Morning news brief: France goes to polls, Jagannath Rath Yatra underway in Puri, and more

The final round of voting in France gets underway on Sunday (Jul 7) asMarine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) attempts to wrestle outright control of the National Assembly. In other news, the iconic Jagannath Rath Yatra (chariot festival) kicked off in the Eastern Indian state of Odisha on Sunday morning.

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France on Sunday (July 7) votes in "seismic" elections that will decide the nation's political future and could see the far right for the first time become the largest party in the parliament.

The unique Jagannath Rath Yatra, also known as the Chariot festival, kicked off in the eastern Indian state of Odisha on Sunday (Jul 7). The festival, believed to be as old as the Jagannath Temple in Puri, has seen the authorities deploy AI technology this year to better manage the crowd as millions of devotees gather to catch a glimpse of the deities and partake in the rituals.

Donald Trump has urged his rival Joe Biden to 'ignore' the critics andmarch on in the presidential race after the disastrous debate where the Democrat leader struggled.

The United Kingdom's newly appointed Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, on Saturday (July 6), embarked on his first international trip to Germany. The trip comes just a day after the Labour Party's sweeping victory in the 2024 UK General Election.