Macron names Michel Barnier as French prime minister

French president Emmanuel Macron, left, with then European Commission chief negotiator Michel Barnier at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Jan. 31, 2020. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 06 September 2024
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Macron names Michel Barnier as French prime minister

  • Michel Barnier was European Union’s former Brexit negotiator
  • At 73, Barnier is the oldest prime minister in France’s modern political history

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Michel Barnier, the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator, as his new prime minister on Thursday, in a bid to put an end to political paralysis following an inconclusive snap election.
The discreet, conservative politician will quickly face a baptism of fire as time is running out to prepare France’s 2025 budget, which could trigger a vote of no confidence if parties in the bitterly divided parliament are not satisfied.
The leftwing alliance that won June’s election accused Macron of ignoring the result by picking a conservative. It called for demonstrations against Barnier’s selection but does not have enough seats to block the choice on its own.
The far-right National Rally (RN), parliament’s biggest single party, indicated it would not block Barnier for now, but could do so later if a range of demands were not met.
At 73, Barnier is the oldest prime minister in France’s modern political history, taking over from Gabriel Attal, who was the youngest.
“The election has been stolen,” hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said. Another hard-left lawmaker, Mathilde Panot, called it an “unacceptable democratic coup.”
Macron had ruled out asking the left to form a government after other parties said they would immediately vote it down.
RN leader Jordan Bardella said the party acknowledged Macron’s choice and would judge Barnier’s “general policy speech, his budgetary decisions and his actions on their own merit.”
“We will plead for the major emergencies of the French — the cost of living, security, immigration — to finally be addressed, and we reserve all political means of action if this is not the case in the coming weeks.”
Barnier is a staunch pro-European and a moderate career politician, but he toughened his discourse considerably during his failed 2021 bid to get his conservative party’s ticket for the presidential election, saying immigration was out of control.
Barnier first became a lawmaker aged 27, and later held roles in several French governments, including foreign minister and agriculture minister. He is best known abroad for having led the EU’s talks with Britain over its exit from the bloc from 2016-2021.
Macron had considered a string of potential prime ministers in recent weeks, none of whom mustered enough support to guarantee a stable government, which was his main goal.

‘OUT OF MOTHBALLS’
French bank shares edged up after Barnier was appointed. Government borrowing costs fell slightly after the announcement, while the euro nudged higher, in positive signs from financial markets.
Barnier’s political views are overall close to Macron’s, and it was crucial for the French president that his new prime minister not try to undo reforms pushed through over the past years, in particular pension changes that angered the left.
It remains unclear if Barnier will fully try to implement Macron’s political agenda or bring in new proposals. He will need in any case to negotiate with other parties to get legislation adopted in parliament.
As Macron’s hunt for a prime minister dragged on, public finances deteriorated and outgoing Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has said that tens of billions of euros in budget cuts are needed to plug the hole.
Macron’s gamble to call the snap parliamentary election in June backfired, with his centrist coalition losing dozens of seats and no party winning an absolute majority. Voters did, however, rally to deny the RN a victory.
RN lawmaker Laurent Jacobelli said a condition for not voting Barnier down would be that parliament be dissolved as soon as possible — which would be early July next year. Barnier should also signal support for a change to proportional representation to replace France’s system of two-round voting for single constituencies, he said.
He made clear the RN was not particularly enthusiastic about Barnier.
“They are taking out of mothballs those who have governed France for 40 years,” Jacobelli told TF1.


Elon Musk blasts Australia’s planned ban on social media for children

Updated 2 sec ago
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Elon Musk blasts Australia’s planned ban on social media for children

SYDNEY, Nov 22 : US billionaire Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X, has criticized Australia’s proposed law to ban social media for children under 16 and fine social media platforms of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million) for companies for systemic breaches.
Australia’s center-left government on Thursday introduced the bill in parliament. It plans to try an age-verification system to enforce a social media age cut-off, some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date.
“Seems like a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians,” Musk, who views himself as a champion of free speech, said in a reply late on Thursday to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s post on X about the bill.
Several countries have already vowed to curb social media use by children through legislation, but Australia’s policy could become one of the most stringent with no exemption for parental consent and pre-existing accounts.
France last year proposed a ban on social media for those under 15 but allowed parental consent, while the US has for decades required technology companies to seek parental consent to access the data of children under 13.
Musk has previously clashed with Australia’s center-left Labor government over its social media policies and had called it “fascists” over its misinformation law.
In April, X went to an Australian court to challenge a cyber regulator’s order for the removal of some posts about the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney, prompting Albanese to call Musk an “arrogant billionaire.” ($1 = 1.5359 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by David Gregorio)

Philippines cleans up after sixth major storm in weeks

Updated 30 min 30 sec ago
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Philippines cleans up after sixth major storm in weeks

  • There have been no other reports so far of deaths or injuries
  • Power outages across the island province of Catanduanes could last for months
Manila: Filipinos cleared fallen trees and repaired damaged houses on Monday after the sixth major storm to batter the Philippines in a month smashed flimsy buildings, knocked out power and claimed at least one life.
The national weather service had warned of a “potentially catastrophic” impact from Man-yi, which was a super typhoon when it hit over the weekend, but President Ferdinand Marcos said Monday it “wasn’t as bad as we feared.”
Packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 185 kilometers an hour, Man-yi slammed into Catanduanes island late Saturday, and the main island of Luzon on Sunday afternoon.
It uprooted trees, brought down power lines, crushed wooden houses and triggered landslides, but did not cause serious flooding.
“Though Pepito was strong, the impact wasn’t as bad as we feared,” Marcos said, according to an official transcript of his remarks to media, using the local name for Man-yi.
One person was killed in Camarines Norte province, which Marcos said was “one casualty too many.” Police said the victim, a 79-year-old man, died after his motorbike was caught in a power line.
There have been no other reports so far of deaths or injuries.
“We will now carry on with the rescue of those (in) isolated areas and the continuing relief for those who are, who have been displaced and have no means to prepare their own meals and have no water supplies,” Marcos said.
Power outages across the island province of Catanduanes could last for months after Man-yi toppled electricity poles, provincial information officer Camille Gianan told AFP.
“Catanduanes has been heavily damaged by that typhoon — we need food packs, hygiene kits and construction materials,” Gianan said.
“Most houses with light materials were flattened while some houses made of concrete had their roofs, doors and windows destroyed.”
In the coastal town of Baler in Aurora province, clean-up operations were underway to remove felled trees and debris blocking roads and waterways.
“Most of the houses here are made of light materials so even now, before the inspection, we are expecting heavy damage on many houses in town,” disaster officer Neil Rojo told AFP.
“We’ve also received reports of roofs that went flying with the wind last night... it was the fierce wind that got us scared, not exactly the heavy rains.”
Storm weakens
Man-yi weakened significantly as it traversed the mountains of Luzon and was downgraded to a severe tropical storm as it swept over the South China Sea toward Vietnam on Monday.
More than a million people in the Philippines fled their homes ahead of the storm, which followed an unusual streak of violent weather.
Climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains, flash floods and stronger gusts.
At least 163 people in the Philippines died in the past month’s storms, which left thousands homeless and wiped out crops and livestock.
About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people, but it is rare for multiple such weather events to take place in a small window.
Man-yi also hit the Philippines late in the typhoon season — most cyclones develop between July and October.
This month, four storms were clustered simultaneously in the Pacific basin, which the Japan Meteorological Agency told AFP was the first time such an occurrence had been observed in November since its records began in 1951.

Texas offers Trump land on US-Mexico border for potential mass deportations

Updated 38 min 52 sec ago
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Texas offers Trump land on US-Mexico border for potential mass deportations

McALLEN, Texas: Texas is offering a parcel of rural ranchland along the US-Mexico border to use as a staging area for potential mass deportations under President-elect Donald Trump.
The property, which Texas originally purchased last month, is located in rural Starr County in the Rio Grande Valley. Republican Dawn Buckingham, the Texas Land Commissioner, sent a letter Nov. 14 to Trump extending the offer.
“We do hear through back channels that they are taking a look at it and considering it. But we just want them to know we’re a good partner. We’re here. We want to be helpful,” Buckingham told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday.
The property has no paved roads and sits in a county with one public hospital and limited local resources. But Buckingham stressed its location.
“We feel like this is actually very well-located. The land is very flat there. It’s adjacent to major airports. It’s also adjacent to a bridge over the river,” Buckingham said. “So if it’s helpful, then I would love to partner up with the federal government. And if it’s not, then we’ll continue to look to ways to be helpful to them.”
The land offer is the latest illustration of a sharp divide between states and local governments on whether to support or resist Trump’s plans for mass deportations of migrants living in the US illegally. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted to become a “sanctuary” jurisdiction, limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities to carry out deportations.
Texas leaders have long backed aggressive measures on the border to curb crossings, including installing razor-wire barriers and passing a law last year that would allow law enforcement to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally.
“By offering this newly-acquired 1400-acre property to the incoming Trump Administration for the construction of a facility for the processing, detention, and coordination of what will be the largest deportation of violent criminals in our nation’s history, I stand united with President Donald Trump to ensure American families are protected,” Buckingham said in an earlier statement.
Trump has said he plans to begin his deportation efforts on the first day of his presidency. He frequently attacked illegal immigration during his campaign, linking a record spike in unauthorized border crossings to issues ranging from drug trafficking to high housing prices.
There are an estimated 11 million people in the country illegally. Questions remain about how people would be identified and where they would be detained.
The president-elect’s transition team did not say whether they would accept Texas’ offer but sent a statement.
“On day one, President Trump will marshal every lever of power to secure the border, protect their communities, and launch the largest mass deportation operation of illegal immigrant criminals in history,” Karoline Leavitt, the transition spokeswoman for Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, said Wednesday.
The Texas General Land Office did not disclose the amount paid for the land, but Buckingham stated the previous owner resisted the creation of a border wall.
A 1.5-mile (2.4 kilometer) stretch of border wall was built under Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in 2021 on that land. Buckingham said with the recent purchase, the state has created another easement for more border wall construction.


Haiti blasts Macron’s criticism of transition council as ‘unfriendly and inappropriate’

Updated 34 min 32 sec ago
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Haiti blasts Macron’s criticism of transition council as ‘unfriendly and inappropriate’

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Haiti’s foreign minister met with the French ambassador to the nation on Thursday over what the ministry branded as “unfriendly and inappropriate” comments from French President Emmanuel Macron as he left the G20 summit in Brazil.
Macron had on Wednesday called the decision of the Caribbean country’s transitional presidential council to oust the prime minister earlier this month amid an escalation in gang warfare as “completely dumb.”
“Honestly, it is Haitians who killed Haiti by letting in drug trafficking,” Macron was filmed saying in Brazil, before hailing ex-Prime Minister Garry Conille, who was ousted amid divisions with the council, as a great leader.
“They are completely dumb, they should never have fired him,” he said.
His remarks sparked outrage in Haiti, a former French colony. After Haiti freed itself from slavery and declared independence in 1804, it paid France a “debt” for lost property — including slaves — over more than a century that some activists say amounted to over $100 billion.
Activists are seeking French reparations for the debt, which many blame for Haiti’s economic and political turmoil.
Speaking in Chile on Thursday, Macron vowed that “France will never turn its face from a crisis... There will never be a double standard in face of tragedy, be it in Haiti, Venezuela, or at the gates of Europe.”
France has pledged 4 million euros ($4.2 million) to a UN fund financing a deeply under-resourced security mission mandated to help restore security in Haiti, as well as funding for French and Creole classes for its troops.
Haiti’s foreign ministry said that in the meeting French Ambassador Antoine Michon promised France would stay by Haiti’s side to help restore security and carry out elections. 


NATO says new Russian missile will not alter course of Ukraine war

Updated 22 November 2024
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NATO says new Russian missile will not alter course of Ukraine war

BRUSSELS: The experimental hypersonic intermediate-range missile Russia fired at Ukraine will not affect the course of the war nor NATO’s backing for Kyiv, a spokesperson for the US-led defense alliance said on Thursday.
“Deploying this capability will neither change the course of the conflict nor deter NATO Allies from supporting Ukraine,” said spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah, calling the launch “yet another example of Russia’s attacks against Ukrainian cities.”