New government in France: French President Emmanuel Macron’s office announced a new government Monday, after the previous Cabinet collapsed in a historic vote prompted by fighting over the country’s budget.
The government, put together by newly named Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, includes members of the outgoing conservative-dominated team and new figures from centrist or left-leaning backgrounds.
Coming up with a 2025 budget will be the most urgent order of business. The new government enters office after months of political deadlock and crisis, plus pressure from financial markets to reduce France’s colossal debt.
Macron has vowed to remain in office until his term ends in 2027, but he has struggled to govern since snap elections in the summer left no single party with a majority in the National Assembly. Since his appointment 10 days ago, Bayrou has held talks with political leaders from various parties in search of the right balance for the new government.
Some critics Monday were angry at Bayrou for consulting with Marine Le Pen’s far-right party, and some say the government looks too much like the old one to win lawmakers’ trust.
Extradition requested: Bangladesh has sent a formal request to India to extradite ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to New Delhi in August amid the student-led protests that ended her 15 years in power, the country’s foreign affairs adviser said Monday.
Md Touhid Hossain told reporters at his office in Dhaka that the country has sent a diplomatic note to India’s Foreign Ministry. “We have informed India about our request to bring her back for the judicial process,” he said. He didn’t give details.
India’s Foreign Ministry said it had received Bangladesh’s request but didn’t immediately provide details.
Hasina’s son, in a statement posted on his Facebook page, criticized the move hours after Monday’s request by the interim government, questioning the process and credibility of a tribunal that is dealing with the charges against her.
Authorities say hundreds of people were killed and thousands injured in the mass uprising that ousted Hasina. She faces many court cases over the deaths, including some on charges of crimes against humanity.
Ex-royals back in Greece: Members of Greece’s former royal family expressed “deep emotion” Monday at a decision to reinstate their Greek citizenship, ending a decades-old dispute with the country’s government.
Greece abolished the monarchy in a 1974 referendum and the former royal family was stripped of its citizenship two decades later during a dispute over the former royal estate that passed to state control.
In a decision published in the government gazette, dated Friday, citizenship was granted to 10 members of the former royal family: the five children of the late King Constantine II and former Queen Anne-Marie, and five of their grandchildren.
“It is with deep emotion that, after 30 years, we hold the Greek citizenship again. The law of 1994 deprived us of our citizenship, rendering us stateless with all that this entails in terms of individual rights and great emotional distress,” the family said in a statement in Greek and English.
Other family members, including Anne-Marie, 78, did not apply.
Constantine died last year at age 82. His sister is Emeritus Queen Sofia of Spain, and he was second cousin to Britain’s King Charles III and godfather to Prince William.
Bill Clinton in hospital: Former President Bill Clinton was admitted Monday to Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington after developing a fever.
The 78-year-old was admitted in the “afternoon for testing and observation,” said Angel Urena, Clinton’s deputy chief of staff. “He remains in good spirits and deeply appreciates the excellent care he is receiving.”
The Democrat served two terms as president, from January 1993 until January 2001. Since leaving the White House, he has faced some health scares.
In 2004, he had quadruple bypass surgery after experiencing prolonged chest pains and shortness of breath. Clinton returned to the hospital for surgery for a partially collapsed lung in 2005 and had a pair of stents implanted in a coronary artery in 2010.