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French voters are casting their ballots in a parliamentary election that could deprive centrist President Emmanuel Macron of the absolute majority he needs to govern with a free hand. According to pollsters, Macron’s camp is in no way guaranteed to reach the 289 threshold for an absolute majority in the National Assembly. Opinion polls …

Former US Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton says the United States is on the brink of losing its democracy. “We are standing on the precipice of losing our democracy, and everything that everybody else cares about then goes out the window,” Clinton said in an interview with …

The US Navy has fired more than a dozen senior officers since the start of the year, including five in one week, without providing any compelling reason for the dismissals to the American public. The Navy reported on Saturday that at least nine commanding officers and two senior advisers have …

Colombians are casting their ballots in the second round of the presidential election. About 39 million people are eligible to vote. Just above half of them turned out for the first round last month that ended with no winner. In this round, leftist Gustavo Petro is competing against populist senator …

The Saudi-led coalition has seized yet another Yemeni fuel tanker with thousands of tons of fuel on board, the second in less than 24 hours, violating the UN-brokered ceasefire once more. The tanker, called Fos Power, had obtained necessary entry permits from the United Nations, but was barred from docking at …

A hacker group has broken into the Israeli electricity network, vowing to plunge the regime into darkness. According to Press TV, the group, which identifies itself as the “Moses Staff,” announced the attack on Wednesday. It said it had targeted the Israel Electric Corporation, the largest supplier of electrical power …

A Palestinian official says Israeli prison authorities have threatened to deprive Palestinian prisoners of medical treatment if they refuse to call off an open-ended hunger strike launched months ago against their arbitrary detentions. Qadri Abu Bakr, the Head of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, told Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen …

The Russian President’s Special Envoy for Syria, Alexandr Lavrentyev, has denounced Israeli missile strikes against the war-ravaged country, stating that such acts of aggression are “unacceptable.” “We will certainly consider the issue of intensified strikes on Syrian territory by Israel. We think that we will also need to focus on …

Russia says Western-provided weapons in Ukraine are “useless” in fending off its advances, as leaders of Germany, France, and Italy visit Kiev. Since the onset of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, the United States and its European allies have been pouring advanced weapons into the ex-Soviet country. …

The Kremlin says it hopes European leaders will not supply Ukraine with more lethal weapons and instead will push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be “realistic” toward the situation. “I would hope that the leaders would push President Zelensky to take a realistic look at the state of affairs,” Kremlin spokesperson …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a further blow to his authority on Wednesday when his second ethics adviser in less than two years quit his post. Johnson last week survived a confidence ballot that saw 41% of his lawmakers vote against his leadership after months of scandals and gaffes …

China will not allow the secession of Taiwan from the mainland, says a senior Chinese official, amid heightened tensions between Beijing and the self-ruled island. Liu Jieyi, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the …

The number of people displaced worldwide passed a record 89 million last year, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says, warning that the intensification of a global food security crisis exacerbated by the Ukraine conflict could further increase that number. By the end of 2021, a record 89.3 million people were …

Tunisia’s main trade union has called a national strike that will result in the cancellation of all international flights to and from the country and halt land and sea transportation. According to Press TV, the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) said the strike would take place at midnight on June …

One person was killed and at least two other people were injured in a shooting on Wednesday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio, according to police. Officers, who were called to the Glenwood Community Center in the Hilltop neighborhood just after 05:00 p.m. local time, found two victims in a parking lot …

The White House is scrambling to help tackle rising gas prices which could put Democrats to rout in this fall’s midterm elections. According to Press TV, on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden’s economics team and outside advisers met to discuss various options, with more meetings expected on Thursday. Meanwhile, Energy …

The US government on Wednesday announced that it will provide Ukraine with an additional $1 billion in military aid, in response to repeated pleas for support from Kiev. According to Press TV, in a statement, US President Joe Biden said he had informed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that the …

The street in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington has been named after Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident journalist who was murdered in Istanbul in 2018. On Wednesday, the US capital’s local government changed signs on one block in front of the embassy to read “Jamal Khashoggi Way”. …

In a move that has irked the United States, Nicaragua on Tuesday renewed a decade-long decree allowing Russian forces to train in the Central American country, causing further strains in relations between Managua and Washington. Nicaragua’s National Assembly – Asamblea Nacional – gave its go-ahead for Russian forces to train in Nicaragua and …

Major floods have occurred in southern and eastern parts of China following days of heavy rain, prompting emergency response by central and local government authorities. The Ministry of Natural Resources on Wednesday issued a level III alert for floods, the third highest level, in the provincial level regions of Fujian, …