☕️ Far-right winning in France

Today is the second day of the second half of the year.

Here's to making every second count!

“I literally woke up the next morning and said, ‘That will do’. So I've given up the smokes, given up alcohol, life's incredibly boring, having to actually talk to people at functions. You know the sort of rubbish they prattle on about, it's incredible.”
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce talking to Channel 7’s Sunrise about quitting alcohol after he was filmed earlier this year lying down on a footpath in Canberra.

800kg
The weight of fishing equipment (including ropes and buoys) that a humpback whale was entangled in on Sunday, before Victoria's water police and a specialist team freed the whale near Gippsland.

1928
Women over the age of 21 in the UK received the right to vote. Under the Equal Franchise Act 1928, women gained the same voting rights as men.

California high school students will soon have to complete a financial literacy requirement to graduate.

The semester-long personal finance course will cover topics including the principles of budgeting for independent living, managing credit scores, types of insurance and how to detect a scam.

The course will be mandatory for all high school students in California by the 2027-28 school year.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said: “We need to help Californians prepare for their financial futures as early as possible.

“Saving for the future, making investments, and spending wisely are lifelong skills that young adults need to learn before they start their careers, not after.”

While the measure has had no formal opposition, some experts are concerned about adding to an already crammed academic schedule.

Troy Flint, chief information officer for the California School Boards Association, said financial literacy could have been incorporated into existing school requirements.

He told the Los Angeles Times: “Financial literacy instruction could be included within that larger preexisting economics course without further cluttering the class schedule for high school students — and reducing their ability to take an elective course or a course of interest to them.”

France’s far-right ‘National Rally’ party has won the most votes in the first round of the national elections.

Early results show current President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance in third place behind the far-right bloc and a left-wing alliance.

Regardless of the outcome of this election, Macron will remain as President. However, the election will determine the makeup of the lower house in Parliament and the next Prime Minister of France.

Earlier this month, President Macron dissolved the lower house of Parliament and called for a snap election.

It followed a poor performance for Macron’s party in the European Parliament elections and a surge in support for his far-right rival Marine Le Pen.

French voters are electing 577 members of the lower house. This won’t affect Macron’s role as President, as the parliamentary elections are different to the presidential race. Macron will remain President until 2027.

Political parties in France usually group together in ‘blocs’ or ‘alliances’.

Ensemble — Centrist alliance led by Emmanuel Macron.

Rassemblement National (National Rally) — Far-right coalition led by Marine Le Pen.

Nouveau Front Populaire (New Popular Front) — Left-wing alliance led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

In France, polling companies conduct surveys on the day of voting and release what’s known as “exit polls” once voting ends. The exit polls published by the polling company Elabe showed:

Turnout was estimated at 67.5%, the highest since 1997.

Now, any candidates who received more than 12.5% of the votes in their electorate will progress to the second round of voting on 7 July.

The main outcome of this election will determine who becomes the next Prime Minister.

A reminder: France has both a President and a Prime Minister. The PM is appointed by the President, with the approval of Parliament, to serve as the head of government.

If Macron’s own party doesn’t win enough seats, he could be forced to appoint a PM from an opposing party. Based on the results from the first round of voting, this could be the far-right party National Rally.

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The gymnast holds seven Olympic Medals from the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Tokyo Games. Biles scored 117.225, earning her the top spot at the U.S. trials, followed by Suni Lee who scored 111.675.

The 27-year-old athlete said: “I feel like we have a lot of weight on our shoulders to go out there and prove that we're better athletes, we're more mature, we're smarter, we're more consistent."

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Have you ever considered “raw dogging” a flight?

In case you're not up to date, there's a new TikTok trend where people are opting for ‘raw’ flights. This means flying without music, movies, books, or any other form of entertainment.

It's almost like a form of meditation or digital detox, forcing travellers to completely disconnect from media consumption.

The only thing some passengers might look at is the in-flight world map, tracking the plane's journey across the globe.

Would you try this?

Late last week, millions of people in the U.S. and around the world tuned into the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

President Biden’s performance unleashed a wave of panic among Democrat strategists, as senior officials and donors started calling for him to step down ahead of the November election.

In today’s deep dive, we will look at the first debate and why there are calls for Joe Biden to step aside.