https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/524602/feed The latest news and top stories on Sébastien Lecornu, a French politician. Appointed Prime Minister of France on 9 September 2025, he previously served as Minister of the Armed Forces from May 2022. His extensive government experience includes roles as Minister of the Overseas, Minister for Local Authorities and Secretary of State for Ecological Transition. Lecornu began his political career with Nicolas Sarkozy's party before joining Emmanuel Macron's movement in 2017. He is known for his work... en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Reuters Reuters Police fired tear ⁠gas at protesters blockading French high schools on Tuesday as students, teachers and parents took to the streets on the biggest day of action in a wave of demonstrations against understaffed and dilapidated classrooms. In Marseille and Nantes, protesters held up signs marked with “The state has killed national education” and other messages, in largely peaceful rallies. In Toulouse, parents linked arms at the front of a march through the city. But in Strasbourg, Lyon and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369936/french-school-unrest-students-teachers-march-biggest-day-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369936/french-school-unrest-students-teachers-march-biggest-day-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Oct 2026 11:35:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A 15-year-old lost a hand on Monday picking up a police grenade as students across France demanded better classroom conditions in a days-long wave of protests that have erupted into blazes and barricades at some schools while disrupting lessons at hundreds nationwide. Some students returned to classrooms but others maintained protests outside their schools, ahead of larger demonstrations expected on Tuesday in what a secondary school students’ union has dubbed “Act III” of the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369829/france-school-protests-teenagers-hand-blown-after-picking-grenade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369829/france-school-protests-teenagers-hand-blown-after-picking-grenade?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Oct 2026 14:20:36 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Up to 500 schools across France will be totally or partly closed on Monday because of a wave of student protests that has shaken the country, the education minister said. Lessons will be “totally or partly suspended” in some “400-500” high schools as the security conditions “have not been fulfilled”, said Education Minister Edouard Geffray on Sunday, adding that 24 schools had been “burned or ransacked” since the start of the movement. He described the closures as chiefly a security precaution... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369730/hundreds-schools-close-monday-education-protests-rock-france?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369730/hundreds-schools-close-monday-education-protests-rock-france?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Oct 2026 18:42:26 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A protest by French secondary school students over overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and crumbling facilities deepened on Thursday, with fires set outside schools and blockades in several cities. More than 160 schools were shut down on Thursday, while university students joined the protests in Paris and Marseille. The movement in the lycees, which students aged 15 to 18 attend for their final three years of secondary education in France, has seen hundreds detained. The government said... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369482/french-school-protests-spread-fires-blockades-deepen-unrest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3369482/french-school-protests-spread-fires-blockades-deepen-unrest?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:47:38 +0000 Reuters Reuters Firefighters sought on Monday to take advantage of more favourable weather to subdue massive wildfires threatening the French city and tourist region of Bordeaux and a number of sites in neighbouring Spain. They were racing against the clock as another heatwave is expected to hit both countries later this week in what has been a blisteringly hot and dry summer across western Europe. Authorities have evacuated about 220,000 people, including holidaymakers and ‌local residents, in France, while... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3362048/france-and-spain-race-curb-wildfires-new-heatwave-arrives?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3362048/france-and-spain-race-curb-wildfires-new-heatwave-arrives?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Jul 2026 21:09:34 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse French police on Monday detained a couple after their 15-month-old twin daughters died of suspected dehydration, a source close to the investigation said. The couple’s four other children, aged three, four, five and six, were hospitalised with dehydration but were not in life-threatening condition, the source said. The parents alerted emergency services in the northern town of Beuvrages after discovering the twins in their beds, a police source said. Preliminary findings indicate that the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3358809/couple-detained-france-after-15-month-old-twin-girls-die-dehydration?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3358809/couple-detained-france-after-15-month-old-twin-girls-die-dehydration?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Jun 2026 19:03:14 +0000 Nayan Seth Nayan Seth The United States has assured India that future artificial intelligence models will not be “cut off” days after Washington abruptly banned Anthropic’s advanced models on national security grounds, a senior Indian official told the South China Morning Post on Thursday. “There was an understanding, and something that they [US officials] certainly mentioned, that access to technology, once it is provided, will not be cut off. I think that was an assurance,” said S. Krishnan, secretary of India’s... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/article/3358397/us-assures-india-over-ai-kill-switch-pax-silica-expands-bid-counter-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/us/article/3358397/us-assures-india-over-ai-kill-switch-pax-silica-expands-bid-counter-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jun 2026 17:09:44 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse One of five French people flown back to France on Sunday from the cruise ship struck by a deadly hantavirus outbreak is showing symptoms of the illness, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said. “On of them showed symptoms in the repatriation plane,” he posted on social media. “These five passengers have immediately been placed in strict isolation until further notice. “They are getting medical treatment and will have tests and a medical check-up,” he added. Lecornu also said he would issue... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3353069/french-evacuee-hantavirus-hit-ship-shows-symptoms-pm-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3353069/french-evacuee-hantavirus-hit-ship-shows-symptoms-pm-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 May 2026 16:57:56 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles A visiting forces military deal to be signed between the Philippines and France has put the focus on “operational intimacy”, with observers noting that Paris has a presence in the Indo-Pacific and would serve Manila’s interests well in the contested waters of the South China Sea. The term was coined by French Ambassador to Manila Marie Fontanel, during a freewheeling discussion on Tuesday at her residence. In a bid to balance the implications of the alliance – a first for the Philippines with a... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3340187/philippines-france-near-defence-pact-boost-operational-intimacy-contested-waters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3340187/philippines-france-near-defence-pact-boost-operational-intimacy-contested-waters?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Jan 2026 10:38:13 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Farmers sprayed manure on government offices and kept up roadblocks in southern France on Sunday in protest against a mass cull of cows as officials urged Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to urgently intervene. Many farmers in southern and southwest France have been incensed by the use of police force and the government’s mass slaughter policy to contain the spread of nodular dermatitis, widely known as lumpy skin disease. Farmers have blocked roads after veterinarians on Friday slaughtered a... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3336412/french-farmers-spray-manure-keep-road-blocks-over-cow-mass-slaughter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3336412/french-farmers-spray-manure-keep-road-blocks-over-cow-mass-slaughter?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Dec 2025 19:17:32 +0000 Xiaofei Xu Xiaofei Xu Chinese ultra-fast fashion giant Shein is seeking dialogue with French authorities after Paris suspended the platform in a shock move on Wednesday. “Shein takes note of the government’s announcement today,” a spokesperson for the group told the Post. “We are committed to working with the French authorities to address any concerns swiftly, as we have always done, and we are seeking dialogue with the authorities and government bodies on this issue.” The announcement came as Shein opened its first... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3331690/chinese-retailer-shein-wants-dialogue-french-government-after-website-suspension?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3331690/chinese-retailer-shein-wants-dialogue-french-government-after-website-suspension?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Nov 2025 17:27:42 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu weathered two confidence motions on Thursday, just days after appointing his new government and making a key political concession to stay in power. The votes followed Lecornu’s decision on Tuesday to back suspending a divisive 2023 pension reform, in a bid to keep his cabinet afloat long enough to pass a much-needed austerity budget by year’s end. The leftist Socialist Party (PS) had threatened to vote to oust the premier if he didn’t move to freeze the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3329263/french-pm-lecornu-survives-2-confidence-votes-days-after-reappointment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3329263/french-pm-lecornu-survives-2-confidence-votes-days-after-reappointment?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Oct 2025 10:49:30 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg President Emmanuel Macron reappointed Sebastien Lecornu to be France’s prime minister on Friday, giving the centrist ally another shot at naming a new cabinet and getting a budget through a fractious parliament. Lecornu must propose a 2026 budget on Monday to get the legislation adopted by the end of the year through the normal process. Otherwise, the National Assembly may need to pass an emergency bill to keep the government funded. The reappointment is a last-gasp attempt to find political... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3328611/macron-reappoints-sebastien-lecornu-frances-pm-just-days-after-he-quit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3328611/macron-reappoints-sebastien-lecornu-frances-pm-just-days-after-he-quit?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Oct 2025 21:19:59 +0000 Xiaofei Xu Xiaofei Xu This week’s collapse of the French government – featuring the resignation of a prime minister after only 27 days in office – marks the latest twist in a protracted political crisis threatening to bring the powerful European economy to a halt as it grapples with unpopular budget measures, a deepening debt burden and stiff competition from the US and China. Former prime minister Sebastien Lecornu – now acting in a caretaker capacity after his Monday resignation set a modern record for briefness of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/china-economy/article/3327974/crisis-stricken-france-weighs-work-life-balance-against-overseas-competition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/china-economy/article/3327974/crisis-stricken-france-weighs-work-life-balance-against-overseas-competition?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Oct 2025 13:00:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse France’s new prime minister resigned on Monday after less than a month in office, sinking the country further into a political crisis and piling pressure on President Emmanuel Macron to find a way out of the deadlock. Sebastien Lecornu stepped down just 14 hours after naming his government, and had been due to hold his first cabinet meeting in the afternoon. However, his new government had raised hackles across the spectrum before ministers even entered their new offices, and he risked an... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3327998/french-prime-minister-lecornu-resigns-after-less-month-office?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3327998/french-prime-minister-lecornu-resigns-after-less-month-office?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Oct 2025 08:01:21 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A French court is to try the Chinese captain of a tanker from Russia’s “shadow fleet” early next year, prosecutors said on Thursday, after it was intercepted off the coast of France. Boracay, a Benin-flagged vessel blacklisted by the European Union for being part of Russia’s sanction-busting “shadow fleet” of ageing oil tankers, was stopped by French authorities on Saturday, according to a military source who asked not to be named. Shipping data showed it was positioned off Denmark during... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3327659/france-arrests-crew-russian-shadow-fleet-tanker-linked-denmark-drone-incidents?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/world/europe/article/3327659/france-arrests-crew-russian-shadow-fleet-tanker-linked-denmark-drone-incidents?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Oct 2025 10:35:58 +0000 SCMP SCMP Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China Rocket Force bans nearly 200 suppliers, evaluators after corruption probe The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force has terminated nearly 200 partnerships with experts and suppliers, following an investigation into procurement corruption covering the past nine years, as scrutiny of the troubled military branch continues. 2. Is China’s rare earths... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/article/3325220/plas-rocket-force-probe-nasa-bars-chinese-citizens-us-visas-scmp-daily-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/article/3325220/plas-rocket-force-probe-nasa-bars-chinese-citizens-us-visas-scmp-daily-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Sep 2025 13:15:13 +0000 Xiaofei Xu Xiaofei Xu Images of burning barricades were shown side by side with the handover ceremony for France’s new prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu, on French television channels on Wednesday as “block everything” protests brought back memories of the rallies by the populist “yellow vest” movement that rocked the country in 2018 and 2019. More than 175,000 protesters hit the streets across France on the day of Lecornu’s inauguration, according to the country’s interior ministry. Its government collapsed on... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/global-economy/article/3325192/french-protests-underscore-deep-concerns-over-slow-decline-amid-us-china-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/economy/global-economy/article/3325192/french-protests-underscore-deep-concerns-over-slow-decline-amid-us-china-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Sep 2025 09:00:05 +0000