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France announces new center-right government 2 months after divisive elections
The French presidential palace unveiled a long-awaited new government Saturday dominated by conservatives and centrists. It came more than two months after elections that produced a hung parliament and deepened political divisions as France grapples with growing financial and diplomatic challenges.
A left-wing coalition secured the most seats in June-July parliamentary elections but failed to win a majority. Student groups and activists from the hard-left France Unbowed party held protests around the country Saturday against a government they say rejects the voters’ will.
President Emmanuel Macron named conservative Michel Barnier as prime minister earlier this month even though Barnier’s Republicans party had a poor showing in the elections, and Barnier put together the government after difficult negotiations. Macron approved, and it was announced at the presidential palace.
Marine Le Pen’s far-right anti-immigration party National Rally has no seats in Barnier’s government but has enough votes in parliament to bring it down. The party won an indirect victory with the appointment of staunch conservative Bruno Retailleau as new interior minister, whose remit includes critical domestic issues like national security, immigration, and law enforcement.
The makeup and direction of France’s government is important because the country is a leading voice in EU policy, among the biggest world’s economies and a nuclear-armed, veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council.
The 39-member Cabinet includes primarily ministers from Macron’s centrist alliance and the conservative Republicans.
Jean-Noël Barrot is the new foreign minister, a centrist politician known for his work in digital transformation and European affairs. He brings extensive experience in navigating complex international issues notably within the EU.
The new finance minister is Antoine Armand, an emerging figure in French politics now tasked with steering France’s fiscal policies and managing the upcoming 2025 budget, amid pressure from Brussels to address France’s mounting debt.
Sébastien Lecornu retains his post as defense minister. He has been instrumental in bolstering France’s military capabilities, including modernizing defense systems and managing military aid to Ukraine. His leadership in defense will be crucial as France navigates its role within NATO and handles rising geopolitical tensions over the wars in Ukraine and the Mideast.
Barnier’s ability to govern effectively is already under scrutiny, with his political opponents on the left vowing to challenge him at every turn and the far right saying it will monitor the government closely.
The left-wing New Popular Front alliance surprised many by winning the most seats in the risky snap elections that Macron called in the wake of a far-right victory in the European Parliament elections in June.
But the New Popular Front was not given a chance to form a minority government, and refused to make concessions and join a more left-leaning government alliance.
Barnier, a 73-year-old political veteran known for his role as the European Union’s Brexit negotiator, is no stranger to complex political tasks. However, forming a government that can survive in such a divided parliament will test his extensive experience and political acumen.
Barnier’s first major political test will come on Oct. 1, when he is set to deliver his general policy speech to the National Assembly.
BOSTON – A young boy undergoing cancer treatment at a Boston hospital got a big surprise when he was greeted by actor Ryan Reynolds.
The “Deadpool and Wolverine” star surprised 8-year-old Nash on Friday at Mass General Hospital for Children, where he’s being treated for a rare form of cancer.
It all started when Nash’s mother sent Reynolds a picture of her son’s radiation mask, which is decorated to look like Reynolds’ superhero alter ego, Deadpool. Reynolds replied he’d love to meet Nash in Boston. The whole visit was a surprise.
Reynolds signed Nash’s mask and even did a Facetime call with his “Deadpool and Wolverine” co-star Hugh Jackman, so he could talk to Nash too.
Reynolds wrote about the meeting on X (formerly Twitter) and said, “Wish every kid needing treatment got it here. And I wish every parent with a sick kid could put their kid in hands this capable. Nash, you’re the best. Love you, pal.”
CAMERON COUNTY, Texas — The maker of the popular party game Cards Against Humanity is accusing Elon Musk’s SpaceX of trespassing on and damaging a plot of vacant land the company owns in Texas.
In a lawsuit filed this week at a Texas court, Cards Against Humanity alleges SpaceX has essentially treated the game company’s property — located in Cameron County — as its own for at least the past six months.
The lawsuit said SpaceX, which had previously acquired other plots of land near the property, has placed construction materials, such as gravel, and other debris on the land without asking for permission to do so.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cards Against Humanity, which is headquartered in Chicago, had purchased the plot of land in 2017 as part of what it said was a stunt to oppose former president Donald Trump’s efforts to build a border wall.
The company said 150,000 people had each contributed $15 towards the effort.
Over the years, Cards Against Humanity says the land has been maintained in its natural state. It also says it contained a “no trespassing” sign to warn people they were about to step on private property.
The company is asking for $15 million in damages, which it says includes a loss of vegetation on the land.
President Biden showed off a slice of his Delaware hometown of Wilmington to the leaders of Australia, Japan and India as he hosted what is likely the last gathering of the Indo-Pacific partnership that has grown in prominence under his White House tenure.
When Mr. Biden began his presidency he looked to elevate the so-called Quad, which until then had only met at the foreign minister level, to a leader-level partnership as he tried to pivot U.S. foreign policy away from conflicts in the Middle East and toward threats and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific. This weekend’s summit is the fourth in-person and sixth overall gathering of the leaders since 2021.
“It will survive way beyond November,” Mr. Biden declared as the leaders gathered at the Archmere Academy, his high school alma mater in nearby Claymont for joint talks.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Biden hosts leaders at his Wilmington home and high school alma mater
The president, who has admitted to an uneven track record as a scholar, also seemed tickled to get to host a gathering with three world leaders at the school he attended more than 60 years ago. He welcomed each of the leaders individually for one-on-one talks at his nearby home before they gathered at the school for talks and a formal dinner.
“I don’t think the headmaster of this school thought I’d be presiding over a meeting like this,” Mr. Biden joked to fellow leaders.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida came for the summit before their appearances at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week.
“This place could not be better suited for my final visit as prime minister,” said Kishida, who like Mr. Biden, is set to soon leave office.
Earlier, the president warmly greeted Kishida when he arrived at the residence on Saturday morning and gave the prime minister a tour of the property before they settled into talks. Kishida, according to the prime minister’s office, thanked Biden at the outset of their meeting for inviting him to meet at his home.
White House officials said holding the talks at the president’s house, which sits near a pond in a wooded area several miles west of downtown, was intended to give the meetings a more relaxed feel.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan described the vibe of Mr. Biden’s one-on-one meeting with Albanese, who stopped by the house on Friday, as “two guys — one at the other guy’s home — talking in broad strokes about where they see the state of the world.” He said Mr. Biden and Albanese also swapped stories about their political careers.
The Australian leader remarked that the visit had given him “insight into what in my view makes you such an extraordinary world leader.”
Modi also stopped by the house on Saturday to meet with Mr. Biden before the leaders gathered for their joint talks at Archmere.
“There cannot be a better place than President Biden’s hometown of Wilmington to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Quad,” Modi said.
Reporters and photographers were prohibited from covering Mr. Biden’s individual meetings with the leaders, and Biden does not plan to do a news conference — a question-and-answer appearance that is typical at such international summits.
What Biden hopes to accomplish with the summit
As part of the summit, the leaders were set to announce new initiatives to bolster maritime security in the region — with enhanced coast guard collaboration through the Pacific and Indian oceans — and improve cooperation on humanitarian response missions. The measures are meant to serve as a counterweight to an increasingly assertive China.
Mr. Biden and Modi had been expected to discuss Modi’s recent visits to Russia and Ukraine as well as economic and security concerns about China. Modi is the most prominent leader from a nation that maintains a neutral position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sullivan said “that countries like India should step up and support the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that “every country, everywhere, should refrain from supplying inputs to Russia’s war machine.”
The gathering was also an opportunity for Mr. Biden and Japan’s Kishida to bid each other farewell.
Mr. Biden and Kishida, who are both stepping away from office amid sliding public support, count the tightening of security and economic ties among the U.S., Japan and South Korea as one of their most significant accomplishments. The two leaders sat down for their wide-ranging, one-on-one conversation on Saturday morning.
The improved relations between Japan and South Korea, two nations with a deep and complicated history that have struggled to stay on speaking terms, have come amid worrying developments in the Pacific, including strides made by North Korea in its nuclear program and increasing Chinese assertiveness.
Mr. Biden commended Kishida for demonstrating “courage and conviction in strengthening ties” with South Korea, according to the White House. They also discussed China’s “coercive and destabilizing activities” in the Pacific, Russia’s war against Ukraine and emerging technology issues.
Tension surrounds Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel
The U.S. and Japan are negotiating through a rare moment of tension in the relationship. Mr. Biden, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, the two candidates in the 2024 presidential election, have opposed a $15 billion bid by Japan’s Nippon Steel to take over American-owned U.S. Steel.
Biden administration officials indicated this week that a U.S. government committee’s formal assessment of the proposed deal has yet to be submitted to the White House and may not come until after the Nov. 5 election.
Sullivan pushed back against speculation that the expected timing of the report could suggest Mr. Biden is having second thoughts about his opposition to the deal.
The Biden administration promised that the leaders would issue a joint statement containing the strongest-ever language on China and North Korea to be agreed upon by the four countries.
The White House said the leaders later Saturday will roll out a new collaboration aimed at reducing cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific. The announcement is related to Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative, a long-running passion project of the president and his wife, Jill Biden, aimed at reducing cancer deaths. The Bidens’ son Beau died in 2015 at age 46 of brain cancer.
As Mr. Biden’s time in office draws down, the White House also was celebrating the bipartisan, bicameral formation of a “Quad Caucus” in Congress meant to ensure the longevity of the partnership regardless of the outcome of the November election.