BBC News Briefing

10 June, 2024

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. French President Emmanuel Macron showed the European Parliament elections are anything but inconsequential. From Paris, Hugh Schofield examines how a big victory for an opposition party prompted a snap parliamentary election in France - plus, more analysis from across the continent. BBC Arabic's Feras Kilani delivers a must-read interview with a widow of the Islamic State group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. And better late than never, a US high school class finally graduates, 50 years after students were denied their ceremony.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Far-right gains trigger French snap vote

A male-dominated crowd waves French flags

Supporters of the French far-right National Rally party react following their victory. Credit: Reuters

Three weeks after voting for the European Parliament, the French public will be casting their ballots for the national parliament after President Emmanuel Macron unexpectedly called a snap election. His decision came after exit polls in the European elections showed the far-right party National Rally, helmed by 28-year-old Jordan Bardella who took over from Marine Le Pen in 2022, had won 32% of the vote in France - more than twice President Macron's Renaissance party. "France needs a clear majority in serenity and harmony," Mr Macron said. As Hugo Schofield points out, Mr Macron already lacks a majority in the French parliament and the National Rally performed in line with polls' expectations. His gamble may be more calculated that it appears, hoping that voters opposed to the nationalist policies of the National Rally may end up boosting his centrist party.

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Political weight: Far-right parties also made gains in countries including Italy, Austria and Germany, but they do not form a united front in the European Parliament, Europe editor Katya Adler notes.

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The centre holds: The largest share of the 720 seats in the European Parliament is projected to be won by the centre-right European People's Party grouping, while the centre-left Socialists & Democrats group lost one seat but remains the second-largest. The Greens recorded the largest losses.

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Election aftermath: Correspondents from across Europe are reporting on the results and reactions to the vote. Get the latest.

WORLD HEADLINES

War in Gaza: Israel's war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has quit the emergency government in a sign of disagreement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Saturday, Israel's military freed four hostages in a raid in central Gaza that killed 274 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Israel estimated fewer than 100 people died.

Same but different: Narendra Modi has been sworn in prime minister for a third term in a grand ceremony in Delhi. Soutik Biswas looks at how leading a coalition could present challenges for Mr Modi.

Neighbouring tensions: South Korea plans to resume broadcasting propaganda by loudspeaker to North Korea in response to Pyongyang's campaign of sending rubbish-filled balloons across the border.

Sudan civil war: Doctors at one of the last functioning hospitals in the besieged Sudanese city of el-Fasher say they've been forced to close down the facility after it was attacked.

Dr Michael Mosley: The wife of the TV and radio presenter has paid tribute to her "wonderful, funny, kind and brilliant" husband, whose body was found four days after he went missing on the Greek island of Symi.

UK ELECTION LATEST

Political parties in the UK are expected to publish their election manifestos this week, starting with the Liberal Democrats, who are promising to bolster health and social care services. Our specialists will be running the rule over pledges in our live page.

AT THE SCENE

Baghdad, Iraq

Life as IS leader al-Baghdadi's wife

A woman wears a black chador across her face so only her nose and cheekbones are visible

Umm Hudaifa had been living in Turkey under a false name where she was arrested in 2018. Credit: BBC

Umm Hudaifa, the first wife of the late Islamic State (IS) group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is in prison in Iraq while being investigated for terrorism-related crimes. She faces a civil lawsuit for colluding in the kidnapping and enslavement of Yazidi girls. She denies she was involved in any of IS’s brutal activities.

Feras Kilani, BBC Arabic

In 2014, Al-Baghdadi married their 12-year-old daughter, Umaima, to a friend, Mansour, who was entrusted with taking care of the family’s affairs. Umm Hudaifa says she tried to prevent it, but she was ignored. In August that year, Umm Hudaifa gave birth to another daughter, Nasiba, who had a congenital heart defect. This coincided with Mansour bringing nine Yazidi girls and women to the house. Their ages ranged from nine to about 30. They were just a handful of thousands of Yazidi women and children enslaved by IS – thousands more were killed. Umm Hudaifa says she was shocked and “felt ashamed”.

Read in full

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

The cartoon cat defying China's censors

A cartoon of a cat holding onto a sphere with footprints over Asia stands against the backdrop of a Chinese flag

A Chinese dissident - who is behind a popular X account fronted by this cartoon cat - says Beijing is trying to silence him. Credit: BBC

An art school student named Li Ying has become a vital chronicler of information deemed politically sensitive by Beijing. His X account, fronted by a cartoon cat, resurfaces issues from protests to small acts of dissent, corruption to crime, that censors zealously scrub off the Chinese internet.

Find out more

A child wearing a face mask walks hand-in-hand with her mother

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Air pollution's side effect

Toxic air is causing girls in the US to get their first periods earlier.

Here's the research

And finally...

On 23 May 1974, a graduation ceremony in Moore, Oklahoma, was cut short by a tornado warning. Now, half a century later, the class of 500 students has finally walked across the stage to receive their diplomas and celebrate their achievements.

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