Day: June 27, 2021

PARIS — It had seemed inevitable: another face-off in next year’s French presidential election between President Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, the leader of the rightist, anti-immigrant National Rally Party.

But after nationwide regional elections on Sunday, a rerun of the second round of the 2017 election appeared far less certain as both Mr. Macron’s centrist party, La République en Marche, and Ms. Le Pen’s party failed to win a single one of France’s 13 mainland regions.

The defeat was particularly crushing for Ms. Le Pen. She had portrayed the regional elections as a bellwether of her rise to

MOSUL, Iraq — The palm trees were the last straw. In a UNESCO competition to restore Mosul’s most famous landmarks, there they were, in the winning design. Neither the palms nor the Gulf-style design are indigenous to the historic city, Iraqi architects complained.

At stake were not only the $50,000 award and the contract for a final design — which was funded by the United Arab Emirates and went to an Egyptian architectural team — but, seemingly, the pride of Iraq’s second-largest city, which was rising from the rubble of its battle against the Islamic State four years ago.

“It’s

LONDON — Britain’s embattled health minister, Matt Hancock, resigned on Saturday, a day after a tabloid newspaper published photos of him in a steamy embrace with one of his senior aides — an apparent violation of Britain’s social-distancing guidelines.

Mr. Hancock, who spearheaded Britain’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, was the latest member of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government to be accused of violating the strict rules imposed on the rest of the country.

“I understand the enormous sacrifices that everybody in this country has made — that you have made,” a chastened-looking Mr. Hancock said in a video statement