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French lawmakers on Wednesday voted to oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier after just three months in office, a historic move which hurled the country further into political uncertainty. For the first time in over sixty years, the National Assembly lower house toppled the incumbent government, approving a no-confidence motion that had been proposed by the hard left but which crucially was backed by the far-right headed by Marine Le Pen. Barnier's rapid ejection from office comes after snap parliamentary elections this summer which resulted in a hung parliament with no party having an overall majority and the far-right holding the key to the government's survival. President Emmanuel Macron now has the difficult task of picking a viable successor with over two years of his presidential term left. He is to address the nation at 1900 GMT on Thursday, the Elysee said. Earlier in the day, Macron is to receive Barnier at 0900 GMT who will submit the resignation of the government. The National Assembly debated a motion brought by the hard left in a standoff over next year's austerity budget, after the prime minister on Monday forced through a social security financing bill without a vote. With the support of the far-right, a majority of 331 MPs in the 577-member chamber voted to oust the government. Macron flew back into Paris just ahead of the vote after wrapping up his three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, an apparent world away from the domestic crisis. He strolled earlier Wednesday through the desert sands of the Al-Ula oasis, an iconic tourist project of the kingdom, marvelling at ancient landmarks. After landing, he headed direct to the Elysee Palace. "We are now calling on Macron to go," Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party told reporters, urging "early presidential elections" to solve the deepening political crisis. But taking care not to crow over the fall of the government, Le Pen said in a television interview that her party -- once a new premier is appointed -- "would let them work" and help create a "budget that is acceptable for everyone". Laurent Wauquiez, the head of right-wing deputies in parliament, said the far-right and hard-left bore the responsibility for a no-confidence vote that would "plunge the country into instability". Macron on Tuesday had rejected calls to resign, saying such a scenario amounted to "political fiction". With markets nervous and France bracing for public-sector strikes against the threat of cutbacks, action that will shut schools and hit air and rail traffic, there is a growing sense of crisis. The unions have called for civil servants, including teachers and air traffic controllers, to strike on Thursday over separate cost-cutting measures proposed by their respective ministries this autumn. Meanwhile, Macron is due to host a major international event Saturday, with the reopening of the Notre-Dame cathedral after the 2019 fire, with guests including Donald Trump on his first foreign trip since he was elected to be the next US president. "His failure," was left-wing daily Liberation's front-page headline, with a picture of Macron, whose term runs until 2027. In an editorial, Le Monde said Le Pen's move risked upsetting her own supporters, such as retirees and business leaders, by toppling the government. "In the space of a few minutes, she shattered the strategy of normalisation she had consistently pursued," the daily said. Some observers have suggested that Le Pen, 56, is seeking to bring down Macron before his term ends by ousting Barnier. Le Pen is embroiled in a high-profile embezzlement trial. If found guilty in March, she could be blocked from participating in France's next presidential election. But if Macron stepped down soon, an election would have to be called within a month, potentially ahead of the verdict in her trial. Candidates for the post of premier are few, but loyalist Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Macron's centrist ally Francois Bayrou are possible contenders. On the left, Macron could turn to former Socialist premier and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, a contender in September. Macron is minded to appoint the new premier rapidly, several sources told AFP. It was the first successful no-confidence vote since a defeat for Georges Pompidou's government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president. The lifespan of Barnier's government is also the shortest of any administration since the Fifth Republic began in 1958. bur-jh-sjw/rlp

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to offer Kelly Loeffler the job of secretary of the Department of Agriculture, two people familiar with the matter told CNN. He is set to meet with her at Mar-a-Lago on Friday afternoon, but as is always the case, nothing is final until Trump announces it. Related video above: Trump nominates Pam Bondi for Attorney General Loeffler, who briefly represented Georgia in the Senate, had fundraised for Trump during the 2024 race and raised several million dollars for his campaign over the summer when she hosted a debate watch party with Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley. Several of Trump’s other Cabinet picks — including Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Elise Stefanik — were at that party. Loeffler is also co-chairing Trump’s inauguration, as CNN previously reported. The agriculture job will likely be significant — especially as Trump’s pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has promised to assert his influence over the agriculture industry. Loeffler, appointed to the Senate by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp over the wishes of Trump, lost her seat in a 2021 runoff to Democratic now-Sen. Raphael Warnock. Loeffler was a staunch Trump ally in Congress, saying prior to the violence on Jan. 6, 2021, that she planned to vote against certifying her state’s electoral results in support of Trump’s broader effort to upend Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. After the U.S. Capitol attack, Loeffler backed off her objection, saying on the Senate floor: “When I arrived in Washington this morning, I fully intended to object to the certification of the electoral votes. However, the events that have transpired today have forced me to reconsider, and I cannot now in good conscience object to the certification of these electors.” In the same speech, Loeffler condemned the violence at the Capitol, calling it “abhorrent.” Loeffler was among the witnesses who appeared before the grand jury as part of Trump’s 2020 election subversion criminal case in Georgia. Before joining the Senate, Loeffler served as an executive at a financial services firm in Atlanta. She was also a co-owner of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream. She was among the wealthiest lawmakers during her short time in Congress. Her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, is the CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange. When running for election in 2020, she announced she and her husband were divesting from individual stocks amid sharp criticism over trades she and other lawmakers made ahead of the market downturn caused by the coronavirus. Kemp had appointed Loeffler to fill the seat of Johnny Isakson, who had left the Senate before the end of his term because of health concerns. Trump, however, had pressed the governor to appoint then-Rep. Doug Collins, who then challenged Loeffler for the remainder of Isakson’s term. The two Republicans sought to one-up the other and showcase their loyalty to Trump, moving further and further to the right in a state where Atlanta’s more moderate suburban voters were key. Collins fell short in the November 2020 election, while Loeffler and Warnock advanced to the January 2021 runoff. This year, Trump has selected Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.Their ages vary. But a conspicuous handful of filmmaking lions in winter, or let’s say late autumn, have given us new reasons to be grateful for their work over the decades — even for the work that didn’t quite work. Which, yes, sounds like ingratitude. But do we even want more conventional or better-behaved work from talents such as Francis Ford Coppola? Even if we’re talking about “Megalopolis” ? If Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2” gave audiences a less morally complicated courtroom drama, would that have mattered, given Warner Bros.’ butt-headed decision to plop it in less than three dozen movie theaters in the U.S.? Coppola is 85. Eastwood is 94. Paul Schrader, whose latest film “Oh, Canada” arrives this week and is well worth seeking out, is a mere 78. Based on the 2021 Russell Banks novel “Foregone,” “Oh, Canada” is the story of a documentary filmmaker, played by Richard Gere, being interviewed near the end of his cancer-shrouded final days. In the Montreal home he shares with his wife and creative partner, played by Uma Thurman, he consents to the interview by two former students of his. Gere’s character, Leonard Fife, has no little contempt for these two, whom he calls “Mr. and Mrs. Ken Burns of Canada” with subtle disdain. As we learn over the artful dodges and layers of past and present, events imagined and/or real, Fife treats the interview as a final confession from a guarded and deceptive soul. He’s also a hero to everyone in the room, famous for his anti-Vietnam war political activism, and for the Frederick Wiseman-like inflection of his own films’ interview techniques. The real-life filmmaker name-checked in “Oh, Canada” is documentarian Errol Morris, whose straight-to-the-lens framing of interview subjects was made possible by his Interrotron device. In Schrader’s adaptation, Fife doesn’t want the nominal director (Michael Imperioli, a nicely finessed embodiment of a second-rate talent with first-rate airs) in his eyeline. Rather, as he struggles with hazy, self-incriminating memories of affairs, marriages, one-offs with a friend’s wife and a tense, brief reunion with the son he never knew, Fife wants only his wife, Emma — his former Goddard College student — in this metaphoric confessional. Schrader and his editor Benjamin Rodriguez Jr. treat the memories as on-screen flashbacks spanning from 1968 to 2023. At times, Gere and Thurman appear as their decades-young selves, without any attempt to de-age them, digitally or otherwise. (Thank god, I kind of hate that stuff in any circumstance.) In other sequences from Fife’s past, Jacob Elordi portrays Fife, with sly and convincing behavioral details linking his performance to Gere’s persona. We hear frequent voiceovers spoken by Gere about having ruined his life by age 24, at least spiritually or morally. Banks’ novel is no less devoted to a dying man’s addled but ardent attempt to come clean and own up to what has terrified him the most in the mess and joy of living: Honesty. Love. Commitment. There are elements of “Oh, Canada” that soften Banks’ conception of Fife, from the parentage of Fife’s abandoned son to the specific qualities of Gere’s performance. It has been 44 years since Gere teamed with Schrader on “American Gigolo,” a movie made by a very different filmmaker with very different preoccupations of hetero male hollowness. It’s also clearly the same director at work, I think. And Gere remains a unique camera object, with a stunning mastery of filling a close-up with an unblinking stillness conveying feelings easier left behind. The musical score is pretty watery, and with Schrader you always get a few lines of tortured rhetoric interrupting the good stuff. In the end, “Oh, Canada” has an extraordinarily simple idea at its core: That of a man with a movie camera, most of his life, now on the other side of the lens. Not easy. “I can’t tell the truth unless that camera’s on!” he barks at one point. I don’t think the line from the novel made it into Schrader’s script, but it too sums up this lion-in-winter feeling of truth without triumphal Hollywood catharsis. The interview, Banks wrote, is one’s man’s “last chance to stop lying.” It’s also a “final prayer,” dramatized by the Calvinist-to-the-bone filmmaker who made sure to include that phrase in his latest devotion to final prayers and missions of redemption. “Oh, Canada” — 3 stars (out of 4) No MPA rating (some language and sexual material) Running time: 1:34 How to watch: Opens in theaters Dec. 13, running 1in Chicago Dec. 13-19 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.; siskelfilmcenter.org Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

Sustainability Don't miss out on the headlines from Sustainability. Followed categories will be added to My News. Peter Dutton is again defending his plan to take Australia nuclear after the national science agency estimated it could cost at least twice as much as Labor’s renewables plan. In its latest modelling, the CSIRO put the cost of a regular large-scale nuclear plant operating 90 per cent of the time at $155 a megawatt hour. But that could blow out to $252 a megawatt hour if only used 53 per cent of the time, according to the findings. Asked about the modelling on Monday, the Opposition Leader lashed out at the independent government agency and accused Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen of meddling with it. “They haven’t even seen our plan yet, and yet they’re out bagging it,” he told reporters. Peter Dutton is defending his nuclear plan after the national science agency released damning findings about its cost. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman “It just looks to me like there’s a heavy hand of Chris Bowen in all this, and I don’t think people want to see that. “What they know about Chris Bowen at the moment is he’s wrecking the energy system, and that’s wrecking the economy. “That’s why families are facing food inflation and higher prices when they go to the supermarket.” The CSIRO’s modelling in its latest GenCost report, which it produces in partnership with the national energy operator, estimated that wind farms would produce electricity at $56 to $96 a megawatt hour, while solar farms offered an even better result at $35 and $62 a megawatt hour. Mr Dutton has not yet provided costings for his nuclear plan despite announcing it nearly six months ago. He has promised to release the figures this week, but in the absence of a figure, third party estimations have attempted to attach a price tag. The science is in Experts agree Nuclear only getting more expensive and slower for Australia’s energy needs pic.twitter.com/MbNEwL4XTj — Chris Bowen (@Bowenchris) December 8, 2024 The Smart Energy Council has estimated it would cost between $116n-$600bn and only provide 3.7 per cent of Australia’s energy mix in 2050, based on experiences overseas and data from the CSIRO and the energy operator. It worked out at about the same cost as delivering a near 100 per cent renewables mix by 2050. Mr Bowen said in a video on social media the latest modelling “shows that the cheapest form of new energy is renewables and the most expensive form is nuclear”. “This report is crystal clear and it shows yet again renewables, even including the cost of batteries and transmission, is the best, cheapest and fastest solution for Australia’s energy challenge,” he said. Originally published as Peter Dutton accuses CSIRO of ‘bagging’ nuclear plan after costly findings Read related topics: Climate Change Join the conversation Add your comment to this story To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout More related stories Sustainability Aussies urged to avoid $1bn Christmas trap Australia’s love of gift giving has gone too far, and the unnecessary Christmas extravagance is costing us $1bn, new research reveals. Read more Environment ‘Unreliable’: Dire blackout warning Aussies are being warned they will swelter through one of the hottest summers on record, with power blackouts on the cards due to a surprising culprit. Read moreTrump publicly backs his embattled pick for defense secretaryPowell: Fed's independence from politics is vital to its interest rate decisions WASHINGTON (AP) — Chair Jerome Powell said the Federal Reserve’s ability to set interest rates free of political interference is necessary for it to make decisions to serve “all Americans” rather than a political party or political outcome. Speaking at the New York Times’ DealBook summit, Powell addressed a question about President-elect Donald Trump’s numerous public criticisms of the Fed and of Powell himself. During the election campaign, Trump had insisted that as president, he should have a “say” in the Fed’s interest rate policies. Despite Trump’s comments, the Fed chair said he was confident of widespread support in Congress for maintaining the central bank’s independence. UnitedHealthcare CEO kept a low public profile. Then he was shot to death in New York NEW YORK (AP) — Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the US but was unknown to the millions of people his decisions affected. The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare's chief executive on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk early Wednesday swiftly became a mystery that riveted the nation. Police say it was a targeted killing. Thompson was 50. He had run health care giant UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s insurance business since 2021. It provides health coverage for more than 49 million Americans. He had worked at the company for 20 years. The business run by Thompson brought in $281 billion in revenue last year. Thompson's $10.2 million annual compensation package made him one of the company’s highest-paid executives. Trump nominates cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins as SEC chair President-elect Donald Trump says he intends to nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins is the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner. Trump calls Atkins a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation. The SEC oversees U.S. securities markets and investments. If confirmed next year by the new Republican-led Senate, Atkins would replace Gary Gensler, who's been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Atkins was widely considered the most conservative SEC member during his tenure and known to have a strong free-market bent. Australia is banning social media for people under 16. Could this work elsewhere — or even there? It is an ambitious social experiment of our moment in history. Experts say it could accomplish something that parents, schools and other governments have attempted with varying degrees of success — keeping kids off social media until they turn 16. Australia’s new law was approved by its Parliament last week. It's an attempt to swim against many tides of modern life — formidable forces like technology, marketing, globalization and, of course, the iron will of a teenager. The ban won’t go into effect for another year. But how will Australia be able to enforce it? That’s not clear, nor will it be easy. White House says at least 8 US telecom firms, dozens of nations impacted by China hacking campaign WASHINGTON (AP) — A top White House official says at least eight U.S. telecom firms and dozens of nations have been impacted by a Chinese hacking campaign. Deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger offered the new details Wednesday about the breadth of the sprawling Chinese hacking campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans. Neuberger divulged the scope of the hack a day after the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued guidance intended to help root out the hackers and prevent similar cyberespionage in the future. White House officials cautioned that a number of telecommunication firms and countries impacted could still grow. District of Columbia says Amazon secretly stopped fast deliveries to 2 predominantly Black ZIP codes The District of Columbia is alleging in a lawsuit that Amazon secretly stopped providing its fastest delivery service to residents of two predominantly Black neighborhoods in the city. The district says the online retailer still charged residents of two ZIP codes millions of dollars for a service that provides speedy deliveries. The complaint filed on Wednesday in District of Columbia Superior Court revolves around Amazon’s Prime membership service. The lawsuit alleges Amazon in mid-2022 imposed what it called a delivery “exclusion” on the two low-income ZIP codes. An Amazon spokesperson says the company made the change based on concerns about driver safety. The spokesperson says claims that Amazon's business practices are discriminatory are “categorically false.” Biden says 'Africa is the future' as he pledges millions more on the last day of Angola visit LOBITO, Angola (AP) — President Joe Biden has pledged another $600 million for an ambitious multi-country rail project in Africa as one of the final foreign policy moves of his administration. He told African leaders Wednesday that the resource-rich continent of more than 1.4 billion people had been “left behind for much too long. But not anymore. Africa is the future.” Biden used the third and final day of his visit to Angola to showcase the Lobito Corridor railway. The U.S. and allies are investing heavily to refurbish train lines in Zambia, Congo and Angola in a region rich in critical minerals to counter China's influence. The end of an Eras tour approaches, marking a bittersweet moment for Taylor Swift fans NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The global phenomenon that is Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is coming to an end after the popstar performed more than 150 shows across five continents over nearly two years. Since launching the tour in 2023, Swift has shattered sales and attendance records. It's even created such an economic boom that the Federal Reserve took note. But for many who attended the concerts, and the millions more who eagerly watched on their screens, the tour also became a beacon of joy. It's become a chance not only to appreciate Swift’s expansive music career, but also celebrate the yearslong journey fans have taken with her. US senators grill officials from 5 airlines over fees for seats and checked bags A U.S. Senate subcommittee is taking aim at airlines and their growing use of fees for things like early boarding and better seats. Members of the Senate Permanent on Investigations say airlines have raised billions of dollars by imposing fees that are getting hard to understand and even harder to avoid paying. The senators and the Biden administration call them “junk fees,” and they say the extra charges are making travel less affordable. Some senators expressed frustration during a hearing on Wednesday hearing when airline executives couldn't explain how they set various fees. Airlines say fees let consumers pay for things they want, like more legroom, and avoid paying for things they don't want. OpenAI's Sam Altman 'not that worried' about rival Elon Musk's influence in the Trump administration OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is locked in a legal dispute with rival Elon Musk. But he says he is not that worried about Musk’s influence in the incoming Trump administration. Altman told a New York Times conference Wednesday that he may turn out to be wrong but he believes strongly that Musk will do the right thing and won't use his political power to hurt competitors. Musk was an early OpenAI investor and board member. He sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year alleging that it betrayed its founding aims of benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits.

Groups seek release of ailing Iloilo detainee

The Trump transition team so far has not signed the requisite agreements with the White House or Justice Department to allow the FBI to screen his personnel choices , both for the process of obtaining security clearances and meeting the Senate’s usual standards for nominations. That means the Senate could be asked to vote on Trump’s picks without the usual rigorous background checking meant to uncover personal problems, criminal histories or other red flags that would raise questions about a nominee’s suitability for the job. There already are questions about problematic issues related to a number of the people Trump wants in his administration. “There are very real liabilities on the security side if you don’t get this right,” said Dan Meyer, a Washington lawyer at the Tully Rinckey law firm who specializes in background checks, security clearances and federal employment law. At issue is a memorandum of understanding under which a president — or in this case, an incoming one — submits requests for name and background checks and the FBI commits to flagging any adverse information uncovered during the process. That document has not yet been signed, with the Trump transition team relying instead on internal campaign aides, allied groups and law firms on the outside to support the personnel effort. Trump regards FBI leadership with suspicion, in part because of the Russian election interference investigation that shadowed his first term and more recently because of FBI investigations into his hoarding of classified documents and his efforts to undo the results of the 2020 election that led to his indictment last year. A Justice Department spokesperson said Wednesday that discussions were ongoing with the Trump transition team about signing the memo. For those appointees whose jobs involve a security clearance, a background check would be required. However, once Trump takes office on Jan. 20, 2025, he could simply order that people be given a security clearance , as he was reported to have done for son-in-law Jared Kushner during his first term . “The president is the head of the personnel security system,” Meyer said. “The director of national intelligence is his executive agent for that. The president could issue an executive order and he could change the security system in two seconds. It’s all his.” Lawmakers are complaining about what they see as insufficient screening of the picks they’re being asked to consider. Two Democratic House members, Don Beyer of Virginia and Ted Lieu of California, introduced a bill Tuesday that would codify the FBI’s role in the background check process for political appointees of the president. The issue is of particular relevance given the eyebrow-raising backgrounds of some of Trump’s picks. Trump’s choice for attorney general, former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, faced a Justice Department sex trafficking investigation into allegations involving underage girls that ended with no federal charges against him. There was also a House Ethics inquiry into whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct — allegations he denies. Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration Thursday after those issues cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer. Pete Hegseth, picked for defense secretary, was accused of sexual assault in 2017 after a speaking appearance at a Republican women’s event in Monterey, California, but was not charged after a police investigation. His lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, described the sexual encounter as consensual and confirmed that Hegseth paid the woman a sum as part of a confidential settlement. Hegseth did so to head off a threatened lawsuit, according to Parlatore, who said his client was the victim of “blackmail.” The selection of former Democratic U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence alarmed U.S. intelligence analysts who point to her past criticism of Ukraine, comments supportive of Russia and secret meetings with Syrian President Bashar Assad, a close ally of Russia and Iran. The Senate has a responsibility to closely examine Gabbard and should not approve the confirmation just because Republicans feel a loyalty to Trump, said Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., his party’s ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee. “The Republican senator who votes to confirm Matt Gaetz or Robert Kennedy or Tulsi Gabbard will be remembered by history as somebody who completely gave up their responsibility to Donald Trump,” Himes said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Indiana aims to run its winning streak to five games Friday night when Nebraska welcomes the Hoosiers to Lincoln, Neb. Indiana (8-2, 1-0 Big Ten) has lost the past three meetings with Nebraska after winning seven straight. The Hoosiers are led by center Oumar Ballo, a transfer from Arizona who averages 13.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, and forward Malik Reneau (team-best 15.5 points and 6.4 rebounds). Reneau, according to Indiana, is one of five major-conference players to average at least 10 points per game with a field goal percentage of at least 60 and 80 percent from the free-throw line. Off Indiana's 82-67 home win over Minnesota on Monday, head coach Mike Woodson said there are things to work on going forward. "When you get a team down 15, 20 points, you got to remember how you got them down and continue to do the same things that got you the lead," said Woodson, "and I don't think we did that coming down the stretch." Nebraska's best win this season was over then-No. 14 Creighton in an in-state battle last month. But the Cornhuskers (6-2, 0-1) haven't played a very difficult schedule, and were blown out 89-52 by current No. 21 Michigan State on the road last weekend. The Spartans became the first team in 25 games to make more than 50 percent of their shots against Nebraska, so improved defense will be key for the Huskers. Nebraska was also outrebounded 48-19. "That hadn't been us all year, and that was the disappointing thing," coach Fred Hoiberg said. "The physicality of the game in this league ... we're going to see it every night. I've been pleased with how they've responded, but we'll see how they step up to the challenge Friday night." If Nebraska can turn things around on offense, it is 38-2 under Hoiberg when scoring at least 80 points, including 4-0 this season. Brice Williams is Nebraska's leading scorer at 17.5 points per game. Connor Essegian adds 13.0 ppg and shoots 42.6 percent from 3-point range. --Field Level Media