France: Bonne chance
Also: the US, Ukraine, Russia, China, Bangladesh, and India.
The five things you need to know today:
FRANCE. A vote against the prime minister is directed at the president.
UNITED STATES. Trump’s nominees get to work.
UKRAINE. RUSSIA. Kyiv will need to choose its battles wisely.
CHINA. Beijing seeks to balance accommodation with firmness.
BANGLADESH. INDIA. Amid accusations of genocide, threats of an embargo.
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FRANCE. Bonne chance
A vote against the prime minister is directed at the president.
Emmanuel Macron would address the nation Thursday, the Élysée said, after deputies ousted the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier. The president earlier accused the National Rally of "unbearable cynicism" for joining the vote.
INTELLIGENCE. The hard-right Rally has been accused of jeopardising fiscal stability by refusing to back Barnier’s draft budget, thus allowing him to stay, but its supporters would have been outraged if a deal got through, particularly as its increasingly popular leader, Marine Le Pen, faces a controversial sentencing in March. Macron knows this, and would have known Barnier’s unlikely minority coalition would not last. He only has one choice to restore stability.
FOR BUSINESS. Macron has said he won’t step down, and is due to serve until April 2027. But until the (improbable) election of a more pliant Assembly, which can’t happen until mid-2025, his agenda will be paralysed, with his options being another unstable minority government or a caretaker (possibly with Barnier remaining in position). This, not French debt, will spook investors. As Europe and the world change, France needs to be strong. Macron would agree.
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UNITED STATES. Entourage
Trump’s nominees get to work.
Donald Trump Wednesday appointed Peter Navarro and Paul Atkins as his trade adviser and SEC nominee respectively. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had travelled to Israel and Qatar to hold pre-inauguration ceasefire talks, Reuters said.
INTELLIGENCE. Trump’s proposed team, and posts on Truth Social, are already bearing fruit. Threats against Mexico have