Good morning,
Claudia Sheinbaum has won a landslide victory to become Mexico’s first female president, inheriting the project of her mentor and outgoing leader, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose popularity among the poor helped drive her triumph.
Sheinbaum, a leftwing climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won the presidency with between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, according to a rapid sample from electoral authorities.
The new president will face tense negotiations with the White House over the huge flows of US-bound migrants crossing Mexico and security cooperation over drug trafficking at a time when the US fentanyl epidemic rages.
Mexican officials expect these negotiations to be more difficult if the US presidency is won by Donald Trump in November. Trump, the first US president to be convicted of a crime, has vowed to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese cars made in Mexico and said he would mobilise special forces to fight the cartels.
How Sheinbaum’s victory made history: Sheinbaum is the first woman to win a general election in the US, Mexico or Canada. She will also be the first person from a Jewish background to lead Mexico.
The election campaign was marred by violence: The poll has been the most violent in modern history, with more than 30 candidates killed and hundreds more dropping out as criminal groups vied to install friendly leaders.
Hunter Biden on trial in case that Republicans plan to use as a political weapon
Hunter Biden is due to go on trial on Monday on gun charges in a case that could prove an embarrassment to his father, Joe Biden, and hand a political weapon to Republicans desperate for a distracting issue after Donald Trump’s 34-count conviction last week.
The charges stem from Hunter Biden’s application for a firearms license in which he denied being a user of narcotics. In theory, he could face a hefty jail sentence, but it is widely seen as highly unlikely.
What will prosecutors say? They intend to use Hunter’s memoir Beautiful Things to make the case that he knew he was addicted to drugs when he denied it on the form that every person must fill out when buying a gun.
What does the president say? Biden has stuck by his son through all his troubles and that is unlikely to change now. But the trial could air potentially embarrassing family details.
Zelenskiy: Trump risks being ‘loser president’ if he imposes bad deal on Ukraine
Donald Trump risks being a “loser president” if he wins November’s election and imposes a bad peace deal on Ukraine, said Volodymyr Zelenskiy, adding that it would mean the end of the US as a global player.
In an interview with the Guardian in Kyiv, the Ukrainian president predicted that Russia’s Vladimir Putin would violate any Trump-brokered deal. “A ceasefire is a trap,” he said. After a pause Putin would “go further”, humiliating Trump and making him look “very weak”, he said.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defense ministry said on Sunday forces had seized Umanske village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
What’s the history between Trump and Zelenskiy? In 2019, as president, Trump rang Zelenskiy and asked him to investigate his election rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter. If Zelenskiy failed to find dirt on Hunter Biden, US security assistance to Ukraine would be withheld, Trump suggested, according to a leak of the call. The scandal led to Trump’s first impeachment.
Children die of malnutrition as Rafah operation heightens threat of famine in Gaza
At least 30 child victims of malnutrition have been recorded in Gaza, with almost all of the deaths in the north, until recently the area with the most extreme shortages of food and medical care, where a top US aid official said famine had taken hold.
The arrival of Israeli troops in the southern town of Rafah in May has shifted the grim calculus of threat in the territory. The border with Egypt is now controlled by Israeli troops, the Rafah crossing is closed, and fighting has choked shipments of humanitarian aid through Kerem Shalom. The supply of humanitarian aid into Gaza overall has dropped by two-thirds since 7 May, when the operation began, UN figures showed last week.
“The ongoing situation in Rafah is a disaster for children,” said Jonathan Crickx, chief of communication for Unicef in Palestine.
Here’s how desperate the situation is: Most children under five in Gaza are spending entire days without eating anything at all. A snapshot survey, looking at food access over three days in May, found that 85% spent at least one day without food, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said.
Here’s the latest with Israel’s assault on Rafah: Gaza’s European hospital reported on Sunday evening that three people were injured in a strike on a neighbourhood in northern Rafah, while witnesses reported multiple injuries and deaths in a strike early Monday on a home west of the town. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is urging Israel and Hamas to agree a ceasefire and hostage deal.
In other news …
Results from South Africa elections confirmed the African National Congress lost its majority, for the first time in 30 years of full democracy.
The UK’s Conservative party – averaging 23% in national polls compared with Labour’s 46% – signalled it would roll back trans rights, in moves copying the US right and trying to revive its bleak electoral fortunes.
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have arrested or put under surveillance several dissidents before the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre this week, according to human rights groups.
Stat of the day: Hundreds of millions wiped from Trump fortuneafter conviction
Donald Trump’s paper fortune dropped by hundreds of millions of dollars on Friday as shares in his media firm came under pressure after his conviction in his New York hush-money trial. Trump Media & Technology Group’s stock finished Friday down 5.3%, denting Trump’s stake to about $5.6bn from $6bn.
Don’t miss this: The US librarian who sued book ban harassers
Amanda Jones’s story made international headlines when she became one of the first librarians to file a lawsuit for defamation against book-ban harassers who launched personal attacks on her. She speaks to Olivia Empson about fighting back.
Climate check: California firefighters battle wind-driven wildfire near San Francisco
California firefighters battled a wind-driven wildfire over the weekend. On Sunday morning, the California department of forestry and fire protection announced that the fire had spanned 12,500 acres and was 15% contained. “Strong winds and dry grass have made it difficult to contain,” it added.
Last Thing: Italian village with 46 residents has 30 local election candidates
Ingria, one of the smallest villages in Italy, is home to 46 inhabitants. A further 26 people, registered to vote from abroad, make up the electorate. This time, two-thirds of Ingria are competing for positions – including a mother and son in rival camps.
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