International Bound

While its Minorities are Winning World Cup Games, France is Preparing to Pivot to the Far Right✓

As France’s multiethnic World Cup squad marches toward the semifinals, the country’s 2027 presidential race is tilting hard right. Right-winger Marine Le Pen leads first-round polling and beats nearly every rival in hypothetical runoffs. With RN president Jordan Bardella waiting in the wings and Jean-Luc Mélenchon consolidating the left, France’s fractured center may not be able to stop either a far-right or hard-left runoff in 2027. Here is our take.

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Libya: Washington’s Libya Plan Would Install Haftar’s Son as President. Libya’s Institutions Are Saying No$

Washington’s power-sharing plan for Libya would install Saddam Haftar as president while Abdulhamid Dbeibah remains prime minister. But Libya’s High Council of State, Misrata’s leadership, and Grand Mufti Sadiq al-Gharyani have all rejected it, while the UN’s separate 4+4 committee is quietly producing the actual roadmap Washington’s plan still lacks.

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Libya: Pakistan Steps In as Surprise Broker to Unify Libya$

Pakistan has quietly begun mediating between Libya’s rival authorities in the east and west, pushing a three‑year power‑sharing transition backed by Saudi Arabia and coordinated with the United States in a bid to reunify the country’s fragmented institutions.

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Middle East Descends Deeper into Chaos and New Flashpoints Emerge$

The Middle East enters June 2026 facing a convergence of crises. Iran and the United States continue exchanging military strikes, Israeli forces are expanding operations in Lebanon and tensions surrounding Jerusalem’s holy sites are rising.

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