years amid fears that the country is heading into a recession. it s a challenge for president biden as he attends a dnc event and tries to sharpen his midterm message. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. we begin our coverage tonight in ukraine where bogus referendums are under way as moscow tries to solidify its hold on occupied territory. our senior international correspondent ben wedeman is on the ground for us. ben, is this so-called voting essentially happening at gunpoint? reporter: basically it is, wolf. we re seeing video and hearing reports of election workers going house to house, door to door, with ballot boxes, accompanied by armed men, in some cases armed men wearing balance cla vas. we re wear the election workers are going door to door. people are locking their doors and simply not answering to avoid voting. in fact, the ukrainian authorities have urged residents of the occupied t
and swimming s world governing body votes to effectively ban transgender competitors like american lia thomas from taking part in women s races. after the uk promises more heavy weapons to ukraine now the new head of the british army says troops should be prepared to fight russia in europe. we want to start by bringing you some we want to start by bringing you some breaking we want to start by bringing you some breaking news we want to start by bringing you some breaking news from - we want to start by bringing you some breaking news from the i some breaking news from the elections some breaking news from the elections in some breaking news from the elections in france, some breaking news from the elections in france, coming . some breaking news from thei elections in france, coming in some breaking news from the - elections in france, coming in from reuters elections in france, coming in from reuters. , ., ., reuters. president emmanuel macron is on course
has voted to stop transgender athletes from competing in women s elite races if they have gone through any part of the process of male puberty. as the conflict in ukraine continues the new head of the british army tells his troops they should be prepared to fight in europe once again . it s two hours until voting closes in the final round of parliamentary elections in france, with president emmanuel macron facing an alliance of left wing parties. good afternoon. the transport secretary says it s not for the government to intervene to try to prevent three days of strikes on the railways this week. grant shapps dismissed calls from the rmt union to get involved in the dispute as a stunt, saying it s for the employers and unions to reach an agreement. mr shapps says the strikes would be an act of self harm . the labour leader, sir keir starmer, says the government wants the strikes to go ahead to sow division in society. here s our political correspondent, damian grammatic
good evening. projections following parliamentary elections in france show president emmanuel macron is on course to lose his absolute majority. his coalition is on track to win the most seats, with between 210 and 250. but that s short of the 289 needed for a majority in the national assembly. projections show the left green alliance ofjean luc melenchon is set to win 150 to 180 seats, becoming the main opposition. mr melenchon says the result marks an electoral failure for mr macron. a hung parliament will make it difficult for the president to press ahead with his planned reforms in his second term of office. we re nowjoined by peter conradi, the europe editor of the sunday times newspaper, who joins us from paris. thank whojoins us from paris. you thank who joins us from paris. you forjoining thank whojoins us from paris. you forjoining us. i guess surprising thank you forjoining us. i guess a surprising result? surprising result? yes, i mean eole surprising result? y
projected results from french parliamentary elections show that president emmanuel macron s centrist alliance is set to lose its majority. a coalition led by the far left leader, jean luc melenchon, is predicted to come second, but marine le pen s far right party has also done well. the two were in jubilant mood as they addressed their supporters, shortly after the first projections were announced. translation: the level of attention is still far too high, which means that a large part of the population does not know where to turn, so much so that the three blocks are at similar levels. it is not put us in first or in second place. it is a failure of macronism, the moral failure of those who gave lessons to everyone. translation: this group will be by far the biggest in history of our political party. i would like to give my gratitude to all our voters who have put their trust in us. you have my promise that we will defend in parliament the ideas on immigration, security, une