The French presidency announced Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's new cabinet line-up on 12 October, with most top jobs remaining unchanged at a time when opponents are demanding a political shift to win their support for urgent budget talks.
Lecornu, who was reappointed prime minister last week after a previous stint that lasted just 27 days, had pledged to deliver a cabinet of "renewal and diversity," but stuck with his previous picks for most of the choice jobs.
It remains to be seen if Lecornu's new cabinet will satisfy opponents. The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) has said it will file a motion of no confidence on Monday, as did the far-right National Rally, meaning the new government will face a nail-biting vote before the end of the week.
Meanwhile the Socialists, whose support the government would almost certainly need to survive such a vote are keeping their options open.
"No comment," Socialist party leader Olivier Faure wrote on X after the government's announcement.
Lecornu, whose last cabinet lasted just 14 hours, reappointed Roland Lescure, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, as finance minister.
The government must formally present a budget in the coming days that faces a perilous path through a deeply divided parliament, where many have now set their sights on the contest to succeed Macron in 2027.
Lecornu also kept Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin in their posts.
"A single imperative guides my decisions: to serve my country and the French people," Darmanin posted on X. "Without renouncing any of my convictions, I am therefore taking leave from all partisan activity."
The most notable change to the ministerial picks was incoming Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, head of the Paris police, who replaces Bruno Retailleau, leader of the conservative Republicans Party and who harbours his own presidential ambitions.
Nunez is a graduate of the elite École Nationale d'Administration, and has held key positions across the French security apparatus, including head of the domestic intelligence agency DGSI. Last year, he kept Paris safe during the Olympics.
Former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne lost her job as education minister, replaced by civil servant Edouard Geffray.
Catherine Vautrin, a veteran of the centre-right, replaced Lecornu as defense minister. She was previously labour minister in former Prime Minister Francois Bayrou's government, and also served as a minister under former President Jacques Chirac.
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A British national was among at least 19 people killed when a passenger bus plunged off a mountain highway into the Trishuli river in Nepal before dawn on Monday (23 February), authorities said. A New Zealander and a Chinese national were among those injured.
Against a backdrop of mounting environmental pressure across Central Asia, the Kazakh Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources has announced that the Regional Ecological Summit (RES) 2026 will take place from 22–24 April in Astana.
Iran has signed a secret €500 million arms deal with Russia to rebuild air defences, weakened during last year’s war with Israel, the Financial Times has reported. The agreement, signed in December in Moscow, will see Russia deliver 500 Verba launch units and 2,500 9M336 missiles over three years.
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas has said the bloc is unlikely to reach agreement on a new package of sanctions against Russia at Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers, as continued Hungarian opposition keeps consensus out of reach.
A seven-month-old Japanese macaque has drawn international attention after forming an unusual bond with a stuffed orangutan toy after being rejected by its mother.
Divers have recovered the bodies of seven Chinese tourists and a Russian driver after their minibus broke through the ice of on Lake Baikal in Russia, authorities said.
President Donald Trump said on Saturday (21 February) that he will raise temporary tariffs on nearly all U.S. imports from 10% to 15%, the maximum allowed under the law, after the Supreme Court struck down his previous tariff program.
Pakistan said it carried out cross-border strikes on militant targets inside Afghanistan after blaming a series of recent suicide bombings, including attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, on fighters it said were operating from Afghan territory.
Iran announced on Saturday (21 February) that it has designated the naval and air forces of European Union member states as “terrorist entities” in a reciprocal move after the EU blacklisted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
A British national was among at least 19 people killed when a passenger bus plunged off a mountain highway into the Trishuli river in Nepal before dawn on Monday (23 February), authorities said. A New Zealander and a Chinese national were among those injured.
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas has said the bloc is unlikely to reach agreement on a new package of sanctions against Russia at Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers, as continued Hungarian opposition keeps consensus out of reach.
Further Iran-U.S. nuclear talks are scheduled in Geneva on Thursday (26 February) as diplomacy resumes over Tehran’s nuclear programme following earlier mediation efforts. But will the talks move Iran-U.S. negotiations closer to a deal, and what should be expected from the meeting?
China says it's making a "full assessment" of the U.S. Supreme Court's tariff ruling and urged Washington to lift "relevant unilateral tariff measures" on its trading partners, the Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement on Monday (23 February).
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