French Government falls on budget vote as first EU collapse due to Trump's military budget demands and the stupidity of Macron and von der Leyen

 

French government collapses

Prime Minister Francois Bayrou ousted by the National Assembly in a no-confidence vote

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou © Getty Images / Ameer Alhalbi / Contributor

The French government has fallen after Prime Minister Francois Bayrou lost a crucial confidence vote in parliament on Monday. Bayrou is the second consecutive prime minister under President Emmanuel Macron to be ousted, throwing the nation into political and economic turmoil.

A no-confidence motion in the National Assembly requires at least 288 votes to pass. Monday’s motion received 364 votes, with the left-wing New Popular Front and the right-wing National Rally uniting in opposition to end a months-long standoff over Bayrou’s austerity budget.

Having previously survived eight no-confidence motions, Bayrou called this vote himself, in a bid to secure backing for proposals that forecast almost €44 billion ($52 billion) of savings to ease France’s debt burden before the budget is presented in October.

The prime minister, who has repeatedly warned that France’s national debt poses a “mortal danger” to the country, appeared to acknowledge his fate. In a bitter remark on Sunday, Bayrou lashed out at rival parties that he said “hate each other” yet joined forces “to bring down the government.”

READ MORE: Macron’s government is collapsing. Here’s why Ukraine should worry

Bayrou is the second French prime minister in succession to be brought down following Michel Barnier’s ejection last December after just three months in office – and the sixth to serve under Macron since he was first elected in 2017.

Bayrou’s ouster reportedly leaves the French president to choose between appointing a Socialist prime minister to steer a budget through parliament, effectively ceding control of domestic policy, or call snap elections that polls suggest favour Marine Le Pen’s National Rally. With Macron’s approval ratings already hitting historic lows, either choice risks further weakening his presidency. Analysts warn that if markets lose confidence in France’s ability to rein in its deficit and mounting debt, the country could face turmoil reminiscent of the UK during the brief Liz Truss premiership.

Public discontent with Macron’s leadership has deepened, with the latest Le Figaro poll showing nearly 80% of French no longer trust the president. Thousands marched through Paris at the weekend demanding Macron’s resignation and carrying placards reading ‘Let’s stop Macron’ and ‘Frexit.’

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Trump cutting funding to train and support European troops in countries bordering Russia: report

The apparent shift has alarmed European defense leaders, who see the presence of U.S. troops and support as a key deterrent against Moscow

Josh Marcusin San Francisco

Friday 05 September 2025 00:38 BST

The Trump administration is halting what may amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in security funding to those European nations bordering Russia.

The upcoming cuts, which have not been publicly announced, come as the administration has not sought to renew European portions of what’s known as Section 333 funding and the Baltic Security Initiative, which supports nations near the Russian border like Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, the Financial Times reports.

“This action has been co-ordinated with European countries in line with the executive order and the president’s long-standing emphasis on ensuring Europe takes more responsibility for its own defense,” a White House official told the paper.

His timing on this announcement is awkward as the French government collapsed because of very serious budget issues. It's almost impossible for France to get it's budget in order at the best of times. The French react violently when their privileges are attacked. On top of this, Trump requires EU countries to dramatically increase military spending on the absurd presumption that Russia might attack at any moment.

President Macron played up this insane scenario, making stupid promises he cannot possibly afford, and now is being pressured to resign himself.

This is just the first EU country to be thrown into chaos by Trump's America First policy, which has utterly no regard for the rest of the world. It won't be the last. 

And he calls himself a Christian!

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Corruption is Everywhere > Colombian ex-President released; UK's Deputy PM resigns over corruption; New PM for Thailand after 5th PM in 17 years was fired

 

Court orders Ex-Colombian President Uribe released from house arrest

By Darryl Coote

   

A court on Tuesday ordered the release of Alvaro Uribe, pictured here as president of Colombia in 2009, who has been under house arrest since he was convicted of a slew of crimes earlier this month. File Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A Colombia appeals court has ordered the release of former President Alvro Uribe from house arrest as he challenges his historic bribery and fraud conviction.

Uribe was sentenced by the 44th Criminal Court of the Circuit of Bogota on Aug. 1 to 12 years of house arrest after being convicted of charges connected to financial, legal and administrative offers made to former paramilitary fighters to testify against a political opponent.

Uribe is appealing the conviction, and on Tuesday, the Superior Tribunal agreed with his defense lawyers who were seeking his release from house arrest on the grounds their client's due process rights were violated.

"Thanks be to God, thanks to so many compatriots for their expressions of solidarity," Uribe wrote on X late Tuesday.

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According to segments of the ruling published online by Christian Garces Aljure, a member of Colombia's House of Representatives, the Superior Tribunal found the criminal court used "vague, indeterminate and imprecise" criteria -- such as public perception, exemplary effect, peaceful coexistence and social order -- to justify the house arrest sentence.

"Such reasoning disregards the principle of equality before the law and the principle of proportionality, by prioritizing generic and symbolic aims over fundamental rights such as personal liberty," the court said.

"It is also disproportionate, given that the presumption of innocence prevails until a conviction becomes final," it said, with a final decision in the case to come down before mid-October.

"However, in this case, the measure effectively sought to enforce a penalty in advance under the guise of resocialization, based on an ambiguous argument -- namely, the concern that society might interpret the defendant's liberty as a scenario of impunity," the court added.

In posting the excerpt from the ruling, Garces celebrated the advancement of Uribe's defense, stating that the Superior Tribunal deemed the criminal court's ruling to be "disproportionate and involation (sic) of the fundamental principle of equality."

The case against Uribe goes back to 2012 when Uribe, then a senator, filed a complaint against Sen. Ivan Cepeda Castro, accusing him of witness tampering to link Uribe to illegal armed groups.

Amid its investigations, the Supreme Court of Justice found evidence that those close to Uribe had offered bribes to former paramilitaries and guerrilla fighters to testify against Cepeda.

He was then charged with manipulating evidence and misleading the justice system, resulting in his conviction and sentencing.

Uribe is the first former Colombian president to be criminally convicted in the country's modern history.

British Deputy PM Angela Rayner resigns

over tax scandal

By Ian Stark

   

The now-former British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, seen here arriving for a cabinet meeting in London, Britain in July. She resigned Friday over a tax underpayment scandal. File Photo by EPA/ANDY RAIN

Sept. 5 (UPI) -- British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced Friday she will resign following a scandal over her underpayment of taxes on her home.

"Given the findings, and the impact on my family, I have therefore decided to resign as Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, as well as Deputy Leader of the Labor Party," Rayner said in a press release.

"I have long believed that people who serve the British public in government must always observe the highest standards, and while the Independent Adviser has concluded that I acted in good faith and with honesty and integrity throughout, I accept that I did not meet the highest standards in relation to my recent property purchase," she added.

Rayner had stated Wednesday that she referred herself to Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, in order to reach a determination on her realization that she paid an incorrect rate for Stamp Duty Land Tax on a home she purchased in May.

According to Raynor, she paid for her new home with a combination of a mortgage and money acquired from selling her stake in the residence she maintained with her former husband and their kids.

She alleges that she was given bad advice from her lawyers in regard to how much tax, or stamp duty she owed.

"I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice given both my position as Housing Secretary and my complex family arrangements," Rayner said.

"I take full responsibility for this error," she added. "I would like to take this opportunity to repeat that it was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount."

Magnus issued a judgement Friday in which did note that "I believe Ms. Rayner has acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service."

"I consider, however, that her unfortunate failure to settle her SDLT liability at the correct level, coupled with the fact that this was established only following intensive public scrutiny, leads me to advise you that, in relation to this matter, she cannot be considered to have met the 'highest possible standards of proper conduct' as envisaged by the [Ministerial Code]," he added.

The Ministerial Code are the standards all ministers are expected to uphold.

"Accordingly, it is with deep regret that I must advise you that in these circumstances, I consider the Code to have been breached," he concluded.

She also said she had resigned because of media pressure on her family.

"While I rightly expect proper scrutiny on me and my life, my family did not choose to have their private lives interrogated and exposed so publicly. I have been clear throughout this process that my priority has, and always will be, protecting my children and the strain I am putting them under through staying in post has become unbearable," Rayner explained.

"Thank you for informing me of your decision to resign from the Government," wrote Prime Minister and leader of the Labor Party Keir Starmer in a handwritten letter. "I am very sad that your time as Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State and Deputy Leader of the Labor Party has ended in this way."

She also received praise from Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and former Labor Party leader Ed Miliband, who called her "one of the great British political figures of our time" in an X post Friday.

"I know she will continue to stand at the front of the fight for social justice in this country," he added.

However, other British political parties criticized Rayner and Starmer.

"What did Keir Starmer know, and when?" asked Conservative Party leader and Member of Parliament, or MP Kemi Badenoch in a video clip posted online. "Did he mislead the public?"

"He has now lost a Deputy Prime Minister after losing a Transport Secretary, an Anti-Corruption minister and a Homelessness minister to scandal," she continued, noting other members of Starmer's administration who have resigned over varied reasons.

"You can't be Housing Secretary, and avoid [$53,731] of stamp duty," said Reform UK leader MP Nigel Farage in an online video. "Angela Rayner is gone."

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Former Thai deputy leader Anutin Charnvirakul is new prime minister

By Paul Godfrey

   

Anutin Charnvirakul, the leader of Thailand's Bhumjaithai party, thanks fellow National Assembly members on Friday after they picked him to be the country's 32nd prime minister. Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Thai lawmakers selected former Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul as the country's new prime minister on Friday, a week after Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was removed from office over a leaked phone call.

Charnvirakul, 58, who served as the number two in Shinawatra's coalition government, and the two prime ministers before her, was able to win sufficient support by pulling his conservative Thai Pride Party from the power-sharing administration led by Shinawatra's populist Pheu Thai party.

However, with just 69 of the 500 seats in the National Assembly, he will need to cut a deal with either the People's Party or PT, the two largest parties.

His election delivers a further shock to the powerful Shinawatra family's political fortunes after Paetongtarn became the fifth prime minister to be removed in 17 years by the country's constitutional court with her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, reported Thursday night to be aboard a private jet en route to Dubai.

Thaksin Shinawatra, who made billions from developing the country's telecoms sector, only returned to Thailand in August 2023 after spending the past 15 years in exile abroad after fleeing corruption charges after he was ousted in a military coup.

He was due in court on Tuesday for a ruling on whether he has served sufficient time for convictions for abuse of power and conflicts of interest convictions -- but insisted he would return in time for the hearing.

His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was ousted in a military coup in 2014.

An engineer by training, Charnvirakul is heir to his family's Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction business empire, responsible for some of the country's biggest infrastructure projects, including Suvarnabhumi Airport, the country's main international air hub.

He led the company while serving a five-year political ban over his membership of Thaksin Shinawatra's then-Thai Rak Thai party, which was dissolved over alleged election rigging, before returning to found the Thai Pride Party in 2012.

Charnvirakul has also spearheaded a drive to legalize medical-use marijuana, eventually pushing through decriminalization legislation in 2022, prompting criticism that a lack of guardrails had triggered a tsunami of dispensing outlets and recreational use across Thailand.

He insists his aim had always been to make it easier for people to obtain the drug for medical purposes.

Thailand's Constitutional Court voted by 6-3 margin Aug. 29 to remove Paetongtam two months after she was suspended over a leaked phone call with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in which she criticized the Thai military, called him "uncle" and offered to do his bidding.

The conversation took place in June during deadly border clashes between the two countries.

Paetongtam said she was attempting to de-escalate in her call with Hun Sen by leveraging a long-standing friendship between her father and the former Khmer Rouge fighter.

Removing Paetongtam, the justices said she "lacks the qualifications and possesses prohibited characteristics" required under the country's constitution.

And, after all, we can't have peace suddenly break out!

Murdered Ukrainian MP directly ordered the shelling of Donbass Civilians in 2014

 

Assassinated Ukrainian MP ‘directly ordered’ 

shelling of Donbass civilians – ex-diplomat 

Andrey Parubiy helped stoke the “civil war” that eventually led to the Ukraine conflict, Andrey Telizhenko has told RT

©  RT

Andrey Parubiy, a far-right Ukrainian politician who was shot dead in Lviv on Saturday, directly ordered attacks on Donbass and provoked a “civil war” with eastern Ukraine after the Maidan coup, ex-Ukrainian diplomat Andrey Telizhenko has told RT.

Parubiy, an MP and former speaker of the Ukrainian Rada, played an active role in the Western-backed coup in Kiev in 2014, as well as in the nationalist government it brought to power. He had deep and long-running ties to Ukraine’s neo-Nazi movement, co-founding the far-right Social-National Party of Ukraine.

“During the cabinet of ministers meetings, [at] which I was present, Parubiy directly ordered the mass shellings of the people of Donbass,” Telizhenko told RT on Saturday.

“He said, ‘We do not care who those people are. Russians, they’re Moscali [a Ukrainian slur for Russians], we should kill them,’” the former diplomat, who was an adviser to Ukraine’s prosecutor general at the time, said.

That’s a direct citation from Parubiy during the cabinet of ministers meeting, in which he pushed to provoke the civil war in eastern Ukraine, which has now led to a big massive conflict.

Parubiy and his team were “working directly with the Jamestown Foundation, a former CIA central think tank in Washington, DC,” Telizhenko claimed.

This is not just a collaborator with the West. He’s a Nazi. He was directly supporting the Nazi movement in Ukraine.

According to Telizhenko, Parubiy directly coordinated the shootings during the Maidan coup.

READ MORE: Staunch neo-Nazi and Maidan kingpin assassinated: Who was prominent Ukrainian MP Andrey Parubiy?

“He was coordinating the radicals on Maidan, when to shoot, who to shoot and how to shoot, even who to shoot [among] their own” and “provoking insurgents within the coup itself,” he said. “His team was responsible for blocking the anti-sniper unit [from] coming to Maidan.”

Parubiy “also covered up the shootings” in the subsequent investigation, as well as blocking the probe into the 2014 Odessa massacre, Telizhenko said.

“He was responsible for closing down the case and destroying the evidence [of] his involvement in the coordination of that terrorist attack,” he said.

The far-right MP was reportedly responsible for organizing, arming, and transporting the militants which burned 42 anti-Maidan activists to death in the Odessa Trade Unions House.