International
France’s Macron names new government
French President Emmanuel Macron named a new government Monday evening, putting together a team under Francois Bayrou, his fourth prime minister of the year, to drag the second-largest EU economy out of political crisis.
Macron named former prime minister Elisabeth Borne, 63, education minister in a new cabinet under centrist Bayrou, announced Elysee secretary-general Alexis Kohler.
Another former premier, Manuel Valls, 62, returned as overseas territories minister, while former interior minister Gerald Darmanin became justice minister.
Both Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot kept their jobs, the presidency said.
Lecornu, a 38-year-old loyalist with a keen political nose, has served in every government since Macron’s first election as president in 2017.
Conservative Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who has vowed to crack down on illegal immigration, and right-wing Culture Minister Rachida Dati, also stayed in their posts.
The difficult job of delivering a budget plan for next year falls to Eric Lombard, head of public-sector lender Caisse des Depots (CDC), who was named economy minister.
“I’m very proud of the team we’re presenting this evening,” Bayrou said on X, adding his “experienced” cabinet would aim to “rebuild trust”.
The inclusion of two former prime ministers indicates Macron’s desire for a heavyweight government that will enjoy stability and not share the fate of Bayrou’s predecessor, Michel Barnier, ousted in a no-confidence vote.
Bayrou had hoped to bring in figures from the left, right and centre to protect his government from possible censure, but his 35-member team does not include any members of the left-wing coalition New Popular Front.
Macron will assemble Bayrou’s team on January 3 for a first Council of Ministers meeting, the presidency said. Barnier was brought down over his failure to win support for an austerity budget to shore up France’s shaky finances with spending cuts and tax rises.
The priority for 73-year-old Bayrou is to make sure his government can survive a no-confidence vote and that it passes a cost-cutting budget for 2025.
International
Democrats Win US midterm elections
Trump acknowledges the Iran war, and the rising cost of living, were factors in his Republican Party’s defeat – as the White House posts on social media: “Trump is still your president”
US President Donald Trump
The Democrats win the Senate and the House in US midterm elections, taking control of Congress for the rest of Donald Trump’s tenure.
Voters in conservative bastions who had propelled the president to his second term in office just two years ago swung dramatically toward Democrats, fueled by deep frustration over the unpopular war with Iran, anxiety over the high cost of living and anger at Trump’s stewardship of the country.
Trump acknowledges the Iran war, and the rising cost of living, were factors in his Republican Party’s defeat – as the White House posts on social media: “Trump is still your president”

In Texas, the biggest Republican state, Democrats ended a decades-long losing streak in seismic fashion, winning a Senate seat and ousting three-term Governor Greg Abbott.Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since the Great Depression nearly a century ago, and in South Carolina, a state that Trump carried by nearly 18 points in 2024, Democrats turned aside his hand-picked Senate candidate.The results will usher in a new era of divided government in Washington, following two years in which the Republican-controlled Congress rarely exercised its power to rein in Trump.
International
JUST IN: Plane Crash Near Trump’s Florida Home Kills All 9 Aboard
A private Learjet 60 crashed into a residential neighborhood in Palm Beach County, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, killing all nine people on board, officials confirmed.
The aircraft, flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas, went down around 12:50 p.m. local time near Cresthaven/Greenacres, roughly 7–11 kilometers (about 4–7 miles) from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
It struck near a busy roadway at the entrance to a mobile-home community, creating a large fireball and leaving a crater in the road. Debris was scattered across a wide area, and nearby power and water lines were damaged.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the crash a “horrific tragedy” and confirmed there were no survivors among the nine occupants.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the impact as “cataclysmic,” saying it “looked like a missile going down.” No injuries were reported among people on the ground. About 600 residents of a nearby mobile-home park were evacuated.
Trump had been at Mar-a-Lago earlier Sunday but departed on Air Force One from the nearby airport about an hour before the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation, with support from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Early reports noted the crew had discussed moderate turbulence and ice shortly before the steep descent.
International
Tens of thousands protest against Narendra Modi regime in Delhi
The protest was one of the largest shows of opposition strength in years, taking place amid a wider resurgence of anti-government dissent which has been systematically crushed over the 12 years of the Modi regime.
Thousands of opposition supporters have gathered in Delhi as protests against the Narendra Modi government continue to gather momentum.
Led by the Congress party, India’s opposition alliance has brought together supporters from across the country, amid growing anger over a large-scale revision of the country’s voter roll that has seen 130 million names erased.
Opposition leaders have alleged the process gives Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) an electoral advantage, and have called for the resignation and impeachment of the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar.
The BJP has denied the claims.
Addressing tens of thousands of party workers and supporters, the opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said Kumar had “carried out the biggest crime. He has tried to silence the voice of people, strangulate our country.”
Gandhi said the opposition, united under the acronym India (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), would not let “democracy be finished in the country” and warned Modi: “You can’t run anywhere.”
The protest was one of the largest shows of opposition strength in years, taking place amid a wider resurgence of anti-government dissent which has been systematically crushed over the 12 years of the Modi regime.
The Guardian Uk
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