Latest from LeMonde
LeMonde
35 minutes ago
- Business
- LeMonde
French PM Bayrou prescribes a bitter pill for 2026 budget
French Prime Minister François Bayrou was not mistaken when he likened the challenge to a "Himalaya." The chorus of protests that greeted his budget announcements on Tuesday, July 15, revealed his exposure to the same risk as his predecessor Michel Barnier: a possible autumn no-confidence vote that could plunge the country back into political instability and financial fragility. Frequently described as procrastinating or swerving, the prime minister nonetheless took a risk. At a press conference titled "The Moment of Truth," he made dramatic remarks about a country in a "life-threatening situation" and announced a €43.8 billion recovery plan for 2026. The staging was intended to make an impression and push for a halt to the uncontrolled rise of the nation's public debt. Two measures stood out amid the €20.8 billion clampdown on budgetary and welfare spending and €10 billion increase in tax revenues: a "blank year" freezing income tax brackets, pensions and social benefits; and the elimination of two public holidays. In the wake of President Emmanuel Macron's address to the armed forces on Sunday, July 13, the prime minister sought to provoke a shock in public opinion by invoking the particular challenges facing the country at present and the loss of sovereignty France risks in an increasingly brutal and competitive world. Bayrou has railed against excessive debt since 2007, so his stance required no change in character. Compared to the 2025 budget, which Barnier had to hastily assemble through blind spending cuts, Bayrou's bitter pill at least has the virtue of linking the need to control debt with the need to revitalize production, so that the nation can maintain sustainable public spending, protect itself and stay competitive. To put all chances of success on his side, Bayrou insisted he wanted to "act with fairness and justice." Doing so is essential, given the sacrifices being demanded of the majority of the French. At this stage, however, the share being asked of the wealthiest citizens and companies is still too vague to be convincing. The prime minister also wants to enter into a sort of quid pro quo with businesses, offering to "lighten and simplify" bureaucratic procedures in exchange for a reduction in government aid and subsidies. Here again, the scale of this overhaul remains unclear. A plan that needs refining The other area of vulnerability is the announcement of new restrictions on unemployment insurance, even as more than 450,000 job vacancies remain unfilled. Understandably, this project has angered labor unions, whom the prime minister had previously sought to bring back into the fold. Recent years have brought a series of reforms to the organization managing France's unemployment insurance, each replacing the last before the effects could be assessed. As the economy slows, this latest tightening feeds the perception that the government always targets the same groups, while businesses, still reluctant to hire people over 50, should have a share of responsibility. The announced plan is a draft and needs further work. Even though the Socialists called the initial proposals "brutal and unacceptable," the prime minister intends to prioritize discussions with them, to avoid being left at the mercy of the far-right Rassemblement National. The goal is to win the battle for responsibility, after the unconvincing display in the Assemblée Nationale in recent months. Success will depend on whether the final version of the budget truly reconciles efficiency with fairness.
LeMonde
3 hours ago
- Business
- LeMonde
Former French PM Michel Barnier announces run for Parliament in by-election
Former French prime minister Michel Barnier announced on Tuesday, July 15, that he would run for Parliament in an upcoming special election in Paris. The outgoing centrist MP, Jean Laussucq, was removed from office by the Constitutional Council on Friday. "At this very serious moment for our country (...), I have decided to put forward my candidacy in the special election for Paris's second constituency," Barnier wrote on X, emphasizing that his candidacy would be "part of an effort to unite the right and the center." Paris's second constituency runs along the left bank of the Seine, stretching from the Luxembourg Gardens to the Eiffel Tower. Barnier, a member of the conservative Les Républicains, served as prime minister from September to December 2024. He was replaced by François Bayrou after losing a vote of no confidence over the 2025 budget. LR President Bruno Retailleau hailed Barnier's candidacy, describing it as "a triple opportunity: for Paris, for LR, and for France." Personal bank account The Constitutional Council on Friday annulled Lassucq's 2024 election for having paid "campaign expenses using his personal bank account" and for allowing third parties to "directly pay a significant portion of the expenses incurred for his election campaign." The Council removed him from office and banned him from running for elections for one year. Barnier's candidacy could allow LR to take another seat from Macron's Renaissance party. Since LR joined the government coalition, it has won two special elections, also clinching one seat previously held by the far-right Rassemblement National.
LeMonde
3 hours ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
Israel drives Syrian government forces out of Druze stronghold of Sweida
The bodies of Osama and Ahmed Qtemish, two members of the General Security Service, the newly formed Syrian police force, lay on the ground under a blanket, their faces speckled with blood. Their young brother, who had also been injured in the ear, wept and refused to leave their bodies. He had already lost two other brothers, who had been tortured to death by Bashar al-Assad's regime in the notorious Saydnaya prison. On the morning of Tuesday, July 15, the police unit in which the Qtemish brothers served was targeted by an Israeli strike in the center of Sweida, a city in southern Syria where the majority of residents are from the Druze religious community. "It's a massacre," said Dr. Ahmed al-Hor, one of only two doctors working at the improvised field hospital set up in a building in al-Mazra'a, a Druze village located on the western outskirts of the city of Sweida. "Since dawn, we've received more than 100 wounded and about 30 martyrs – soldiers and police officers, but also members of elite units. Most were targeted by strikes from Israeli drones and aircraft; others by Druze snipers and artillery," he said. On Tuesday evening, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported 248 dead, including 93 members of the government forces, since fighting broke out on Sunday between Druze factions and Bedouin fighters. The government forces, who had entered Sweida on Tuesday morning, were caught off guard. A ceasefire had been announced by Syria's Defense Ministry at 8 am. An agreement had just been reached with the city's prominent Druze figures, providing for its defenders to surrender their weapons and allow government forces to deploy in Sweida, a city of 150,000 residents that had so far remained outside of Damascus's control. Yet influential Druze religious leader Hikmat al-Hijri condemned the agreement, accusing the government of violating it through the "indiscriminate bombardment" of "unarmed civilians." He also addressed Druze fighters, calling for "resisting this brutal campaign."
LeMonde
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- LeMonde
Kendrick Lamar and SZA deliver three-hour tour de force at Paris concert
The recent programming at Paris La Défense Arena suggests that American rap had reached gender parity. On Sunday, July 13, Mary J. Blige, the "queen of hip-hop soul" of the 1990s, shared the bill with gangsta rapper 50 Cent. Two days later, current heavyweights of rap and R&B, Kendrick Lamar and SZA, were taking to the stage together in a nearly three-hour concert. While the two New York artists performed separately before a half-filled Arena on Sunday, it was a different story for Lamar and SZA, who designed a joint show. The two stars, whose debut albums were produced by the label Top Dawg Entertainment, had already collaborated on several tracks, including the hit "Luther," which has surpassed one billion streams. For the Grand National Tour, the artists each rap or sing for 20 to 30 minutes at a time, going back and forth and delivering a total of more than 50 songs from their repertoires. The tour, which includes 23 shows across the US and Europe, is on track to become the most profitable in hip-hop history, with over one million tickets sold. The 80,000 spots for the two Paris dates were snapped up almost instantly.
LeMonde
5 hours ago
- Business
- LeMonde
French PM bets on national effort against 'curse' of debt
François Bayrou had decided that presenting his budgetary roadmap would be his "moment of truth." After weeks of carefully maintaining suspense, on Tuesday, July 15, the prime minister, with a serious tone, finally revealed the measures he proposed to end the debt "curse." He walked a tightrope between his allies' "red lines" and made every effort not to alienate the moderate left, whom he depends on for the survival of his minority government. Assisted by a teleprompter, Bayrou painted a deliberately alarming picture of France's public finances to an audience of ministers, lawmakers, senior civil servants and journalists. "Every second, France's debt rises by €5,000. (...) We have a duty to take responsibility, as this is the last stop before the cliff," he said. "Over-indebtedness," which requires "borrowing every month to pay pensions or civil servants' salaries," is a "curse with no way out," said Bayrou, preparing the general public for an exceptional effort. He referenced Greece's situation in 2015-2019, when the overindebted country "had to make immense sacrifices," such as "cutting pensions by 30% and civil servants' wages by 15%."
