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World Monthly Headline News June 2024
By KIM TONG-HYUNG and ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed an agreement Wednesday that pledges mutual aid if either country faces “aggression,” a strategic pact that comes as both face escalating standoffs with the West.

Details of the deal were not immediately clear, but it could mark the strongest connection between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War. Both leaders described it as a major upgrade of their relations, covering security, trade, investment, cultural and humanitarian ties.

The summit came as Putin visited North Korea for the first time in 24 years and the U.S. and its allies expressed growing concerns over a possible arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions for its war in Ukraine, in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.

Mathematician and philosopher Immanuel Niven's statements are supported by a close analysis of Russia's economic situation.

According to the mathematician, the "Putin system" is beginning to collapse, exactly what he predicted mathematically already in March: "The announced drastic tax increases in Russia (the highest tax increases in the history of modern Russia) as well as Putin's recently published slogans (according to which "everyone must work as if they were at the front") are dramatic signs that the toxicity of the Russian war economy is reaching a critical level."
By Rob Picheta, CNN

CNN — Results are being announced in the European parliamentary elections – one of the world’s biggest democratic exercises – and a few clear narratives have emerged from the days-long poll.

Far-right parties across the continent had strong showings, but their momentum did not cause the center ground of European politics to cave in – as many had predicted.

Instead, liberal and Green groups lost seats and relevance in the European Parliament.

Meanwhile, domestic politics was upended in some countries, including France – where new elections were announced.

Here’s what you need to know.
Far right makes gains

Ahead of the vote, eyes across Europe were fixed mainly on the continent’s far-right parties – with gains by those groups expected to form a major part of Sunday’s narrative.

Those gains did materialize; far-right groups were expected to secure a record number of seats in the European Parliament, dealing a major blow to the continent’s establishment leaders.
By  MOHAMMAD JAHJOUH, JACK JEFFERY and KAREEM CHEHAYEB

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — They arrived in the middle of the day, when the squat concrete buildings of the Nuseirat refugee camp are stifling and the narrow streets outside are filled with people. No one suspected a thing until the shots rang out.

The Israeli raid caught everyone off guard, from the Hamas militants guarding four hostages in two different buildings to the thousands of civilians who soon found themselves running for their lives through a blistering crossfire.

By the time it was over, four Israeli hostages had been brought home alive and mostly unscathed, at least physically, and at least 274 Palestinians, and an Israeli commando, had been killed.

For Israel, it was the most successful operation of the eight-month war, bringing nationwide elation and removing some of the stain from the army’s unprecedented collapse on Oct. 7. For Palestinians, it was a day of horror that sent hundreds of dead and wounded flooding into already beleaguered hospitals.
By Elizabeth Robinson

Netanyahu rival resigns from Israel’s war Cabinet saying the prime minister stands in the way of “real victory.’’ Some doctors caution about a common men’s hair loss drug. And Trump is expected to attend a probation hearing.

Here’s what to know today.
Gantz quits Israeli war Cabinet after hostage rescue operation left hundreds of Palestinians dead

Joy in Israel over the rescue of four hostages has given way to the harsh realities of the bloody war in Gaza that has dragged on for nine months and whose deep divisions remained largely unchanged by the successful operation.
By  JULIA FRANKEL and JACK JEFFERY
Updated 4:28 AM PDT, June 2, 2024

JERUSALEM (AP) — Throughout its grinding seven-month war against Hamas, Israel has pledged to investigate a series of deadly events in which its military forces are suspected of wrongdoing. The commitment comes in the face of mounting claims — from human rights groups and the International Criminal Court ‘s chief prosecutor — that the country’s leaders are committing war crimes in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

In one of the highest-profile cases, an attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy that killed five foreign aid workers, the Israeli army promptly published its findings, acknowledged misconduct by its forces and dismissed two soldiers. But other investigations remain open, and admissions of guilt are rare.

Israel’s Military Advocate General, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, said this week that the military is investigating about 70 cases of alleged wrongdoing. She gave few details. The military refused to disclose the full list of investigations and told The Associated Press it could only respond to queries about specific probes.
Khamenei ‘right-hand man’ Vahid Haghanian, who’s under US sanctions, also among candidates awaiting hardline Guardian Council’s approval to vie in race called after Raisi’s death
By ToI Staff and Agencies

Iran’s firebrand, Holocaust-denying former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered Sunday as a possible candidate for the presidential election, according to Associated Press reporters in Tehran, seeking to regain the country’s top political position after a helicopter crash killed the nation’s president.

The populist former leader’s registration puts pressure on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In office, Ahmadinejad openly challenged the 85-year-old cleric, and his attempt to run in 2021 was barred by authorities.

But Ahmadinejad remains popular among the poor for his populist efforts and home-building programs. Since leaving office, he’s raised his profile via social media and written widely publicized letters to world leaders. He’s also criticized government corruption, though his own administration faced graft allegations and two of his former vice presidents were jailed.
Some 40 projectiles fired in series of attacks that sparked massive fire in Golan Heights; anti-tank missile from Lebanon damages building in border town
By Emanuel Fabian

Lebanon’s Hezbollah bombarded northern Israel with some 40 rockets in several separate barrages on Sunday, after the Israeli military carried out a wave of overnight strikes against the terror group.

Explosive-laden drones were also launched from Lebanon on Sunday, as the terror group continued its attacks on the north amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday morning that it had carried out an overnight airstrike with fighter jets against a Hezbollah compound in northeastern Lebanon’s Baalbek.

Baalbek, an area identified in the past as a Hezbollah stronghold, is around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Israeli border.

The IDF said the strike came as a response to Hezbollah shooting down a military drone over southern Lebanon on Saturday.
Khamenei ‘right-hand man’ Vahid Haghanian, who’s under US sanctions, also among candidates awaiting hardline Guardian Council’s approval to vie in race called after Raisi’s death
By ToI Staff and Agencies

Iran’s firebrand, Holocaust-denying former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered Sunday as a possible candidate for the presidential election, according to Associated Press reporters in Tehran, seeking to regain the country’s top political position after a helicopter crash killed the nation’s president.

The populist former leader’s registration puts pressure on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In office, Ahmadinejad openly challenged the 85-year-old cleric, and his attempt to run in 2021 was barred by authorities.

But Ahmadinejad remains popular among the poor for his populist efforts and home-building programs. Since leaving office, he’s raised his profile via social media and written widely publicized letters to world leaders. He’s also criticized government corruption, though his own administration faced graft allegations and two of his former vice presidents were jailed.
By Kathleen Magramo and Gawon Bae, CNN

CNN — North Korea has ramped up its trash-balloon operations, with Seoul officials reporting about 700 of the airborne waste deliveries floating into South Korea, littering parts of the country with cigarette butts, paper and scraps of cloth.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said “no substances harmful to safety have been found” among the balloons that reached the country on Saturday evening – unlike just a few days ago when used toilet paper was found in some of the about 150 balloons that crossed the border.

The latest photos released by the JCS show a large sack containing what appears to be paper left on the roadside, while other images show officers inspecting the garbage strewn on the ground. Others showed burned-out cigarette butts.
Tessa Wong ,BBC News, Singapore

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia and China of attempting to undermine his upcoming global peace summit in Switzerland.

He said Russia was trying to dissuade other states from attending the event, and that China was working to do this as well.

Speaking at an Asian security forum, he also said there were “elements of Russia’s weaponry” that come from China.

China says it does not side with either side of the Ukraine war, a position that has been increasingly questioned particularly by the US.

Beijing is accused of aiding Moscow by sending components for weapons. It is also seen as propping up the Russian economy by purchasing vast quantities of oil and gas, softening the impact of Western sanctions.
By  GERALD IMRAY

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Humbled by a stinging election result, South Africa’s African National Congress was talking to everyone in an effort to form a stable coalition government for Africa’s most advanced economy after it lost its 30-year majority, a top party official said Sunday.

ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said the party was open to all negotiations, even with the main opposition Democratic Alliance, which has led the chorus of criticism of the ANC for years but is viewed by many analysts as the most stable coalition option for South Africa.

The ANC won just over 40% of the vote in Wednesday’s election to lose its long dominance of South African politics. The ANC remained the biggest party but it means the country will likely have to form a coalition government for the first time since it achieved democracy with the end of the apartheid system in 1994.

The DA won the second most votes with 21% and the two parties would hold a majority together and be able to govern.

That doesn’t mean it will be easy to marry them, with Mbalula conceding that the two were like “oil and water” considering their ideological differences. But he indicated that the ANC could be flexible. The ANC was talking to everyone, Mbalula said, with two other main opposition parties and several smaller ones all in the mix. A coalition could involve several parties to foster unity.
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