Your time is up, Italy’s hard-right leader tells EU center parties as she votes in European election
ROME (AP) — Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni joined voters in Italy and a half dozen European Union nations in casting a ballot during the penultimate day of European Union parliamentary elections on Saturday. The bloc’s premier hard right politician threw down the gauntlet to the traditional center parties, telling them their time to run the EU as they liked was up. The elections come just weeks after an attempt to assassinate Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico that sent the shockwaves through 27-nation bloc. Citizens in Italy, Malta, Latvia and the Czech Republic are also voting Saturday. The elections conclude Sunday, and initial results will only be known after the final polls close in all member nations.
The Latest | Europeans go to the polls on the final day of voting for EU elections
Voters across the European Union are going to the polls on the final day of voting for the European parliamentary elections to choose their representatives for the next five-year term. Polls opened in 20 EU countries early Sunday for the June 6-9 elections for a new European Parliament, the legislative branch of the 27-member bloc. Millions of Europeans have been casting their ballots this week in one of the biggest global democratic events. Far-right parties are looking to gain more power amid a rise in the cost of living and farmers’ discontent, while the wars in Gaza and Ukraine are also key topics weighing on the minds of voters.
Israel rescues 4 hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, and 210 Palestinians are reported killed
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel has carried out its largest hostage rescue operation since the latest war with Hamas began on Oct. 7. Four hostages were freed and the military says they’re well. A health official says at least 210 Palestinians including children have been killed amid Israel’s heavy air and ground assault in central Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the fighting will continue until all the hostages are freed. A U.S. multi-agency hostage cell provided advice and support throughout the rescue. The latest rescue lifted some spirits in Israel as divisions deepen over the best way to bring hostages home.
Aid is delivered to Gaza from newly repaired US-built pier, US military says
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military says the first aid from an American-built pier arrived in Gaza since storm damage required repairs to the project. U.S. Central Command said Saturday that crews delivered about 1.1 million pounds of food to Gaza via the pier. The pier constructed by the American military was operational for only about a week before it was blown apart in high winds and heavy seas on May 25. The damaged section was reconnected to the beach in Gaza on Friday after undergoing repairs at an Israeli port. It brings back online one way to get desperately needed food and other emergency supplies to Palestinians trapped by the eight-month-old Israel-Hamas war.
Cemetery visit will close out Biden trip to France that has served as a rebuke to Trump
PARIS (AP) — President Joe Biden will close out his trip to France by paying his respects at an American military cemetery that Donald Trump had notably skipped visiting when he was president. That will turn the final stop Sunday on Biden’s overseas trip into an implicit rallying cry for his reelection campaign. It’s a fitting end to five days in which Trump was an unspoken yet unavoidable presence. On the surface, the trip was intended to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day and celebrate the alliance between the United States and France. But during an election year when Trump has questioned fundamental understandings about America’s global role, the former Republican president was the obvious foil for Biden.
Body believed to be missing TV presenter Michael Mosley found on Greek island
ATHENS (AP) — Police said that a body believed to be that of missing British TV presenter Michael Mosley was found on a Greek island Sunday morning. A police spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of an ongoing investigation, said the body was found on a rocky coast by a private boat and that formal identification was pending. Mosley went missing on the small eastern Aegean island of Symi on Wednesday afternoon after reportedly leaving a beach to go for a walk.
Some nationalities escape Biden’s sweeping asylum ban because deportation flights are scarce
SAN DIEGO (AP) — President Joe Biden has suspended asylum processing at the U.S. border. But the proclamation for the new policy unveiled this week has an exception for “operational considerations.” That official language acknowledges the government lacks the money and authority to deport everyone subject to the measure, especially people from countries in South America, Asia, Africa and Europe who didn’t start showing up at the border until recently. The Homeland Security Department says in a detailed document outlining the ban that “demographics and nationalities encountered at the border significantly impact” its ability to deport people.
Stranded migrants confront violence and despair as Tunisia partners to keep them from Europe
EL AMRA, Tunisia (AP) — Europe’s efforts to partner with neighboring countries to curb migration have resulted in thousands of migrants being stranded in Tunisia. Tunisia’s authorities with EU funds have successfully prevented tens of thousands of people from crossing the Mediterranean. But thousands more are now encamped in small towns along the coast where they hide in olive groves and wait for a chance to cross the sea. They have no money to return home. Their presence has unleashed a xenophobic backlash in Tunisia, whose many residents are also trying to get to Europe in search of a better life.
In secular France, chaplains prepare to provide Olympians with spiritual support during the Games
PARIS (AP) — More than 120 faith leaders are preparing for an Olympic challenge — how to spiritually support some 14,000 athletes and their staff who will take part in the Paris Games. Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim religious and lay leaders will share a single hall in the athletes’ village. That in itself will be a message of unity at a time of geopolitical conflicts that might weigh heavily on athletes. In the hall, the chaplains will provide some worship services, prayers in different global traditions and especially support for those facing challenges. They expect to offer comfort to athletes whose medal dreams will inevitably get crushed.
Bobrovsky makes 32 saves as the Panthers shut out the Oilers 3-0 in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sergei Bobrovsky backstopped the Florida Panthers to a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. The goalie everyone simply calls “Bob” made 32 saves for his second shutout of this postseason and third in the playoffs in his stellar 14-year NHL career. Bobrovsky is the biggest reason Florida has a lead of any kind in the final for the first time in franchise history. Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues supplied the offense by scoring on two of the Panthers’ first five shots. Reigning MVP Connor McDavid and the Oilers dominated at times but could not crack Bobrovsky.