fortune gems update today FRENCH lawmakers on Wednesday voted to oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier after just three months in office, a historic move which hurled the country further into political uncertainty. For the first time in over sixty years, the National Assembly lower house toppled the incumbent government, approving a no-confidence motion that had been proposed by the hard left but which crucially was backed by the far-right headed by Marine Le Pen. Barnier’s rapid ejection from office comes after snap parliamentary elections this summer which resulted in a hung parliament with no party having an overall majority and the far-right holding the key to the government’s survival. President Emmanuel Macron now has the difficult task of picking a viable successor with over two years of his presidential term left. He is to address the nation at 1900 GMT on Thursday, the Elysee said. Earlier in the day, Macron is to receive Barnier at 0900 GMT who will submit the resignation of the government. The National Assembly debated a motion brought by the hard left in a standoff over next year’s austerity budget, after the prime minister on Monday forced through a social security financing bill without a vote. With the support of the far-right, a majority of 331 MPs in the 577-member chamber voted to oust the government. ‘Calling on Macron to go’ Macron flew back into Paris just ahead of the vote after wrapping up his three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, an apparent world away from the domestic crisis. He strolled earlier on Wednesday through the desert sands of the Al-Ula oasis, an iconic tourist project of the kingdom, marvelling at ancient landmarks. After landing, he headed direct to the Elysee Palace. “We are now calling on Macron to go,” Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party told reporters, urging “early presidential elections” to solve the deepening political crisis. But taking care not to crow over the fall of the government, Le Pen said in a television interview that her party - once a new premier is appointed - “would let them work” and help create a “budget that is acceptable for everyone”. Laurent Wauquiez, the head of right-wing deputies in parliament, said the far-right and hard-left bore the responsibility for a no-confidence vote that would “plunge the country into instability”. ‘His failure’ Macron on Tuesday had rejected calls to resign, saying such a scenario amounted to “political fiction”. With markets nervous and France bracing for public-sector strikes against the threat of cutbacks, action that will shut schools and hit air and rail traffic, there is a growing sense of crisis. The unions have called for civil servants, including teachers and air traffic controllers, to strike on Thursday over separate cost-cutting measures proposed by their respective ministries this autumn. Meanwhile, Macron is due to host a major international event on Saturday, with the reopening of the Notre-Dame cathedral after the 2019 fire, with guests including Donald Trump on his first foreign trip since he was elected to be the next US president. “His failure,” was left-wing daily Liberation ’s front-page headline, with a picture of Macron, whose term runs until 2027. ‘Shattered strategy’ In an editorial, Le Monde said Le Pen’s move risked upsetting her own supporters, such as retirees and business leaders, by toppling the government. “In the space of a few minutes, she shattered the strategy of normalisation she had consistently pursued,” the daily said. Some observers have suggested that Le Pen, 56, is seeking to bring down Macron before his term ends by ousting Barnier. Le Pen is embroiled in a high-profile embezzlement trial. If found guilty in March, she could be blocked from participating in France’s next presidential election. But if Macron stepped down soon, an election would have to be called within a month, potentially ahead of the verdict in her trial. Candidates for the post of premier are few, but loyalist Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Macron’s centrist ally Francois Bayrou are possible contenders. On the left, Macron could turn to former Socialist premier and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, a contender in September. Macron is minded to appoint the new premier rapidly, several sources told AFP. It was the first successful no-confidence vote since a defeat for Georges Pompidou’s government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president. The lifespan of Barnier’s government is also the shortest of any administration since the Fifth Republic began in 1958. AFP

LONDON (AP) — A civil jury in Ireland finds that mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor assaulted a woman in a hotel. (CORRECTS: A previous APNewsAlert misstated the claim the jury found him liable for.).

Lack of chargers leaves EV sales in the slow lane By SAMUEL NORMAN Updated: 21:50 GMT, 22 November 2024 e-mail View comments A chronic shortage of charging points is denting demand for electric vehicles (EVs) – plunging Britain's car industry into crisis. There are now more than 71,000 public chargers in the UK, with an average of 57 being added every day. The Department for Transport described it as 'a fantastic achievement'. But analysis by the Mail reveals Britain needs to build around 120 a day to reach the goal of having 300,000 public chargers by 2030. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said the country 'urgently needs a national strategy and binding targets'. A shortage of charging points, which has fuelled 'range anxiety' among motorists worried about where they can top up batteries, has been highlighted as one of the reasons why demand for EVs has dwindled. Drivers have also been put off by the price of EVs, which are typically more expensive than petrol and diesel alternatives. Expanding network: There are now more than 71,000 public chargers in the UK, with an average of 57 being added every day That means car makers look set to miss stretching sales targets set by the Government, leaving them facing punishing fines. The quotas and the threat of financial penalties have caused some manufacturers to question their future in Britain. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next The best EV home chargers: Which ones are worth the money? EV salary sacrifice explained: How to save 40% on a new... Share this article Share HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP How to choose the best (and cheapest) stocks and shares Isa and the right DIY investing account The owners of Vauxhall are debating the future of plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton. Nissan says quotas risk doing 'irreversible' damage, putting jobs and billions of pounds of investment under threat. And Ford says the Government's zero-emission quotas are 'unworkable', piling pressure on ministers to relax the rules and boost demand for EVs through incentives. Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: 'For more people to go electric we need ample public charge-point provision so drivers are confident to make the switch. Britain urgently needs a national strategy and binding targets for charge-point rollout.' A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'We want to further accelerate the rollout, a further £200m was committed in the Budget last month. 'The 300,000 figure was an estimate, rather than a target, and independent bodies, including the climate change committee, state the rollout of infrastructure is on track.' DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS AJ Bell AJ Bell Easy investing and ready-made portfolios Learn More Learn More Hargreaves Lansdown Hargreaves Lansdown Free fund dealing and investment ideas Learn More Learn More interactive investor interactive investor Flat-fee investing from £4.99 per month Learn More Learn More Saxo Saxo Get £200 back in trading fees Learn More Learn More Trading 212 Trading 212 Free dealing and no account fee Learn More Learn More Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence. Compare the best investing account for you Share or comment on this article: Lack of chargers leaves EV sales in the slow lane e-mail Add comment Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

OTTAWA—The Liberal government’s decision to cleave its controversial online harms legislation into two on Wednesday was framed by the federal justice minister as the quickest way to prioritize child safety in a Parliament he says the opposition Conservatives have plunged into paralysis. The widespread calls from civil liberties, human rights and religious minority groups to split up the bill were not one of the primary reasons Arif Virani said was behind the decision, though he acknowledged that some had been “suggesting” he make the move. “What we looked at in September was a parliamentary calendar that had three months’ worth of time. In three months’ worth of time, we’ve had exactly one day of debate dedicated to this bill. Is that frustrating for me? You’re absolutely right, that’s frustrating for me,” Virani told reporters. The legislation has been fraught with controversy from its earliest stages of development over The legislation at issue is the Trudeau Liberals’ proposed solution to dangerous content on the internet: a sweeping bill that has drawn praise for its efforts to hold social media platforms accountable for the content they host, and criticism for changes to the Criminal Code and Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) that some say polices free speech. On Wednesday, Virani announced that all four parts of the bill will be split into two groups. One legislative track will deal with the parts of the bill that mostly address harmful content directed at children. The first of those parts is the Online Harms Act, which would require social media platforms — including livestreaming and adult-content services — to minimize exposure to seven types of harmful content. Three of those categories focus on children: content used to bully a child, content that induces children to harm themselves, and content that sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor of child abuse. The remaining four deal with other harms: content in which intimate images (including deepfakes) are shared without consent, content that incites violent extremism or terrorism, content that incites violence and content that promotes hatred. That entire part of the legislation will be combined with another part of the original bill that proposes changes to how child pornography on the internet is reported and how those offences are handled. Those two sections of the bill have been widely viewed as the more acceptable parts of the legislation, by experts and opposition parties alike. But the decision means that the bill’s remaining two parts — proposed changes to the Criminal Code and the CHRA that have been deemed “ ” and poorly thought out — will be combined into one. The legislation had proposed creating a stand-alone hate crime offence that could be applied to every offence in the Criminal Code, and could come with a maximum penalty of life in prison. Other changes involved upping penalties for hate propaganda offences, such as increasing the maximum penalty for advocating for or promoting genocide from five years to life imprisonment. Ottawa has previously said the legislation is not intended to put people behind bars for life for expressing opinions, but instead would twin the new hate crime offence with existing Criminal Code offences already punishable by a maximum of life in prison. The new offence was partly meant, government officials have said, to improve how hate-motivated offences are tracked and prosecuted. The CHRA changes, meanwhile, would allow people to file online hate speech complaints — which could be enormous in volume — to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, which could result in financial penalties or content being removed. Virani justified the split as necessary in a House of Commons that has been waylaid by debate on a single issue — whether the Liberals should pony up more unredacted documents tied to a scandal-plagued green technology funding agency — for more than two months. The original legislation was tabled in late February, missing the deadline by which the Liberals promised to initially introduce the bill by two years. Virani said the parliamentary impasse made the Liberals “rethink” how they should use their time to get parts of the bill past the legislative finish line. “I’m not going to look at the face of Canadian parents, of Canadian children, and tell them that I’m not going to do everything I can to protect those kids,” Virani said. Angus Lockhart, a senior analyst with Toronto Metropolitan University’s policy institute, the Dais, said the move is a positive step forward, even if it’s indicative of “the time pressure of a government that’s running out of time.” The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) welcomed the decision, saying in a statement that the more contentious parts of the legislation can now undergo the “focused scrutiny it deserves.” The CCLA was one of more than 20 groups and experts who , back in May, for the legislation to be split in two over free speech and other concerns. In spite of the criticism, particularly due to the Israel-Hamas war and its ripple effects in Canada, the federal government has insisted the changes on Canadians’ freedoms. Conservative justice critic Larry Brock told the Star in a statement that Virani was “desperately trying to salvage his deeply flawed legislation.” “We will repeal Trudeau’s draconian censorship laws and bring home protection of children and Canadians online while protecting the rights and freedoms of Canadians,” the statement read. It is not yet clear how the separation of a singular bill into two tracks will be handled by the House of Commons. Virani’s spokesperson said the minister was in talks with his opposition counterparts to determine how the bill already before the House, and whose text remains unchanged, could proceed through the remainder of the legislative process.

Amherst Town Council highlights‘Can we keep him?’: Catjak joins the Wojak family