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French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou speaks during a news conference to present a major public finance recovery plan in Paris, France, July 15, 2025.
Hard Numbers: French prime minister on the ropes, Hong Kong dissidents appeal convictions, Lesotho MP accuses his king, & More
€40 billion: French Prime Minister François Bayrou is set to present a 2026 budget Tuesday that aims to cut the size of the country’s 2026 annual deficit by €40 billion ($46.7 billion). However, all opposition parties are expected to reject the proposal – and that could spell the end for Bayrou’s minority government.
12: Hong Kong’s pro-democracy dissidents aren’t going to go gentle into that good night. Twelve of them have appealed their recent subversion convictions in a move that shines a fresh light on Beijing’s anti-democracy crackdown in the city. The case, which challenges China’s draconian 2021 national security law, is drawing international attention: foreign diplomats from over six countries were present at the trial. The appeals are expected to take 10 days.
59: Lesotho won independence from the United Kingdom 59 years ago, but one member of the tiny southern African nation’s parliament has accused its king of signing parts of the country away again – to its neighbor South Africa. The accusation stems from a decades-old border dispute, but the MP who leveled the charge now faces criminal charges for doing so. Lesotho gained notoriety in March when US President Donald Trump said “nobody has ever heard of” the country.
6: Six members of United Torah Judaism – an ultra-Orthodox political party – have quit Israel’s ruling coalition again over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failure to guarantee military exemptions for yeshiva students. While Netanyahu has survived this once before, their departure leaves him with yet another slim majority in parliament.Sled dogs rest near Qeqertarsuaq, on Disko Island, Greenland's largest island, last summer.
Greenlanders see red over White House visits
“We are now at a level where it can in no way be characterized as a harmless visit from a politician's wife,” Egede said to Greenland’s Sermitsiaq newspaper. “What is the national security adviser doing in Greenland? The only purpose is to demonstrate power over us.”
The visits also are being characterized as election interference. Greenland is holding local elections on April 1, prompting Greenlandic member of the Danish Parliament Aaja Chemnitz to post on Facebook, “It is clear that the Trump camp does not respect our right to self-determination without outside interference.”
The trips come after US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to annex Greenland, and remarks by Vice President JD Vance Sunday on Fox News that “Denmark is not doing a good job, and not being a good ally” with regards to defending Greenland. “If that means taking a greater territorial interest in Greenland, then that is what President Trump is going to do.”
A poll taken in late January shows that 85% of Greenlanders do not favor becoming part of the United States. We’ll be watching what kind of reception the two delegations get – and how the Trump administration responds.A man walks as a Danish flag flutters next to Hans Egede Statue ahead of a March 11 general election in Nuuk, Greenland, March 9, 2025.
Snubbing Trump, Greenland votes to stick closer to Denmark – for now
Greenland’s center-right parties trounced the ruling left-wing coalition in Tuesday’s election. In a blow to US President Donald Trump’s plans to annex the Arctic territory, a once-marginal party that favors a slow separation from Denmark is set to lead the next government.
The pro-business Demokraatit party – whose platform calls for maximizing “personal freedom” and ensuring that the public sectors “never stand in the way of” private enterprise – gained seven seats in Greenland’s Inatsisartut, seizing roughly one-third of the 31-seat parliament.
Recent polling shows that 85% of Greenlanders oppose joining the US and only 56% back independence. At the polls, this translated to a tripling of support for a party focused on improving the current self-governing arrangement before cutting off the territory’s access to Danish funding.
The centrist Naleraq doubled its share of the single-chamber legislature to eight seats, vaulting the party into second place.
The ruling left-wing Inuit Ataqatigiit and its center-left coalition party, the Siumut party, fell to third and fourth place, respectively, despite seemingly popular calls to hold an independence referendum after the March 11 election.
Where the top two victors differ: Virtually every party in Greenland supports independence – at some point. The Demokraatit party, which is set to lead a governing coalition, favors gradual separation from Denmark, on whose cash handouts the world’s largest island is dependent for most of its budget.
The party’s leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, rebuked US President Donald Trump’s efforts to annex Greenland as “a threat to our political independence.”
But Naleraq, the No. 2 party, supports a fast path to independence and advocates stronger ties with the US.
What’s next: The pathway to independence depends on which party Demokraatit invites to form a governing coalition. A University of Greenland expert told Bloomberg the most likely coalition partners would be the leftist IA or possibly the pro-Denmark Atassut party, which came in fifth.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te delivers a speech at the Presidential Palace during the Taiwan National Day (Double Ten) celebration at the Presidential Palace in Taipei on October 10, 2024.
Taiwan’s president flexes independence in National Day speech
Taiwanese President William Lai on Thursday took a shot at mainland China’s claims of sovereignty over self-governing Taiwan, saying, “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan.” The remarks, delivered in a closely watched speech marking the 113th anniversary of the revolution that founded the Republic of China (Taiwan’s formal name), won’t sit well with Beijing.
The People’s Republic of China maintains the so-called “One China” policy and sees democratic Taiwan as a rebellious province that will eventually be reunified with the mainland. The only question, from Beijing’s perspective, is whether that happens militarily or politically, and rhetoric like Lai’s seems to make the window for a peaceful resolution even smaller.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has reportedly ordered his military to be prepared to retake Taiwan by 2027, although that doesn’t mean he will actually attack that year. Some members of Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang Party, including former President Ma Ying-jeou, worry that Lai is endangering Taiwan by antagonizing China.
In response to Lai’s speech, Taiwanese officials expect China to conduct military drills around the island — a demonstration large enough to show Beijing’s displeasure with Lai’s statements. However, China’s economic malaise is occupying much of the leadership’s focus, and the odds of seeing more provocative military measures are low.