Gaza offensive : Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan to occupy Gaza City, after Prime Minister Netanyahu said yesterday he intended to take control of the entire Gaza Strip. The military expansion faces opposition at home and abroad, while the hunger crisis in Gaza continues to worsen. See today’s story .

Policing : The White House announced that federal law enforcement will have a greater presence in Washington, D.C., for at least the coming week, promising to make the city “safe again.” Some local police data points to a drop in violent crime compared to last year.

Haiti : Businessman Laurent Saint-Cyr became the head of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, hours after a criminal gang vowed to overthrow the government. He faces an uphill battle toward restoring trust in the government, with gangs controlling 90% of the capital.

Alligator Alcatraz : A judge ruled that construction on the migrant detention center in Florida must pause for two weeks, as part of a lawsuit alleging the project doesn’t comply with environmental laws. The ruling does not affect immigration enforcement.

Book bans : Indian police in Kashmir raided bookshops to remove 25 books banned for promoting “false narratives” and “secessionism” in the disputed region. The banned authors include Booker Prize winner and activist Arundhati Roy.

Baseball trailblazer : Jen Pawol is set to make history tomorrow in Atlanta as the first female umpire in a Major League Baseball regular season game. She described herself as a “fully charged battery ready to go,” reports The Associated Press.

– Staff, The Associated Press, Reuters

After 22 months of fighting in Gaza – which has not defeated Hamas – the Israeli security Cabinet voted Friday at dawn to widen the war. Hard-right ministers overruled top military brass and Israeli public opinion.

Russia's military presence on a narrow sandbar controlling a major Black Sea access point has badly disrupted Ukraine's economy. What can Kyiv do about that?

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose party has a fascist background, has proved unexpectedly ready to work with moderate European leaders. Is she shaping a new mold for far-right politicians?

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are visiting the White House in hopes of a peace deal. As power in the region shifts, the Trump administration offers a balanced approach both sides want to trust.

This summer’s Tour de France has come and gone. But memories of cycling through Provence will stay vivid for a long time.

The French people are justly proud of much of their heritage – especially cultural icons, from the Eiffel Tower to Île Flottante, the “floating island” dessert. Recently, however, pride has partly given way to contriteness as President Emmanuel Macron, aware of France’s legacy as a former heavy-handed empire, has attempted to make amends for mistakes during the country’s imperial past.

In July, for example, Mr. Macron announced his intention to recognize a Palestinian state, in large part to help end the war and hunger in Gaza. Yet, in an allusion to France’s role – along with Britain’s – in dividing up the region more than a century ago as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, he posted on the social platform X that he wanted France to be “true to its historic commitment” to a lasting peace in the Middle East.

For Mr. Macron, “This is a moral, historical and forward-looking decision,” wrote commentator Sefy Hendler on the Israeli news site Haaretz. Soon after the announcement, Britain offered a similar pledge to recognize a Palestinian state. Its foreign secretary said it was doing so with the “hand of history on our shoulders.”

Also in July, the French leader made good on fixing the reputation of a Jewish French army officer, Alfred Dreyfus, who was falsely accused in 1894 of selling military secrets to Germany during the height of European colonialism. Mr. Macron declared that, starting next July 12, the date that Dreyfus was exonerated in 1906, France will hold a memorial ceremony every year “for the victory of justice and truth against hatred and anti-Semitism.”

Since becoming president in 2017, Mr. Macron has taken steps toward atonement with several former colonies in Africa. He acknowledged a 1945 massacre in Algeria, for example, and issued an apology for a violent repression of a 1947 uprising in Madagascar. On June 19, according to news reports, France said it is “open” to a dialogue with Niger about the French role in an 1899 massacre there.

Mr. Macron has taken a steady but cautious approach in dealing with the demands of former colonies. Rather than relying on French pride, he is slowly encouraging his nation to look hard at its history. During a trip to Algeria in 2022, he was plain about what was needed. The time has come, he said, for humility, saying that “painful common past ... has at times prevented us from looking to the future.”