Foreign News

Macron reappoints Lecornu as French PM after days of turmoil

Published

4 months ago

2025/10/11

Priyan

Sébastien Lecornu spent just 26 days as prime minister before his dramatic resignation last Monday [BBC]

President Emmanuel Macron has asked Sébastien Lecornu to return as French prime minister only four days after he stood down from the post, sparking a week of high drama and political turmoil.

Macron made the announcement late on Friday, hours after meeting all the main parties together at the Élysée Palace, except the leaders of the far right and far left.

Lecornu’s return came as a surprise, as he said on national TV only two days ago he was not “chasing the job” and his “mission is over”.

It is not even certain he will be able to form a government, but he will have to hit the ground running. The new prime minister faces a deadline on Monday to put next year’s budget before parliament.

The Élysée said the president had “tasked [Lecornu] with forming a government” and Macron’s entourage indicated he had been given “carte blanche” to act.

Lecornu, who is 39 and one of Macron’s most loyal allies, then released a long statement on X in which he accepted “out of duty the mission entrusted to me by the president, to do everything to provide France with a budget by the end of the year and respond to the everyday problems of our compatriots”.

When he appeared on French TV this week, Lecornu described himself as a “soldier-monk”, and as he prepared to get to grips with forming a government he said on Friday “I will do everything to succeed in this mission”.

AFP via Getty Images President of the parliamentary group of the French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party Marine Le Pen (C) poses for a selfie photograph with a supporter at a livestock show — *National Rally leader Marine Le Pen (L) was not invited to Macron’s talks and went to talk to voters at a livestock show instead [BBC]*

Political divisions over how to bring down France’s national debt and cut the budget deficit have led to the fall of two of the past three prime ministers in the last year, so his challenge is immense.

France’s public debt earlier this year was almost 114% of economic output (GDP) – the third highest in the eurozone – and this year’s budget deficit is projected to hit 5.4% of GDP.

Among the conditions Lecornu listed for taking on the job, one was that “no-one will be able to shirk” the necessity of restoring France’s public finances. With only 18 months before the end of Macron’s presidency, he also warned that anyone joining his government would have to put on hold their presidential ambitions.

What makes it even harder for Lecornu is that he will face a vote of confidence in a National Assembly where Macron has no majority to support him. The president’s popularity hit a record low this week, according to an Elabe poll that put his approval rating on 14%.

Jordan Bardella of the far-right National Rally, which was not invited to Macron’s talks with party leaders on Friday, said that Lecornu’s reappointment was a “bad joke”, from a president “more than ever isolated and disconnected at the Élysée”.

Bardella said his party would immediately bring a vote of no confidence against a doomed coalition, whose only reason for being was fear of an election. National Rally is currently leading in the polls.

Lecornu at least knows the pitfalls ahead as he tries to form a government, because he has already spent two days this week talking to parties that might take part.

He was first appointed prime minister on 9 September and took the next three weeks to put together a government, only for it to fall apart overnight when the the leader of the conservative Republicans, Bruno Retailleau, criticised one of the ministerial appointments.

By themselves the centrist parties cannot form a government, and there are splits within the conservative Republicans who have helped prop up Macron’s governments since he lost his majority in elections last year.

Retailleau, who is known to have presidential ambitions, has made clear he will not be part of Lecornu II, and has declared the *socle commun* (common platform) of centrists and conservatives as dead. Not all his party colleagues agree.

But it means the centrist prime minister is also looking to left-wing parties for potential support.

In an attempt to court the left, Macron’s team indicated the president was considering a delay to part of his highly contentious pension reforms passed in 2023 which raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.

*Marine Tondelier (L) of the Greens said she saw no reason not to bring a vote of no confidence in a Lecornu government [BBC]*

That risks angering key centrist allies, who fought hard to get pension reforms through. It also falls short of the demands of left-wing leaders as they were hoping Macron would choose a prime minister from their side.

Olivier Faure of the Socialists said “since we’ve not been given any guarantees, we won’t give any guarantee [to back the prime minister] in a vote of confidence”.

Fabien Roussel from the Communists said after meeting the president that the left wanted real change, and a prime minister from the president’s centrist camp would not be accepted by the French people.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier said she was “stunned” Macron had offered the left almost nothing, adding that “all of this is going to turn out very badly”.

While Macron and his reappointed prime minister look to slash the government’s budget deficit by tens of billions of euros, the head of France’s central bank has warned that the political turmoil will set the economy back even further.

The bank is forecasting growth this year of 0.7%, but its chief François Villeroy de Galhau says it could have been higher and the uncertainty surrounding the crisis has cost France an estimated 0.2% of extra growth.

“Like many in France I’ve had enough of this [political] mess,” he told RTL radio. “It’s time for compromises – that’s not a dirty word – even forming coalitions.”

If Lecornu fails to form a government, there could be even more instability, and that will cost the French economy even more.

***[BBC]***

AFP via Getty Images National secretary of French left-wing Greens party Marine Tondelier (L) and President of Ecologiste et Social parliamentary group Cyrielle Chatelain speak to the press after a meeting with the French President at the Elysee Palace, — *National Rally leader Marine Le Pen (L) was not invited to Macron’s talks and went to talk to voters at a livestock show instead [BBC]*

Political divisions over how to bring down France’s national debt and cut the budget deficit have led to the fall of two of the past three prime ministers in the last year, so his challenge is immense.

France’s public debt earlier this year was almost 114% of economic output (GDP) – the third highest in the eurozone – and this year’s budget deficit is projected to hit 5.4% of GDP.

Among the conditions Lecornu listed for taking on the job, one was that “no-one will be able to shirk” the necessity of restoring France’s public finances. With only 18 months before the end of Macron’s presidency, he also warned that anyone joining his government would have to put on hold their presidential ambitions.

What makes it even harder for Lecornu is that he will face a vote of confidence in a National Assembly where Macron has no majority to support him. The president’s popularity hit a record low this week, according to an Elabe poll that put his approval rating on 14%.

Jordan Bardella of the far-right National Rally, which was not invited to Macron’s talks with party leaders on Friday, said that Lecornu’s reappointment was a “bad joke”, from a president “more than ever isolated and disconnected at the Élysée”.

Bardella said his party would immediately bring a vote of no confidence against a doomed coalition, whose only reason for being was fear of an election. National Rally is currently leading in the polls.

Lecornu at least knows the pitfalls ahead as he tries to form a government, because he has already spent two days this week talking to parties that might take part.

He was first appointed prime minister on 9 September and took the next three weeks to put together a government, only for it to fall apart overnight when the the leader of the conservative Republicans, Bruno Retailleau, criticised one of the ministerial appointments.

By themselves the centrist parties cannot form a government, and there are splits within the conservative Republicans who have helped prop up Macron’s governments since he lost his majority in elections last year.

Retailleau, who is known to have presidential ambitions, has made clear he will not be part of Lecornu II, and has declared the *socle commun* (common platform) of centrists and conservatives as dead. Not all his party colleagues agree.

But it means the centrist prime minister is also looking to left-wing parties for potential support.

In an attempt to court the left, Macron’s team indicated the president was considering a delay to part of his highly contentious pension reforms passed in 2023 which raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.

*Marine Tondelier (L) of the Greens said she saw no reason not to bring a vote of no confidence in a Lecornu government [BBC]*

That risks angering key centrist allies, who fought hard to get pension reforms through. It also falls short of the demands of left-wing leaders as they were hoping Macron would choose a prime minister from their side.

Olivier Faure of the Socialists said “since we’ve not been given any guarantees, we won’t give any guarantee [to back the prime minister] in a vote of confidence”.

Fabien Roussel from the Communists said after meeting the president that the left wanted real change, and a prime minister from the president’s centrist camp would not be accepted by the French people.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier said she was “stunned” Macron had offered the left almost nothing, adding that “all of this is going to turn out very badly”.

While Macron and his reappointed prime minister look to slash the government’s budget deficit by tens of billions of euros, the head of France’s central bank has warned that the political turmoil will set the economy back even further.

The bank is forecasting growth this year of 0.7%, but its chief François Villeroy de Galhau says it could have been higher and the uncertainty surrounding the crisis has cost France an estimated 0.2% of extra growth.

“Like many in France I’ve had enough of this [political] mess,” he told RTL radio. “It’s time for compromises – that’s not a dirty word – even forming coalitions.”

If Lecornu fails to form a government, there could be even more instability, and that will cost the French economy even more.

***[BBC]***

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Foreign News

Naqvi casts uncertainty on Pakistan’s participation in T20 World Cup after Bangladesh ouster

Published

2 days ago

2026/01/25

Priyan

Mohsin Naqvi said the decision to play in the T20 World Cup or not now rests with the Pakistan government [Cricinfo]

Pakistan’s participation at the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 has been thrown into uncertainty after the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said a final decision would be made after talking to Pakistan’s government. Speaking shortly after the ICC officially removed Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup owing to their refusal to play in India, Naqvi accused the ICC of “double standards” favouring India, and termed what happened to Bangladesh “an injustice”.

“Our stance on World Cup participation will be what the government of Pakistan instructs me,” he said. “The Prime Minister is not in Pakistan right now. When he returns, I’ll be able to give you our final decision. It’s the government’s decision. We obey them, not the ICC.”

Over the past week or so, Pakistan has firmly thrown its support behind Bangladesh in their dispute with the ICC demanding a venue outside of India to play their T20 World Cup matches. At an ICC meeting last week, the PCB was understood to be the only board to back the BCB in their stance. The tournament is jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, but Bangladesh’s games were all scheduled in India. Bangladesh, however, have said it is no longer safe for them to play in India after the BCCI, on January 3, instructed Kilkata Knight Riders to release Mustafizur Rahman rom their IPL 2026 squad.

Though no reason was stated for that directive, it came amid deteriorating relations between India and Bangladesh. On January 4, the BCB wrote to the ICC after consultation with the government that the Bangladesh team would not travel to India for its T20 World Cup matches due to security concerns, a stance it stuck to through several subsequent discussions with the ICC.

The ICC has repeatedly refused Bangladesh’s request, and earlier this week gave them an ultimatum demanding them to accept the schedule as it was, or face being removed from the tournament. On Saturday, with Bangladesh sticking to their position, the ICC formally announced Bangladesh would not be part of the T20 World Cup, and would be replaced instead by Scotland.

Naqvi was critical of the decision, calling it an injustice to Bangladesh. “I think Bangladesh has been hard done by,” he said. “You can’t have double standards. You can’t say for one country [India] they can do whatever they want and for the others to have to do the complete opposite. That’s why we’ve taken this stand, and made clear Bangladesh have had an injustice done to them. They should play in the World Cup, they are a major stakeholder in cricket.”

While there have been local, unverified reports that the PCB would refuse to participate in the World Cup in solidarity with Bangladesh should they be removed, the PCB has declined to confirm to ESPNcricinfo when approached. Naqvi’s comments to the media on Saturday was the first time anyone at the PCB has directly addressed the issue, where he repeatedly said the decision was no longer in the hands of the PCB.

“If the government of Pakistan says we mustn’t play, then maybe the ICC will bring in a 22nd team (after Scotland). It’s up to the government.”

No specific reason was given by Naqvi other than to support Bangladesh, as to why government permission would now be required for an event that starts in two weeks. Last year, both BCCI and PCB, with the approval of ICC, signed up to a hybrid model agreement by which both countries would play each other on neutral territory for all global events in the 2024-27 rights cycle.

Pakistan play all their games in Sri Lanka for this event (which already was a co-hosted event) and are scheduled to play the opening game of the tournament, against Netherlands on February 7. They are scheduled to play India on February 15 in Colombo in their group stage clash.

[Cricinfo]

Foreign News

Indonesia landslide kills 7, dozens more missing

Published

2 days ago

2026/01/24

Priyan

At least seven people have died and more than 80 others are missing after a landslide hit Indonesia’s West Java province, officials said.

The landslide occurred in the West Bandung region, south-east of the capital Jakarta, following days of intense rainfall.

More than thirty homes were destroyed after “landslide material buried residential areas, causing fatalities and affecting local residents”, Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said in a statement.

Flooding, landslide and extreme weather alerts have also been issued for the broader region.

The landslide hit the village of Pasirlangu around 02:30AM on Saturday [24] (19:30 GMT).

Two dozen people were evacuated safely from the affected region, according to Abdul Muhari, communication chief of the National Search Agency.

Images shared by local news outlets showed homes buried under mud and debris.

[BBC]

Foreign News

Alleged drug kingpin and ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding arrested after years on the run

Published

3 days ago

2026/01/24

Priyan

Wedding, seen in an undated photo released by the FBI

Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding has been arrested in Mexico and will be extradited to the US after years on the run, FBI Director Kash Patel has said.

Wedding, who had been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, is accused of running a transnational drug trafficking operation that moved tonnes of cocaine across international borders.

Wedding, 44, was also wanted on murder charges. US officials had said they believed Wedding was living in Mexico under the Sinaloa drug cartel’s protection.

The head of Canada’s federal police force, which assisted in the investigation, spoke alongside Patel on Friday to praise the law enforcement operation.

Wedding is accused of running a vast drug trafficking operation responsible for importing some 60 metric tonnes of cocaine a year.

The organisation operated across North America, as well as several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and was also the largest supplier of cocaine to Canada, bringing in an estimated $1bn a year.

Before he was arrested, Wedding was accused of killing a federal witness in a case against him. Officials say he has also ordered the murders of several others.

Wedding is now facing a slew of felony charges, including witness tampering and intimidation, murder, money laundering and drug trafficking.

The FBI had previously placed a $15m (£11m) reward for information leading to his arrest. Patel declined to comment on whether anyone would be claiming the reward money.

US officials have released limited details regarding how Wedding was captured, except to say that his arrest took place on Thursday night in Mexico City.

Mexico’s top security official, Omar García Harfuch, said in a post on X that Patel had visited Mexico City on Thursday, and departed with two fugitives on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.

He did not name the men arrested, but said one was a “Canadian citizen who voluntarily surrendered” at the US embassy in Mexico.

The Associated Press, citing an unnamed Mexican Security Cabinet member, reported that Wedding is the Canadian who turned himself in at the US embassy.

In his remarks at a news conference, Patel described Wedding as a “modern-day Pablo Escobar”, referring to the Colombian cartel leader. US officials have also compared him to Mexican drug dealer Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

“When you go after a guy like Ryan Wedding, it takes a united front,” Patel said, thanking Canadian and Mexican authorities for their help in the investigation.

Patel also thanked the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, who participated in taking Wedding into custody.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Patel praised the team, which had also been involved in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro weeks earlier.

“This was a complex, high-stakes operation with zero margin for error,” Patel told the magazine.

“I was on the ground with our team in Mexico and witnessed extraordinary teamwork, precision, and trust between our agents and partners in Mexico.”

Wedding’s aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” “Public Enemy,” “James Conrad King,” and “Jesse King”, the FBI said. He has reportedly had plastic surgery to change his appearance while on the run.

Officials allege that he launched his criminal enterprise following his release from a US federal prison in 2011, where he was serving a sentence for cocaine distribution.

Authorities allege he has ordered dozens of murders across the globe, including in the US, Canada and Latin America.

Getty Images Sign showing $15m reward for Ryan James Wedding — *The FBI had offered a $15m reward for Ryan Wedding (BBC)*

It is unclear to whom the medals belong. Wedding competed for Canada in the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, but did not win any medals. He came in 24th place in the men’s giant parallel slalom ski event.

In November, the FBI seized his rare 2002 Mercedes CLK-GTR, which had been valued at $13m.

Patel also spoke about the recent arrest of another man in Mexico who had been on the FBI’s most wanted list.

American man Alejandro Castillo was wanted for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. According to the FBI, he has been in hiding in Mexico for nearly 10 years, and will now be extradited back to North Carolina for trial.

(BBC)