- Honda and Nissan to launch merger talks
- Police arrest suspect who set woman on fire in New York subway
- China vows 'cooperation' over ship linked to severed Baltic Sea cables
- Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate fears
- Luxury Western goods line Russian stores, three years into sanctions
- Wallace and Gromit return with comic warning about AI dystopia
- Philippine military says will acquire US Typhon missile system
- Afghan bread, the humble centrepiece of every meal
- Honda and Nissan expected to begin merger talks
- 'Draconian' Vietnam internet law heightens free speech fears
- Israeli women mobilise against ultra-Orthodox military exemptions
- Asian markets track Wall St rally as US inflation eases rate worries
- Tens of thousands protest in Serbian capital over fatal train station accident
- Trump vows to 'stop transgender lunacy' as a top priority
- Daniels throws five TDs as Commanders down Eagles, Lions and Vikings win
- 'Who's next?': Misinformation and online threats after US CEO slaying
- Only 12 trucks delivered food, water in North Gaza Governorate since October: Oxfam
- InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Announces Transaction in Own Shares - December 23
- Melrose Group Publicly Files Complaint to the Ontario Securities Commission
- Langers edge Tiger and son Charlie in PNC Championship playoff
- Explosive batsman Jacobs gets New Zealand call-up for Sri Lanka series
- Holders PSG edge through on penalties in French Cup
- Slovak PM Fico on surprise visit to Kremlin to talk gas deliveries
- Daniels throw five TDs as Commanders down Eagles
- Atalanta fight back to take top spot in Serie A, Roma hit five
- Mancini admits regrets over leaving Italy for Saudi Arabia
- Run machine Ayub shines as Pakistan sweep South Africa
- Slovak PM Fico on surprise visit to Kremlin
- Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 35
- 'Incredible' Liverpool must stay focused: Slot
- Maresca 'absolutely happy' as title-chasing Chelsea drop points in Everton draw
- Salah happy wherever career ends after inspiring Liverpool rout
- Three and easy as Dortmund move into Bundesliga top six
- Liverpool hit Spurs for six, Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth
- Netanyahu vows to act with 'force, determination' against Yemen's Huthis
- Mbappe back from 'bottom' as Real Madrid down Sevilla
- Ali hat-trick helps champions Ahly crush Belouizdad
- France kept on tenterhooks over new government
- Salah stars as rampant Liverpool hit Spurs for six
- Syria's new leader says all weapons to come under 'state control'
- 'Sonic 3' zips to top of N.America box office
- Rome's Trevi Fountain reopens to limited crowds
- Mbappe strikes as Real Madrid down Sevilla
- 'Nervous' Man Utd humiliated by Bournemouth
- Pope again condemns 'cruelty' of Israeli strikes on Gaza
- Lonely this Christmas: Vendee skippers in low-key celebrations on high seas
- Troubled Man Utd humiliated by Bournemouth
- 2 US pilots shot down over Red Sea in 'friendly fire' incident: military
- Man Utd embarrassed by Bournemouth, Chelsea held at Everton
Bayrou: Macron's longtime comrade facing biggest challenge
Francois Bayrou, one of few political heavyweights to have stood by French President Emmanuel Macron since he came to power in 2017, now faces his biggest challenge after finally being promoted to prime minister.
Bayrou, 73, heads the liberal Democratic Movement (MoDem) party which is allied to, but not part of, Macron's centrist force and has supported the president ever since his victorious 2017 election campaign.
Three times a presidential candidate himself, in 2002, 2007 and 2012, and long cited as an obvious choice for Macron as head of government, he finally has his chance.
Bayrou was acquitted in February after a seven-year-long case over the fraudulent employment of parliamentary assistants by his party, the judge ruling that he was owed the "benefit of the doubt".
Bayrou was named justice minister by Macron when he took the presidency in 2017.
He resigned the same year when the legal case was opened against him, but remained a key behind-the-scenes ally. His acquittal opened up a potential return to government.
He was regarded as the most likely candidate by commentators, even though his acquittal is still subject to an appeal by prosecutors.
Bayrou will have to navigate a tricky course as the sixth prime minister of Macron's presidency after parliament toppled Michel Barnier on December 4.
Each successive premier has served for a shorter period than their predecessor and, given the composition of the National Assembly lower house, there is no guarantee that Barnier's successor will last any longer than the three months that the right-winger was in office.
- 'He hates him' -
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure, whose forces could prove useful for Macron in ensuring the stability of the next government, said on Wednesday he opposed naming Bayrou as he would embody "continuity".
Bayrou will also have to navigate hostility from the still-influential former right-wing French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
According to one source, "the priority for Sarko is anyone but Bayrou".
Sarkozy, who still holds sway on the right despite criminal convictions since leaving office, even held talks with Macron at the Elysee on Sunday to make clear his feelings, a ministerial source, asking not to be named, told AFP.
"He hates him," another source on the right added, saying Sarkozy's hostility towards Bayrou dates back to his support for Socialist Francois Hollande in the run-off of the 2012 presidential elections after he was eliminated in the first round.
"He (Sarkozy) is totally off the leash on the subject," added a pro-Macron lawmaker.
Bayrou has enjoyed a long and varied political career, which has seen him work with former right-wing presidents Valery Giscard d'Estaing and Jacques Chirac before backing Hollande in 2012.
Mayor of the southwestern city of Pau, Bayrou is a practising Catholic but also a staunch supporter of France's secular system.
He gained notoriety during the 2002 presidential campaign when he slapped on the face a child who tried to pick his pocket.
He won less than seven percent of the vote and was eliminated in the first round.
The father of six children, Bayrou is also the author of a biography of the 16th- and 17th-century French king Henry IV.
G.Stevens--AMWN