Israel passes a law to restrict the work of a UN agency that is a lifeline for Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s parliament passed legislation that severely restricts the U.N. agency responsible for distributing aid in Gaza. The law bans the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, from conducting “any activity” or providing any service inside Israel. The vote passed 92-10 on Monday and followed a fiery debate between supporters of the law and its opponents, mostly members of Arab parliamentary parties. A second bill severing diplomatic ties with UNRWA was also being voted on later Monday. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 43,000 people have been killed in the yearlong war with Israel.

Japan’s ruling coalition loses a majority in the lower house

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s ruling coalition has lost a majority in the 465-seat lower house in a key parliamentary election Sunday. The results reflect voters’ outrage over the governing party’s extensive financial scandals. Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party remains the top party in Japan’s parliament, and a change of government is not expected. But the results create political uncertainty. Falling short of a majority makes it difficult for Ishiba to get his party’s policies through parliament, and he may need to find a third coalition partner. The LDP’s coalition retains a majority in the less powerful upper house.

Tens of thousands rally in Georgia to denounce the parliamentary election they say was rigged

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Tens of thousands of Georgians massed outside parliament, demanding the annulment of the weekend parliamentary election that the president has alleged was rigged with the help of Russia. The rally deepened the political crisis in the South Caucasus country, where the governing Georgian Dream party has become increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. Protesters waved the flags of Georgia and the European Union at the rally. President Salome Zourabichvili, in an earlier interview with The Associated Press, urged the West to support opposition protests of the official results.

Attack on a Chad military base kills 40 soldiers, presidency says

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Chad’s presidency says unidentified assailants have killed at least 40 soldiers during an overnight attack on a military base in the country’s west. Chad’s president Idriss Deby visited the base in Barkaram, an island in Chad’s Lake region Monday morning and announced the launch of a military operation to track the assailants. Chad has long battled with an insurgency in the country’s west, near the border with Nigeria. In March, an attack the government blamed on Boko Haram killed seven soldiers reviving fears of violence in the Lake Chad area, after a period of peace following a successful operation launched in 2020 by the Chadian army to destroy the extremist group’s bases there.