عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

French Far-Right Oppose Leftist Prime Minister, Complicating Calculus for Macron

President of the French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) and MEP Jordan Bardella (R) and French Member of Parliament and French far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally) RN party's leader Marine Le Pen (L) arrive to attend their meeting with French President at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on August 26, 2024. (AFP)
President of the French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) and MEP Jordan Bardella (R) and French Member of Parliament and French far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally) RN party's leader Marine Le Pen (L) arrive to attend their meeting with French President at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on August 26, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

French Far-Right Oppose Leftist Prime Minister, Complicating Calculus for Macron

President of the French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) and MEP Jordan Bardella (R) and French Member of Parliament and French far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally) RN party's leader Marine Le Pen (L) arrive to attend their meeting with French President at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on August 26, 2024. (AFP)
President of the French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) and MEP Jordan Bardella (R) and French Member of Parliament and French far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally) RN party's leader Marine Le Pen (L) arrive to attend their meeting with French President at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, on August 26, 2024. (AFP)

Leaders from France's far-right National Rally said on Monday their party will block any prime ministerial candidate from the leftist New Popular Front, narrowing President Emmanuel Macron's options to resolve the country's political crisis.

Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, the political tag team that runs the National Rally, met with Macron on Monday as he seeks to unlock the political deadlock caused by July's inconclusive snap legislative election which he called.

After their one-hour meeting, Bardella said the New Popular Front - a broad alliance of parties ranging from the moderate Socialists to Jean-Luc Melenchon's far-left France Unbowed - was a "danger" for the country.

Bardella said his camp would immediately call a no-confidence vote against any leftist premier.

"The New Popular Front in its program, in its movements, as well as the personalities who embody it represents a danger to public order, civil peace and obviously for the economic life of the country," Bardella told reporters. "We intend to protect the country from a government that would fracture French society."

A Macron aide said the president could name a prime minister by the end of this week, but it remains to be seen if the person he picks - someone with the broadest possible appeal - will win approval by lawmakers. If not, Macron will have to go back to the drawing board, deepening the political crisis.

No grouping emerged from the snap election with a majority, with the vote evenly split between the New Popular Front, Macron's centrist bloc and the National Rally.

The New Popular Front won more votes than any other party, and has argued that its candidate, a little known civil servant called Lucie Castets, should be named prime minister.

Castets told Macron on Friday that the left has the right to form the next government.

Macron has ignored the New Popular Front's nomination, and a source close to him said he believed the balance of power lies more with the center or center-right.

Some possible candidates that Macron is mulling include a conservative regional president, Xavier Bertrand, and former Socialist Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, sources have said. French media recently mentioned Karim Bouamrane, the Socialist mayor of an impoverished Paris suburb, as another possible name.

Le Pen suggested Macron could call a referendum to chart a path out of the chaos, and said she was opposed to a so-called "technical" government of apolitical technocrats, saying "there are only political governments hiding behind technical names."

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Trump Vows Strikes on Iran’s Power Plants, Bridges if Strait of Hormuz isn't Reopened

ABD Başkanı Donald Trump (Reuters)
ABD Başkanı Donald Trump (Reuters)
TT
TT

Trump Vows Strikes on Iran’s Power Plants, Bridges if Strait of Hormuz isn't Reopened

ABD Başkanı Donald Trump (Reuters)
ABD Başkanı Donald Trump (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump has promised strikes on Iran’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday, restating his threat to attack civilian infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened.

In an expletive-laden post Sunday morning, Trump promised the “crazy bastards” would be “living in Hell” if the waterway isn’t opened to marine traffic, The AP news reported.

Trump had previously threatened strikes two weeks ago, but extended the deadline for Iran to reopen the waterway twice, claiming there were positive signs in negotiations with the Iranians. But there have been few public signs of progress in a diplomatic off-ramp to the war.

World

Pope Leo Marks First Easter as Pontiff with Call for Hope Amid Global Conflicts

Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
TT
TT

Pope Leo Marks First Easter as Pontiff with Call for Hope Amid Global Conflicts

Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)

Pope Leo celebrated his first Easter Mass as pontiff with a call Sunday to exercise hope against “the violence of war that kills and destroys,” saying “we need this song of hope today” as conflicts spread around the world.

With the US-Israeli war on Iran in its second month and Russia’s ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo has repeatedly called for a halt in hostilities. In his Easter homily, the pope singled out those who wage war, abuse the weak and prioritize profits.

Leo, the first US-born pope, addressed the faithful from an open-air altar in St. Peter’s Square flanked with white roses, while the steps leading down to the piazza where the faithful gathered were filled with spring perennials, symbolically resonating with the pope’s message of hope.

The pontiff implored the faithful to keep their hope in the face of death, which lurks “in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention given to the most vulnerable.

“We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys,” he said.

He quoted his predecessor Pope Francis in warning against falling into indifference in the face of “persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty,” because “it is also true that in the midst of darkness, something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit.”

He will later deliver the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” message — Latin for “to the city and the world.”

Christians in the Holy Land were marking a subdued Easter Traditional ceremonies at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered by Christians as the traditional site of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, were scaled back under an agreement with Israeli police. Authorities have put limits on the sizes of public gatherings due to ongoing missile attacks.

The restrictions also dampened the recent Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr holiday, as well as the current weeklong Jewish festival of Passover. On Sunday, the Jewish priestly blessing at the Western Wall — normally attended by tens of thousands — was limited to just 50 people.

The restrictions have strained relations between Israeli authorities and Christian leaders. Police last week prevented two of the church’s top religious leaders, including Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from celebrating Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

On Tuesday, the pope had expressed hope that the war could be finished before Easter.

World

France Condemns China’s Execution of a French Citizen Held on Death Row for 15 Years

A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
TT
TT

France Condemns China’s Execution of a French Citizen Held on Death Row for 15 Years

A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)

France said China has executed a French citizen convicted of drug trafficking after keeping him on death row for more than 15 years. 

Chan Thao Phoumy, 62, was executed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, despite French authorities’ clemency appeals, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Saturday. It didn’t say when the sentence was carried out. A Chinese court sentenced him to death in 2010. 

The ministry’s statement expressed “consternation” and added: “We particularly regret that Mr. Chan’s defense did not have access to the final court hearing, which constitutes a violation of his rights.” 

“We extend our condolences to his family, whose grief we share,” it said. 

In a short statement Sunday that didn't mention Chan by name, the Chinese Embassy in Paris said that China “treats defendants of all nationalities equally, handles all cases impartially and strictly in accordance with the law.” 

France abolished the death penalty by act of parliament in 1981, and has become a vigorous campaigner against its use and for its abolition everywhere. 

China's use of executions — carried out by firing squads or lethal injections — is shrouded in secrecy but has long been extensive. Amnesty International says China is the world's lead executioner, believed to sentence and put to death thousands of people annually.