World
France’s Macron names former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as new PM
President hopes his choice will end weeks of deadlock since snap election, counting on far right not to block appointment.
President Emmanuel Macron has named Michel Barnier, the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator, as France’s new prime minister after more than 50 days of a caretaker government.
Macron held talks with the 73-year-old veteran politician at the Elysee Palace on Thursday, tasking him with forming a new government in the hope of ending weeks of political deadlock in the country that followed snap parliamentary elections.
Barnier succeeds Gabriel Attal, 35, who served only eight months in office.
Macron’s gamble to call the snap parliamentary election in June backfired, with his centrist coalition losing dozens of seats and no party winning an absolute majority.
The left-wing alliance New Popular Front came first, but Macron ruled out asking them to form a government after other parties said they would immediately vote it down.
Macron’s centrist faction and the far right make up the two other major groups in the National Assembly.
Barnier, a right-winger from the Republicans party (LR), has been all but invisible in French politics since failing to win his party’s nomination to challenge Macron for the presidency in 2022.
The former foreign minister and EU commissioner now faces the daunting challenge of trying to push reforms and the 2025 budget through a hung parliament at a time when France is under pressure from the European Commission and bond markets to reduce its deficit.
The appointment follows weeks of intense efforts by Macron and his aides to find a candidate able to build loose groupings of backers in parliament and survive possible attempts by the president’s opponents to stymie efforts to form a new government.
A minister in the outgoing government told the AFP news agency that Barnier is “very popular with right-wing members of parliament without being an irritant on the left”.
Macron appears to be counting on the far-right National Rally (RN) of three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen not to block Barnier’s appointment.
National Rally party leader Jordan Bardella said Barnier would be judged “on evidence” when he addresses parliament.
Greens leader Marine Tondelier countered: “We know in the end who decides. Her name is Marine Le Pen. She is the one to whom Macron has decided to submit.”
Left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said Macron naming Barnier meant the election had been “stolen from the French”.
More than 1,600 rescue workers have arrived and 25 flights filled with aid will land over the next day in Venezuela after earthquakes devastated the country on Wednesday, according to Venezuela’s vice minister of foreign affairs, Oliver Blanco.
World
American rescue teams pull infant alive from rubble in Venezuela days after devastating twin earthquakes
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American search-and-rescue teams pulled an infant alive from beneath the rubble in Venezuela days after the country’s devastating earthquakes, the U.S. Department of State said Saturday.
The State Department shared video on social media showing U.S. personnel pulling the infant from the rubble as rescue crews continued searching for survivors more than 72 hours after two powerful earthquakes struck the South American country.
The infant was 9 months old and was rescued along with her mother, the State Department told Fox News Digital. Both suffered only minor injuries, according to the rescue team.
“This heroic rescue was carried out in Catia La Mar by the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue team (USA-01), which deployed to Venezuela on June 26 following activation by the State Department,” a State Department spokesperson said.
TRUMP SAYS VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES LEFT ‘DEVASTATING NUMBER OF DEATHS’ AS US READIES AID
American search-and-rescue teams rescued an infant trapped beneath the rubble following this week’s deadly earthquakes in Venezuela, according to the State Department. (Department of State)
The rescue comes as emergency crews race against time to locate survivors before the critical rescue window closes.
“Against impossible odds, hope endures,” the State Department posted on X.
“American search and rescue teams rescued an infant from beneath the rubble following the earthquake in Venezuela,” the post continued. “Every life saved is a victory.”
The White House also shared the video, calling it “America at its best.”
“Thank you to the American search and rescue teams providing assistance in Venezuela,” the White House wrote.
PLAYERS, FANS FLEE STADIUM AS POWERFUL EARTHQUAKES STRIKE DURING VENEZUELA BASEBALL GAME
Rescue workers search through the rubble three days after earthquakes struck Catia la Mar, Venezuela. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Round-the-clock rescue efforts have continued since magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck Venezuela’s northern coast Wednesday.
As of Saturday evening, officials said the death toll from the twin earthquakes had reached 1,430.
Earlier Saturday, officials reported that 243 people had been rescued.
FORMER METS PITCHER NARROWLY ESCAPES DEATH IN VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES THANKS TO ELEVATOR MALFUNCTION
Rescue personnel with a rescue dog assist in rescue efforts after earthquakes hit the country, in La Guaira, Venezuela, Saturday. (REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)
According to The Associated Press, more than 68,000 people remain missing across the country.
Aid groups consider the first 48 to 72 hours after a disaster to be the most critical window for finding survivors, though access to food and water can extend that period.
Venezuelan officials said 17 flights carrying more than 1,600 rescue personnel had arrived Saturday to assist with search-and-rescue efforts.
US RESCUE TEAMS TO DESCEND ON HARD-HIT CARIBBEAN AFTER CATASTROPHIC HURRICANE MELISSA’S IMPACT
Members of the County of Los Angeles Fire Department’s international urban search and rescue team (USA-2) prepare to leave for Venezuela, in Pacoima, Calif., on Thursday. (Blake Fagan/AFP via Getty Images)
Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams from Virginia, California and Florida were dispatched to Venezuela on Friday to help search collapsed buildings.
According to the State Department, the three USAR teams include 312 personnel and 18 canine teams, including firefighters, physicians, structural engineers and canine search specialists. The teams also deployed more than 200,000 pounds of specialized rescue equipment.
The Los Angeles County team includes 73 members equipped with concrete-breaking equipment and specialized listening devices used to detect survivors trapped beneath debris.
COLORADO AVALANCHE VICTIM RESCUED IN DRAMATIC VIDEO
Responders search for victims in a demolished building in Caracas, Venezuela, after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake and a 7.5 aftershock struck the region. (Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)
Rescuers have fanned out across La Guaira, where the worst destruction occurred, and parts of Caracas, where families and volunteers have spent days pulling survivors and victims from the rubble.
The United States has pledged $150 million in emergency assistance and support for international relief organizations responding to the disaster.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department for additional information on the rescue.
Fox News Digital’s James Cirrone, and The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced on Saturday that he will resign in the coming weeks and called for early presidential and parliamentary elections.
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“I will be president for only a few weeks, and then I will resign,” Vučić told supporters at a rally in Belgrade. His second and final term was due to expire in mid-2027.
His remarks followed recent comments suggesting he could step down, amid speculation that he may seek a return as prime minister, a position he held from 2014 to 2017
It also follows a year and a half of student-led anti-corruption protests, triggered by the collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad that killed 16 people. The protesters have been demanding early elections.
During his speech, Vučić said he would support his Serbian Progressive Party in the upcoming elections, including snap parliamentary polls originally scheduled for next year.
He did not provide a specific timeline for his resignation or for the dissolution of parliament, which is required before early legislative elections can be held.
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