France has new government, again. Politics and crushing debt complicate next steps
Voice of America
France's newly appointed Prime Minister Francois Bayrou looks on after the handover ceremony at the Hotel Matignon , the Prime Minister residence, in Paris, Dec. 13, 2024.
France's president and prime minister managed to form a new government just in time for the holidays. Now comes the hard part.
Loraine Mwanza, chairperson of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), speaks at the launch of the USAID-Funded MISA Freedom of Expression Report at the Protea Hotel in Lusaka, Dec. 17, 2024. (Kathy Short for VOA)
FILE - U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighters stand guard at Al Naeem Square, in Raqqa, Syria, Feb. 7, 2022.
France's newly appointed Prime Minister Francois Bayrou looks on after the handover ceremony at the Hotel Matignon , the Prime Minister residence, in Paris, Dec. 13, 2024.
FILE - Families with young children pose for photos in Beijing, Feb. 13, 2021. Struggling with an aging population and declining birth rates, China is trying to shift its population policies to avert a demographic crisis.
Pope Francis presides over the Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Dec. 24, 2024, after opening the basilica's Holy Door marking the start of the Catholic jubilar year 2025. Pope Francis presides over the Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican, Dec. 24, 2024, after opening the basilica's holy door marking the start of the Catholic jubilar year 2025. Pope Francis opens the Holy Door to mark the opening of the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, or Jubilee, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Dec. 24, 2024. The first pilgrims pass through after Pope Francis opened the Holy Door to mark the opening of the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, or Jubilee, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Dec. 24, 2024.
Screenshot of an X post showing bounty notice for Carmen Lau.
Loraine Mwanza, chairperson of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), speaks at the launch of the USAID-Funded MISA Freedom of Expression Report at the Protea Hotel in Lusaka, Dec. 17, 2024. (Kathy Short for VOA)
FILE - Former members of Syria's Bashar al-Assad's security forces wait in line to register for the identification and reconciliation process, after the ousting of al-Assad, in Aleppo, Syria, Dec. 23, 2024.
FILE - Police officers detain Alesya Marokhovskaya of the Vazhniye Istorii news outlet outside the Russia's Justice Ministry. The banner reads: "There are no foreign agents, there are journalists," in Moscow, Sept. 8, 2021.
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba poses for photographs as he arrives for a press conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Dec. 24, 2024.
FILE - Orphans and children separated from their parents in Kadugli gather to eat boiled leaves at an IDP Camp within the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) controlled area in Boram County, Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, June 22, 2024. FILE - A WFP worker stands next to a truck carrying aid from Port Sudan to Darfur and other famine-stricken parts of Sudan, Nov. 12, 2024. (WFP/Abubakar Garelnabei/Handout via Reuters)