Plus: Far-right celebrates EU election gains, and 100-year-old US veteran marries 96-year-old sweetheart in Normandy ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has landed in Jerusalem for his eighth Middle East trip since the 7 October attacks in Israel. Tom Bateman explains why the diplomat faces an uphill battle pushing for a truce deal between Israel and Hamas. After the shock of a snap election in France, we're looking at another country where the far right has made - more modest - gains: Germany. And the end of your newsletter is shooting for the moon. | |
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GET UP TO SPEED | - It "has got harder" for people in the UK to afford a home under the Conservatives, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has admitted in an interview with the BBC. Follow the campaign here.
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QUESTIONS ANSWERED | Blinken in Middle East to sell Gaza truce deal |
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|  | The top American diplomat is on his eighth visit to the Middle East since the start of the war in Gaza. Credit: Reuters | US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Jerusalem to build regional support for a draft Gaza peace deal recently unveiled by President Joe Biden. The three-phase plan has yet to receive a formal response from Hamas, according to US and Israeli officials, or to be openly endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. |
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| | Tom Bateman, State department correspondent |
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| How does the White House see the negotiations? | The US knows Israel’s own fractious ruling coalition is approaching the plan with much reluctance. This extends to outright opposition by some far-right ministers who are threatening to trigger a collapse of the government if the deal progresses. | What are the other hurdles? | The resignation of former general Benny Gantz from the war cabinet on Sunday has deepened the sense of instability around Mr Netanyahu, with whom the White House has become exasperated over the course of the war. For officials in Washington, Mr Gantz had become a preferred point of contact, and his resignation pulls the Israeli government’s centre of gravity back towards the far-right. | What about Hamas? | Mr Blinken is using his trip to argue that Hamas is the sole obstacle to the deal. "Does Hamas want to end this conflict, end this war that it started, or not? We’ll find out," he said. On Saturday, Israel's forces freed four more captives after a raid in central Gaza that killed 274 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. Israel says fewer than 100 people were killed. After the offensive, Hamas's political leader said the group would not agree to a ceasefire deal unless it achieved security for Palestinians. | |
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| Far-right celebrates EU election gains |  | AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel (centre) and Tino Chrupalla (right) celebrated their party's performance in Berlin. Credit: EPA | With 16% of the votes, Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) beat Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left SPD to second place in the country's European Parliament elections. The AfD’s results are better than expected. |
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| | Damien McGuinness, BBC correspondent |
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| | "We demand a vote of confidence and new elections," AfD leader Alice Weidel told journalists on Monday. Germany’s far-right is jubilant after a campaign marked by a string of scandals, with allegations of money laundering, cash from the Kremlin and spying for China. In eastern Germany, where the AfD is particularly extreme but often leads in the polls, the far-right won the most votes. And the party managed to up its share among young voters, who possibly enjoyed rebelling against mainstream German norms of acceptability. Perhaps the AfD did well, not in spite of the scandals, but because of them.
Meanwhile, the governing coalition is in turmoil, trying to figure out what went wrong. On Monday, one SPD leader called the results a "painful humiliation". The conservatives are certainly satisfied with their lead result of 30%. But given how unpopular the government is, this is hardly a stunning result. |
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THE BIG PICTURE | Who wants to be a Moon owner? |
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| |  | A UN agreement from 1967 says no nation can own the Moon. Credit: Reuters | A growing number of countries and companies are joining a Moon rush for the satellite's resources. In an age of renewed great-power politics, this new space race could lead to tensions on Earth being exported to the lunar surface, writes our science editor Rebecca Morelle. |
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FOR YOUR DOWNTIME | All about that SPF | The sun's rays are carcinogenic – here's how to protect yourself properly. | |
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And finally... in France | A 100-year-old American D-Day veteran got married to his 96-year-old sweetheart in Normandy over the weekend, before joining US President Joe Biden at a state banquet at the Elysée Palace in Paris. Meet the happy couple. | |
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The Essential List newsletter | The week's best stories, handpicked by BBC editors, in your inbox twice a week. | |
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