But it’s not the only economy that’s in serious trouble as prices of food, fuel and other staples have soared with the war in Ukraine. Alarm bells are ringing for many economies around the world, from Laos and Pakistan to Venezuela and Guinea.

Some 1.6 billion people in 94 countries face at least one dimension of the crisis in food, energy and financial systems, and about 1.2 billion of them live in “perfect-storm” countries, severely vulnerable to a cost-of-living crisis plus other longer-term strains, according to a report last month by the Global Crisis Response Group of the United Nations Secretary-General.

The exact causes for their woes vary, but all share rising risks from surging costs for food and fuel, driven higher by Russia’s war on Ukraine, which hit just as disruptions to tourism and other business activity from the coronavirus pandemic were fading. As a result, the World Bank estimates that per capita incomes in developing economies will be 5% below pre-pandemic levels this year.

The economic strains are fueling protests in many countries, as meanwhile, short-term, higher interest borrowing to help finance pandemic relief packages has heaped more debt on countries already struggling to meet repayment obligations. More than half of the world’s poorest countries are in debt distress or at high risk of it, according to the U.N.

Some of the worst crises are in countries already devastated by corruption, civil war, coups or other calamities. They muddle along, but with an undue burden of suffering.

Here’s a look at a few of the economies that are in dire straits or at greatest risk.

AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan has been reeling from a dire economic crisis since the Taliban took control as the U.S. and its NATO allies withdrew their forces last year. Foreign aid — long a mainstay — stopped practically overnight and governments piled on sanctions, halted bank transfers and paralyzed trade, refusing to recognize the Taliban government. The Biden administration froze $7 billion in Afghanistan’s foreign currency reserves held in the United States. About half the country’s 39 million people face life-threatening levels of food insecurity and most civil servants, including doctors, nurses and teachers, have been unpaid for months. A recent earthquake killed more than 1,000 people, adding to those miseries.

ARGENTINA

About four of every 10 Argentines are poor and its central bank is running perilously low on foreign reserves as its currency weakens. Inflation is forecast to exceed 70% this year. Millions of Argentines survive largely thanks to soup kitchens and state welfare programs, many of which are funneled through politically powerful social movements linked to the ruling party. A recent deal with the IMF to restructure $44 billion in debt faces questions over concessions that critics say will hinder a recovery.

EGYPT

Egypt’s inflation rate surged to almost 15% in April, causing privation especially for the nearly one-third of its 103 million people living in poverty. They were already suffering from an ambitious reform program that includes painful austerity measures like floating the national currency and slashing subsidies for fuel, water and electricity. The central bank raised interest rates to curb inflation and devalued the currency, adding to difficulties in repaying Egypt’s sizable foreign debt. Egypt’s net foreign reserves have fallen. Its neighbors Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have pledged $22 billion in deposits and direct investments as assistance.

LAOS

Tiny, landlocked Laos was one of the fastest growing economies until the pandemic hit. Its debt levels have surged and like Sri Lanka, it is in talks with creditors on how to repay billions of dollars worth of loans. That’s an urgent issue given the country’s weak government finances. Its foreign reserves are equal to less than two months of imports, the World Bank says. A 30% depreciation in the Lao currency, the kip, has worsened those woes. Rising prices and job losses due to the pandemic threaten to worsen poverty.

LEBANON

Lebanon shares with Sri Lanka a toxic combination of currency collapse, shortages, punishing levels of inflation and growing hunger, snaking queues for gas and a decimated middle class. It, too, endured a long civil war, its recovery hampered by government dysfunction and terror attacks.

Proposed taxes in late 2019 ignited longstanding anger against the ruling class and months of protests. The currency began to sink and Lebanon defaulted on paying back worth about $90 billion at the time, or 170% of GDP — one of the highest in the world. In June 2021, with the currency having lost nearly 90% of its value, the World Bank said the crisis ranked as one of the worst the world has seen in more than 150 years.

MYANMAR

The pandemic and political instability have buffeted Myanmar’s economy, especially after the army seized power in February 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. That brought Western sanctions targeting commercial holdings controlled by the army, which dominate the economy. The economy contracted by 18% last year and is forecast to barely grow in 2022. More than 700,000 people have fled or been forced from their homes by armed conflicts and political violence. The situation is so uncertain, a recent global economic update from the World Bank excluded forecasts for Myanmar for 2022-2024.

PAKISTAN

Like Sri Lanka, Pakistan has been in urgent talks with the IMF, hoping to revive a $6 billion bailout package that was put on hold after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government was ousted in April. Soaring crude oil prices pushed up fuel prices which in turn raised other costs, pushing inflation to over 21%. A government minister’s appeal to cut back on tea drinking to reduce the $600 million bill for imported tea angered many Pakistanis. Pakistan’s currency, the rupee, has fallen about 30% against the U.S. dollar in the past year. To gain the IMF’s support, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has raised fuel prices, abolished fuel subsidies and imposed a new, 10% “super tax” on major industries to help repair the country’s tattered finances. As of late March, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves had fallen to $13.5 billion, equivalent to just two months of imports. “Macroeconomic risks are strongly tilted to the downside,” the World Bank warned in its latest assessment.

TURKEY

Worsening government finances and a growing trade and capital account deficit have compounded Turkey’s troubles with high and rising debt, inflation — at over 60% —and high unemployment. The Central Bank resorted to using foreign reserves to fend off a currency crisis, after the beleaguered lira fell to all-time lows against the U.S. dollar euro in late 2021. Tax cuts and fuel subsidies to cushion the blow from inflation have weakened government finances. Families are struggling to buy food and other goods, while Turkey’s foreign debt is about 54% of its GDP, an unsustainable level given the high level of government debt.

ZIMBABWE

Inflation in Zimbabwe has surged to more than 130%, raising fears the country could return to the hyperinflation of 2008 that reached 500 billion percent and heaping problems on its already fragile economy. Zimbabwe struggles to generate an adequate inflow of greenbacks needed for its largely dollarized local economy, which has been battered by years of de-industrialization, corruption, low investment, low exports and high debt. Inflation has left Zimbabweans distrustful of the currency, adding to demand for U.S. dollars. And many skip meals as they struggle to make ends meet.

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Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan and Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report.

While rain was easing across Sydney, several waterways including the Hawkesbury-Nepean rivers system on Sydney’s northern and western fringes remained at major flood levels, Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said.

Emergency responders knocked on doors overnight in the towns of Singleton and Muswellbrook, in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney, to order residents to evacuate, she said.

“For many, it has been a sleepless night,” Cooke said.

Evacuation orders and official warnings to prepare to abandon homes were given to 85,000 people by Wednesday, up from 50,000 on Tuesday, New South Wales state Premier Dominic Perrottet said.

On the fifth day of the flood emergency, Perrottet warned that homes that remained dry during previous floods could be inundated this week.

“This event is far from over. Please don’t have that past experience inform your current behavior,” Perrottet said.

Federal funding would be available to flood victims from Thursday, less than two days after a disaster was declared in 23 local government areas, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

“This is, I believe, the quickest that these payments have ever been approved,” Albanese said.

Albanese said the fourth major flood event across Sydney and its surrounds since March last year that followed devastating wildfires in the same region during the 2019-2020 Southern Hemisphere summer were evidence of the need for climate action.

“We are looking at long-term solutions. My government has changed Australia’s position on climate change from day one,” he said.

Albanese’s center-left Labor Party was elected in May on a promise to cut Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade. The previous conservative government had promised a reduction of between 26% and 28%.

“What we know is that Australia has always been subject of floods, of bushfires, but we know that the science told us that if we continued to not take action, globally, on climate change, then … extreme weather events would be more often and more intense. And what we’re seeing, unfortunately, is that play out,” Albanese added.

When Parliament resumes on July 26 for the first time since the election, the government will propose spending 4.8 billion Australian dollars ($3.3 billion) on disaster mitigation measures such as building higher river levees, Albanese said.

Bureau of Meteorology manager Jane Golding said the weather pattern that brought heavy rain to Sydney since Friday has moved off the coast north of the city of 5 million people.

Heavy rain fell in the last 24 hours as far north as Coffs Harbor, 450 kilometers (280 miles) from Sydney, Golding said.

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McGuirk reported from Canberra, Australia.

On Tuesday, friends and authorities confirmed that the boy’s parents, Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35, were among seven people killed in the tragedy.

“At two years old, Aiden is left in the unthinkable position; to grow up without his parents,” wrote Irina Colon on a GoFundMe account she created for the family and Aiden, who was reunited with his grandparents Monday evening.

Friends of the McCarthys said Irina’s parents would care for the boy going forward.

Four of other others who were killed were identified Tuesday as Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; and Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78. Every victim was from Highland Park except for Toledo-Zaragoza, who was visiting family in the city from Morelos, Mexico.

Officials haven’t yet identified the seventh victim.

Portraits of some of those who died began to emerge Tuesday as investigators continued to search for evidence in the shooting that killed at least seven and wounded 30.

Irina McCarthy’s childhood friend, Angela Vella, described McCarthy as fun, personable and “somewhat of a tomboy” who still liked to dress up nicely.

“She definitely had her own style, which I always admired,” Vella said in a short interview.

Straus, a Chicago financial adviser, was one of the first observers at the parade and attended it every year, his grandchildren said.

Brothers Maxwell and Tobias Straus described their grandfather as a kind and active man who loved walking, biking and attending community events.

“The way he lived life, you’d think he was still middle-aged,” Maxwell Straus said in an interview.

The two brothers recalled Sunday night dinners with their grandparents as a favorite tradition. They said they ate with him the night before he was killed.

“America’s gun culture is killing grandparents,” said Maxwell Straus. “It’s very just terrible.”

Sundheim, meanwhile, was regaled as a lifelong congregant and “beloved” staff member at North Shore Congregation Israel, where she had worked for decades, the Reform synagogue said on its website. Sundheim taught at the synagogue’s preschool and coordinated events including bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies.

“Jacki’s work, kindness and warmth touched us all,” synagogue leaders wrote in a message on their website. “There are no words sufficient to express the depth of our grief for Jacki’s death and sympathy for her family and loved ones.”

Toledo-Zaragoza was killed on what his 23-year-old granddaughter, Xochil Toledo, said was supposed to be a “fun family day” that “turned into a horrific nightmare for us all.”

On a GoFundMe page to raise money for Toledo’s funeral expenses, Xochil Toledo said her grandfather was a “loving man, creative, adventurous and funny.”

“As a family we are broken, numb,” she said.

Toledo-Zaragoza had come to Illinois to visit his family about two months ago, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. His family wanted him to stay permanently because of injuries he had suffered after being hit by a car a couple years ago during an earlier visit to Highland Park. The newspaper reported that he was hit by three bullets Monday and died at the scene.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to attend the parade because of the large crowds and his limited mobility, which required him to use a walker, but Xochil Toledo said the family didn’t want to leave him alone.

Katherine Goldstein’s husband described her as an easygoing travel companion who was always game to visit far-flung locales.

“She didn’t complain,” Craig Goldstein told The New York Times. “She was always along for the ride.”

Goldstein was a mother of two daughters in their early 20s, Cassie and Alana. She attended the parade with her older daughter so that Cassie could reunite with friends from high school, Craig Goldstein, a hospital physician, told the newspaper.

Dr. Goldstein said his wife had recently lost her mother and had given thought to what kind of arrangements she might want when she dies.

He recalled that Katherine, an avid bird watcher, said she wanted to be cremated and to have her remains scattered in the Montrose Beach area of Chicago, where there is a bird sanctuary.

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Schulte reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Savage reported from Chicago. Venhuizen reported from Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press reporter Christopher Weber contributed from Los Angeles.

Seven hikers died and several others are unaccounted for after large chunks of ice and rock from the Marmolada glacier sped down the mountain in an avalanche. Higher temperatures coupled with below-average winter snowfall were among the factors that may have triggered the event, experts said.

The exact role of climate change in specific events is complicated and large portions of ice can break off Alpine glaciers naturally. But climate change is fueling hotter temperatures that can lead to more ice and snow melt, said Brian Menounos, a professor at the University of Northern British Columbia who researches climate change and glaciers.

“Glaciers are directly responding to a warmer climate, a warmer planet,” said Menounos. “They can respond to long-term changes, but they can also respond to these extreme events,” like heat waves.

The Marmolada glacier is in the Dolomite mountains, a range of steep, dramatic peaks in northeast Italy. The region is already being altered by climate change. Between the late 19th and early 21st century, temperatures in the Alps have increased twice as quickly as the global average, according to Copernicus, the European climate modeling group. The U.N. has identified the Mediterranean basin that includes Italy as a climate change hot spot prone to heat waves. Glaciers are in retreat throughout Italy, the Alps and across the world.

The government’s National Research Council said the Marmolada glacier has been shrinking for decades and may vanish in 25 to 30 years.

Before the avalanche, daytime temperatures at the glacier’s altitude were around 50F (10C) when they normally don’t rise much above freezing. The prolonged period of hot weather at high altitudes created a special set of circumstances, said Tobias Bolch who researches glaciers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Guglielmina Adele Diolaiuti, a professor at the University of Milan studying glaciers, said pictures of the ice that remains part of the glacier tell a story about what likely happened.

The top two thirds of the ice face appears slightly dirty, indicating it was exposed to air.

“It’s clear that this part of the vertical ice cliff was the internal part of a crevasse,” she said. A crevasse is a deep opening in a glacier.

The bottom is bluer, indicating it was attached, said Diolaiuti.

Water may have accumulated in the crevasse, adding weight and pressure on the glacier. It may also have loosened the glacier’s grip on the steep rock it was sitting on, experts said.

Anyone who has tried to shovel ice off a cold driveway knows that it fastens itself to the pavement, said Richard Alley, a Penn State professor who studies ice sheets. But when the weather warms, the ice loosens its hold.

“All of a sudden, whoosh, you can get it off,” Alley said.

A local official said the portion that broke loose is estimated to be 220 yards (200 meters) wide, 85 yards (80 meters) high and 65 yards (60 meters) deep. It rushed down the mountain at nearly 200 miles per hour (300 kph).

The hikers were likely taken completely by surprise.

In addition to the heat, there was below normal snowfall this winter. Northern Italy is struggling through its worst drought in 70 years. When there is less snow, ice is exposed and impurities can collect on the surface of the glacier, turning the surface a darker color that traps more heat. The extra heat melts the ice and snow faster, St. Andrews’ Bolch said.

On Tuesday, rescue efforts turned up equipment and body parts. After rain made rescue difficult on Monday, the sun reappeared on Tuesday.

According to Daniel Farinotti, a professor of glaciology at ETH Zurich and WSL Birmensdorf, Switzerland, climate change might reduce the risk of certain avalanches. Glaciers need cold weather and snowfall to grow. If glaciers grow on a steep slope, ice that is pushed over ledges can break and cause avalanches. But with warming temperatures, glaciers retreat, and smaller glaciers create fewer hazards, he said.

In the case of the avalanche on Sunday, melting ice and snow is the likely culprit, experts said.

“The ice, the snow, is very sensitive to increases in temperatures, so we expect that these kinds of events will increase in frequency and intensity in the future,” said Roberta Paranuzio who researches climate change at the National Research Council of Italy.

While some avalanches occur in isolated areas, the area around the Marmolada glacier is popular with hikers.

“The really warm weather was one of the reasons why the event occurred, but on the other hand, this really warm weather made it attractive for mountaineers to climb it,” Bolch said.

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/environment

On Tuesday morning, bleary-eyed VIPs walked across tons of white sand through the Etrier de Paris equestrian center on the leafy outskirts of Paris, past lines of spinning wheels and inflatable capsules as nature, fashion and art mingled.

The dreamscape had been specially made for fall-winter by artist Xavier Veilhan, who had adorned Chanel’s indoor ring venue with a gargantuan silver mobile. It had guests — including Marion Cotillard and Keira Knightley — gawping.

Haute couture is the age-old Parisian tradition of producing exorbitantly priced, made-to-measure garments for the world’s richest women.

Here are some highlights of the day’s fall-winter 2022 collections:

CHANEL’S SOFTNESS

With a somewhat incongruous drum rendition via video recording, Chanel ambassador Pharrell Williams rousingly kicked off proceedings before the “real” show began — to soft music and even softer form.

Gentle colors, lines and shapes, punctuated by moments of dazzling buttons, floaty plumes and large hats was the simple formula for Virginie Viard. The French designer was in a soft mood for couture this season, letting subtle twists do the talking.

A loose pastel green skirt suit opened, lined with minutely sparkling crystalline buttons made by the stalwart’s world-famous atelier. It led on to fastidious embroideries and jacquards on loose coats in speckled mint and sand with often-oversize or upturned collars, laded with an air of the 80s. A-line coats with a weighty swag, dropped waists and statement pockets, meanwhile, introduced subtle tensions — alongside hems and fringing in contrasting patterns.

Yet the best looks were those that kept it minimal. A ribbed olive green gown with a clean strap across the bust flared out at the bottom — in a clever take on a mermaid dress. It towed a perfect line between sporty and chic.

Yet, there’s a niggling feeling that Viard has been playing it safe ever since replacing Karl Lagerfeld, who died in 2019.

FRONT ROW

It’s got to be couture week when, to blasting horns of annoyed motorists in tangled traffic, paparazzi skid in the sand for a snap of the celebrity roll call.

Keira Knightley, 37, arrived at the far-flung Chanel show amid the most commotion. The actress, who’s been a house ambassador since 21, arrived in a velvet and lace halterneck LBD by Chanel, accessorized with shades and her husband, British musician James Righton.

French Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard rocked up in a more casual ensemble, comprising a striped Chanel shirt and black micro mini, declining interviews. Actresses Sigourney Weaver, Clemence Poesy and Maggie Gyllenhaal also joined — applauding vigorously when the designer came out at the finale.

ALEXIS MABILLE BLOOMS

French designer Alexis Mabille was in top fall form for a timeless collection of couture that never forgot its whimsy.

Draped gowns in luxuriant pastel silks caressed the body, quivering lightly as they were showcased down the dazzling indigo fabric runway.

Flowers were never far from the Mabille design universe — both literally and figuratively.

A pastel gray silk dress had a central curved split at the knee so that the hem cascaded down in folds like an opening flower. Its top bib was made of intricate white lace like the veins of a petal under a microscope.

Then came flashes of whimsical fashion design — such as one enormous silken flower headdress made of multitudinous shimmering petals.

MENSWEAR REIGNS IN PARIS

Front row fashion insiders are commenting how Paris menswear week — held June 21-26 — felt as equally buzzy as this week’s VIP-filled couture. And unusually so. Couture traditionally outperforms menswear in terms of attention and celebrity presence. But could this be a thing of the past?

From Justin Timberlake to K-pop sensations BTS, the celebrity presence alone of the menswear spring summer 2023 season was enough to rival this week’s couture. And that signals higher levels of attention than normal in the glossy press and online.

This change in gear — or fashion levelling out — comes as men’s luxury brand portfolio has been outperforming women’s wear in terms of growth more generally with more and more eyeballs on the men’s runway.

Of particular note is the proliferation of U.S. menswear brands, which are now opting to show across the pond in Paris to capitalize on the attention. After the ill-fated New York men’s fashion week — launched in 2016 and then canceled over a dwindling presence — reports have noted how myriad U.S.-based houses such as Thom Browne, Amiri, Greg Lauren, KidSuper and Rhude have opted to showcase their designs in the City of Light.

ARMANI GOES ART DECO

A geometric runway cross-pollinated to gentle geometry for Giorgio Armani. This couture season, the Italian fashion legend wanted to “give new space to sparkle and frivolity” inspired by the universe of Art Deco Polish painter Tamara de Lempicka.

On the runway the heyday of the graphic Art Deco movement — the 1930s — was evoked through a graphicism in the silhouettes. Art Deco was a movement created in reaction to Art Nouveau, replacing the latter’s undulating shapes with geometry.

A silken gray jacket had the Oriental-feel fashionable at that time with silvery linear trim. Elsewhere, swirls adorned the busts of dark fitted column gowns, while earrings and necklaces came as chunky and graphic.

As ever, Armani showcased his signature statement shoulders, shimmering organzas and satins and lashings of sparkle in the longest collection seen all season. There were in total 92 looks.

Violent protests erupted in North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, where demonstrators tried to storm government buildings, after French President Emmanuel Macron announced the proposal — which many in the small Balkan country find controversial — last week. Macron said at a NATO summit in Madrid that “a compromise solution” to lift Bulgaria’s opposition to its neighbor’s EU aspirations had been achieved, without giving details.

A few hundred people took part in a new protest late Tuesday in Skopje against the French proposal. Held during a rainstorm, it ended peacefully, but afterwards a small number of protesters threw stones at police outside parliament before being dispersed.

North Macedonia’s president, Stevo Pendarovski, and the government have backed the proposed deal, which calls for the country to acknowledge in its constitution the existence of an ethnic Bulgarian minority. It would also provide for regular reviews on how the bilateral dispute is being addressed, which could potentially hamper North Macedonia’s future accession course.

But the center-right main opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, many international law experts and civic organizations say the proposal favors Bulgarian demands which dispute their own country’s views of regional history, language, identity and heritage.

As an EU member, Bulgaria has the power to block its neighbor’s accession bid.

At a joint news conference Tuesday with North Macedonia’s prime minister, Dimitar Kovachevski, Michel stressed that the French proposal is too “important an opportunity to be missed.”

Michel said that if North Macedonia accepts the proposal, then the path for the country to start EU accession talks could open within days.

Kovachevski reiterated his support for the “balanced proposal,” adding that “our aim is to start membership talks.”

On a third day of mass protests late Monday in Skopje, protesters threw stones, eggs and bottles at the government offices and parliament building in downtown Skopje. Police prevented the crowd of several thousand people from forcing their way into government offices. Four police were injured in front of parliament.

Bulgaria has already formally accepted the French proposal, which now requires the backing of North Macedonia’s parliament.

Bulgaria insists that North Macedonia formally recognizes that its language has Bulgarian roots, acknowledges a Bulgarian minority and quashes “hate speech” against Bulgaria.

North Macedonia has been a candidate for EU membership for 17 years. The country received a green light in 2020 to begin accession talks, but no date for the start of the negotiations has been set.

Before Bulgaria raised its objections, North Macedonia settled a decades-old dispute with another neighbor and EU member, Greece, to forward its aim of joining the 27-nation bloc. As a result it added the word North to its previous name, Macedonia, which Greece had complained implied claims on its own territory, history and cultural heritage.

The dispute with Bulgaria has also stalled the progress of another Balkan country, Albania, toward EU membership because the bloc is treating the pair as a political package. North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania are all NATO members.

Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said that getting people out of Donetsk province is necessary to save lives and enable the Ukrainian army better to defend towns from the Russian advance.

“The destiny of the whole country will be decided by the Donetsk region,” Kyrylenko told reporters in Kramatrosk, the province’s administrative center and home to the Ukrainian military’s regional headquarters.

“Once there are less people, we will be able to concentrate more on our enemy and perform our main tasks,” Kyrylenko said.

The governor’s call for residents to leave appeared to represent one of the biggest suggested evacuations of the war, although it’s unclear whether people will be willing and safely able to flee. According to the U.N. refugee agency, more than 7.1 million Ukrainians are estimated to be displaced within Ukraine, and more than 4.8 million refugees left the country since Russia’s invasion started Feb. 24.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy said air alerts were issued Tuesday night in nearly all of the country, in many places after a long period of relative calm during which people searched for an explanation.

“You should not look for logic in the actions of terrorists,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “The Russian army does not take any breaks. It has one task — to take people’s lives, to intimidate people — so that even a few days without an air alarm already feel like part of the terror.”

Much of the military activity appeared concentrated in Ukraine’s east. The Kramatorsk governor said that because they house critical infrastructure such as water filtration plants, Russia’s main targets are now his city and a city 16 kilometers (10 miles) to the north, Sloviansk. Kyrylenko described the shelling as “very chaotic” without “a specific target … only to destroy civilian infrastructure and residential areas.”

Sloviansk also came under sustained bombardment Tuesday. Mayor Vadim Lyakh said on Facebook that “massive shelling” pummeled Sloviansk, which had a population of about 107,000 before Russian invaded Ukraine more than four months ago. The mayor, who urged residents hours earlier to evacuate, advised them to take cover in shelters.

At least one person was killed and seven were wounded Tuesday, Lyakh said. He said the city’s central market and several districts came under attack, adding that authorities were assessing the extent of the damage.

The barrage targeting Sloviansk indicated Russian forces were advanc ing farther into Ukraine’s Donbas region, a mostly Russian-speaking industrial area where the country’s most experienced soldiers are concentrated.

Sloviansk has previously taken rocket and artillery fire during Russia’s war in Ukraine, but the bombardment picked up in recent days after Moscow took the last major city in neighboring Luhansk province, Lyakh said.

“It’s important to evacuate as many people as possible,” he warned Tuesday morning, adding that shelling damaged 40 houses on Monday.

The Ukrainian military withdrew its troops Sunday from the city of Lysychansk to keep them from being surrounded. Russia’s defense minister and Putin said the city’s subsequent capture put Moscow in control of all of Luhansk, one of two provinces that make up the Donbas, but the regional governor said Tuesday that fighting was continuing on Lysychansk’s outskirts. He said Russian forces were moving weaponry to Donetsk.

The question now is whether Russia can muster enough strength to complete its seizure of the Donbas by taking Donetsk province, too. Putin acknowledged Monday that Russian troops who fought in Luhansk need to “take some rest and beef up their combat capability.”

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday that Moscow’s main priorities are “preserving the lives and health” of its troops and “excluding the threat to the security of civilians.”

When Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine more than four months ago, his stated goals were defending the people of the Donbas against Kyiv’s alleged aggression, and the “demilitarization” and “denazifaction” of Ukraine.

Pro-Russia separatists have fought Ukrainian forces and controlled much of the Donbas for eight years. Before the invasion this year, Putin recognized the independence of the two self-proclaimed separatist republics in the region. He also sought to portray the tactics of Ukrainian forces and the government as akin to Nazi Germany’s, claims for which no evidence has emerged.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian military said Russian forces also shelled several Donetsk towns and villages around Sloviansk in the past day but were repelled as they tried to advance toward a town about 20 kilometers (12 miles) to the city’s north. South of the city, Russian forces were trying to push toward two more towns and shelling areas near Kramatorsk.

Meanwhile, Moscow-installed officials in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on Tuesday announced the formation of a new regional government, with a former Russian official at the helm.

Sergei Yeliseyev, the head of the new Moscow-backed government in Kherson, is a former deputy prime minister of Russia’s western exclave of Kaliningrad and also used to work at Russia’s Federal Security Service, or the FSB, according to media reports.

It wasn’t immediately clear what would become of the “military-civic administration” the Kremlin installed earlier. The administration’s head, Vladimir Saldo, said in a Telegram statement that the new government was “not a temporary, not a military, not some kind of interim administration, but a proper governing body.”

“The fact that not just Kherson residents, but Russian officials, too, are part of this government speaks clearly about the direction the Kherson region is headed in the future,” he said. “This direction is to Russia.”

Kherson’s Russia-installed administration previously stated plans for the region to become part of Russia, either through a referendum or other means.

There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials.

In other developments:

— The 30 NATO allies signed off on the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland, sending the two nations’ membership bids to the alliance capitals for legislative approvals. The move further increases Russia’s strategic isolation. Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg hailed the signing as a “truly a historic moment for Finland, for Sweden and for NATO.”

— The war in Ukraine has drawn millions of dollars away from countries facing other crises. Somalia, suffering a food shortage largely driven by the war, may be the most vulnerable. Its aid funding is less than half of last year’s level while overwhelmingly Western donors have sent more than $1.7 billion to respond to the war in Europe. Yemen, Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Congo and the Palestinian territories are similarly affected.

— Spain boosted military spending in an attempt to reach its commitment to NATO to dedicate 2% of gross domestic product to defense. Spain’s Cabinet approved a one-off Defense Ministry expenditure of almost 1 billion euros ($1 billion) that the government said was necessary to pay for unexpected expenses from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Spain has sent military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and deployed more troops and aircraft to NATO missions in Eastern Europe.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

The observation of a new type of pentaquark and the first duo of tetraquarks at CERN, the Geneva-area home to the Large Hadron Collider, offers a new angle to assess the “strong force” that holds together the nuclei of atoms.

Most exotic hadrons, which are subatomic particles, are made up of two or three elemental particles known as quarks. The strong force is one of four forces known in the universe, along with the “weak force” — which applies to the decay of particles — as well as the electromagnetic force and gravity.

The announcement comes amid a flurry of activity this week at CERN: Also Tuesday, the LHC’s underground ring of superconducting magnets that propel infinitesimal particles along a 27-kilometer (about 17-mile) circuit and at near light speed, began smashing them together again. Data from the collisions is snapped up by high-tech detectors along the circular path.

The so-called “Run 3” of collisions, ending a three-year pause for maintenance and other checks, is operating at an unprecedented energy of 13.6 trillion electronvolts, which will offer the prospect of new discoveries in particle physics.

CERN scientists hailed a smooth start to what is expected to be nearly four years of operation in “Run 3” — the third time the LHC has carried out collisions since its debut in 2008.

A day earlier, CERN celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the confirmation of the Higgs boson, the subatomic particle that has a central place in the so-called Standard Model that explains the basics of particle physics.

Officials initially feared 13 hikers were still missing after a huge chunk of the Marmolada glacier cleaved off Sunday in northern Italy. But the province of Trento on Tuesday reduced the number of people unaccounted-for to five, all of them Italian, after eight others checked in with authorities.

One of them is Erica Campagnaro, and on Tuesday her sister Debora Campagnaro, lashed out at the lack of warning about the accumulation of water at the base of the glacier that experts say was evidence of an unusual melt from a heat wave that has been scorching Italy for weeks.

Campagnaro said her sister and brother-in-law, an experienced Alpine guide who is also among the missing, never would have left their two sons at home to go hiking if there had been an alert system as there is in ski season warning about the possibility of snow avalanches.

“Is there an authority that had to prevent people (from going up the mountain) given the weather of that day and the weather of the previous days? Where is this authority?” she asked at the site of the rescue camp.

Rain had hampered the search Monday, but sunny weather on Tuesday allowed helicopters to bring more rescue teams and their drones up to the site on the glacier, east of Bolzano in the Dolomite mountains, even as hopes dimmed of finding anyone alive.

“We have to be clear, finding someone alive with this type of event is a very remote possibility, very remote, because the mechanical action of this type of avalanche has a very big impact on people,” said Alex Barattin of the Alpine Rescue Service.

After the 200-meter (yard) wide chunk of glacier detached, a torrent of ice, rock and debris plowed down the mountainside onto unsuspecting hikers below. At least seven people were killed, two of them Czech, officials said.

Nicola Casagli, a geologist and avalanche expert at Florence University, said the impact of the glacier collapse on the hikers was greater than a mere snow avalanche and would have taken them completely by surprise.

“These types of events, which are ice and debris avalanches, are impulsive, rapid, unpredictable phenomena, reaching very high speeds and involving large masses,” he said. “And there is no chance of getting to safety or perceiving the problem in advance, because by the time you perceive it, you’ve already been hit.”

Associated Press photos, taken during a helicopter survey of the site, showed a gaping hole in the glacier as if the blue-gray ice had been carved out by a giant ice cream scooper.

The terrain was still so unstable that rescue crews stayed off to the side and were using drones to try to find any remains or signs of life while helicopters searched overhead, some using equipment to detect cellular pings.

Maurizio Dellantonio, national president of the Alpine Rescue Service, said teams had found body parts, hiking equipment and clothing on the surface of the debris, evidence of the avalanche’s powerful impact on the hikers.

“We have recovered so many fragments over the last two days. They are very painful for those who pick them up. and then for those who have to analyze them,” he said. “Personally I can only think that what we found on the surface will be the same that we will find underneath, when the ice will melt or by digging, if there is a chance.”

By late Tuesday, he said technical teams had determined it was safe enough for ground rescue workers to start searching the lowest part of the debris, about 700 meters below the detachment site, where drones weren’t working well anyway.

Officials closed all access routes and chair lifts to the glacier for hikers, fearing continued instability and the potential that more chunks of ice might detach.

Premier Mario Draghi, who visited the rescue base in Canazei on Monday, acknowledged avalanches are unpredictable but that the tragedy “certainly depends on the deterioration of the climate situation.”

Italy is in the midst of an early summer heatwave, coupled with the worst drought in northern Italy in 70 years that prompted the government to declare a state of emergency in five northern regions. Experts say there was unusually little snowfall during the winter, exposing the glaciers of the Italian Alps more to the summer heat and melt.

“We are thus in the worst conditions for a detachment of this kind, when there’s so much heat and so much water running at the base,” said Renato Colucci from the Institute of Polar Sciences of the state-run Council for National Research, or CNR.

The CNR has estimated that the Marmolada glacier could disappear entirely in the next 25-30 years if current climatic trends continue, given that it lost 30% of its volume and 22% of its area from 2004-2015.

Maurizio Fugatti, president of the autonomous province of Trento, insisted though that Sunday’s detachment was an “exceptional event, one of a kind,” when asked about why hikers such as Campagnaro and her husband had been allowed on the glacier.

“There were many alpine guides on that side (of the glacier), people who know very well what the situation is,” he said. “On the other hand we can understand the feeling of the relatives and friends of those people affected.”

Casagli said what happened on the Marmolada was unusual, but said such destructive avalanches will become more frequent as global temperatures continue to rise.

“The fact that it happened in a scorching summer with abnormal temperatures must be a wake-up call to understand that these phenomena, while rare, are possible,” he told reporters. “If we don’t take decisive measures to counter the effects of climate change, they will become more and more frequent.”

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Winfield reported from Rome.

Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid quit, saying the government under Johnson’s leadership was no longer competent or “acting in the national interest.”

The apparently coordinated exits came after Johnson was hit by allegations he lied about how he handled claims of sexual misconduct by a lawmaker who was appointed to a senior position.

Both Javid and Sunak are key members of the Cabinet and both are seen as potential successors to Johnson, leaving his position perilous.

A look at who Sunak and Javid are:

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RISHI SUNAK, TREASURY CHIEF

In his resignation letter, Sunak told Johnson “it has become clear to me that our approaches are fundamentally too different.”

“The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously. I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning,” he wrote.

Sunak was, until recently, widely regarded as the party’s brightest rising star, the best-known of potential leadership contenders — and the bookies’ favorite to succeed Johnson.

Sunak, 42, was thrust into the spotlight when he became treasury chief in 2020, tasked with the unenviable job of steering the economy through its worst economic slump on record because of the pandemic. He dished out billions of pounds in emergency spending to help businesses and workers, and his policies have generally been seen in a positive light.

But “partygate” changed those fortunes. Like Johnson, he was issued a police fine for attending a lockdown-flouting birthday party at Downing Street in June 2020. He has also come under heavy criticism for being slow to respond to Britain’s severe cost-of-living crisis.

Sunak also faced pressure following revelations that his wife, Akshata Murthy, avoided paying U.K. taxes on her overseas income, and that the former investment banker held on to his U.S. green card while serving in government.

Born to Indian parents who moved to the U.K. from East Africa, Sunak attended the exclusive Winchester College private school and studied at Oxford.

Some see his elite education and past work for the investment bank Goldman Sachs and a hedge fund as a deficit because he seems out of touch with ordinary voters.

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SAJID JAVID, HEALTH SECRETARY

In his statement, Javid said he could “no longer, in good conscience, continue serving in this government.”

Javid, 52, has been health secretary since June 2021, leading Britain’s COVID-19 response.

Before that, he served as treasury chief, but resigned in early 2020 after clashing with Johnson over his order to fire his team of advisers.

The fact that Johnson brought him back into the government to handle the coronavirus response reflects his reputation for competence.

Javid, a father of four, was first elected in 2010 and has held various positions in government, including serving as home secretary and leading departments for business, culture and housing.

He ran in the 2019 Conservative leadership election, but was eliminated in the fourth round and lost to Johnson.

The son of Pakistani immigrants, Javid has billed himself as a common-man alternative to his private school-educated rivals — although he had a lucrative career in investment banking before entering politics.

Scott Miller, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, added a dose of urgency to the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, at which the Ukrainian prime minister a day earlier presented a $750 billion plan to help his country both recover now — where possible — as well as in the immediate aftermath of the war and over the long term.

Many attendees pointed out that efforts were likely to take many years, and rebuilding would need to take place in several phases. Some called for support for Ukraine along the lines of the U.S. Marshall Plan for Europe after World War II — hinting of a big long-term project.

“While we recognize the importance of preparing for Ukraine’s future, all of us must also deliver on our commitments to provide Ukraine its immediate and urgent needs,” said Miller, one of many government envoys who decried Russia’s war and detailed their support for Ukraine.

Some, however, cautioned that quick fixes were unlikely.

“I really understand that we want to be ready overnight — to start tomorrow,” Swiss President Ignazio Cassis told reporters. “But we clearly declare: It is the first step of a long journey.”

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, flanked by Cassis, cautioned that his government would carefully select immediate projects for rebuilding places like schools, hospitals and other infrastructure as the war rages on because Russian forces could simply “destroy it again.”

“It will be an unfinished process,” Shmyhal said, alluding to a broader “fast recovery” in a second phase. “So we should wait for the finish of war actions, and then begin this fast recovery.”

He voiced hopes to lock down and utilize an estimated $300 billion to $500 billion in Russian-owned assets that have been frozen in many Western banks to help pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction. Such money could complement cash from Ukraine’s own — heavily strained —budget, as well as support from allies abroad.

“It’s very important for the civilized world to give the signal to Russia, as aggressor — and to other potential aggressors in the future — to understand that unprovoked aggression should be paid by this aggressor,” he said. “Russia should pay for this” recovery, he added.

Cassis, however, pointed to the legal complexities of such an undertaking to wrest such Russian funds, saying “the right of property is a fundamental right — is a human right.” Switzerland has frozen 6.3 billion Swiss francs (about $6.5 billion) in Russian assets, while the Swiss Bankers Association estimates 150-200 billion francs worth of total Russian-owned assets are held in Swiss financial institutions.

The Swiss leader said fundamental rights can at times be violated — as was done in some cases during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — “but we have to create the legal base” for such moves first.

“You have to ensure the citizen that is protected against the power of the state,” Cassis said.

A final document dubbed as the “Lugano Declaration” laid out goals to help Ukraine build back better — which it comes to government transparency, respect for the environment, and fighting corruption that has plagued the country since it split from Russia after the end of the Soviet Union three decades ago.

Many said the European Union’s plan to take in Ukraine as a member one day could help underpin that reform process.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Opposition figures and pro-democracy activists called the elaborate celebrations an effort to distract attention from Algeria’s economic and political troubles by glorifying the army, and called for the release of political prisoners.

The events mark the country’s official declaration of independence on July 5, 1962, after a brutal seven-year war that ended 132 years of colonial rule. The war, which Algerian officials say killed around 1.5 million people, remains a point of tension in relations between Algeria and France.

Russian-made warplanes whizzed overhead, armored vehicles rolled through central Algiers, and warships were decked out in the city harbor. Algerian flags flew from buildings across the country, and patriotic songs rang out from loudspeakers.

“A day of glory for a new era” was the official slogan of the celebration, which includes concerts, sports events, lectures and photo exhibits retracing the horrors of the war.

Previous presidents abandoned holding military parades, but President Abdelmadjid Tebboune revived the tradition for this anniversary, for the first time in 38 years.

The military show of force took place amid growing tensions between Algeria and Morocco over the disputed Western Sahara region, and with a resurgent threat from Islamic extremists in the Sahel region on Algeria’s southern edge.

Tebboune began the ceremony by laying a wreath at a monument to “martyrs of the revolution,” and inaugurated a monument dedicated to foreigners who joined the fight for Algerian independence. He then mounted a military vehicle and greeted representatives of Algeria’s armed forces while waving to crowds who chanted: “One, Two, Three, Long Live Algeria!”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Hamas and the presidents of Tunisia, Niger, Congo and Ethiopia took part in Tuesday’s anniversary events, standing on a platform erected in front of the Grand Mosque of Algiers.

In a speech, Tebboune underlined that “the Algerian army, heir to the National Liberation Army, constitutes the protective shield of Algeria.”

Opposition figures, and those involved in 2019 protests that helped overthrow Tebboune’s long-serving predecessor Abdelaziz Bouteflika, weren’t invited to the ceremonies.

The country’s oldest opposition party, FFS, issued a statement saying that, “60 years after independence, we are seeing more disappointments than fulfilled promises. We are facing the same problems of political instability, economic fragility.”

Journalist Karim Tabbou, active in the Hirak pro-democracy movement, said Algerians’ freedoms “are under constant threat.” Tabbou has been repeatedly arrested and is currently under court supervision.

“All the spectacles of illusion, all the cosmetics can’t hide the reality of a country eaten away by the corruption of a political system that considers that management by security alone is the only way to govern Algerians,” he said on independent broadcaster Radio M.

The president signed decrees Monday announcing pardons for thousands of prisoners, primarily those convicted of common crimes suffering severe illnesses or who are registered for exams aimed at improving their education.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether political prisoners would be among those freed.

More than 300 Hirak participants, journalists and political activists are currently held in Algerian prisons, according to the National Committee for Freedom of Detainees, a group of volunteer lawyers campaigning for their release.

The presidential statement announcing the pardons mentioned measures for the benefit of “young people prosecuted and detained for having committed acts of assembly and related actions.” The official news agency APS cited a presidential official as saying that included Hirak activists arrested during protests or for posts online deemed as “threatening public order.”

The presidential statement also mentions a draft law under development that would allow for the release of political activists or jailed journalists, as a result of Tebboune’s outreach consultations in recent months with various political players.

APS said the law would also concern certain Algerian figures in exile, and people in prison since the “black decade” of the 1990s, when security forces fought an Islamic insurgency in a conflict that left hundreds of thousands dead. Such a measure could include Islamist figures who have fled Algeria or who are serving prison terms for terrorist crimes committed in the 1990s.

Louisa Kanache, whose journalist husband Mohamed Mouloudj has been detained since September on charges of threatening state security and diffusing fake news on Facebook, said she was excited by the president’s statement, but uncertain whether her husband would be freed.

“Even lawyers don’t know how to read the presidential statement,” she said. “I’m torn between hope of seeing the end of the tunnel, and worry.”

The deadly attack comes just days after the renewal of the mandate of the U.N. Mission to Mali, known as MINUSMA.

“This morning, an armored vehicle of a MINUSMA logistics convoy hit a mine on the Tessalit-Gao road,” the mission announced in a press release.

“According to an initial report, two peacekeepers died of their injuries and five others were seriously wounded as a result of the attack,” the statement added.

“The victims are all Egyptian nationals,” a U.N. official told The Associated Press, insisting on anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the press until the U.N. informs the families.

Ten U.N. peacekeepers have been killed in Mali since the beginning of the year.

First deployed in 2013, the mandate of the U.N. mission in Mali to help battle against Islamic extremist rebels was renewed last week although the Malian government said it will not support the mission’s aim to promote and safeguard human rights.

Russia and China abstained from the French-drafted U.N. resolution, which extends the mandate of the mission until June 30, 2023, with its current ceiling of 13,289 military personnel and 1,920 international police.

More than 270 peacekeepers have died in Mali, making it the U.N.’s deadliest peacekeeping mission, according to U.N. officials.

Mali is ruled by a military junta that seized power in August 2020. Col. Assim Goita has been named president.

Mali’s junta has grown closer to Russia, as Moscow has looked to build alliances and gain sway in Africa. The Russian Wagner Group has deployed a team of fighters in Mali.

Last week a European military task force that helped Mali’s government fight Islamic extremists formally withdrew from the West African country amid tensions with its ruling military junta.

The French military, which spearheaded the Takuba task force, announced that it had ended its work in Mali. The move was tied to France’s decision earlier this year to withdraw troops from Mali after nine years of helping Malian forces fight violent extremists who had threatened to seize power.

The European Takuba force was composed of several hundred special forces troops from 10 countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden. It aimed at training and protecting Malian combat forces.

The International Mathematical Union said Viazovska, who holds the chair in number theory at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, was being honored for her research into geometric problems.

Viazovska, 37, said she was very humbled to receive the prize for her work, which she said addresses a “very old and natural question,” namely the densest way to pack identical spheres.

While many people are familiar with the problem having seen cantaloupes stacked like a pyramid in a supermarket, Viazovska took it to another dimension — the eighth and 24th, to be precise — solving it in a way that drew widespread praise from top mathematicians.

“This is actually a very useful tool used in many areas of technology,” she told The Associated Press.

Viazovska said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 had profoundly changed her life and those of all Ukrainians.

“Ukraine is my native country and seeing how it’s being destroyed, how many lives are lost … of course, it’s all very difficult,” she said.

The other winners were French mathematician Hugo Duminil-Copin of the University of Geneva; Korean-American mathematician June Huh of Princeton; and British mathematician James Maynard of the University of Oxford.

The Fields Medal is awarded every four years to mathematicians under age 40. The recipients are normally announced at the International Congress of Mathematicians, which was originally due to be held in Russia this year but moved to Helsinki instead.

“The ongoing barbaric war that Russia still continues to wage against Ukraine clearly shows that no other alternative was feasible,” said Carlos E. Kenig, the president of the International Mathematical Union.

Viazovska recently dedicated one of her lectures to Yulia Zdanovksa, a young Ukrainian mathematician and computer scientist from Kharkiv. who was killed in a Russian missile attack.

“When someone like her dies, it’s like the future dies,” Viazovska said. “Right now, Ukrainians are giving the highest price for our beliefs and for our freedom.”

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Karl Ritter contributed to this report from Unterseen, Switzerland.

Lapid met in Paris on Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who called on Lapid to revive talks toward peace with the Palestinians and said Israelis are “lucky” to have him in charge.

Lapid, who took office Friday, focused on Israel’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the stalled global deal aimed at curbing them. Israel accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons — a charge Iran denies — and says the tattered nuclear deal doesn’t include sufficient safeguards to halt Iran’s progress toward making a bomb.

“The current situation cannot continue as it is. It will lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, which would threaten world peace. We must all work together to stop that from happening,” Lapid told reporters.

He and Macron, both centrists, called each other friends, but disagreed over the Iran nuclear deal.

The 2015 deal offered Iran relief from economic sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities. In 2018, then President Donald Trump, with strong Israeli backing, withdrew from the deal, causing it to unravel. Since then, Iran has stepped up key nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment, well beyond the contours of the original agreement.

Macron called for a return to the 2015 deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but acknowledged that it “will not be enough.” France helped negotiate the deal and is one of the parties in talks aimed at trying to revive it. Israel says that if the agreement is restored, it should include tighter restrictions and address Iran’s non-nuclear military activities across the region.

Lapid called the JCPOA a “dangerous deal,” saying it isn’t tough or far-reaching enough.

He said Israel and France “may have disagreements about what the content of the agreement should be, but we do not disagree on the facts: Iran continues to violate the agreement and develop its program, enriching uranium beyond the level it is allowed to and removing cameras from nuclear sites.”

He heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, and was one of the architects of the historic alliance of eight diverse factions that found common ground in opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu, the first governing coalition to include an Arab party.

Lapid will stay in office until a November election and perhaps beyond if no clear winner emerges. Making his first trip abroad as prime minister, Lapid may try to use the meeting with Macron to bolster his credentials as a statesman and alternative to Netanyahu with the Israeli electorate.

Macron used their meeting to urge efforts by Israel toward long-term peace with the Palestinians.

“There is no alternative to a return to political dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians,” he said, to revive “a process that’s been broken for too long.”

Lapid didn’t address Macron’s appeal in their public remarks. Lapid, unlike Netanyahu, supports a two-state solution with the Palestinians. But as a caretaker leader, he isn’t in a position to pursue any major diplomatic initiatives.

He and Macron were also expected to discuss Lebanon, days after Israel said it downed three unmanned aircraft launched by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that were heading toward an area where Israel recently installed an offshore gas platform. Hezbollah, which fought a monthlong war against Israel in 2006, has confirmed sending the unarmed drones in a reconnaissance mission.

Israel and Lebanon don’t have formal diplomatic relations, but have been engaged in indirect U.S.-brokered talks to delineate their maritime border. France is a key supporter of Lebanon, a former French protectorate, and Macron has unsuccessfully tried to broker a solution to Lebanon’s political crisis.

“Hezbollah has more than 100,000 rockets in Lebanon, aimed at Israel. It tries to attack us with Iranian rockets and UAVs,” Lapid said, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles. “Israel will not sit back and do nothing, given these repeated attacks.”

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Ilan Ben Zion contributed from Jerusalem.