Legislative: the campaign gets tough

Four days before the second round of the legislative elections, the campaign is getting tough after the intervention of Head of State Emmanuel Macron, whose absolute majority in the Assembly is under threat, and who has called for a “solid” majority, much to the dismay of his opponents who denounce it as a “bankruptcy”. Descending into the arena for the first time since the first round, Emmanuel Macron dramatized the issue on Tuesday by assuring that the choice of the second round was “more crucial than ever.”

"Nothing would be worse than losing ourselves in inertia, in the stalemate, in postures” and “adding French disorder to global disorder,” he assured from Orly airport before leaving for Romania, a trip entirely devoted to the war in Ukraine. Emmanuel Macron continues his trip on Wednesday, to Romania where 500 French soldiers have been deployed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, then to Moldova for a support visit. It is not ruled out that he will then continue in Ukraine. For this trip organized between two rounds, the Head of State was accused of “contempt” by the Unsubmissive leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who also derided the “Trump-style sketch” of a statement made on the tarmac on Tuesday. At a meeting in Toulouse in the evening, the Nupes leader insisted that “stability is with us” because “we are going to plan change”.

Macron in Romania to support the troops at the gates of Ukraine

Emmanuel Macron arrived in Romania on Tuesday evening to greet the 500 French soldiers who have been deployed there since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, ahead of a supportive visit to Moldova on Wednesday and a possible delicate trip to Kiev. This trip aims to “support our soldiers who are (...) mobilized within the framework of NATO to protect our border to the east of the European Union and avoid an extension of the war”, explained the president before leaving France.

This is his first visit to south-east Europe since the conflict started by Moscow on 24 February, which he says is “spreading geopolitical” and “economic” disorder everywhere. His long-awaited visit to Ukraine could take place later in the week in the company of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, according to media reports in Berlin and Rome. Information not confirmed by the Élysée Palace, which specifies that “nothing has been confirmed” at this stage.

Floods, fires, and heatwaves: the United States grappling with climate disasters

Floods, devastating fires, storms, and a potentially dangerous heat wave for a third of the population: The United States was hit hard by a series of climate-change-related disasters on Tuesday as summer approached. Nearly 120 million Americans were affected to one degree or another by a heat wave alert that hit parts of the Midwest and Southeast of the country. “A high-pressure dome is expected to produce higher-than-normal, or even record, temperatures across the region today and tomorrow (Wednesday),” the national weather forecast warned. “This heat, combined with high humidity, will probably generate temperatures well above 37degC in many places,” she warns. In some areas of Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, the mercury is thus expected to reach 43degC.

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