Panama has placed barbed wire across several routes in the Darién Gap, the country’s Ministry of Public Security said in a statement Thursday, in a bid to block migrants making their way north.

At least five passages near Panama’s border with Colombia have been shut using barbed wire installed by the country’s border agency (Senafront). Meanwhile, Panama’s navy is patrolling areas in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

The government said the navy is instructed to stop and detain people traveling by boat with “irregular migrants” and to hand them over to police or immigration authorities from Colombia. On land, border authorities have closed irregular access areas with the goal of rerouting people through established border points.

The United States and Panama signed an agreement this month on immigration issues that aimed to “close the passage of illegal migrants” through the Darién Gap. Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino has also vowed to stop the Central American country from being a transit route for migrants.

“I will not allow Panama to be a path open to thousands of people who enter our country illegally supported by an entire international organization related to drug and human trafficking,” Mulino said at his swearing-in ceremony on July 1.

Mulino visited the Darién Gap days before Thursday’s announcement, saying 300 border agents were going to be deployed to monitor the area and declaring that no one would enter Panamanian territory without a passport or a valid document.

Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office has criticized Panama’s latest move saying that the barbed wires affect at least one Colombian town’s commercial and cultural exchange with areas in Panama.

“The barbed wires in the jungle will only bring drowned people into the sea. Migration is stopped by removing economic blockades and improving the economy of the south,” Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro wrote on X.

The Darién Gap, a mountainous rainforest region connecting South and Central America, has seen an increase in the number of migrants willing to risk their lives and safety to cross it.

The 66-mile (106-kilometer) hike through the Darién Gap brings migrants from Colombia to Panama and is a crucial passage for those – many of whom come from other Latin American countries – hoping to reach the US and Canada.

Panamanian figures show at least 174,513 migrants crossed the treacherous Darién Gap, from January to June 6 of this year.

The latest figures are higher than around the same period in 2023, when more than 166,000 crossings were reported, according to Panama’s National Migration Service. According to migration service figures, a record 520,000 people crossed the jungle last year.

Other countries along the migration route have also taken steps to restrict people’s movement. In June, Ecuador said it would temporarily suspend a visa waiver agreement with China over what it called an increase in irregular migration flows of Chinese citizens.

The last of five Americans arrested in recent months in Turks and Caicos under gun control laws that make bringing firearms or ammunition into the territory without prior permission from police a crime has been sentenced.

Michael Lee Evans, of Texas; Sharitta Grier, of Florida; Bryan Hagerich, of Pennsylvania; Ryan Tyler Watson, of Oklahoma; and Tyler Wenrich, of Virginia, were all accused of bringing various amounts of ammunition to Turks and Caicos, a 40-island chain southeast of the Bahamas.

All have said the ammunition recovered from their luggage was not intentionally packed, according to American lawmakers who went to the British Overseas Territory in May as part of efforts to petition for their expedited release.

Though the infractions had carried a mandatory 12-year prison sentence and fine – with reductions only in “exceptional circumstances” – a mid-June revision clarified courts may impose a fine, a custodial sentence or both in exceptional circumstances, a member of the territory’s House of Assembly said June 14.

All five Americans arrested under the law have pleaded guilty, been sentenced and headed back to the US. Here’s what we know about the laws in Turks and Caicos and the affected Americans:

No constitutional right to carry firearms in Turks and Caicos

Though the territory doesn’t manufacture firearms or ammunition, the number of firearms finding their way to the islands has increased – and that’s a worry, Turks and Caicos Premier Washington Misick said.

While it is legal to fly in the US with unloaded firearms and ammunition in checked baggage, according to the Transportation Security Administration, taking firearms or ammunition into Turks and Caicos without prior permission from police is “strictly forbidden.”

The mandatory sentence was in place to protect those on the islands, Gov. Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam has said, adding judges could use their discretion to impose reduced sentences in “exceptional circumstances.”

But no special treatment should be given to any group, the Turks and Caicos premier said: “The law must be applied even-handedly.”

Even so, the “amendment was introduced to address concerns about the rigidity of the previous sentencing framework, which mandated both imprisonment and financial penalties for all firearms offenses, regardless of the specific context or severity,” House of Assembly member Edwin Astwood said in a statement.

“This often resulted in disproportionately harsh sentences that did not always fit the nature of the crime or the circumstances of the offender.”

US citizens are not being targeted, Turks and Caicos officials have said. Of the 195 people sentenced for firearm-related offenses over the past six years, only seven were US citizens, Misick has said, and none got a 12-year sentence.

While Turks and Caicos collaborates with the US in battling narcotics, terrorism and money laundering, “our laws and processes are not congruent,” Misick said.

“We are a separate sovereignty. We respect the United States’ laws and we will never think to interfere in its operation.”

Sharitta Shinese Grier

Grier planned to pay the fine that same day and board a same-day flight from Turks and Caicos to the United States, Mair said.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen because I couldn’t believe it was in there,” she said in May. “They went through my bag and said they found rounds at the bottom of my carry-on.”

Grier was released on bail but couldn’t leave the island until her case concluded and had to report to a local police station weekly, the station reported.

“I’m just broken,” Grier said in May.

Bryan Hagerich

Hagerich was the first of the five to return to the United States after he received a suspended 52-week sentence in late May, which meant he didn’t face immediate incarceration, his representatives said. He was also given a $6,700 fine.

The father of two pleaded guilty to possession of 20 rounds of ammunition, according to the Turks and Caicos government.

Hagerich paid the fine and was allowed to leave the British Overseas Territory. He got home May 24, according to Johnathan Franks, a spokesperson for the Bring Our Families Home Campaign, a group that helps wrongfully detained Americans secure release.

“We have a lot of catching up to do,” Hagerich said. “A lot of memories to make together. Just so elated to see them. They’ve been so strong through all this.”

Before Hagerich’s sentencing, his wife had packed two suitcases – one if he was sentenced to prison and another if he were allowed to return home – they said in an exclusive interview with “Good Morning America.”

“It was dark; you have no concept of time,” Hagerich said about his week-long stay in jail in Turks and Caicos. “I was with three folks that were accused of murder. It was scary.”

Tyler Wenrich

Wenrich pleaded guilty to possession of ammunition while traveling to Turks and Caicos.

He was sentenced May 28 to three weeks time-served in jail and fined $9,000, said Kimo Tynes​​​​, a Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands spokesperson said that day in a statement.

He returned home to Virginia on May 30.

The Hon. Justice Davidson Baptiste cited exceptional circumstances in Wenrich’s case, saying, “Enforcing the mandatory minimum would have been arbitrary and disproportionate, and would not serve the public interest.”

Wenrich was charged with possession of two 9 mm rounds, according to the Turks and Caicos government.

Michael Lee Evans

Evans pleaded guilty to possession of seven 9 mm rounds of ammunition and appeared before the court on April 24 via video conference.

He was allowed to return to the United States on bail due to a “severe” medical situation and to attend his June sentencing hearing virtually, said his attorney Oliver Smith, King’s Counsel.

Evans got a suspended 33-month sentence, and his attorney believes it is unlikely he will have to serve time in jail.

Ryan Tyler Watson

Watson was visiting Turks and Caicos with his wife in April to celebrate several friends’ 40th birthdays when he was charged with possession of four rounds of ammunition. He plead guilty in May.

Watson soon returned home and reunited with his family, US Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, said on X.

US lawmakers tried to free Americans

The Americans’ arrest has stoked tension between US officials and their counterparts just a few hundred miles away. A request by a US congressional delegation to the islands in May for charges against the five Americas to be dropped did not yield the desired result.

“Unfortunately, despite our willingness to work with Turks and Caicos officials to get our constituents home, we were not able to find a path forward today,” Republican US Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said May 20 in a statement.

“It’s to the point now, (where) every third week an American is being detained wrongfully (in) Turks and Caicos,” Republican US Rep. Guy Reschenthaler told ABC News the same week.

In a House of Assembly address, the islands’ Misick said, “The (accusations) of congressman (Reschenthaler) against the government and people of the Turks and Caicos Islands are nothing more than diabolic falsehoods.”

“They were innocent mistakes,” he said. “Any other nation would handle this with a fine in sending that person back to the country of origin. Here, that’s not happening.”

On May 28, Mullin welcomed the news of Wenrich’s release, calling it “another step in the right direction,” according to a post on X.

“I again encourage TCI to address the unintended consequences of their law to prevent this from happening again.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) internal investigation into the failures to protect the kibbutz of Be’eri on October 7 found that the Israeli military “failed in its mission to protect the residents” and “was not prepared for the extensive infiltration scenario” by Hamas that day, which involved “multiple infiltration points by thousands of terrorists attacking dozens of locations simultaneously.”

Be’eri, located in southern Israel, was one of the hardest hit communities in the October 7 attacks when Hamas militants stormed the kibbutz, killing 101 of its residents, including children. Thirty people were abducted from the kibbutz that day.

The inquiry said the military had trained for isolated and specific infiltrations. “As a result, there were no additional reserve forces in the area that could have been sent to Kibbutz Be’eri,” the inquiry said.

Responding to the inquiry’s report, the Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said it “clearly illustrates the magnitude of the failure and the scale of the disaster that befell the residents of the south who defended their families with their bodies for many hours while the IDF was not there to protect them.”

The inquiry found that “the IDF struggled to create a clear and accurate situational assessment of what was happening in the kibbutz until the afternoon of October 7,” even though the local emergency team had provided an updated assessment.

“Combat in the area during the initial hours was characterized by a lack of command and control, a lack of coordination, and a lack of order among the different forces and units. This led to several incidents where security forces grouped at the entrance to the kibbutz without immediately engaging in combat,” the report said.

“The inquiry found that the security officials did not provide sufficient warning to the residents of Kibbutz Be’eri about the infiltration of terrorists during the initial hours of the terrorist attack,” the report continued.

The inquiry concluded that the turning point came only when a senior officer was appointed to coordinate forces in the area, leading to the regaining of operational control of the kibbutz.

“Despite operational errors and mistakes in force deployment, the inquiry team noted that the combat in Be’eri included a series of acts of heroism and supreme courage by the fighting forces, commanders, and security personnel who fought in the kibbutz, saving many residents,” the report said.

It also said “the bravery of the Be’eri residents and the members of the kibbutz’s civilian rapid response team is commendable and was crucial in stabilizing the defensive line during the first hours of combat, preventing the attack from spreading to other parts of the kibbutz.”

The inquiry also found that the security forces who fought in the area “operated with great bravery and heroism.” 31 security personnel were killed in the area after some “340 terrorists infiltrated the kibbutz,” of whom about 100 were killed, it said.

Timeline of attack

The inquiry team found that that the attack on Be’eri began at around 7 a.m. local time on October 7 and that Hamas controlled the kibbutz for about four hours.

During this period, the “first IDF soldiers arrive, are hit, evacuate the wounded, exit the kibbutz, and, positioning themselves at the entrance of the kibbutz, engage in combat with the terrorists who reached the gate.”

By 4.15 p.m., the 99th Division had established itself at the kibbutz and began organizing command and control.

By 6 p.m., “about 700 IDF soldiers and security forces are operating in the area of the kibbutz,” the inquiry found.

The Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Halevi, accepted the conclusions of the inquiry, and acknowledged that “the IDF did not fulfil its mission to defend the residents in the most grave manner and failed in its mission.”

Halevi noted that “from the afternoon hours onwards, forces were waiting outside the kibbutz while the massacre continued inside. This situation is extremely grave and cannot occur.”

“The reasons for this were found to include that commanders who arrived with forces entered the kibbutz with a part of the force to better understand the situation; some forces did not initiate contact since they did not understand the severity of the situation and the lack of adequate forces; some of those waiting outside were support forces providing a perimeter for those engaged in combat inside the kibbutz,” he said.

As for prioritizing the evacuation of wounded soldiers, Halevi said that civilian protection was the highest-priority mission. “Soldiers must always give priority to assisting civilians in evacuation, defense and any other need that arises in a combat zone,” he said.

Separately, Halevi told a graduation ceremony Thursday for new officers that the IDF had worked with all partners “to understand in detail and depth what happened and what we must learn to prevent it from happening again in the future.”

Be’eri kibbutz survivors were presented with the findings of the report earlier Thursday.

“It can be said that the investigation was thorough and helped the members of the kibbutz understand a little the depth and complexity of the fighting in the various sectors of the kibbutz,” a statement released by Be’eri spokesperson Michal Paykin said.

But he said some important questions remained unanswered.

“For example: Why did the many military forces who gathered at the gate not enter the kibbutz for many hours, when the kibbutz was burning, and its residents were crying for help? What caused the intelligence failure that enabled the Hamas invasion plan, and how was the border fence breached without an immediate response from the IDF?” he said.

Members of “Kibbutz Be’eri did not need the results of the investigation to feel the failure of the IDF” that morning. “The failure of the army has been burned into our bodies and in our hearts for nine months,” the statement adds.

Former residents are now calling for a state commission of inquiry to “examine the conduct of all the parties and provide us with answers with which we can begin to recover,” the statement added.

“Finally, and most importantly, we demand to deal with the abandonment that is happening right now across the border – the abandonment of the hostages to their fate for nine months.  The ongoing failure to return them to this day must stop,” the statement ends.

Speaking about a state inquiry, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday at the officers’ graduation ceremony: “It should check all of us: decision-makers and executive officers, the government, the army and the security agencies, in this government, and in the governments of the last decade that led to the events of October 7.”

“It should examine me, the Minister of Defense, it should examine the Prime Minister, the Chief of Staff and the head of the Shin Bet, the IDF, and the national bodies subordinate to the government,” Gallant said.

A commission “must examine the intelligence and operational failure of the events of the 7th October,” as well as examine “the errors made in assessing the enemy’s capabilities and in warning of its intentions  – that culminated on the 7th of October,” Gallant said.

Focus on 13 hostages

One focus of the inquiry into events at Be’eri on October 7 was the effort to save 13 people held hostage in a house at the kibbutz.

There had been speculation that the hostages had been killed by tank fire from the Israeli military as it tried to force entry to the house, but the inquiry found that Hamas operatives at the house probably killed the hostages.

“After gunfire was heard from within the house and the terrorists communicated their intent to commit suicide and kill the hostages, the security forces decided to breach the house to attempt to save the hostages, and conducted combat operations under difficult conditions,” the inquiry concluded.

It said that “commanders and forces made professional and responsible decisions, and fully exhausted negotiation efforts. The tank fire towards the area near the house was carried out professionally, with a joint decision made by commanders from all the security organizations after careful consideration… with the intent to apply pressure to the terrorists and save the civilians held hostage inside.”

“The team determined that, based on the information reviewed and to the best of their understanding, no civilians inside the building were harmed by tank shell fire, except for an isolated incident outside the building where two civilians were injured by shrapnel,” it continued. “The team determined that most of the hostages were likely murdered by the terrorists, and further inquiries and reviews of additional findings are necessary.”

Regarding the conclusions, Halevi said, “In such events, the commander on the ground must make difficult decisions with the goal of saving as many civilians as possible. The inquiry revealed that this value guided the decision-making of the commanders on the ground during this event.”

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said later Thursday that the IDF had been trying to carry out negotiations with Hamas but those failed.

“The decision to bombard the house was taken only after all options were exhausted and only after there were noises of shooting where there was a suspicion that the hostages were executed. Civilians were not killed by the tank fire. They were killed by the terrorists. There is only one incident in which we can say that one civilian was killed from shrapnel,” he said.

A fire broke out in the spire of the cathedral in the French city of Rouen on Thursday morning.

The blaze erupted at the top of the spire of the gothic Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral in Rouen, in the northern region of Normandy.

Images posted on X by Normandy’s prefecture, or regional administration, show smoke billowing from the top of the building, which is currently undergoing restoration works and is considered a significant piece of French medieval architecture.

The prefecture confirmed on X that the cathedral was evacuated following the outbreak of the flames and that emergency services were working at the scene. In total, 70 firefighters and 40 vehicles were deployed to the site, while additional firefighting forces from the neighboring region of Oise were also mobilized.

The prefecture later announced that the fire had been put out.

Stéphane Gouezec, an official from the local fire department, said that “an inventory is being made of works that could be affected” by the water used to contain the blaze. “We may have to take some works to safety,” he added.

Patrick Waeselynck, the owner of a nearby cafe, described the moment he noticed the fire.

“First sunny day, there’s a big outside seating area, people are sitting down, we’re going over to take the order and we hear, ‘Fire!,’” he told Reuters.

“I turn around and I see the cathedral spire, the tarpaulin that was protecting the restoration work, which was burning, big flames, black smoke.”

The construction of Rouen cathedral dates from the 12th century and it was built and rebuilt over a period of 800 years. It is famed for its three towers, each built in a different style, and was immortalized in a series of paintings by French impressionist Claude Monet in the 19th century.

This blaze comes five years after a massive fire broke out in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, devastating large parts of the 850-year-old church.

Mali’s military junta has lifted a suspension on political party activities meant to safeguard public order, the council of ministers said late on Wednesday.

The suspension was announced in April, days before the start of a national dialogue for peace in the Sahelian nation that has been battling a jihadist insurgency for over a decade and has been under military rule since August 2020.

“By taking this deterrent measure, the government was able to contain all the threats of public disorder that hung over this major event,” the council said in a statement.

Given the focus was now on implementing the recommendations of the April 13-May 10 peace dialogue, the government will allow political parties to resume their activities, it said.

Mali’s junta, which seized power in a second coup in 2021, reneged on a promise to hold elections in February, postponing the vote indefinitely for technical reasons.

Political parties and civil society groups at the time reacted with anger to the junta’s decision not to hold the vote and called for a return to constitutional order.

There have been eight coups in West and Central Africa since one in August 2020 in Mali, including neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, which are fighting the same jihadist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Twelve schoolchildren and their driver were killed in South Africa on Wednesday when their minibus overturned and caught fire on a road in Gauteng province, officials said.

The accident took place a day after schools reopened after the winter holidays. Seven other children were injured in accident, which took place in the town of Merafong, west of the country’s economic hub Johannesburg.

Reports said a that a small truck, known as a bakkie, had slammed into the back of the minibus transporting the children, causing it to overturn and erupt into flames.

Education and transport officials visited the scene of the crash and the injured children at a hospital in the nearby area of Carletonville. Head of the Gauteng provincial government, Panyaza Lesufi, also visited the injured children.

Gauteng education department spokesman Steve Mabona said 11 of the children who died attended Rocklands Primary School while the twelfth child went to Laerskool Blyvooruitsig in Carletonville.

“The pupils’ transport was hit from behind by a bakkie, causing it to overturn and subsequently catch fire,” Mabona said, describing the crash as a “horrific accident.”

Thousands of schoolchildren in Gauteng rely on private minibuses for transport to and from their schools across South Africa’s most populous province. Many others rely on public transport, including municipal buses and taxis.

China is a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine, NATO leaders said Wednesday, as the defense alliance hardens its stance on Beijing and the “systemic challenges” they say it poses to their countries’ security.

The joint declaration marks NATO’s most pointed tone yet on China’s role in a war that has galvanized the 75-year-old bloc, which celebrated its anniversary this week at a three-day leaders’ summit in Washington hosted by US President Joe Biden.

China’s “no limits” partnership with Russia and its “large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base” are enabling Moscow to wage its war, the NATO leaders’ statement said, as they urged Beijing to “cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort.”

The US and European leaders in recent months have accused China of bolstering Russia’s defense sector with the export of dual-use goods. Beijing has denied supplying weaponry and maintains it keeps strict controls on such goods.

The NATO leaders also elaborated to a greater extent than in the past on concerns over China’s growing capabilities and activities in outer space, and reiterated their previous unease about what they called Beijing’s “malicious cyber and hybrid activities,” including disinformation, and “rapidly” expanding nuclear arsenal.

“We remain open to constructive engagement with the PRC, including to build reciprocal transparency with the view of safeguarding the Alliance’s security interests,” the statement said, referring to China by the initials of its official name.

“At the same time, we are boosting our shared awareness, enhancing our resilience and preparedness, and protecting against the PRC’s coercive tactics and efforts to divide the Alliance.”

The NATO leaders’ declaration Wednesday comes as the 32-member alliance – historically focused on security in North America and Europe – has in recent years upped its engagement with US allies in Asia and increasingly seen its security as linked to the region, even as member countries have pursued divergent policies toward China.

For the third consecutive year, leaders of New Zealand, Japan and South Korea attended the NATO leaders’ summit in another sign of closer ties between the bloc and those countries, as well as Australia.

China and Russia’s tightening ties

Beijing has deepened political, economic and military ties with Moscow since President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in February 2022 declared a “no limits” partnership – and their shared opposition to what they said was NATO’s expansion – during the Russian leader’s visit to the Chinese capital, weeks before his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

China has surpassed the European Union to become Russia’s top trade partner, offering a crucial lifeline to its economy, which has been heavily sanctioned in the wake of that invasion, while the two nuclear-armed neighbors have continued to hold joint military exercises.

Meanwhile, China has claimed neutrality in the war and sought to posit itself as a potential peace broker, even as the US and European leaders have become increasingly alarmed about what they say is Beijing’s backing of Moscow through its economic and diplomatic support, as well as the provision of dual-use goods.

On Thursday, China criticized the NATO statement as “filled with Cold War mentality and belligerent rhetoric,” and said it was “provocative with obvious lies and smears.”

“China is not the creator to the Ukraine crisis. China’s position on Ukraine is open and aboveboard. We aim to promote peace talks and seek political settlement,” a statement from its mission to the European Union said.

The Chinese statement also reiterated Beijing’s position that it has never provided lethal weapons in the conflict and has strict dual-use export controls, defending its trade with Russia as “normal.”

The US and European leaders have in recent months raised alarm that such exports are revitalizing Russia’s defense sector and allowing it to survive despite hefty international sanctions. The US has said that dual-use exports have specifically enabled the production of tanks, munitions and armored vehicles.

Both the US and the EU have sanctioned Chinese entities they allege are supporting the war effort.

NATO’s increasing focus on Asia

The NATO leaders’ declaration is the latest step in what has been the bloc’s gradual hardening of tone on China in recent years.

NATO leaders first mentioned the need to jointly address “opportunities and challenges” posed by China in a 2019 declaration, before moving to refer to “systemic challenges” the country poses in 2021.

That shift has come alongside an increased US policy focus on the Indo-Pacific amid a deepening rivalry with Beijing as China under Xi’s leadership has grown increasingly aggressive in the region and in its broader foreign policy.

NATO’s attention on Asia has also been accelerated over the past two and a half years by hardening geopolitical fault lines in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Kremlin’s tightening relationship with not only China but also North Korea and Iran.

NATO leaders on Wednesday also said Pyongyang and Tehran were “fueling” Russia’s war through “direct military support,” and condemned North Korea’s exports of “artillery shells and ballistic missiles” to Russia – which multiple governments say they have tracked since last year when Putin hosted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Russian Far East.

“The Indo-Pacific is important for NATO, given that developments in that region directly affect Euro-Atlantic security,” the leaders said in their declaration.

“We are strengthening dialogue to tackle cross-regional challenges and are enhancing our practical cooperation, including through flagship projects in the areas of supporting Ukraine, cyber defense, countering disinformation, and technology,” it said.

Beijing has watched warily as NATO’s engagement grows with other powers in the Asia-Pacific. China is widely seen by observers as hoping to be the dominant force in the region and to push back on the US presence there, as Washington bolsters its longstanding Indo-Pacific security partnerships and interests.

China and Russia have also converged over their shared opposition to NATO, part of a broader aspiration from both to reshape a world order they see as unfairly dominated by the US, and both have blamed the Western security alliance for provoking Moscow to invade Ukraine.

In its statement Thursday, Beijing’s EU mission called on NATO to “correct its wrong perception of China,” and “abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum game.”

“The Asia-Pacific region is a place for peaceful development, not a wrestling ground for geopolitical competition … NATO should not become the disrupter of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific,” the statement said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

Three days after the second round of France’s snap parliamentary election ended in gridlock, President Emmanuel Macron broke his silence to urge mainstream parties to form a solid majority in the National Assembly and shut out the extremes.

France’s vote, which Macron unexpectedly called after his party was trounced by Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party in last month’s European elections, has tipped France into political limbo, after none of the three main blocs came close to forming an absolute majority.

In an open letter to the French people published Wednesday, Macron called on parties with “republican values” – understood to exclude parties on the far left and far right – to form a coalition large enough to pass laws in parliament.

Macron’s comments suggest he is unwilling to work with the more extreme part of the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition, which secured the most seats in the French parliament in Sunday’s second-round vote, but not enough to govern independently.

“I call on all political forces that recognize themselves in republican institutions, the rule of law, parliamentarianism, a European orientation and the defense of French independence, to engage in sincere and loyal dialogue to build a solid majority, necessarily plural, for the country,” wrote Macron.

Macron said it was “in light of these principles” that he will decide on the appointment of France’s next prime minister. “This means giving the political forces a little time to build these compromises with serenity and respect for each other,” he said.

The NFP won 182 seats in the National Assembly, making it the largest group in the 577-seat parliament. Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance, which trailed in a distant third in the first round, mounted a strong recovery to win 163 seats. And the RN and its allies, despite leading the first round, won 143 seats.

It is customary for the French president to appoint a prime minister from the largest parliamentary group – in this case the NFP – and ask it to form a government.

But Macron and his Ensemble allies have repeatedly refused to enter into coalition with the far-left France Unbowed, the largest single party within the NFP, and have accused its leader, the 72-year-old firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, of being just as extreme and unfit to govern as figures on the far right.

The NFP formed days after Macron called the snap vote, and chose its name in an attempt to resurrect the original Popular Front that blocked the far right from gaining power in 1936. After tactical voting and political bargaining between centrist and left-wing voters, the NFP managed the same feat in Sunday’s second round.

But the NFP does not speak with a single voice. The various parties in the coalition straddle vast ideological ground, from the far-left France Unbowed to the more moderate Place Publique and Socialist parties. When the shock result was announced, each party celebrated separately, and the bloc still has not nominated a leader to become prime minister.

Mélenchon has stated his intention to govern France. In a victory speech Sunday evening near Stalingrad Square in Paris, he said Macron “has the duty” to ask the NFP to form a government.

Unlike its neighbors Italy and Germany, France – with its presidential system – lacks the culture of coalition-building and compromise, meaning the formation of a new government could take weeks and prove fleeting.

Newly-elected members of parliament, called “deputies,” are scheduled to take their seats for the first time on July 18. But without a clear majority, a minority government faces the risk of no-confidence votes, which could lead to several governments replacing each other in quick succession.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s offer to resign was on Monday rejected by Macron, leaving him in place in a caretaker role until the new government is formed.

“The current government will continue to exercise its responsibilities, then take care of day-to-day business in accordance with republican tradition,” Macron said, in an attempt to calm the situation two weeks out from the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony in Paris.

South Korea is beginning the mass production of a low-cost laser weapon that has successfully shot down small drones during testing, the country’s key arms agency said Thursday.

The laser weapon, called Block-I, “can precisely strike small unmanned aerial vehicles and multicopters at close range,” a news release from South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said.

The release did not give a cost for the weapon, but said each shot fired would only cost about $1.50.

Imagery supplied by the agency appears to show a weapon around the size of a shipping container with a laser mounted on top and what appears to be a radar or tracking device mounted on one side of the platform.

DAPA said the unit measures 9 meters by 3 meters by 3 meters (29.5 feet by 9.8 feet by 9.8 feet), and fires laser rays that are difficult if not impossible to detect before impact.

“It is invisible and noiseless, does not require separate ammunition and can be operated only when electricity is supplied,” the DAPA release said. Future versions could be developed to take out much bigger targets, including aircraft and ballistic missiles, which would be a potential “game changer,” according to the release.

DAPA will develop “a laser anti-aircraft weapon (Block-II) system with improved output and range compared to the current one,” the release said.

But the Block-I weapon itself comes online at an important time. In Ukraine, the Middle East and elsewhere, small drones – some available off the shelf – have shown the ability to disable or destroy multimillion-dollar pieces of military hardware, including tanks.

Militaries have typically responded by trying to take out low-cost drones with defensive systems that cost tens of thousands of dollars per strike. A weapon that could do the same for practically pennies would be a big boost to the country that can deploy it.

“Low-cost drones and rockets have swung the economic calculus of offense and defense in favor of those using large volumes of cheap unmanned systems and munitions to overwhelm more-sophisticated air and missile defenses,” James Black, assistant director defense and security for the RAND Europe think tank, wrote in a blog post in January.

DAPA said the Block-I weapon has been in development for five years, with more than $63 million invested.

The Korea Institute for Defense Analyses led the system development with participation from Hanwha Aerospace, it said.

The system was evaluated suitable for combat in April 2023 after achieving 100% success in shooting down targets in live-fire tests, according to DAPA.

The agency said South Korea is the first country to publicly acknowledge it will deploy a mass-produced laser weapon.

Earlier this year, Britain showed off a new laser weapon that its military says could deliver lethal missile or aircraft defense at around $13 a shot.

But no possible deployment date for that weapon had been announced.

In 2022, the US Navy successfully tested a high-energy laser system against a target representing a cruise missile.

But a Navy account of that test said there was no plan to get it into the hands of warfighters, adding that it “offers a glimpse into the future of laser weapons.”

A case of a rhino with a bullet hole through its head, a poisoned giraffe and a maimed lion are all crime scenes you might find you might find at the Wildlife Forensics Academy (WFA), an hour’s drive north of Cape Town, South Africa.

On a mission to tackle poaching, the WFA recreates wildlife crimes in a warehouse and students and rangers dressed in hazmat suits are taught how to handle the evidence.

Across the world, wildlife crimes – including animal trafficking and poaching – are on the rise and are a major threat to the planet’s biodiversity. In Africa, rhinos are a prime target, with around 10,000 lost to poaching in the last decade, the majority in South Africa. Almost 500 rhinos were poached in the country in 2023, with more than 300 from within KwaZulu-Natal province, home to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. Yet the province only recorded 49 related arrests and seized just 13 firearms.

By providing forensics training, Greg Simpson, co-founder of the WFA, hopes to increase the rate of successful convictions. Often, he says, wildlife crimes happen in remote areas without witnesses and first responders can accidentally disrupt the scene and contaminate evidence. As a result, the culprit isn’t caught or punished.

“It’s really important to give people skills so that they can collect evidence … that can be used in an investigation and hopefully down the line will end up in a prosecution,” he says.

Crime scene simulation

The facility tries to make the training experience as realistic as possible. It uses life-size animals preserved by taxidermy, and some are marked with bloody wounds made with red paint. Besides the corrugated iron walls and roof, the warehouse looks like a typical dry African landscape, with sandy terrain and a scattering of plants. There is a poachers’ house and truck, ready to be searched and swabbed for fingerprints, and footprints lie on the ground, ready to be measured and identified.

Once the crime scene has been investigated, the students are taught how to chemically analyze the evidence at an on-site laboratory. The lessons culminate in a replica courtroom where they practice presenting the evidence at trial and undergo cross-examination.

“The purpose of cross-examination is to test the credibility, the trustworthiness of evidence. And unless you can survive it, the court might not accept your evidence,” says Phil Snijman, director of education at the WFA and former state advocate and prosecutor.

Fingerprints, DNA samples, ballistics (when a weapon is matched to a cartridge), shoe tracks can all be discounted by the court if they have not been correctly sealed, photographed or documented, he explains. And while he does not expect the course to make students and rangers forensic experts, he believes that it will help them to preserve the evidence correctly if they are ever the first responders to a crime scene.

Boosting convictions

Launched in 2022, the WFA attracts university students, such as those studying veterinary or biomedical sciences, and wildlife rangers from all over the world to its one to four-week courses. This year, it expects to train around 200 people. One of them is Leita Mkhabela, a ranger from the all-female Black Mamba anti-poaching unit that operates in Greater Kruger, a collection of private game reserves in northeast South Africa, who attended a course in April.

“This is something we come across every day, we have a high rate of rhino poaching,” she says. “We have so many poachers that have walked free in court because rangers didn’t collect enough evidence. It’s really important for rangers to get this knowledge.”

Mkhabela plans to take back all that she has learned to her colleagues so that they can implement the techniques in the bush. She believes that increasing the rate of convictions will act as a deterrent for poachers.

There are signs that the training is leading to convictions. According to the WFA, a ranger reported that since doing the course, he was able to collect traces of poison at a crime scene involving wild dogs, and police were confident they would be able to arrest and convict the poachers as a result.

Other forensic laboratories have been set up across the continent, in countries such as Malawi and Botswana. One initiative, led by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), ran four workshops during 2023 and early 2024, training 80 wildlife rangers, investigators, and intelligence officers from the Kenya Wildlife Service on collecting and presenting evidence in court. In the first quarter of this year, IFAW reported 32 wildlife crime cases being presented in court and 24 people accused of wildlife crimes awaiting prosecution. Previously, these cases would have been dropped due to a lack of sufficient evidence, it says.

Kevin Pretorius, director of the Green Law Foundation and a practicing attorney at the High Court of South Africa, who specializes in criminal and environmental law, and is not involved with WFA, says that one of the main hurdles in convicting wildlife crimes is the “admissibility of evidence,” especially since the charge must be proven “beyond reasonable doubt.”

“The training of a cohort of people that understand the value of evidence, and that a crime scene tells a story, and that story can assist the investigator in linking the perpetrator to a crime, is always valuable,” he says.

For the WFA, assisting law enforcement is its central mission, but it also hopes to raise awareness of the threats presented by the illegal wildlife trade and why it should be treated as a priority. “It’s a threat to biodiversity, it’s a threat to human health,” says Simpson. “If we can improve knowledge around this, that would be really valuable.”