Monday Briefing: South Africa rejects the A.N.C.

Mexico's election and Kafka's online afterlife

View in browser|nytimes.com June 3, 2024 By Daniel E. Slotnik Good morning. We're covering elections in South Africa and Mexico. Plus: Franz Kafka's online afterlife. A cutout of South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, who leads the A.N.C. Paul Botes/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images South Africa rejected the party that ended apartheid The African National Congress lost its political monopoly in South Africa for the first time since vanquishing the country's last white-led regime 30 years ago. When votes were counted on Saturday, the A.N.C. received only about 40 percent of the vote, a steep drop from the nearly 58 percent that the party won in the 2019 election and far short of winning an absolute majority. The party, which rose to international acclaim on the shoulders of Nelson Mandela, will now have two weeks to cobble together a government with one or more rival parties. Without an absolute majority, the A.N.C. can no longer handpick the country's president, and President Cyril Ramaphosa may not have a second term. One major question is whether the A.N.C. will embrace or shun Jacob Zuma, its former leader, who resigned as president in 2018 because of corruption charges. A party he formed just six months ago won 15 percent of the vote. Here's what could happen next. Context: Rampant crime, shortages of electricity and water and one of the world's highest unemployment rates have led to exasperation with the A.N.C., especially among younger South Africans. A polling station in Mexico City on Sunday. Fred Ramos for The New York Times Mexico poised to elect its first female president Mexican voters awaited results in an election yesterday that will almost certainly conclude with the country electing its first female president. The two main candidates were women: Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist representing the ruling party led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and Xóchitl Gálvez, a businesswoman on a ticket made up of opposition parties. The contest showcased the immense strides that women, who weren't even allowed to vote in Mexico until 1953, have made in the country's politics. Follow the preliminary results here. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a party meeting last month.  Oren Ben Hakoon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Biden's cease-fire plan pressured Netanyahu President Biden's proposal for a truce in Gaza has put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in a bind. With Israel facing growing diplomatic isolation, Netanyahu appears to face a choice between the survival of his hawkish government and a deal to bring hostages home. Hard-right members of Netanyahu's coalition have said they will abandon it if he accepts the cease-fire before Hamas is destroyed, while centrist leaders have threatened to withdraw their support without a clear path forward. Here are details about the proposal. MORE TOP NEWS Ukraine: The New York Times traced how a web of Russian officials permanently transferred 46 children from Ukraine to Russia, where many are up for adoption. India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to win a third term after general election results are announced tomorrow. Space: China landed an unmanned probe on the far side of the moon, which earthlings can't see. The next step: bringing back a sample. North Korea: Pyongyang sent roughly 1,000 bags of trash by balloons to South Korea. South Korean officials indicated that they might respond by blasting K-pop music across the inter-Korean border. Donald Trump Biden: "The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed," the president said after Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts. 'Breaking point': Trump repeated a litany of grievances on Fox News in his first interview after his conviction. Context: Peter Baker analyzed how America's system of checks and balances would work if the next president elected were a felon. Opinion The Times columnists Michelle Goldberg and David French join Patrick Healy, the deputy editor of Opinion, to discuss Trump's criminal conviction. Maureen Dowd checks in with her Republican siblings. Lydia Polgreen writes that the A.N.C.'s electoral loss "reminds us that the ecstatic moment of freedom's birth in South Africa 30 years ago was a beginning, not an end." Nicholas Kristof presents principles to think through the moral tangle in Gaza. The critic and essayist B.D. McClay makes a case for (temporary) celibacy. The Week Ahead The West: The 80th anniversary of D-Day this week begins an extraordinary stretch of diplomatic summits, where leaders are expected to project unity. Europe: European Parliament elections, the only way E.U. citizens can have a direct say in shaping the bloc's policies, begin on Thursday. Hunter Biden: The president's son is set to stand trial on charges that he failed to disclose his drug addiction on a form when buying a gun in 2018. MORNING READ Victor Moriyama for The New York Times Starlink, the satellite internet service, has brought the web to the Marubo, an Indigenous tribe that lives in remote villages in the Amazon rainforest. The Marubo and other Indigenous tribes, which have resisted modernity for generations, are now confronting the potential and peril of the internet all at once, while debating what it will mean for their identity and culture. See this video from my colleague Jack Nicas. Lives lived: U Tin Oo was a former military leader in Myanmar who turned against his country's oppressive government and led a pro-democracy movement. He died at 97. CONVERSATION STARTERS Brick by brick: A model of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame is gaining legions of adult Lego fans. Before the Vikings: On an island in Norway, archaeologists unearthed the earliest known ship burial in Scandinavia. Prehistoric film: "The Primevals," a movie about researchers who discover ancient creatures, was released in theaters this March — three decades after the filming. SPORTS NEWS Justin Setterfield/Getty Images Real Madrid 2, Borussia Dortmund 0: Analysis from the Champions League final. Las Vegas Grand Prix: Officials predict a smoother race this year after the problems of the inaugural race in 2023. Trick shot: How the underarm serve rules the French Open. ARTS AND IDEAS Photo illustration by Ricardo Tomás Franz Kafka's online afterlife A century after his death, Franz Kafka has become a TikTok star. Known for nightmarish stories like "The Metamorphosis," the writer serves as a shorthand for a generation's growing sense of alienation, my colleague Amanda Hess writes. "The internet, the very place where we are now expected to craft a self, is also an identity-destabilizing machine," Hess continues. "When Kafka wrote 'I have hardly anything in common with myself,' he could have been describing the experience of confronting one's own online persona." We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. RECOMMENDATIONS Christopher Testani for The New York Times Cook: A Cajun-style spice blend flavors this blackened chicken. Read: Stephen King's latest short story collection, "You Like It Darker," is No. 1 on the hardcover fiction best-seller list. Listen: To these five classical albums. Jog: In some of Wirecutter's favorite running shoes. Watch: The documentary "Jim Henson Idea Man" conjures the visionary who created the Muppets. Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today's Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here. That's all for today. Thank you for spending part of your morning with us, and see you tomorrow. — Dan P.S. The Times released "Animal," a six-part audio series in which the writer Sam Anderson engages with different creatures. You can reach Dan and the team at briefing@nytimes.com. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Morning Briefing: Europe Edition from The New York Times. To stop receiving Morning Briefing: Europe Edition, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. 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