Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has received an invitation from Saudi King Salman to attend the emergency Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit on May 30, Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a statement. 

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, received the message while meeting with the GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani in Doha on Sunday.

HH the Amir @TamimBinHamad Receives from Written Message Custodian of the Two Holy Mosqueshttps://t.co/2k0rPQ43i3 #MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/s4MzL3Uprh

— MOFA – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) May 26, 2019

Earlier this month King Salman had proposed holding two summits in Mecca at the end of May 30 to discuss recent “aggressions and their consequences” in the region, according to the Saudi Press Agency. 

The announcement followed drone attacks on oil installations in the kingdom and attacks on four vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers, off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

Riyadh accused Tehran of ordering the recent drone attacks on two oil pumping stations in the kingdom, claimed by Yemen’s Houthi group.

Iran denied it was behind the attacks and a senior Iranian military commander was quoted as saying his country is not looking for war.

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it shot down a bomb-laden drone deployed by the Houthi rebels in Yemen to attack an airport in the kingdom, the latest in a series of attacks targeting the kingdom.

The Saudi air force intercepted and destroyed the drone that targeted Jizan airport, close to the southern border with Yemen, the Saudi-UAE-led coalition fighting the rebels said.

A Houthi leader said on Sunday the group resumed drone attacks deep inside Saudi Arabia this month in response to what he called the coalition’s spurning of “peace initiatives” by the rebels.

Tensions in the Gulf have escalated since the US decision in early May to send an aircraft carrier strike force and B-52 bombers in a show of force against what Washington’s leaders said was an imminent Iranian plan to attack US assets.

No evidence was given on the alleged plan.

Washington says the latest reinforcements were in response to a “campaign” of recent attacks including a rocket launched into the Green Zone in Baghdad, the explosive devices that damaged four tankers near the entrance to the Gulf, and the  drone attacks by Yemeni rebels on the Saudi oil pipeline.

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates cut off ties with Qatar and imposed a land, sea, and air blockade on the Gulf state. 

The quartet accuses Doha of supporting “terrorism” and proscribed opposition political movements, such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

Qatar has repeatedly rejected the accusations as baseless.

PARIS — Emmanuel Macron set out on Sunday to beat the far-right and win a popular mandate for his pro-EU platform during a European Parliament election.

He fell short on both counts.

According to early vote estimates, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) list was on course to win first place in the election with roughly 24 percent of the vote versus around 22.5 percent for Macron’s Renaissance list.

The National Rally was expected to be at the forefront of a nationalist-populist wave across Europe, in which far-right forces were projected to capture as much as one third of seats in the European Parliament. Big gains were also expected for Matteo Salvini’s far-right League in Italy.

But there were consolations for the French president’s list. While Le Pen’s group prevailed, it performed less well than it had in the 2014 European Parliament election and failed to capitalize on the anti-Macron Yellow Jackets movement, which plagued the president’s second year in power with recurring street protests.

“The French people has cleary punished the president tonight, and taught him a lesson in humility” — Jordan Bardella, lead candidate of the National Rally’s list

None of that stopped the anti-EU party, which has rebranded itself since a 2017 presidential vote, from crowing about victory.

“The French people has cleary punished the president tonight, and taught him a lesson in humility,” said Jordan Bardella, a 23-year-old Le Pen protégé who led the RN’s list.

“Tonight, it’s him and his policies who have been rejected,” he added.

The big surprise of the night was the stronger-than-expected performance by the green party “Europe Ecologie-Les Verts.”

Led by Yannick Jadot, the green party was seen winning between 12.5 percent and 13 percent of the vote, according to early estimates, while the mainstream conservative party, Les Républicains, was on course for a bruising defeat with just 8 percent of the vote.

“The European Union defended by the president of the republic is disavowed tonight,” added Bardella. “The EU must now give another orientation to its policy in terms of social issues, economy and migration.”

Macron’s camp disagrees.

His lieutenants minimized the disappointment of coming in second — even though Macron had raised the stakes of this election, involving himself personally and drawing a fault-line between his own pro-European line and and Le Pen’s nationalist agenda.

Instead, they touted their success in overhauling the political landscape in Europe.

Renaissance “will by far have the largest delegation in the new central group that is being formed [in the European Parliament]. The voice of France will once again have weight,” said Nathalie Loiseau, Macron’s lead candidate, in front of a cheering crowd.

They also pointed to the green party’s healthy score as a reason to rejoice.

“It is clear from this result that the environment is a real concern for the French people,” said Amélie de Montchalin, the Secretary of State for European Affairs. “The President made it the first priority of the Renaissance list, and we will be able to work with the Greens.”

Elysée “satisfied”

Some of the president’s supporters pointed out that his party held on to its base of support against tough odds. The European race was the first mid-term test for the president, and came after the dramatic resignation of Nicolas Hulot, a much-beloved environment minister, and six months of Yellow Jacket protests.

“Tonight’s results confirm… the re-composition of French political life,” according to Prime Minister Edouard Philippe who noted that the traditional left and right-wing parties had both scored less than 10 percent, an unprecedented routing.

Le Pen agreed on that front, underscoring that the results showed that French politics was now divided between the “national” and “globalist” camps as opposed to left and right. Nevertheless she called on Macron to “draw the conclusions” from this “democratic rejection” and call new legislative election.

The Elysée has no such plans.

“We regret coming in second but we are satisfied with the result,” said an official in Macron’s entourage. “We matched our result from the first-round of the presidential election when, historically, the party of the sitting president suffered severe setbacks in the European election, and this despite the six months of protests we just experienced.”

A senior National Rally official said the priority was to form a group with other like-minded political parties in Brussels.

Two government officials also said they were no longer considering the prospect of a cabinet reshuffle in the wake of the election.

The official in Macron’s entourage was “satisfied with the high turnout” and called the higher-than-expected turnout among the less than 35-year-olds the “Macron effect.”

Forty percent of them voted according to an exit poll by Ipsos, 10 points higher than expected. Macron had personally made a last-ditch effort to appeal to young voters in a YouTube interview.

For the National Rally, the real work starts now.

A senior party official said the priority was to form a group with other like-minded political parties in Brussels. He added the party is hoping to get parties from 20 different nationalities on board.

Because Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini have been working on building alliances for two years, forming a new group will be quick this time around, he said.

Image: Robert Marquardt / Getty Images

Syrian government forces pounded positions in the northwest of the country on Sunday as troops on the ground seized a town retaken by rebels days before. 

The bombardment helped Russian-backed Syrian soldiers capture the small town of Kafr Nabuda in the north of Hama province, the third time it has changed hands in the latest offensive, sources on both sides said.

Syrian state news agency SANA said Kafr Nabuda town was taken from fighters led by the Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.

A spokesman for one of the rebel formations in the area, the Turkey-backed National Liberation Front, confirmed government forces had recaptured Kafr Nabuda after eight-hours of heavy bombardment, Reuters news agency said.

Hundreds of air strikes

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported the number of casualties at six, quoting the White Helmets civil defence agency active in the area. 

Overnight attacks also targeted the towns of Kafr Nabl and Khan Sheikhun in the province of Idlib, as well as the villages of Armanaya, Fatterah, Tramla, Deir Sunbul, Hass and Hobait, it added.

The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said air and ground operations killed 12 people in several areas, including the town of Maarat al-Numan.

Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory, said government aircraft and helicopters launched more than 280 strikes on Sunday and Russian jets had carried out 15.

A reporter with the AFP news agency in Maaret al-Numan said he saw a young man carry the arched body of what appeared to be a young girl out of the rubble after one air strike.

Another man retrieved a distressed, dust-covered young girl and slung her over his shoulder. 

Witness Hamdu Mustafa said he was out shopping when the air strike hit. Everybody was “in the street selling and buying”, he said.    

“The planes targeted civilians who were buying food for their children,” Mustafa added.

Intense bombardment

The onslaught by Syrian government forces supported by Russian air power has been going on since late April, and is focused mostly on southern parts of Idlib and adjacent parts of Hama and Latakia provinces.

It marks the most intense conflict between President Bashar al-Assad and his rebel enemies since last summer.

Bombardment has killed 229 civilians, wounded 727 others and forced more than 300,000 people to flee since April 28, according to The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM), which provides assistance to health facilities.

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it shot down a bomb-laden drone deployed by the Houthi rebels in Yemen to attack an airport in the kingdom, the latest in a series of attacks targeting the kingdom.

The Saudi air force intercepted and destroyed the drone that targeted Jizan airport, close to the southern border with Yemen, the Saudi-UAE-led coalition fighting the rebels said.

“While we confirm our right to defend our country, we stress that the terrorist Houthis will pay a dear price,” said alliance spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malaki, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

The Saudi announcement came hours after the Houthis said they used an armed drone to attack warplane runways at Jizan airport. The airport is used by thousands of civilians every day, but the coalition reported no casualties.

The attack comes after the Houthis on Thursday targeted Najran airport, also near the Yemeni border, with an explosives-laden drone.

That attack – the third against Najran airport in 72 hours – targeted a Patriot air defence system, rebel-run Al Masirah TV reported. Civilian airports throughout the Middle East often host military bases.

The kingdom said the last Najran attempted drone attack was also intercepted by its air defences and destroyed.

‘Aggressor countries’

A Houthi leader said on Sunday the group resumed drone attacks deep inside Saudi Arabia this month in response to what he called the coalition’s spurning of “peace initiatives” by the rebels.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi also dismissed Saudi accusations the attacks had been carried out on the orders on Iran – at a time of growing tension between Tehran and Riyadh alongside its Western and regional allies.

“We are independent in our decisions and … we are not subordinated to anyone,” Houthi told Reuters news agency by phone.

He said the rebels had agreed to halt air raids last year “in good faith” and had been ready to take more steps.

“But unfortunately the aggressor countries misinterpreted these efforts [as weakness] and regarded them with contempt and indifference,” Houthi, the head of the group’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee, added.

He said the Houthis had unilaterally withdrawn from three Red Sea ports and he accused the Saudi-led coalition of failing to reciprocate.

There was no immediate reaction to his statement from Riyadh, which has not yet recognised the port pullout.

Worst humanitarian crisis

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to push back an advance by the Houthis, who still hold the capital Sanaa, and to restore to power President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Since then, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, relief agencies say.

The war triggered what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with 24.1 million – more than two-thirds of the population – in need of aid.

Earlier this month, the Houthis attacked an oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia with a series of drone attacks.

The Houthis have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities in the past two weeks.

Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally scored a first-place finish in the EU election in France, besting President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance list, according to early projections of the French vote — a major victory for populist, Euroskeptic forces.

National Rally, a rebranding of Le Pen’s National Front party, scored about 24 percent of the vote, compared to roughly 22.5 percent for Macron’s centrist-liberal party, according to two initial projections.

National Rally was expected to be at the forefront of a nationalist-populist wave across Europe, in which far-right forces were projected to capture as much as one third of seats in the European Parliament. Big gains were also expected for Matteo Salvini’s far-right League in Italy.

In Germany, early results showed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in fourth place with 10 seats, a gain of three seats compared to 2014.

The AfD’s gains came as Germany’s Social Democrats suffered a collapse at the polls, losing a projected 11 seats. That shortfall, in the EU’s largest country, was expected to dash any center-left hopes of overtaking the center-right European People’s Party as the biggest group in the European Parliament.

POLITICO projections pointed to the EPP holding its top spot, even as mainstream parties were expected to see their overall share of the Parliament shrink.

Europe’s socialists, however, did have one major bright spot: Spain, where Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez led his Progressive Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), to a strong victory over the conservative People’s Party (PP). Initial projections showed the PSOE winning 28.4 percent of the vote, and capturing 18 seats in Parliament, a pick-up of four seats. The PP finished second in Spain with 17.3 percent and 11 seats in Parliament, a loss of five seats.

Spain’s liberal Ciudadanos Party was projected to win 16 percent, the leftist Podemos party to win 12.4 percent, and the far-right Vox Party to win 6.5 percent. That would give the liberals nine seats, the leftists seven seats and the far-right four seats.

The exiled former Catalan leader, Carles Puigdemont, who ran his campaign from Brussels, was also projected to win a seat, along with his former deputy, Oriol Junqueras.

Follow POLITICO’s EU election live blog here.

This article has been updated.