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France’s prime minister Sebastien Lecornu has resigned – after less than a month in the job.

French President Emmanuel Macron has accepted his resignation, the Elysee Palace said.

Mr Lecornu’s resignation comes just hours after he appointed his cabinet – and after political rivals threatened to topple his government.

He announced on Sunday that he had appointed his ministers, with the new cabinet set to hold its first meeting on Monday afternoon.

Sebastien Lecornu and Emmanuel Macron.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
Sebastien Lecornu and Emmanuel Macron.
Pic: Reuters

But the line-up had angered political allies and opponents alike, who either criticised that it was too right-wing or not right-wing enough, raising questions over how long it could last in a fragmented parliament where no party holds a majority.

In his resignation speech, Mr Lecornu said political parties in France were all behaving as if they had their own majority in parliament.

Mr Lecornu, 39, an ally of Mr Macron, was the seventh prime minister appointed by the president – and the fifth in just two years.

Outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who resigned just a day after naming his government, arrives to deliver his statement.
Pic AP
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Outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who resigned just a day after naming his government, arrives to deliver his statement.
Pic AP

His sudden resignation on Monday morning after just 27 days in office was unexpected and unprecedented, and resulted in more turmoil amid France’s political crisis.

Since Mr Macron was re-elected in 2022, the parliament has been unstable, and the president’s decision to call a snap election last year further deepened the crisis by producing an even more fragmented parliament.

After Mr Lecornu resigned, Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of far-left France Unbowed, said his party was calling for the impeachment of Mr Macron, while the far-right National Rally immediately urged Mr Macron to call another snap election or resign.

“There can be no return to stability without a return to the polls and the dissolution of the national assembly,” National Rally leader Jordan Bardella said.

Macron under pressure to call parliamentary elections – and stand down himself

This resignation has come kind of completely out of the blue – and there doesn’t seem to be an obvious reason for it.

Only 13 hours ago, Lecornu tweeted that he had successfully formed a new government and spoke about the challenges facing that government to pass a much-needed budget, something that his predecessors failed to do.

Now, early this morning, his resignation was handed down and accepted by President Emmanuel Macron, leaving Macron in a real crisis because he is going through prime ministers, very quickly, too quickly, really, for his position to remain stable for much longer.

You will now get some very strong calls, and they are becoming quite credible calls, from Marine Le Pen’s party National Rally, to hold parliamentary elections.

They think that if parliamentary elections were held, then they would do very well in them, and all of the polls suggest that would be the case.

And I think you will also find that they have sympathy for that position from the socialists and those on the far left as well.

So Macron is now going to be under immense pressure to call parliamentary elections.

I think he will also come under pressure to stand down himself, because every time he appoints a new prime minister, it fails.

It seems as though he is running out of room and time to keep that tactic, because it is a tactic that is not working for him.

Mr Lecornu’s resignation also resulted in French stocks and the euro dropping sharply.

French banks were leading a financial market sell-off, with the Societe Generale down by more than 6% on the CAC 40 in the moments after the announcement, while BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole were also sharply lower.

The index was 1.5% in the red.

The euro also fell back against sterling and the dollar, while French government borrowing costs, reflected on bond markets, hit levels last seen almost a month ago when the country was back in the same political stalemate.

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Former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene claims Epstein files ‘sent him over the edge’

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Former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene claims Epstein files 'sent him over the edge'

It is an earthquake for the MAGA ecosystem.

Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene were a formidable alliance on the Republican Party’s hard-right flank.

For years, the congresswoman for Georgia embodied the combative, conspiracy-tinged politics that define Trump’s presidency.

She called him “the father of the America First movement,” campaigned to be his running mate, and was quick to defend him.

“David Cameron can kiss my ass,” she told Sky News when asked about the former UK Prime Minister’s concerns about US fading support for Ukraine.

Door-stepped by my colleague Martha Kelner, she said: “We don’t give a crap about your country or your reporting.

“The Trump administration is doing a great job and I stand by their statements,” she added.

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“I’m thankful to President Trump that he is leading us out of wars.”

Watch Sky’s Martha Kelner’s encounter with Taylor Greene from earlier this year…

But in recent months, she had expressed concerns about Trump’s involvement in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere.

It escalated when she stood with victims of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to demand justice and joined Democrats in demanding a vote on the release of all files.

Just days ago, President Trump told reporters Taylor Greene had “lost her way”, but something triggered a war of words late on Friday.

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‘Shame on everyone that protected Epstein’

The president had taken questions on Air Force One, with two reporters citing Taylor Green’s demand that the files be released.

Moments later, President Trump posted on Truth Social that he was withdrawing his endorsement of the congresswoman.

He branded her a “ranting lunatic”, “wacky Marjorie”, and said all she ever does is “COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN.”

Her reply came very quickly, in a post claiming she had sent the president text messages about Jeffrey Epstein.

“Apparently this is what sent him over the edge. The Epstein Files,” she posted.

Read more on Jeffrey Epstein:
Ghislaine Maxwell ‘wants Trump to commute sentence’
What Epstein’s right-hand woman said about Trump and Andrew

She accused him of “coming after” her to “scare all the other Republicans” before next week’s vote to release the Epstein files.

“It’s astonishing how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level,” she added.

For years, they were joined at the hip – Trump the movement’s figurehead, Taylor Greene its megaphone – but it has now descended into open hostility.

Epstein, the story that won’t go away, has just cost Trump one of his most loyal allies, and rocked the internal dynamics of his political movement.

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At least nine killed and 32 injured in Indian Kashmir police station explosion

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At least nine killed and 32 injured in Indian Kashmir police station explosion

At least nine people have been killed and 32 injured after a cache of confiscated explosives detonated inside a police station in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The accidental blast occurred late on Friday in the Nowgam area of Srinagar, as forensic and police personnel were evaluating the explosive material, according to police director-general Nalin Prabhat.

Most of the dead were officers and forensic staff, police said, adding that several of the injured remained in a critical condition.

The massive explosion tore through the police station, setting the building and several vehicles on fire.

“The intensity of the blast was such that some body parts were recovered from nearby houses, around 100-200m away from the police station,” a police source said.

A series of smaller successive blasts slowed rescue operations.

A police official lays flowers on a coffin at a ceremony for the victims. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A police official lays flowers on a coffin at a ceremony for the victims. Pic: Reuters

The police station blast comes just days after a deadly car explosion in New Delhi on Monday, which killed at least eight people near the city’s historic Red Fort.

The car explosion occurred hours after police in Kashmir said they had dismantled a suspected militant cell operating from the region, arresting at least seven people, including two doctors from Indian cities.

Read more from Sky News:
Refugee status set to become temporary in radical asylum reforms
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Police also seized a large quantity of bomb-making material in Faridabad, near New Delhi.

Indian security forces have conducted multiple raids across Kashmir during their investigation, questioning hundreds and detaining dozens.

Relatives protest following the blast. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Relatives protest following the blast. Pic: Reuters

Authorities said DNA testing identified the car’s driver as a Kashmiri doctor, and government forces demolished his family home in Pulwama district on Thursday night.

In the past, security forces have demolished the homes of individuals they allege were linked to militants opposing Indian rule in Kashmir as a form of punishment.

India and Pakistan both claim all of Kashmir, though each controls only part of the territory.

Militants in the Indian-administered region have been fighting against New Delhi since 1989, with India labeling it Pakistan-backed terrorism.

Pakistan denies the claim, saying that many Kashmiris view it as a legitimate struggle for independence.

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Donald Trump withdraws support for Marjorie Taylor Greene after she calls for Epstein files to be released

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Donald Trump withdraws support for Marjorie Taylor Greene after she calls for Epstein files to be released

Donald Trump has withdrawn support for Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene – which she claims is over her support for releasing files about Jeffrey Epstein.

In comments made on Truth Social, Mr Trump said he would support any challenger who wants to take Ms Greene’s seat in Georgia.

It comes after weeks of the MAGA ally breaking ranks from the president – and according to a post on X after his withdrawal, she believes it’s over a possible vote on releasing all of the Epstein files.

Read more: Marjorie Taylor Greene – the MAGA ally known for embracing conspiracies and insulting journalists

After the US government shutdown ended, a petition to vote on the full release of the files about disgraced pedophile financier Epstein received enough signatures – including Ms Greene’s – to bring it to a vote in the House of Representatives.

While such a vote does not yet have a date, Mr Trump has called the files a “hoax” and accused the Democrats of using them “to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN”.

Earlier this week, thousands of documents from Epstein were released, which reference Mr Trump, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson, among others.

Read more: What do Epstein documents say about Trump, Andrew and Mandelson?

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The new Epstein files: The key takeaways

Trump attacks ‘Wacky’ Majorie

In his post on Truth Social overnight, Mr Trump said: “all I see “Wacky” Marjorie do is COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!

“It seemed to all begin when I sent her a Poll stating that she should not run for Senator, or Governor, she was at 12%, and didn’t have a chance (unless, of course, she had my Endorsement – which she wasn’t about to get!).”

The president went on to claim “she has told many people that she is upset that I don’t return her phone calls anymore”, before adding: “I can’t take a ranting Lunatic’s call every day.

“I understand that wonderful, Conservative people are thinking about primarying Marjorie in her District of Georgia, that they too are fed up with her and her antics and, if the right person runs, they will have my Complete and Unyielding Support.”

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Will new Epstein emails hurt Trump?

Greene: Trump’s fight to stop files ‘astonishing’

Around an hour later, Ms Greene responded on X to say “President Trump just attacked me and lied about me”, and shared text messages to him and a White House aide about releasing information on the deceased pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

“Of course he’s coming after me hard to make an example to scare all the other Republicans before next weeks vote to release the Epstein files,” she added on social media.

“It’s astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level.”

Read more: Why this is dangerous terrain for Trump

Marjorie Taylor Greene was an ardent supporter of MAGA and became a Republican Congresswoman in 2021. File pic: AP
Image:
Marjorie Taylor Greene was an ardent supporter of MAGA and became a Republican Congresswoman in 2021. File pic: AP

She then said “most Americans wish he would fight this hard to help the forgotten men and women of America… that’s what I voted for”.

“I have supported President Trump with too much of my precious time, too much of my own money, and fought harder for him even when almost all other Republicans turned their back and denounced him,” she added.

“But I don’t worship or serve Donald Trump… I remain the same today as I’ve always been and I will continue to pray this administration will be successful because the American people desperately deserve what they voted for.”

Watch Sky’s Martha Kelner’s encounter with Greene from earlier this year…

Earlier this week, Mr Trump accused the MAGA loyalist of “catering to the other side” after she criticised his focus on foreign policy, which she described as “America Last”.

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Trump rebukes MAGA ally over foreign policy

Epstein took his own life in prison in 2019 while awaiting a trial for sex trafficking charges and was accused of running a “vast network” of underage girls for sex. He pleaded not guilty.

Following a conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008, he was registered as a sex offender.

It comes after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee published several emails, which they said “raises questions about Trump and Epstein’s relationship, Trump’s knowledge of Epstein’s crimes”, and the president’s relationship to Epstein’s victims.

Mr Trump has consistently denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and called claims linking him to the financier a “hoax”.

Read more on Jeffrey Epstein:
Ghislaine Maxwell ‘wants Trump to commute sentence’
What Epstein’s right-hand woman said about Trump and Andrew

The White House also said the “selectively leaked emails” were an attempt to “create a fake narrative to smear President Trump”.

Republicans retaliated by releasing more than 20,000 pages from Epstein’s files and accusing Democrats of “cherry-picking” their documents.

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