turkey — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stood firm Monday in calling on the alliance’s member nations to bring “clear, concrete and credible plans” to the table for meeting defense spending targets, ahead of the annual NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

All 32 member nations agreed last year to direct 5% of their gross domestic product toward defense-related expenditures — specifically, 3.5% toward actual defense budgets and another 1.5% toward infrastructure improvements such as roads, bridges, and ports that would allow troops and military equipment to move more efficiently during conflicts.

Not all members are fully on board. Spain accepted the overall goal but argued it could meet NATO’s security needs without committing that level of spending. Meanwhile, some nations are still falling short of the alliance’s previous, lower benchmark of 2% of GDP.

Rutte struck a more optimistic tone when discussing European allies and Canada, saying “the evidence we see so far is impressive.” He noted NATO projections show those nations will collectively spend $258 billion more on defense in 2025 and this year combined compared to prior years.

Even so, those figures may not be enough to satisfy the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized U.S. allies for not spending enough on their own defense, and has previously threatened to withhold American military protection from nations he deemed to be falling short.

Rutte delivered his remarks in the Turkish capital just ahead of a two-day summit set to begin Tuesday — a gathering that carries added weight as the United States continues to scale back its security commitments in Europe.

BEIRUT — The massive crowds that gathered in Tehran to mourn the passing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei carried a message that extended far beyond grief. For Iran’s leadership, the outpouring was a statement directed squarely at the United States and Israel: their campaign to cripple the Islamic Republic had not succeeded.

Rather than appearing battered by a war that was triggered by U.S. and Israeli strikes on February 28, Iran chose to project an image of unity, resilience, and determination to influence what happens next in the region.

According to regional officials, diplomats, and analysts, that posture of survival is now the foundation of Iran’s negotiating strategy — with the funeral serving as the moment Tehran attempted to turn endurance into political leverage.

A 60-day ceasefire, which Washington had hoped would restart diplomacy around Iran’s nuclear ambitions, has instead opened a different kind of competition. In this new contest, Iran’s geographic position — not its uranium stockpiles — has emerged as its most powerful card.

Tehran is working to convert gains made during the conflict into lasting strategic influence, particularly by pushing for formal recognition of its dominant role around the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows.

The 60-day countdown toward a final agreement, tied to the ceasefire and an accompanying memorandum of understanding, has not yet officially begun. In that gap, Iran is calling the shots.

Alex Vatanka of the U.S.-based Middle East Institute said Tehran views Hormuz less as a money-making opportunity and more as a source of political standing. “The symbolic part is more important for the Iranians than revenues,” Vatanka said. “They want some kind of symbolic acceptance that the Strait is Iran’s. It’s about accepting Iran as the sovereign power over the Strait.”

Drawing on a Persian proverb, Vatanka put it bluntly: “Why give away a diamond for a lollipop?” In Tehran’s view, control of Hormuz is the diamond. Sanctions relief and access to frozen assets are the lollipop.

Iran’s parliamentary leadership has reinforced this stance. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf declared that “the Strait of Hormuz is our greatest power tool; we must properly protect this divine blessing,” and vowed that Iran would “under no circumstances relinquish its rights” there.

Regional sources and diplomats say Iran is intentionally dragging its feet in negotiations to cement what it sees as the rewards of the war before pivoting back to the nuclear issue. Alan Eyre, a former U.S. diplomat with deep expertise on Iran, said Tehran sees no urgency on uranium while its position on Hormuz remains unsettled. “Iran is perfectly happy to play for time and just drag negotiations out,” Eyre said. “It wants control of Hormuz and is holding talks to institutionalise that control.”

That control could take shape through transit arrangements, coordination agreements, or fees for services along the strategic corridor, while Gulf nations watch to see whether Washington can reverse the new reality on the ground.

Eyre also noted that Iran believes U.S. President Donald Trump — facing domestic political pressures and reluctant to spark another confrontation ahead of November’s midterm congressional elections — is under greater pressure to reach a deal than Iran is to offer concessions. “The Iranians know that President Trump wants to get out; he wants to move on,” Eyre said. “They know they can squeeze him because time is on their side.”

Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. Middle East negotiator, said Washington’s military campaign failed to dislodge Iran’s leverage, leaving American diplomacy with a flawed ceasefire that has itself become a point of contention. He said Tehran has little incentive to engage seriously on its nuclear program until it is satisfied that the new reality around Hormuz is accepted and that meaningful headway has been made on freeing billions of dollars in frozen assets held abroad.

“The 60-day clock was always a fantasy,” Miller said. “The Iranians are not going to move to the nuclear file until they’re relatively confident they’ve achieved this new status quo. They want to make sure that Trump understands, and that the world understands, that there’s no going back to February 27.”

Miller pointed to what he called the defining reality of the post-war landscape: neither U.S. military force nor the threat of a naval blockade fundamentally changed Iran’s position on the strait. “They’re not going to give it up,” he said.

Ebtesam Al-Ketbi, president of the Emirates Policy Center, argued that by ending the war without resolving its root causes, Washington may have inadvertently elevated Hormuz from a pressure point into a permanent source of leverage for Tehran. Gulf officials fear that Iran’s demonstrated ability to shape events around the strait has given it an advantage it will be unwilling to trade away, even for sanctions relief or nuclear concessions.

“They are twisting the arms of the Americans and everybody,” Al-Ketbi said. “Now that they have found this Hormuz treasure, they will not leave it.”

Analysts say Washington will likely have to accept a reopening of the strait largely on terms set by Tehran. As Eyre summarized: “No one’s going to win, but Iran will lose less than the United States will.”

BAKU — Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry took formal diplomatic action Monday, calling in Russia’s ambassador to lodge a protest over what it characterized as a Russian drone attack on a fuel station owned by the state oil and gas company SOCAR, located in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region. The strike occurred on Sunday.

Russia has been targeting fuel stations across Ukraine as a countermeasure against Kyiv’s growing campaign striking energy infrastructure inside Russia — attacks that have led to fuel shortages across numerous Russian regions.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry noted that this was not an isolated incident, pointing out that other SOCAR-operated facilities in Ukraine — including an oil storage depot in Odesa — had already suffered damage in earlier military strikes.

“The continuation of such incidents, despite repeated warnings, indicates the deliberate nature of these attacks,” the ministry stated in an official release.

As of Monday, Russia had not issued any public response to Azerbaijan’s diplomatic complaint or the allegations made against it.

Since Russia launched its large-scale military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Azerbaijan has worked to preserve its relationships with both Moscow and Kyiv. The country has provided humanitarian assistance to Ukraine while stopping short of joining the Western-led sanctions imposed on Russia.

Pakistan has been quietly working to bring together Libya’s rival factions in an effort that, if successful, would significantly boost Islamabad’s standing on the world diplomatic stage, two Pakistani sources have revealed.

The mediation push comes as observers have watched for months as the United States has worked to find a diplomatic resolution in Libya — a country that has been divided between competing eastern and western governments ever since a civil war erupted following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that brought down Muammar Gaddafi.

Pakistan has already played a notable role this year as a go-between in separate talks involving the U.S. and Iran, a contribution that has been repeatedly acknowledged by the Trump administration. One of the Pakistani sources said the U.S. is “fully aware and involved” in Pakistan’s efforts in Libya as well.

Saudi Arabia is also supporting the initiative, both sources confirmed. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defence agreement last year, and Riyadh has long sought to extend its influence in Libya.

According to both sources, the mediation effort got underway late last year, with both Libyan sides requesting Pakistan’s participation. How closely Pakistan has been coordinating with other regional players remains unclear.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry, its military media wing, officials from both Libyan factions, and the foreign ministries of Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United States did not respond to requests for comment.

What a Unity Plan Could Look Like

Analysts say any workable plan to reunite Libya would need to satisfy the competing interests of outside powers while resolving long-standing disputes over government posts, election rules, and oil revenues — issues that have derailed previous attempts at reconciliation.

“The United States has been pushing hard in Libya,” said Jalel Harchaoui, a contributor to Britain’s Royal United Services Institute think tank, “but the format it is trying to impose is still loose and ill-defined.”

A summary of a proposed “Libya Reunification Plan” obtained by Reuters would create a 36-month transitional power-sharing arrangement under a body called the Government of National Consensus and Presidential Council.

Under the proposal — which one Pakistani source noted is still being refined — Abdulhamid Dbeibah of the U.N.-recognized, western-based Libyan Government of National Unity would serve as prime minister, while Saddam Haftar, deputy commander of the eastern-based Libyan National Army, would chair the Presidential Council.

The faction loyal to Saddam Haftar’s father, Khalifa Haftar — the Libyan National Army’s commander-in-chief — controls a large portion of Libya’s oil infrastructure. The plan would give him authority over the national budget.

One Pakistani source said Pakistan intends to play “an active role in making sure this whole arrangement stays in play,” though details are still being worked out.

Pakistan’s Diplomatic Moves

Last month, Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir held a meeting with Saddam Haftar in Rawalpindi. Just days afterward, Haftar traveled to Washington, where he sat down with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The State Department said at the time that Rubio welcomed the efforts of Libyan leaders to overcome their divisions and reaffirmed Washington’s support for a unified Libya.

While analysts consider Pakistan a secondary player in Libya — where the U.S., the UAE, Turkey, and Egypt have competed for influence for years — Islamabad has maintained ties with both Libyan sides, something other regional actors may not be able to claim.

As Reuters reported in December, Pakistani officials have pursued defence ties with the eastern-based Libyan National Army, including discussions about the possible sale of JF-17 fighter jets and Super Mushshak trainer aircraft, despite an active U.N. arms embargo.

Meanwhile, the rival western government recently sought direct talks with Pakistan as well, according to an unreported document reviewed by Reuters.

Qatar and Turkey — one of the western government’s most significant backers — were among those who encouraged Pakistan to take on a mediation role, two Pakistani sources familiar with the situation said.

Tarek Megerisi, director of geopolitical advisory firm Informmi, offered a note of caution, warning that there is no guarantee any agreement reached would hold. He pointed to a deal struck last year between the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo that fell apart within months.

LONDON (AP) — The United Kingdom moved Monday to impose sanctions on nine Russian individuals and organizations accused of developing chemical weapons used in two high-profile poisoning cases — one targeting opposition leader Alexei Navalny and another aimed at a former Russian intelligence officer living in England.

Britain’s Foreign Office announced the measures against seven individuals and two scientific research institutes, saying they played roles in producing the epibatidine toxin used to poison Navalny at an Arctic prison facility in 2024, as well as the Novichok nerve agent deployed in a 2018 attack in the English city of Salisbury. That attack targeted former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and left him and his daughter seriously injured. A local woman named Dawn Sturgess also died as a result of the attack.

Among those sanctioned were the Russian state scientific research institute SC Signal and GNIII VM, also known as the State Scientific Research and Testing Institute for Military Medicine, along with multiple senior officials and scientists.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the actions, stating that “Russia’s repeated use of chemical weapons is a sickening violation of international law and a direct threat to global security.”

Separately on Monday, Britain’s defense ministry released photographs showing U.K. F-35 fighter jets intercepting a Russian Bear-F maritime patrol aircraft that had approached a British carrier strike group in the Norwegian Sea. The HMS Prince of Wales and other British ships are currently operating in the Arctic as part of NATO missions.

According to the ministry, the incident occurred on Thursday when the Russian aircraft “passed at low altitude and unnecessarily close to HMS Prince of Wales and dropped a large number of sonobuoys in close proximity to the carrier.” Sonobuoys are floating monitoring devices that use sonar technology to detect submarines and other vessels.

“This activity was unsafe and unprofessional. The Russian aircraft was intercepted and escorted by two UK F-35 jets from HMS Prince of Wales until it left the area,” the defense ministry said in an official statement.