The World · 2026-07-17

policy & law

Assisted dying clears the French parliament, with the Constitutional Council still to rule¹

France's National Assembly gave the country's assisted-dying bill its final reading on 15 July, voting 291 to 241 to let adults with an incurable, life-threatening illness and in physical pain request a lethal dose to take themselves, or have a clinician administer it if they cannot.¹ The vote followed three readings and a constitutional route that let the lower house override the Senate's rejection.² Al Jazeera called it France's most consequential social reform since it opened marriage to same-sex couples in 2013, and reported Macron praising a "respectful" debate.³ It is not yet law: the text goes next to the Constitutional Council, which has up to a month to review it and can strike individual provisions.²

economy & finance

Korea's first rate rise in three and a half years restarts a tightening cycle⁴

The Bank of Korea raised its base rate a quarter point to 2.75% on 16 July, its first increase in about three and a half years.⁴ The move matched the median forecast of economists polled by Reuters and followed June inflation of 3.2%, the fastest since 2023, with CNBC reporting the bank signalled it may tighten further.⁵ The Korea JoongAng Daily tied the decision less to prices than to elevated housing costs and household debt, and reported the bank expects inflation above its 2% target for some time.⁶ Two Korean outlets called the board's vote unanimous, but the bank's statement does not record the tally, so the count stays unconfirmed.⁴

policy & law

The Digital Equity Act loses its race criterion but keeps the program running⁷

A federal judge did two things to the Digital Equity Act on 16 July, and most headlines caught only one. Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court in Washington ruled the program's race-targeted eligibility provision unconstitutional, reasoning from the Supreme Court's 2023 decision ending race-conscious college admissions.⁷⁸ In the same opinion he denied the government's motion to dismiss and cleared the roughly $1.25 billion Competitive Grant Program to restart once that provision is severed, which the administration had agreed to do.⁹ The May 2025 rescission had killed three programs worth $2.75 billion: a $60 million planning grant, a $1.44 billion capacity grant, and the competitive one now returning.⁹ Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, handed the administration the result it sought after the president had called the program "racist."¹⁰

world

Israel's broadcasting overhaul passes 53–48 and heads straight to the High Court¹¹

Israel's Knesset passed Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi's broadcasting overhaul into law on 16 July by 53 to 48.¹¹ The law replaces the Second Authority for Television and Radio with a new regulator whose nine-member council would seat six appointees chosen by the communications minister, and it strips out cross-ownership limits, minimum journalistic standards, and original-content obligations, the Jerusalem Post reported.¹² Haaretz reported critics' charge that the changes weaken the independence of Israel's media.¹³ Opposition lawmakers called the measure "Erdogan style," and petitions reached the High Court of Justice within hours of the vote, part of a legislative rush by the governing coalition ahead of the 27 October election, the Times of Israel reported.¹⁴

world

An American barred from leaving Iran since 2024 flies home¹⁵

Dena Karari, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, left Iran after President Trump announced her release on 15 July, ending an ordeal of about nineteen months.¹⁵ CNN reported that Iran had detained her since December 2024; her lawyer, the human-rights attorney Jared Genser, called Tehran's charges of collaboration with a hostile state and espionage baseless.¹⁶ The Washington Post reported the departure as a goodwill gesture, with no formal prisoner swap announced.¹⁷ CBS News added the detail the framing obscures: Karari, a California technology professional in her early fifties, was never formally imprisoned but held under an exit ban after her passports were confiscated in Shiraz, one that nominally expired in April yet still kept her from leaving. She suffered a heart attack on 8 July.¹⁸ Absent any primary account of a reciprocal release, this is a release, not an exchange.

health & science

Bangladesh's measles outbreak has killed more than 760 children, and the toll is still rising¹⁹

Bangladesh's measles outbreak has killed more than 760 children and is still climbing, by the daily count of the country's Directorate General of Health Services.¹⁹ Its 14 July update put the combined confirmed-and-suspected toll at 766, after seven children died in the preceding 24 hours, the news agency UNB reported.²⁰ The figure is a running total, not a settled one, and it folds suspected deaths in with the laboratory-confirmed: of roughly 113,244 suspected cases since the outbreak began in mid-March, 13,735 have been lab-confirmed, and the dead are concentrated among children between six months and five years old.¹⁹ The arc is steepening: The Business Standard recorded 738 deaths on 6 July, and Al Jazeera had counted more than 500 by late May.²¹²²

Assisted dying clears the French parliament, with the Constitutional Council still to rule1

Korea's first rate rise in three and a half years restarts a tightening cycle4

The Digital Equity Act loses its race criterion but keeps the program running7

Israel's broadcasting overhaul passes 53–48 and heads straight to the High Court11

An American barred from leaving Iran since 2024 flies home15