Lawmakers voted to oust Prime Minister Francois Bayrou and his minority government with 364 votes against the veteran centrist politician and 194 in his favour

International News via Reuters:

France’s parliament brought down the government on Monday over its plans to tame the ballooning national debt, deepening a political crisis that is weakening the euro zone’s second-largest economy.

Lawmakers voted to oust Prime Minister Francois Bayrou and his minority government with 364 votes against the veteran centrist politician and 194 in his favour.

President Emmanuel Macron, who is facing calls from the opposition to dissolve parliament and resign, will instead hunt for his fifth prime minister in less than two years. His office said he would appoint one in the next few days.

The next government’s most pressing task will be to pass a budget, the same challenge Francois Bayrou faced when he took office nine months ago. Securing the backing of a very divided parliament will be equally hard.

“You have the power to bring down the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality,” Bayrou told lawmakers before losing the confidence vote.

“Reality will remain relentless: expenses will continue to rise, and the burden of debt, already unbearable, will grow heavier and more costly,” he said.

Bayrou will tender his resignation on Tuesday, his office said.

He had called the confidence vote to try to win parliamentary support for his strategy to lower a deficit that stands at nearly double the European Union’s 3% ceiling, and to start tackling a debt pile equivalent to 114% of GDP.

But opposition parties were in little mood to rally behind his planned savings of 44 billion euros ($51.51 billion) in next year’s budget, with an election for Macron’s successor looming in 2027.

“This moment marks the end of the agony of a phantom government,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen said, pushing for a snap parliamentary election, which Macron has so far ruled out.

“Macron is now on the front line facing the people. He too must go,” Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed, said on X.

WHO’S NEXT?

A lengthy period of political and fiscal uncertainty risks undermining Macron’s influence in Europe at a time when the United States is talking tough on trade and security, and war is raging in Ukraine on Europe’s eastern flank.  

The French president could now nominate a politician from his own centrist minority ruling group or from the ranks of conservatives as the next premier, but that would mean doubling down on a strategy that has failed to yield a stable alliance.

He also could tack to the left and nominate a moderate socialist, or choose a technocrat.

No scenario would be likely to hand the next government a parliamentary majority. It was inevitable that the need to form a new government would result in a dilution of the deficit reduction plan, Finance Minister Eric Lombard said before the vote.

Macron may eventually decide the only path out of the crisis lies in calling a snap election, but he has so far resisted calls from Le Pen’s National Rally and from France Unbowed to dissolve parliament a second time. 

FISCAL MESS

Financial markets had anticipated the confidence vote would fail and there was little immediate reaction on Monday. French markets face another test on Friday, when Fitch Ratings reviews its sovereign rating for France. Moody’s and S&P Global follow with their own rating reviews in October and November.

“Over the near-term, I’m sure everyone in markets expects paralysis and downward pressure on ratings,” said Chris Scicluna, head of economic research for Daiwa Capital Markets. As for now, “the outcome was as expected, so markets should react in a modest way.”

France’s EU peers will be watching closely. 

France holds the highest deficit as a percentage of GDP in the euro zone – the bloc using the EU’s single currency. It pays more to service its debt than Spain and spreads against benchmark German 10-year bonds are at their highest level in four months. 

A rating downgrade would hamper France’s ability to raise money at low interest rates from investors, potentially deepening its debt problems. 

The Socialists have offered a counter-budget that would impose a tax of at least 2% on personal wealth greater than 100 million euros ($117.5 million) and generate savings of 22 billion euros – a proposal that would be tough to marry with the pro-business reform agenda of Macron’s presidency.

Discontent may also start brewing on the streets. A grassroots protest movement called “Bloquons Tout” (“Let’s Block Everything”) is calling for nationwide disruption on Wednesday. Trade unions are plotting walkouts the week after.

Like many in France, Mohamed, 80, who sells produce at the Aligre market in Paris, doesn’t think the politicians will find a way out. 

“Come back in 10 days and you’ll see nothing will have changed. There won’t be a majority, there will be no budget.”

($1 = 0.8511 euros)

Additional reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Tassilo Hummel, Makini Brice and Lucien Libert; writing by Ingrid Melander and Richard Lough; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Hugh Lawson, Timothy Heritage and Bill Berkrot

The tomb, which measures nine metres by six metres (29 ft by 19 ft), is the first discovery in Albania of what the experts believe to be a wealthy person’s resting place

International News via Reuters:

Archaeologists in Albania have discovered a large Roman burial chamber dating from the third to fourth century AD, the first of its kind found in the Balkan country that was once part of the Roman Empire.

Tipped off by locals who had noticed some unusual stones on a plateau near the North Macedonia border, staff from the Institute of Archaeology began excavating in early August and found the underground structure whose large limestone slabs were inscribed with Greek lettering. 

“The inscription tells us that the person buried here was named Gelliano, a name typical of the Roman period. We are uncertain about the identity of the second individual, but it is likely a family member,” said Erikson Nikolli, the project’s lead archaeologist.

The tomb, which measures nine metres by six metres (29 ft by 19 ft), is the first discovery in Albania of what the experts believe to be a wealthy person’s resting place, grander than other burial sites found in the area.

Local authorities in Albania, where tourism is booming, are already planning to develop the site into a tourist attraction, while residents flocked to the area upon hearing the news of the discovery.

Last week, Nikolli’s team used brushes to reveal the intricately carved edges of the tomb’s white roof stone and walls. 

“We also uncovered a piece of fabric embroidered with gold thread, which confirms our belief that we are dealing with a member of the upper class.”

Other findings include glass plates and knives.

Nikolli said that the tomb had been looted at least twice – once in antiquity and later when heavy machinery was used to move a massive rock on top of the chamber.

He explained that the occupant’s name was inscribed in Greek letters but carried a Latin meaning, while a second inscription indicates that the tomb was dedicated to the god Jupiter.

Experts have yet to decipher additional inscriptions on stones found nearby, which are believed to have belonged to another monument now surrounded by cornfields and a quarry.

Reporting by Fatos Bytyci and Florion Goga; editing by Edward McAllister and Sharon Singleton

BRICS members Brazil and India are among the countries hardest-hit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs

International News via Reuters:

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday that more trade and financial integration between the BRICS group of developing nations would help mitigate the effects of protectionism.

“Tariff blackmail is being normalized as a tool for conquering markets and interfering in domestic issues,” Lula said in the government’s published remarks of a virtual meeting of BRICS leaders, without directly citing the United States.

BRICS members Brazil and India are among the countries hardest-hit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, while new sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine are expected.

Lula had told Reuters in an interview last month he would raise the issue of Trump’s tariffs with BRICS.

The 50% levies on most Brazilian exports are linked to what Trump has described as a “witch hunt” against his ally and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently on trial for allegedly plotting a coup.

Tariffs on Indian goods were doubled last month to as high as 50% in response to India’s continued imports of Russian oil.

The virtual meeting, which lasted one and a half hours, brought together leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia, Brazil’s government said in a separate statement.

The group discussed the risks posed by the resurgence of unilateral measures, particularly in international trade, and explored ways to strengthen mechanisms for solidarity, coordination, and trade among BRICS nations, the statement said.

Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Isabel Teles; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Alistair Bell

The continent, which has been buffeted by landslides, floods and droughts this year, is holding its second climate summit in Ethiopia

International News via Reuters:

African leaders aim to offer a global model for tackling the climate crisis through green investments, they said on Monday, after the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement deflated the fight against climate change. 

The continent, which has been buffeted by landslides, floods and droughts this year, is holding its second climate summit in Ethiopia, seeking a common voice before global climate talks in Brazil, COP30.

“We are not here to negotiate our survival. We are here to design the world’s next climate economy,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told the opening ceremony. 

Africa’s development lenders and commercial banks signed a deal at the summit to mobilise up to $100 billion to power a “green industrialisation” using renewable energy, said Kenyan President William Ruto.

Participating institutions include the Africa Export-Import Bank, the African Development Bank and commercial lenders like Ecobank Transnational and KCB Group, Ruto said.

Abiy proposed a new Africa climate innovation initiative, funded by the continent, bringing together African universities, research institutions, startups, rural communities and inventors to deliver 1,000 solutions to tackle climate challenges by 2030.

“If we make the right choices now, Africa can be the first continent to industrialize without destroying its ecosystems,” said Abiy, who wants his country to host COP32 in 2027.

Leaders sought more financing at the inaugural summit in Nairobi two years ago to help governments to tackle climate challenges amid fiscal constraints and heavy debt burdens, but the continent is still badly short of funding, receiving just 1% of the annual global climate financing, officials say.

African countries, which are among the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of manmade global warming despite being among those least responsible for it, have long demanded that COP meetings yield more funds to help them adapt.

“Climate finance must be fair, significant and predictable,” said Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, chair of the African Union Commission. 

Leaders also expressed concerns about the potential damage from a fraying of the multilateral approach to tackling climate change.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration pulled out of the landmark Paris agreement on climate change for the second time earlier this year and has also withdrawn from clean energy partnerships with countries such as South Africa.

“Commitments are broken and international solidarity is dismissed as weakness precisely when the scale of the climate crisis demands enhanced cooperation, not less,” said Ruto.

Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw in Addis Ababa and Duncan Miriri in Nairobi; Editing by Kevin Liffey