French Prime Minister Michel Barnier is expected to resign on Friday after far-right and leftist lawmakers voted to topple his government, plunging France into its second major political crisis in six months.
Barnier, a veteran politician who was formerly the European Union's Brexit negotiator, will be the shortest serving prime minister in modern French history. No French government had lost a confidence vote since Georges Pompidou's in 1962.
The hard left and far right punished Barnier for ramming an unpopular budget through an unruly hung parliament without a vote. The draft budget had sought 60 billion euros ($63.07 billion) in savings in a drive to shrink a gaping deficit.
Barnier's resignation will cap weeks of tensions over the budget, which Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally said was too harsh on working people. It also further weakens the standing of President Emmanuel Macron, who precipitated the current crisis with an ill-fated decision to call a snap election ahead of the summer Paris Olympics.
Macron faces growing calls to resign, but he has a mandate until 2027 and cannot be pushed out. Still, the long-running political debacle has left him a diminished figure.
France now risks ending the year without a stable government or a 2025 budget, although the constitution allows special measures that would avert a U.S.-style government shutdown.
France's political turmoil will further weaken a European Union already reeling from the implosion of Germany's coalition government, and weeks before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Trump is due to visit Paris on Saturday for the unveiling of the renovated Notre Dame cathedral, and Macron wants to name a prime minister before then, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
France now faces a period of deep political uncertainty that is already unnerving investors in French sovereign bonds and stocks. Earlier this week, France's borrowing costs briefly exceeded those of Greece, generally considered far more risky.
Any new prime minister would face the same challenges as Barnier in getting bills, including the 2025 budget, adopted by a divided parliament. There can be no new parliamentary election before July.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran to expect further strikes on Saturday (7 March). In a post on social media, he said Iran would be '...
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened further attacks on Iran on Saturday (7 March), while the Uni...
Russian attacks on Ukraine’s second largest city in the early hours of Saturday (7 March) killed 10 people, inc...
Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport came under attack in heavy airstrikes on early Saturday morning (7 March), Iranian ne...
Baku has completed its evacuation of staff from the Azerbaijan Consulate General in Tabriz, while most employees from...
A torpedo from a U.S. submarine sunk an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, U.S. Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth told reporters as the Iranian conflcit entered its fifth day on Wednesday.
France plans to send anti-missile and anti-drone systems to southern Cyprus after a British air base on the island was attacked by drones, the semi-official Cyprus News Agency (CNA) said on Tuesday.
Switzerland said on Wednesday (25 February) it would make a one-off payment of 50,000 Swiss francs ($56,000) to each severely injured survivor and to the bereaved families of those killed in the New Year bar fire at the ski resort of Crans-Montana.
The Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (SVR) on Tuesday (25 February) accused the United Kingdom and France of actively working to provide Ukraine with nuclear weapons. The allegations were swiftly rejected by both London and Paris.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran to expect further strikes on Saturday (7 March). In a post on social media, he said Iran would be 'hit very hard'. His comments came a week into the conflict with Iran, which has spread across the Middle East.
Lebanon's Hezbollah warned Israeli residents to evacuate towns within 5 km (3.11 miles) of the border between the countries in a message posted on its Telegram channel in Hebrew early on Friday.
The Azerbaijani State Security Service has said it has stopped Iran committing terror attacks against four targets in the country: Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the Israeli Embassy in Azerbaijan, a leader of the Mountain Jews religious community and the "Ashkenazi" synagogue.
The Israeli military says it has destroyed an underground bunker beneath Iran’s leadership complex in Tehran that it claims was built for former supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Global financial markets remained on edge on Friday as the escalating war involving the United States, Israel and Iran continued to rattle investors, fuelling volatility in stocks and sending energy prices sharply higher.
Russian attacks on Ukraine’s second largest city in the early hours of Saturday (7 March) killed 10 people, including two children. Kharkiv mayor, Ihor Terekov, said 10 residents died after a Russian ballistic missile hit a five storey apartment block in the city.
A 35-year-old former rapper is on track to become Nepal’s next prime minister. Early counting in the elections on Friday (7 March) showed Balendra Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was leading in around 100 seats, far ahead of rivals.
Newly released FBI records summarising interviews with an unidentified woman contain allegations that U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to force her to perform a sexual act when she was a teenager, according to documents published by the U.S. Justice Department.
Australia’s move to ban social media access for children under 16 has intensified a global debate, as governments around the world weigh tougher rules amid growing concerns over mental health, safety and screen addiction.
Indonesia will restrict access to social media platforms for children under 16, its communications and digital ministry said on Friday (6 March), becoming the latest country to introduce online guardrails aimed at reducing the risks of addiction and cyberbullying.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment