The Russian veto blocked a U.N. resolution calling for a halt to hostilities in Sudan, where a civil war has killed at least 66,000, destroyed civil institutions, causing widespread hunger, disease, sexual violence and a refugee crisis with more than 11 million people displaced.
…

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Thursday to stay in office until the end of his term, due in 2027, and announced that he will name a new prime minister within days following the resignation of ousted Prime Minister Michel Barnier. 

Macron came out fighting a day after a historic no-confidence vote at the National Assembly left France without a functioning government. He laid blame at the door of his opponents on the far right for bringing down Barnier’s government. 

They chose “Not to do but to undo,” he said. “They chose disorder.” 

The president said the far right and the far left had united in what he called “an anti-Republican front” and stressed: “I won’t shoulder other people’s irresponsibility.” 

He said he’d name a new prime minister within days but gave no hints who that might be. 

Earlier in the day, Macron “took note” of Barnier’s resignation, the Elysee presidential palace said in a statement. Barnier and other ministers will be “in charge of current affairs until the appointment of a new government,” the statement said. 

The no-confidence motion passed by 331 votes in the National Assembly, forcing Barnier to step down after just three months in office — the shortest tenure of any prime minister in modern French history. 

Macron faces the critical task of naming a replacement capable of leading a minority government in a parliament where no party holds a majority. Yael Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly and a member of Macron’s party, urged the president to move quickly. 

“I recommend he decide rapidly on a new prime minister,” Braun-Pivet said Thursday on France Inter radio. “There must not be any political hesitation. We need a leader who can speak to everyone and work to pass a new budget bill.” 

The process may prove challenging. Macron’s administration has yet to confirm any names, though French media have reported a shortlist of centrist candidates who might appeal to both sides of the political spectrum. 

Macron took more than two months to appoint Barnier after his party’s defeat in June’s legislative elections, raising concerns about potential delays this time. 

The no-confidence vote has galvanized opposition leaders, with some explicitly calling for Macron’s resignation. 

“I believe that stability requires the departure of the President of the Republic,” said Manuel Bompard, leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, on BFM TV Wednesday night. 

Far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, whose party holds the most seats in the Assembly, stopped short of calling for Macron’s resignation but warned that “the pressure on the President of the Republic will get stronger and stronger.” 

Macron, however, has dismissed such calls and ruled out new legislative elections. The French constitution does not call for a president to resign after his government was ousted by the National Assembly. 

“I was elected to serve until 2027, and I will fulfill that mandate,” he told reporters earlier this week. 

The constitution also says that new legislative elections cannot be held until at least July, creating a potential stalemate for policymakers. 

The political instability has heightened concerns about France’s economy, particularly its debt, which could rise to 7% of GDP next year without significant reforms. Analysts say that Barnier’s government downfall could push up French interest rates, digging the debt even further.
…

Paris — French President Emmanuel Macron was set to address his nation later Thursday (19:00 UTC), a day after his government fell in a no-confidence vote— a first in more than 60 years. The country’s prime minister, Michel Barnier, was expected to resign Thursday. 

It didn’t take long for Michel Barnier’s three-month-old government to become the shortest in the history of France’s Fifth Republic. On Wednesday, National Assembly lawmakers from the far left and far right passed a no-confidence measure. It’s left France without a functioning government for the second time this year.

The move came after Barnier used a constitutional tool to force through an unpopular budget proposal that he said was key to addressing France’s sizable economic troubles.

Far right leader Marine Le Pen told French TV that Barnier’s proposed spending cuts and tax increases were profoundly unjust for ordinary people — expressing optimism a better budget could be passed under a new government.

Mathilde Panot from the far-left France Unbowed (La France Insoumise) party said it was time for Macron himself to leave office.

Macron said he’s not going anywhere. But after losing legislative and European elections earlier this year, he’s a weakened president. France is struggling with a high debt and budget deficit, and stagnant growth.

Public sector workers went on strike Thursday over salaries and working conditions, disrupting schools, city halls, hospitals and transportation. A rail workers’ strike is expected next week.  

France’s turmoil comes at a challenging time for Europe. Another European Union heavyweight, Germany, is also struggling economically and politically. The bloc faces internal divisions, an emboldened Russia, a struggling Ukraine and an incoming Trump administration in the U.S., which Europeans fear will be less inclined to support Kyiv, free trade and the transatlantic alliance. 
…

PARIS — French Prime Minister Michel Barnier will resign on Thursday after far-right and leftist lawmakers voted to topple his government, plunging the euro zone’s second-largest economy deeper into political crisis.

Barnier, a veteran politician who was formerly the European Union’s Brexit negotiator, will be the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history after he hands in his resignation at around 10 a.m. No French government had lost a confidence vote since Georges Pompidou’s in 1962.

The political turmoil further weakens a European Union already reeling from the implosion of Germany’s coalition government, and comes weeks before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.

The hard left and far right punished Barnier in a no-confidence vote on Wednesday evening for trying to push an unpopular budget through an unruly hung parliament without a vote. The draft budget had sought $63 billion in savings in a drive to shrink a gaping deficit.

Barnier’s resignation caps 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 ongoing crisis with an ill-fated decision to call a snap election in June.

Macron, who faces growing calls to resign, has a mandate until 2027 and cannot be pushed out.

Still, the long-running political debacle has left him a diminished figure. An online poll carried out just after the no-confidence motion showed 64% of voters want Macron to resign.

“The main culprit for the current situation is Emmanuel Macron,” Le Pen told TF1 TV late on Wednesday. “The dissolution (of parliament in June) and censorship (of the government) are the consequence of his policies and of the considerable divide which exists today between him and the French.”

A small majority of voters approved parliament bringing down Barnier, but many were still worried about its economic and political consequence, the Toluna Harris Interactive poll for RTL broadcaster showed.

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.

Three sources told Reuters that Macron aimed to install a new prime minister swiftly, with one saying he wanted to name a premier before a ceremony to reopen the Notre-Dame Cathedral on Saturday, which Trump is due to attend.

But any new prime minister will 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.

“Until potential new elections, ongoing political uncertainty is likely to keep the risk premium on French assets elevated,” SocGen analysts said in a note. “Political uncertainty is likely to dampen both investment and consumer spending.”

The political uncertainty has already been unnerving investors in French sovereign bonds and stocks for weeks.

French conservative politician Xavier Bertrand said he felt a mix of anger and shame over the no-confidence vote.

“It’s as if the two extremes, (the hard left) France Unbowed and the National Rally, have become the center of political life,” he told BFM TV.
…

An operation by Ukraine launched on August 6 captured dozens of towns and villages and gained control of about 1,000 square kilometers in Russia’s Kursk region. Gradually, Russia has pushed Ukrainian forces out of about half of the territory they captured.  

Our correspondent spoke to experts about how the military situation in the region could affect the initial positions taken in future peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. 

See the full story here. 
…

PARIS — France’s far-right and left-wing lawmakers joined together Wednesday to pass a no-confidence motion prompted by budget disputes that forces Prime Minister Michel Barnier to resign.

The National Assembly approved the motion by 331 votes. A minimum of 288 were needed.

President Emmanuel Macron has insisted he will serve the rest of his term, which ends in 2027. However, he will need to appoint a prime minister for the second time after July’s legislative elections led to a deeply divided parliament.

Macron, on his way back from a presidential visit to Saudi Arabia, said discussions about him potentially resigning were “make-believe politics,” according to French media reports.

“I’m here because I’ve been elected twice by the French people,” Macron said.

He was also reported as saying, “We must not scare people with such things. We have a strong economy.”

The no-confidence motion rose from fierce opposition to Barnier’s proposed budget.

The National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, is deeply fractured, with no single party holding a majority. It comprises three major blocs: Macron’s centrist allies, the left-wing coalition New Popular Front, and the far-right National Rally.

Both opposition blocs, typically at odds, united against Barnier, accusing him of imposing austerity measures and failing to address citizens’ needs.

Barnier, a conservative appointed in September, could become the country’s shortest-serving prime minister in France’s modern Republic.

In last-minute efforts to try to save his government, he called on lawmakers to act with “responsibility” and think of “the country’s best interest.”

“The situation is very difficult economically, socially, fiscally and financially,” he said, speaking Tuesday evening on national television TF1 and France 2. “If the no-confidence motion passes, everything will be more difficult and everything will be more serious.”

Speaking at the National Assembly ahead of the vote, National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, whose party’s goodwill was crucial to keeping Barnier in power, said, “We’ve reached the moment of truth, a parliamentary moment unseen since 1962, which will likely seal the end of a short-lived government.”

“Stop pretending the lights will go out,” hard-left lawmaker Eric Coquerel said, noting the possibility of an emergency law to levy taxes from January 1, based on this year’s rules. “The special law will prevent a shutdown. It will allow us to get through the end of the year by delaying the budget by a few weeks.”

While France is not at risk of a U.S.-style government shutdown, political instability could spook financial markets.

France is under pressure from the European Union to reduce its colossal debt. The country’s deficit is estimated to reach 6% of gross domestic product this year and analysts say it could rise to 7% next year without drastic adjustments. The political instability could push up French interest rates, digging the debt even further.
…

TBILISI, GEORGIA — Georgian police on Wednesday raided the offices of an opposition party and arrested its leader in an apparent attempt to squelch a wave of mass protests triggered by the governing party’s decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union.

During the past six nights, riot police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, who threw fireworks at police officers and built barricades on the Georgian capital’s central boulevard. More than 300 protesters have been detained since Thursday, and over 100 people have been treated for injuries.

On Wednesday, the Coalition for Change opposition party said that police raided its offices and detained its leader, Nika Gvaramia. It shared a video showing several officers dragging Gvaramia into a car.

Georgian media reported that police also raided the offices of several other opposition groups and nongovernment organizations.

The ruling Georgian Dream party retained control of parliament in the disputed October 26 election, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s EU aspirations. The opposition and the pro-Western president have accused the governing party of rigging the vote with neighboring Russia’s help and boycotted parliament sessions.

Mass opposition protests sparked by the vote gained new momentum after the governing party’s decision on Thursday to put the EU accession talks on hold.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili refused to recognize the official election results and contested them in the Constitutional Court, which rejected her appeal on Tuesday. Zourabichvili, who plays a largely ceremonial role, has declared that she would stay on the job even after her six-year term ends later this month to lead the opposition demand for a new parliamentary election.

The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations but put its accession on hold and cut financial support in June after the passage of a “foreign influence” law that was widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms. It requires organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power,” similar to a Russian law used to discredit organizations critical of the government.

The Georgian government’s announcement of the EU accession talks’ suspension came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution criticizing October’s election as neither free nor fair.

On Monday, the EU reiterated its “serious concerns about the continuous democratic backsliding of the country.”

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of Georgian Dream declared Tuesday that the government is willing to open EU accession talks if the bloc ends its “blackmail.”

“I want to remind European bureaucrats and politicians, including those who are artificially hindering our country’s European integration, to bring negotiations to the table, and we will sign immediately, on the same day, at that very moment,” he said.
…

NATO chief Mark Rutte said Tuesday he is confident that whatever military aid allies can supply to Ukraine in the coming months will be provided, as he warned that Russia is again using the onset of winter as a weapon in its war in Ukraine.

Rutte told reporters in Brussels ahead of talks with NATO foreign ministers that there is a priority on protecting Ukrainian energy infrastructure and ensuring Ukrainian forces have the air defenses necessary to defend against Russian attacks.

In addition to the war in Ukraine, the foreign ministers are also discussing what Rutte said was an “escalating campaign” of Russian hostile actions toward NATO countries, including acts of sabotage and cybercrimes.

Ukraine’s military said Tuesday it shot down 29 of 50 drones that Russia launched in its latest round of overnight attacks.

The intercepts took place over the Chernihiv, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy and Ternopil regions, the Ukrainian air force said.

Officials in Kharkiv reported damage to a business from a downed drone, while officials in Sumy said Russian shelling damaged several buildings.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday it shot down 24 Ukrainian drones overnight, and another 11 drones early Tuesday.

Officials in Russia’s Ryazan region said a drone damaged four houses, but caused no casualties.

Ukrainian drones were also shot down over the Rostov, Bryansk, Belgorod, Krasnodar, Kursk and Kaluga regions, the ministry said.
…

The government of France faces a no-confidence vote Wednesday, a move that could topple the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

Analysts predict French lawmakers will likely vote in favor of a no-confidence motion.

Barnier warned the politicians that voting his government down “would make everything more difficult for France.”

The no-confidence vote follows a seldom-used constitutional move the prime minister invoked Monday when he pushed through the 2025 budget without parliamentary approval, something Barnier said he did to maintain “stability” amid France’s deep political divisions.

Barnier, who has been prime minister for just three months, is seeking to bring France’s gigantic budget deficit under control.

The government can pass legislation without parliamentary approval under Article 49.3 of France’s constitution. That move, however, opens up the option of no-confidence motions.

The prime minister’s action prompted Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and the leftist New Popular Front to both respond with filings for no-confidence motions.

The left and the far-right together hold enough votes to overturn the prime minister’s government, according to Reuters, which reports that Le Pen has confirmed that her party would support a left-wing alliance’s no-confidence motion. A far-right motion would not receive enough votes from lawmakers.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the lawmakers voting in favor of the no-confidence vote were playing Russian roulette with France’s future.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he could “not believe” the lawmakers had teamed up for the no confidence motion against the government and accused Le Pen of “unbearable cynicism.”

“We must not scare people with these things. We have a strong economy,” the president said.

Macron said he is holding on to the hope that the politicians will not censure the French government.

“It doesn’t make sense,” he told reporters during a trip to Saudi Arabia. He compared the situation to “political fiction.”

There have also been calls for Macron’s resignation, but the president said he has no intention of resigning before his term ends in 2027.

“It so happens that if I am before you, it is because I was elected twice by the French people,” he said. “I am extremely proud of this, and I will honor this trust with all the energy that is mine until the last second to be useful to the country.”

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
…

LONDON/LAS PALMAS, SPAIN — Record numbers of migrants arrived on Spain’s Canary Islands from West Africa this year, according to newly released government figures.

Some 41,425 migrants arrived on the islands between January 1 and November 30, according to the figures released Monday. The number surpassed the 39,910 migrants recorded in 2023, which also broke previous records. Most of the migrants are from Mali, Morocco and Senegal.

The islands lie in the Atlantic Ocean more than 100 kilometers west of Morocco and have long attracted migrants seeking a new life in Europe.

The latest figures were published as Spain outlines plans to offer visas to up to 900,000 undocumented migrants already in the country, while simultaneously clamping down on new arrivals.

Madrid announced plans to offer visas to 300,000 undocumented migrants every year for the next three years, allowing them to remain in the country to study and find work.

Spain needs young workers’ taxes to fund the pensions and health care of its aging population, according to the minister for migration, Elma Saiz.

“Spain has to choose between being an open and prosperous country or being a closed and poor country. And we have chosen the former. That is why there are already 2.9 million foreigners paying monthly Social Security contributions [taxes],” Saiz announced at a press conference in Madrid on November 19.

Saiz said that the government plans to “cut red tape” to make it easier for migrants to enter the labor market.

“We want to make it easier for foreigners to get a job suited to their professional profile and, at the same time, for companies to find the professionals they need,” she said.

The visas will be offered only to migrants already in Spain.

Simultaneously, Madrid says it is clamping down on new arrivals by striking deals with African states to curb migrant departures and increase offshore patrols. Spain has also called for the European Union’s border agency, Frontex, to resume patrols in the region.

Authorities have struggled to cope with the surge in migrant arrivals on the Canary Islands. Adult migrants are held in camps as they await transfer to the Spanish mainland, where their visa applications are processed. Children younger than 18 stay at shelters on the islands and are offered places in local schools.

Bocar Gueye, 36, who arrived on the island of Gran Canaria from Mauritania, told VOA that he was happy to have survived the journey.

“They will give the tickets [for travel to the mainland] to everyone, but it is not easy. Everyone will wait their turn. With all the difficulties we had at sea, I think that the rest, we can be patient,” Gueye said.

Tensions on the islands are growing, however. Residents of Las Palmas staged demonstrations in October against the increase in migrant arrivals. Many fear that the government’s plan to regularize the status of migrants already in Spain will encourage more people to attempt the journey.

“Right now, we don’t need immigrants to work,” said Rudy Ruyman, who helped to organize the protests on October 27. “What we need is to give work to the Canary Islanders and to the Spanish in general. We must take care of our land, of our people, of our children, and encourage Canarians and Spaniards to have children. Because if not, what will be left of Spain and the Canary Islands? We will lose our identity,” he told VOA.

The migration debate is shadowed by tragedy. The journey from Africa’s Atlantic coast to the Canary Islands remains one of the deadliest routes to Europe. Aid agencies estimate around 1,000 people die every month attempting the crossing.
…

BUCHAREST — Romania’s hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR) party wants to be part of a coalition government, its leader said on Tuesday, as the nation eyes a presidential runoff vote that will decide who appoints the prime minister.

Hard-right and ultranationalist parties, including AUR, saw a sharp surge in support in a parliamentary election on Sunday, and while they lack a majority they garnered more than 30% of seats in the legislature.

A Constitutional Court ruling on Monday cleared the way for a presidential runoff next Sunday that will pit far-right candidate Calin Georgescu against centrist Elena Lasconi, raising the possibility that the new head of state, who appoints the government, will share AUR’s views.

A Georgescu win in the presidential runoff would upend Romania’s pro-Western orientation and erode its backing for neighboring Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion. Romania is a member of NATO and the European Union.

The court had ordered a recount of the first round of the election amid concerns over interference in the electoral process, but finally validated the result.

“As Romania’s second-largest party we … have the responsibility to come up with a credible vision,” AUR leader George Simion told foreign press.

“I would like to have a governmental coalition. If the next president of Romania nominates me as prime minister or asks our party to propose a name for prime minister [then we will].

“We will stay and talk with every political force in the Romanian parliament,” he said, speaking in English.

However Simion ruled out cooperating with the leftist Social Democrats (PSD), who came first in Sunday’s ballot.

Unity

The leader of the far-right SOS grouping, Diana Sosoaca, appealed for unity among nationalist parties on Monday, saying they should try to form a government even if it was a minority one. AUR and Sosoaca have previously clashed over policy and the latter’s pro-Russian statements.

A survey conducted by pollster CURS on Dec. 1 at polling stations showed Georgescu would win 57.8% in a run-off to Lasconi’s 42.2% among people who say they will vote. The survey polled 24,629 people after they cast their vote and had a margin of error of plus/minus 0.6%.

An admirer of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and a critic of the European Union, Simion has said he would stop military aid to Ukraine. He has opposed Holocaust education and gay marriage, and wants to recover territories that Romania lost during World War Two.

AUR has gone from being a fringe anti-vaccination group during the COVID-19 pandemic into Romania’s leading opposition force, appealing to the working class diaspora and young voters and building on popular discontent with mainstream politicians.

He says he is not pro-Russian, calling President Vladimir Putin a war criminal, and supports Romania’s NATO and European Union member status, though he condemns what he calls a “greedy, corrupt bubble” in Brussels.
…

Most of the world’s airlines are not doing enough to switch to sustainable jet fuel, according to a study by Brussels-based advocacy group Transport and Environment, which also found too little investment by oil producers in the transition.

The airline sector is calling for more production of the fuel, which can be made from materials such as wood chips and used cooking oil.

“Unfortunately, airlines at the moment are not on the trajectory to have meaningful emissions reduction because they’re not buying enough sustainable aviation fuel,” Transport and Environment aviation policy manager Francesco Catte said.

As it stands, SAF makes up about 1% of aviation fuel use on the global market, which needs to increase for airlines to meet carbon emission reduction targets. The fuel can cost between two to five times more than regular jet fuel.

A lack of investment by major oil players, who have the capital to build SAF processing facilities, is hampering the market’s growth, the study says.

In its ranking, Transport and Environment pointed to Air France-KLM, United Airlines and Norwegian as some of the airlines that have taken tangible steps to buy sustainable jet fuel, particularly its synthetic, cleaner burning version.

But 87% are failing to make meaningful efforts, the ranking shows, and even those who are trying could miss their own targets without more investment.

Airlines such as Italy’s ITA Airways, the successor airline to bankrupt Alitalia, and Portugal’s TAP have done very little to secure SAF in the coming years, the ranking shows.

A TAP spokesperson said the airline was the first to fly in Portugal with SAF in July 2022, “and is committed to flying with 10% SAF in 2030.”

“While we would have liked to increase our investment in SAF, the low availability…and high costs…have limited our ability to do so, considering also our start up condition,” an ITA spokesperson said.
…