First Thing: Far right wins big in first round of French election

Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration party is in reach of becoming the biggest political force in parliament. Plus: the songs of summer

Good morning.

After the first round of the French parliamentary elections, the far-right National Rally (RN) party and its allies won 33% of the national popular vote, the interior ministry has said.

The left and centrists are calling for tactical voting to try to stop the far right before next Sunday’s final round runoff. “Not one single vote must go to the National Rally,” said France’s prime minister, Gabriel Attal. “The stakes are clear: to prevent the National Rally from having an absolute majority.”

What happens next? Should RN increase its 88 seats in parliament to a majority of 289 – something that is still seen as a steep challenge – it will be the first time in French history that a far-right party has won a parliamentary election and forms a government. In that scenario, President Emmanuel Macron – who called the snap poll three weeks ago after his party came a distant second to the RN in the European elections – would have to share power. If the RN wins the largest number of seats but falls short of a majority, and Macron could then find himself with a hung parliament unable to govern the EU’s second biggest economy and its top military power.

Has the RN recent victories deepened division? RN has touted programs singling out groups such a dual nationals and those born and raised in France by foreign parents. In the past three weeks, rights groups have reported a rise in racist, homophobic and transphobic attacks.

Steve Bannon to turn himself in to prison

Donald Trump’s longtime ally is expected to turn himself in to prison in Connecticut today to begin serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress over his defiance of subpoenas surrounding the House’s January 6 insurrection investigation. Bannon, who has decried the convictions against him as politically motivated, had asked the supreme court last month to delay his prison sentence, but his emergency application was rejected.

Biden’s family reportedly tell him to stay in presidential race

In the aftermath of his disastrous debate performance, Joe Biden gathered with his family at Camp David on Sunday, where they reportedly urged him to stay in the race, the New York Times said. While his family was reportedly aware of how poorly he performed, they told him he could still show Americans that he was capable of serving another four years.

In other news …

The Caribbean is bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl, which has strengthened into what experts called an “extremely dangerous” category 4 storm.

The US Department of Justice has been accused of offering Boeing a “sweetheart deal” after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, a move that has angered family and friends of hundreds of passengers who died.

A conservative-backed group is planning to publicly name and shame a “blacklist” of career government employees that they consider hostile to Donald Trump.

Many Black swing voters in Atlanta remain undecided in the upcoming presidential election, unswayed by Trump but unimpressed with Biden.

Stat of the day: There has been a 15% increase in deaths of unhoused people in Los Angeles in which fentanyl was ruled to be one of the primary causes

Fentanyl claimed the lives of more than 2,100 people living on the streets of Los Angeles county and in homeless shelters between 2014 to 2023. The oldest was 81, the youngest was just one day old.Guardian analysis of medical examiner autopsy records reveals the staggering toll of the powerful synthetic opioid on unhoused communities in LA.

“I’ve seen the destruction of fentanyl, and I hate it, I hate it. It is a family and individual destroyer,” said Ronald Paul Hams, a 38-year-old veteran living in a tent in Van Nuys.

Don’t miss this: The battle for America’s last Live Nation-free city

Portland, Oregon, is a city known for its fiercely self-sufficient music scene. It’s also the only major US city without a venue owned or operated by Live Nation, the controversial entertainment juggernaut that dominates the US concert-going experience. While Live Nation has made significant inroads over the last few months toward its first Portland conquest, many are fighting to keep the city’s independent music scene free from the conglomerate that the Department of Justice and more than half of US state attorneys general are accusing of stifling and buying out competition to gain a monopoly over the concert industry.

… or this: Life at the heart of Japan’s lonely deaths epidemic

In Japan, there is a term for “lonely death”. Kodokushi is officially defined as one in which “a person dies without being cared for by anyone, and whose body is found after a certain period”. In the first three months of the year, almost 22,000 people in Japan died at home alone – about 80% of them aged 65 or older. The national police agency estimates that by the end of the year, cases of solitary deaths will reach 68,000 – the agency recorded just 27,000 of such cases in 2011.

“The probability of solitary death is certain to increase in society from now on,” the health minister, Keizo Takemi, said last month.

Climate check: A drought in Sicily

The Italian government has declared a state of emergency over a drought in Sicily, the largest and most populous island in the Mediterranean. With rainfall down by 40% since 2003 and temperatures hitting record highs – a European temperature high of 48.8C was recorded in 2021 – desert is encroaching across the landscape and farmers are now facing an uncertain future.

“The situation is dramatic, there is no longer any water for the animals to drink,” said Luca Cammarata, a farmer. “The only water resource we have is this artificial pond, but now there is nothing but mud.”

Last Thing: The songs of summer

They’re on in the background of every sizzling backyard barbecue; blasting from your car speakers on your long drive down the coast. They’re what you hear in your head as you slather on sunscreen and dig your toes into the sand, watching as the ocean waves crash against the shore. Guardian writers have picked their definitive songs of summer, everything from Stevie Wonder to Snoop Dog to Donna Summer.

Sign up

First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.

Get in touch

If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email [email protected]