28 h. ago Political deadlock and spending on dual crises leaves French finances in disarray

France is a major industrial power, the world’s seventh-largest economy

Politics

6 d. ago Sarkozy prison date to be set. Here's why the former French president will serve time despite appeal

Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, has been summoned by the National Financial Prosecutor’s office to set a date for his incarceration

Events

7 d. ago Sebastien Lecornu renamed as French Prime Minister just 5 days after quitting

After days of negotiations, Emmanuel Macron has asked Sebastien Lecornu to try again to form a government and produce a budget in a bid to end France's political deadlock

Politics

1 week ago US shutdown deadlock deepens as senators reject competing bills

Proposals from both sides fail to receive enough support as no senators change their votes from recent daysUS politics live – latest updatesThe deadlock over ending the US government shutdown deepened on Wednesday, with senators once again rejecting competing bills to restart funding as Democrats and Republicans remain dug in on their demands for reopening federal agencies.The funding lapse has forced offices, national parks and other federal government operations to close or curtail operations, while employees have been furloughed. Signs of strain have mounted in recent days in the parts of the federal government that remained operational, with staffing shortages reported at airports across the US as well as air traffic control centers. Further disruptions may come next week, when US military personnel and other federal workers who remain on the job will not receive paychecks, unless the government reopens. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Macron should announce early election, says former PM as France’s political crisis deepens

Édouard Philippe, a contender to succeed Macron, says situation is ‘distressing’ amid last-ditch efforts to get cross-party support for cabinetEurope live – latest updatesÉdouard Philippe, a former French prime minister and one-time ally of Emmanuel Macron, has said he favours early presidential elections given the gravity of the political crisis rocking the country.The remarks by Philippe, a leading centre-right contender to succeed Macron, came as the outgoing prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, began a last-ditch effort to rally cross-party support for a cabinet to pull France out of its deepening political deadlock. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago France is plunged into fresh chaos as another PM QUITS weeks after his appointment in new humiliation for Emmanuel Macron

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday accepted Lecornu's resignation, the Elysee Palace said, plunging the European nation further into political deadlock.

Politics

1 week ago France’s PM resigns after less than a month amid widespread criticism of new cabinet

Sébastien Lecornu resigns after Emmanuel Macron unveiled largely unchanged cabinet lineupFrance’s president, Emmanuel Macron, accepted the resignation of the prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, the presidency said on Monday, plunging the country further into political deadlock.The largely unchanged cabinet lineup Macron announced late on Sunday was met with fierce criticism across the political spectrum. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Macron appoints new French government in attempt to end political deadlock

Rivals say president’s latest cabinet represents unwelcome continuity and hard-left party vows to file no-confidence motion amid fraught budget talksFrench president Emmanuel Macron has named a new government as he struggles to pull the country out of a political crisis, while rivals threatened to topple the lineup quickly if it failed to break with Macron’s past policies.The new cabinet was unveiled nearly a month after the appointment of prime minister Sebastien Lecornu, who sought to obtain cross-party support in a deeply divided parliament. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago French premier names Macron loyalist as finance minister in bid to pass budget

Roland Lescure is a former industry minister who entered politics in 2017 as part of the centrist En Marche movement

Politics

3 w. ago Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of criminal conspiracy in Libyan campaign financing trial

Sarkozy was accused of receiving millions of euros in illegal financing from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi for his successful 2007 presidential bid

Politics

3 w. ago The Sicilian Vespers review – plot and theatrical panache collide in Verdi’s Parisian reinvention

Royal Opera House, LondonStefan Herheim’s production of this fascinating work battles with hollowness and ambiguities despite an impressive debut from Speranza Scappucci as principal guest conductorThe Giuseppe Verdi of 1855 was not unlike the Bob Dylan of 1965. Both had just produced, in rapid succession, three defining masterpieces which would ensure their immortality – in Verdi’s case Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and La Traviata, in Dylan’s the trilogy of albums starting with Bringing It All Back Home. The question that now loomed was – where to go from here?For Verdi, as for Rossini and Donizetti before him, the answer was Paris, and the conquest (and financial rewards) of French opera. The outcome was The Sicilian Vespers, a five act grand opera in French, complete with ballet, depicting the Sicilian rising against French invaders in 1282. It is a work of uncommon musical fascination, in which Verdi subjects his art to a form of self-renewal in something of the manner that Dylan wou...

Politics