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On the morning of July 8, Russia once again launched air strikes on major cities in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Zelensky stated that the Russian army fired more than 40 missiles at 5 cities, causing at least 31 deaths and 154 injuries. Among them, 20 people were killed and 61 injured in the Kyiv region, and a children’s hospital was severely damaged. Ukraine’s power facilities continue to be under fierce attack, leaving about 100,000 people in the northeastern state of Sumy in Ukraine without electricity.

The Kyiv Post reported that Zelensky posted on social media, “Russian terrorists once again attacked Ukraine with missiles. Five cities were affected: Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvy Rih, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk. More than 40 various types of missiles, including ‘Dagger’ hypersonic missiles. Residential buildings, infrastructure, and the Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital located in the Shevchenkivsky district of Kyiv were damaged in many places, including the hemodialysis room, ICU, operating room, and oncology department. Zelensky described it as ‘one of the most important children’s hospitals in Europe.’”

This attack by Russia caused an emergency power outage in the Sumy state near the Russo-Ukrainian border and the capital city of the same name, forcing people to endure life without water, air conditioning, and basic medical equipment in the scorching heat. The Ukrainian National Energy Company (Ukrenergo) pointed out that in the past three months alone, Ukraine has lost 9 GW (gigawatts) of electricity. Thermal power plants have been lost, and hydropower has also been attacked by drones or missiles. The lost power exceeds one-third of Ukraine’s daily power generation before the war, which is enough to supply the peak power consumption in the Netherlands.

This year's Tokyo gubernatorial election featured a total of 56 candidates, including the incumbent governor Yuriko Koike seeking re-election, former senator of Taiwanese descent Renho, and former mayor of Akitakata City in Hiroshima Prefecture, Shinji Ishimaru. The election results were announced earlier on the 7th by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), with the current Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike successfully securing re-election.

The Tokyo gubernatorial election is Japan's largest local government election, with 11,533,132 registered voters this time, including 5,620,838 men and 5,912,294 women. This election saw a record-breaking 56 candidates running.

Yuriko Koike, 71 years old, ran as an independent candidate, promoting her slogan "Tokyo Grand Reform 3.0," with a particular focus on policies addressing declining birth rates and disaster management. She highlighted her achievements over the past eight years, such as promoting affordable private housing to address young people's housing difficulties.

Koike's strongest opponent, Renho, argued that the fundamental reason young people are not having children is economic issues, which prevent them from getting married or having children. Renho proposed policies to raise wages, combat poverty, and provide rent subsidies to families with multiple children. Another candidate, Shinji Ishimaru, believed that the declining birth rate is a national issue and advocated for investments in education to improve school environments.

In this election, Koike further emphasized her "Tokyo Grand Reform 3.0" with a focus on childcare policies and digital transformation. She also introduced her AI avatar on social media, breaking away from traditional campaign methods. Despite the declining support for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's cabinet, Yuriko Koike won the Tokyo gubernatorial election and remains a potential candidate for future prime minister of Japan.

The FOWPAL delegation met with Dimitrios Tsetsilas, the Deputy Regional Governor of Thessaly, 5th from left, who was representing Governor Dimitris Kouretas.

Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon are experiencing escalating conflicts. Recently, Israel conducted a drone strike targeting a senior Hezbollah commander, resulting in the death of Hezbollah's second-highest-ranking commander. In response, Hezbollah launched over 200 rockets towards Israel on the 4th, prompting immediate retaliatory strikes by the Israeli military on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. No casualties have been reported from either side.

Hezbollah stated that the 200 rockets launched towards Israel on the 4th were in retaliation for the killing of their senior commander and constituted one of the largest rocket attacks to date, including drone strikes on ten Israeli military sites. Israel responded by targeting Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. According to Israel, most of Hezbollah's rockets were intercepted by air defense systems, though fires were ignited in several northern regions of Israel. Since May this year, frequent Hezbollah airstrikes have burned approximately 8,700 hectares of land in northern Israel, but no casualties have been reported.

The United States and France are continuously mediating to prevent further escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. Additionally, reports suggest that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is evaluating the possibility of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas and plans to convene a cabinet meeting to discuss this further.

The UK parliamentary election was held on the 4th, and the results were out: the ruling Conservative Party suffered a devastating defeat. The Labour Party secured 412 out of 650 seats in the House of Commons, and its leader, Keir Starmer, is set to become the new Prime Minister with an overwhelming majority. The results were delayed by a few hours and were announced by 11 am London time on the 5th, with 2 seats still unaccounted for. However, exit polls had already predicted a major victory for Labour, which gained 211 more seats than in the last election, achieving 33.8% voter support.

The Conservative Party won only 121 seats, fewer than the 131 predicted by exit polls, and a significant drop of 250 seats compared to the previous election. This marked the worst result in history for the party that has been in power for 14 years, dealing a catastrophic blow.

The centrist Liberal Democrats were another big winner, increasing their seats from an expected 61 to 71, ranking third and gaining 63 seats. The right-wing populist party Reform UK, led by "Brexit champion" Nigel Farage, was predicted to win 13 seats but only secured 4. The nationalist Scottish National Party (SNP) suffered a major loss of 38 seats, winning only 9.

Following the announcement of the exit polls, the reaction of the British pound's exchange rate was calm, unlike the responses to the Scottish independence referendum and Brexit referendum, indicating that the election results met market expectations. A few days later, at the 75th anniversary summit of NATO in Washington, the new Prime Minister Starmer will make his debut on the world stage. He will also meet French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the European Political Community meeting on the 18th in England.

Twelve former U.S. government officials resigned on principle, disagreeing with the Biden administration's strategy on the Israel-Palestine conflict. They collectively issued a statement condemning the administration, emphasizing that the U.S.'s diplomatic cover and arms supply to Israel amount to persecution of Palestinians in Gaza. They argued that these actions jeopardize U.S. national security and destabilize the Middle East, likening it to "painting a target on America's back."

Among these officials is Maryam Hassanein, a former special assistant at the Department of the Interior who resigned on Tuesday. The statement asserts that the U.S. government is adhering to a "failed policy" that has caused devastating damage to the Palestinian people, endangered Israelis, stifled free speech, and compromised America's commitment to maintaining international order. Other signatories include Josh Paul, who resigned in October and was responsible for overseeing congressional relations on arms transfers. The statement was also signed by a former White House official, two former Air Force personnel, and a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer.

Last month, the State Department submitted a 46-page unclassified report to Congress as required by President Biden's new National Security Memorandum issued in early February. The report claimed that Israel did not block humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. Stacy Gilbert, an expert in this field, resigned from the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration on the same day the report was published. She told Reuters, "The right and wrong are clear, and the report's content is incorrect." The United Nations and relief organizations have continuously faced dangers and obstacles, preventing them from delivering aid across Gaza.

According to Hamas's Ministry of Health, over 37,900 people have been killed since Israel's attacks on Gaza began, the majority of whom are women and children. Andrew Miller, the top State Department official responsible for Israel-Palestine affairs and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, also resigned this week. Although not a signatory to the statement, he supports Palestinian statehood and disagrees with the U.S.'s unconditional support for Israel, citing "personal reasons" for his resignation.

On July 1st, the Nordic country of Sweden introduced an innovative bill that has garnered global admiration from parents. This bill allows grandparents to apply for up to three months of paid "grandparental leave" while taking care of grandchildren under the age of one.

Under Sweden's current laws, after the birth of each child, parents are entitled to up to 480 days (about 16 months) of parental leave. Of these, 390 days of parental leave are paid based on the parent's current full salary, and the remaining 90 days are subsidized by the government with a fixed daily allowance of 180 Swedish kronor (approximately 482 New Taiwan dollars). Additionally, to ensure parents are sufficiently involved in childcare, 180 days of the parental leave (90 days per parent) cannot be transferred to the spouse.

According to the new bill, starting from July 1st, families with newborns can transfer part of their paid parental leave to grandparents. Specifically, each parent can transfer up to 45 days of parental leave to the grandparents, while single-parent families can directly transfer up to 90 days of leave.

France, Switzerland, and Italy were hit by severe storms and heavy rainfall last weekend. The downpours triggered landslides in mountainous regions and caused flash floods, forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes urgently, resulting in at least seven deaths.

In the southern Swiss cantons of Ticino and Valais, severe thunderstorms on the 30th caused a landslide in the Valle Maggia area of Ticino, resulting in four deaths and two missing people. Swiss authorities have deployed helicopters to evacuate people from nearby campsites in the disaster area. In Luxembourg, local homes were inundated with mud, leaving the areas from outside to inside covered in sludge. In the evening of the 30th local time, authorities issued an orange rain warning and evacuated 500,600 people. No casualties have been reported so far.

Heavy rainfall also affected northern Italy, causing flash floods. Small cars were trapped in the mudflows, and authorities deployed helicopters to successfully rescue a family of three. In the Aube department of the Grand Est region in France, local authorities reported that on the 29th, three elderly individuals in their 70s and 80s died after their car was crushed by a fallen tree. Another person in the car is currently in the intensive care unit.

Scientists attribute these extreme weather events, such as floods and storms, to climate change caused by human activities, which have become more severe, frequent, and prolonged compared to the past.

To curb record-breaking immigration numbers and ease the housing market strain, Australia suddenly announced on the 1st of the month a 125% increase in student visa application fees, while also prohibiting students holding stay visas and temporary graduate visas from applying for student visas within the country. This has dealt a heavy blow to international students.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil stated in a declaration, "From July 1st, student visa application fees will increase from AUD 710 to AUD 1,600. The changes coming into effect today will help restore the integrity of our international education system, creating a fairer, smaller, and more beneficial immigration system for Australia."

Official data released by Australia in March showed that in the year ending September 30, 2023, net immigration increased by 60%, reaching a record 548,800 people. The current student visa fee in the United States is approximately USD 185, and in Canada, it is approximately CAD 150. After the increase, Australia's student visa fees have become the highest among major study-abroad destinations.

Other immigration-related policies previously announced and now in effect include: shortening temporary graduate visas and lowering the age limit for work visa applications; closing loopholes that allowed students and other temporary visa holders to extend their stay indefinitely; raising the English proficiency requirements for international students;

increasing the required savings amount for international students from AUD 24,505 to AUD 29,710; and raising the income threshold for temporary skilled migrants from AUD 70,000 to AUD 73,150.

South Korea has the lowest fertility rate among the OECD members, with low birth rates and an aging population becoming a national crisis. According to the latest report, Busan, South Korea's second-largest city, has become the first major city in the country to enter the "at risk of extinction" stage, as the population over 65 years old accounts for 23% of the entire city.

This report uses an "extinction risk index," which evaluates the number of women aged 20 to 39 divided by the population over 65 years old. An index below 0.2 indicates "high extinction risk," 0.2-0.5" is at risk of extinction," 1.0-1.5” is normal, and above 1.5 is low extinction risk. Busan's index is 0.49, categorizing it as "at risk of extinction."

The Busan city government is actively taking measures to address this trend and encourage young people to settle and live in the area. The changes in Busan's population structure affect not only social welfare, healthcare, and elderly care but also have an impact on the economy, employment, and the real estate market. With the increasing proportion of the population over 65, Busan needs to develop more comprehensive policies to ensure the well-being of the elderly and promote employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for the youth.

Moreover, Busan needs to improve its education system to address the challenges of an aging population. Enhancing education quality, encouraging young people to learn new skills, and creating more job opportunities will help mitigate the impact of population aging on the economy and society.