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French parliament votes to oust Michel Barnier’s government

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French parliament votes to oust Michel Barnier’s government

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The French parliament on Wednesday voted to oust Prime Minister Michel Barnier over his proposed deficit-cutting budget, plunging the country into deeper political turmoil.

A motion of no confidence was approved by 331 votes in the 577 member national assembly, as Marine Le Pen’s far-right party teamed up with a leftist bloc to bring down Barnier’s minority government.

Barnier’s administration has collapsed without adopting his contentious 2025 budget that included €60bn in tax increases and spending cuts to reduce France’s deficit, which will reach 6 per cent of GDP this year.

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President Emmanuel Macron will now have to select another prime minister, a task made difficult by a raucous parliament divided into three blocs, none of which is close to having a governing majority.

Barnier’s three-month term as prime minister was the shortest of any premier since France’s Fifth Republic was founded in 1958. It is only the second time a government has been voted down since then. 

The political tumult gripping France comes just weeks after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition collapsed, leaving the EU’s two most powerful states in limbo.

Barnier defended his record as prime minister during a national assembly debate before the confidence vote, telling lawmakers: “I have been and am proud to act to build rather than to destroy.”

He said it was “not for pleasure” that he had presented a difficult budget. France’s fiscal “reality will not disappear by the enchantment of a motion of censure”, he added.

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Macron will have to contend with an emboldened Le Pen and her Rassemblement National party, which was decisive in removing Barnier after spurning his last-ditch attempts at a compromise on his budget.

Le Pen said her decision to censure Barnier was prompted by the “necessity to put an end to the chaos, to spare the French people from a dangerous, unfair and punitive budget”.

Macron “is largely responsible for the current situation”, Le Pen told TF1 television shortly after the vote.

When the president appoints a new prime minister, that person would work on a new budget which Rassemblement National “will construct with other forces in the national assembly”, she added.

Mathilde Panot, a leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, slammed Barnier for seeking deals with the Rassemblement National to try to stay in power.

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“Barnier tried to escape censure by choosing dishonour, he has gotten dishonour and censure,” she said.

Marie Lebec, a lawmaker from Macron’s centrist alliance and former minister, said her fellow parliamentarians should put aside party squabbling to find a way forward.

The political crisis risks further spooking financial markets. Barnier had previously warned of a financial and economic “storm” should his government fall without adopting the 2025 budget, saying borrowing costs were on track to exceed €60bn next year, more than the French defence budget.

French borrowing costs on its 10-year sovereign bond hit a 12-year high against Germany’s last week, as investors fretted about the likely failure of Barnier’s government.

After the confidence vote on Wednesday, the euro was flat against the dollar at $1.052, reflecting how the result was widely expected.

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Barnier may stay on as a caretaker premier for a short time, but it will fall to his successor to craft another 2025 budget, ahead of a year-end deadline.

In the meantime, Macron and parliament have several options to pass emergency measures that would avoid a government shutdown and keep public services funded temporarily.

But unlike previously when he procrastinated on picking premiers, Macron aimed to move quickly this time, said a person familiar with his thinking, and he has drawn up a list of potential candidates to succeed Barnier.

The Elysée said Macron would address the nation on Thursday evening in a televised speech.

Barnier was appointed by Macron in September after the president’s centrist alliance lost snap parliamentary elections, which increased the ranks of the far right and leftist parties.

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His departure is a sign of how gridlocked French institutions have become since the elections.

“It feels like a series of impasses in a parliament where no one has a workable majority,” said Bruno Cautrès, political scientist at Sciences Po. “There is a risk that a new government would fall quickly, just as Barnier has done.”

Additional reporting by Ian Smith in London

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Trump picks Musk ally David Sacks as crypto and AI tsar

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Trump picks Musk ally David Sacks as crypto and AI tsar

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President-elect Donald Trump has named venture capitalist David Sacks as the White House’s artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency tsar, the latest confidant of Elon Musk to receive a top appointment in the new government.

Sacks, who was an early employee alongside Musk at PayPal, is a co-host of the All-In podcast and emerged as one of the earliest and most vocal Silicon Valley supporters of Trump, hosting a fundraiser for the candidate in San Francisco in June.

“David has the knowledge, business experience, intelligence and pragmatism to MAKE AMERICA GREAT in these two critical technologies,” Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social.

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“He will work on a legal framework so the Crypto industry has the clarity it has been asking for, and can thrive in the US,” he added.

AI and crypto regulation are two of the incoming administration’s most pressing priorities.

Crypto investors and founders hope Trump will take a more favourable approach to the sector than Joe Biden’s administration, after the president-elect offered vocal support for digital currencies during his campaign.

This week Trump nominated Paul Atkins, who is sympathetic to the sector, to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. The price of bitcoin, which has soared since the election, climbed past $100,000 for the first time on Thursday after Atkins’ selection.

Trump’s position on AI is less clear, but in his first term he issued an executive order “committed to strengthening American leadership in AI” and many in the sector anticipate lighter regulation.

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Sacks threw his weight behind the candidate on social media and via his podcast during the campaign. His support earned him a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in July.

He has been vocal on foreign policy issues as well as tech concerns, including repeatedly criticising President Biden’s approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sacks has argued instead for Kyiv to “cut a deal” to ensure a swift ceasefire with Moscow.

His appointment creates another bond between Trump’s Republican party and Silicon Valley, which has historically been a Democratic stronghold.

Musk is the most prominent member of the tech elite to have taken a role in the incoming administration, but other high-profile figures such as venture capital Marc Andreessen have played informal roles such as helping to find candidates for the ‘department of government efficiency’.

Sacks is part of a so-called PayPal mafia, a group of founders and early employees at the payments company that includes Musk, Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Sequoia managing partner Roelof Botha.

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He has deepened his connection to Musk by backing a number of the entrepreneur’s companies, including xAI, X and SpaceX, through his venture capital firm Craft Ventures.

Sacks in May launched his own AI chat platform called Glue.

Sacks’s firm said his new position will not conflict with his existing positions.

“The tsar is an advisory role and has the same government classification as ‘doge’, which does not require David to leave Craft,” the firm said.

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Some rural Nevadans want Trump to stop the state's solar energy boom

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Some rural Nevadans want Trump to stop the state's solar energy boom

Panels in MGM Resorts’ Mega Solar Array are shown after it was launched on June 28, 2021 in Dry Lake Valley, Nevada. The project sits on 640 acres of desert about 30 miles north of the Las Vegas Strip in the Dry Lake Solar Energy Zone. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Ethan Miller/Getty Images/Getty Images North America

DYER, Nev. – Leaving Las Vegas, where the sprawl once gave way to scrub land and Joshua trees, the desert in many places is being transformed.

New industrial scale solar farms go for miles, their neat rows of millions of panels glaring in the sun. And there are a lot more planned, such as the “Esmeralda Seven,” projects near the southwest corner of the state bordering California that would provide enough power for an estimated three million homes.

“It’s being pushed down our throats,” says Mary Jane Zakas, who lives near the 100 square mile stretch of high desert where the seven are proposed.

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Esmeralda County, population 736, is one of the most remote and poorest parts of the country. Zakas sees little benefit from the solar boom other than a few construction jobs. The power, she says, will just get exported to cities at the expense of local viewsheds and wildlife.

“Imagine, looking out your window any way and only seeing solar,” Zakas says. “It’s the Biden administration at the moment that has told the state of Nevada we have to comply.”

Aerial view of a Solar Farm near Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 24, 2018. (Photo by Daniel SLIM / AFP) (Photo credit should read DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

Aerial view of a Solar Farm near Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 24, 2018. (Photo by Daniel SLIM / AFP) (Photo credit should read DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

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The 2024 Election marked the first time Nevada has backed a Republican for president in twenty years. President-elect Donald Trump’s win may in part be due to rural backlash against these new, industrial scale solar energy projects. But it’s also not a given that Trump will stop or even slow the solar boom.

Biden’s carbon-free pledge

The controversy in rural Nevada comes after the Biden administration’s goal to get the U.S. to 100% renewable power sources by 2035. A big part of that initiative includes the Department of Interior’s new Western Solar Plan. It’s on track to be finalized in the coming weeks and could possibly open up tens of millions more acres of federal land across eleven western states.

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Almost a third of the plan involves Nevada, which is roughly 85% federal land. But it’s also remote, sparsely populated and often sunny. Federal land managers say their plan identifies the least disruptive locations that are near transmission lines or new planned transmission corridors.

But in rural Nevada, mistrust of federal agencies goes back generations. It’s been estimated that close to half of Esmeralda County could be open to new solar development under the plan. Mark Hartman, a farmer near the tiny town of Dyer, thinks there’s been too much emphasis on green energy during the last four years.

What we do know is that the Trump administration wants energy independence,” Hartman says. “And that is through multiple means, not just solar or wind.”

Whether Trump’s energy policy will be “all of the above,” or just “drill baby drill” is the source of tremendous speculation across the West right now.

Trump’s appetite for solar in question

Ben Norris, vice president of regulatory affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association, says many companies are expecting a similar situation to what occurred in 2017. Federal offices set up to fast track renewable energy permitting were dismantled or applications for new projects weren’t seen as a priority by federal land regulators.

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We are concerned that this type of administrative slow walking could be something that the industry has to deal with again,” Norris says.

But on the other hand Norris says Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Interior, Doug Burgum, has a pro-green energy track record. Burgum, who’s also been tapped to head a new National Energy Council, will have a lot of say over energy development on federal land. As North Dakota Governor, he set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030. He also presided over a significant expansion of wind power.

“He appears to have a sensible all of the above approach to energy issues generally in his state,” Norris says.

Norris generally supports the overall Western Solar Plan because it would increase the amount of federal land available to the industry by close to tenfold. Though that’s still far less than what’s open to oil and gas companies.

In Nevada, about a quarter of the state’s electricity comes from solar. But it’s forecast to soon double as its population keeps booming.

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Strange bedfellows

Meanwhile, opposition to industrial scale solar isn’t just coming from conservatives here. Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director for the Center for Biological Diversity says some projects will directly threaten wildlife and important watersheds.

Donnelly doesn’t think Trump will slow down all the capital that’s flooding into Nevada for solar projects either.

“There are companies that want to exploit public lands for financial gain and Trump’s all about that, and whether it’s lithium or whether it’s gold, solar or oil, they approve it,” Donnelly says.

Still, some of Trump’s most staunch supporters seem to have faith that he will intervene and slow down the solar boom. High rural turnout in statewide elections in Nevada can overpower more Democratic leaning Las Vegas. Esmeralda County went 82% for Trump. Mary Jane Zakas was also elected to the local county commission.

Trump has never had limited thinking,” Zakas says. “He is very good at bringing all of the net together for the best of America’s needs.”

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Zakas says Trump will give rural people a voice again.

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Map: 7.0-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Northern California

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Map: 7.0-Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Northern California

Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 3 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “weak,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown. The New York Times

A major, 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck in the North Pacific Ocean on Thursday, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The temblor happened at 10:44 a.m. Pacific time about 40 miles southwest of Ferndale, Calif., data from the agency shows.

U.S.G.S. data earlier reported that the magnitude was 6.6.

As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.

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Aftershocks in the region

An aftershock is usually a smaller earthquake that follows a larger one in the same general area. Aftershocks are typically minor adjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the initial earthquake.

Quakes and aftershocks within 100 miles

Aftershocks can occur days, weeks or even years after the first earthquake. These events can be of equal or larger magnitude to the initial earthquake, and they can continue to affect already damaged locations.

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Source: United States Geological Survey | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Pacific time. Shake data is as of Thursday, Dec. 5 at 10:55 a.m. Pacific time. Aftershocks data is as of Thursday, Dec. 5 at 2:14 p.m. Pacific time.

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