49ers' visit gives Packers a chance to damage the playoff hopes of their postseason nemesisPARIS: French lawmakers passed a no-confidence vote against the government on Wednesday, throwing the European Union’s second-biggest economic power deeper into a crisis that threatens its capacity to legislate and tame a massive budget deficit. Far-right and left-wing lawmakers joined forces to back a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Michel Barnier, with a majority 331 votes in support of the motion. Barnier now has to tender his resignation and that of his government to President Emmanuel Macron, making his minority government’s three-month tenure the shortest lived in France’s Fifth Republic beginning in 1958. He is expected to do so on Thursday morning, French media reported. The hard left and far right punished Barnier for usingspecial constitutional powers to adopt part of an unpopularbudget without a final vote in parliament, where it lackedmajority support. The draft budget had sought 60 billion euros($63.07 billion) in savings in a drive to shrink a gapingdeficit. “This (deficit) reality will not disappear by the magic of a motion of censure,” Barnier told lawmakers ahead of the vote, adding the budget deficit would come back to haunt whichever government comes next. French govt faces collapse after opposition says it will back no-confidence vote No French government had lost a confidence vote since Georges Pompidou’s in 1962. Macron ushered in the crisis by calling a snap election in June that delivered a polarised parliament. With its president diminished, France now risks ending the year without a stable government or a 2025 budget, although the constitution allows special measures that would avert a U.S.-style government shutdown. France’s political turmoil will further weaken a European Union already reeling from the implosion of Germany’s coalition government, and weeks before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. The country’s outgoing defence minister Sebastien Lecornu warned the turmoil could impact French support for Ukraine. The hard left France Unbowed (LFI) party demanded Macron’s resignation. Barnier’s demise was cheered by far-right chief Marine Le Pen, who has sought for years to portray her National Rally party as a government in waiting. “I’m not pushing for Macron’s resignation,” she said. “The pressure on the president will get greater and greater. Only he will make that decision.” No easy exit from french political crisis France now faces a period of deep political uncertainty that is already unnerving investors in French sovereign bonds and stocks. Earlier this week, France’s borrowing costs briefly exceeded those of Greece, generally considered far more risky. Macron must now make a choice. The Elysee Palace said the president would address the nation on Thursday evening. Three sources told Reuters that Macron aimed to install a new prime minister swiftly, with one saying he wanted to name a premier before a ceremony to reopen the Notre-Dame Cathedral on Saturday, which Trump is due to attend. Any new prime minister would face the same challenges as Barnier in getting bills, including the 2025 budget, adopted by a divided parliament. There can be no new parliamentary election before July. Macron could alternatively ask Barnier and his ministers to stay on in a caretaker capacity while he takes time to identify a prime minister able to attract sufficient cross-party support to pass legislation. A caretaker government could either propose emergency legislation to roll the tax-and-spend provisions in the 2024 budget into next year, or invoke special powers to pass the draft 2025 budget by decree - though jurists say this is a legal grey area and the political cost would be huge. Macron’s opponents also could vote down one prime ministerafter the next. Economic pain The upheaval is not without risk for Le Pen. Macron allies sought to present her as an agent of chaos after her party joined forces with the left to down Barnier. “The French will harshly judge the choice you are going to make,” Laurent Wauquiez, a lawmaker from the conservative Les Republicains party who backs Macron, told Le Pen in parliament. Since Macron called the summer snap election, France’s CAC 40 benchmark stock market index has dropped nearly 10% and is the heaviest loser among top EU economies. The euro EUR=EBS showed little immediate reaction versus the dollar, trading for around $1.05 per euro, but dipping against other European currencies, such as the Swiss franc and the pound. “I’m amazed the euro hasn’t moved much,” said Nick Rees, senior foreign exchange market analyst at Monex Europe. “There are two major powers in Europe, France and Germany, both of which right now are emasculated.” Barnier’s draft budget had sought to cut the fiscal deficit from a projected 6% of national output this year to 5% in 2025. Voting down his government would be catastrophic for state finances, he had said. Le Pen shrugged off the warning. She said her party would support any eventual emergency law that rolls over the 2024 budget’s tax-and-spend provisions into next year to ensure there is stopgap financing.
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Wild at Dallas Stars, American Airlines Center, 7 p.m. Friday TV; radio : FanDuel Sports Network North; 100.3 FM Wild update : Before the holiday layoff, the Wild halted a season-long, four-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory vs. Chicago while getting two regulars back from injury. G Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves, and RW Yakov Trenin assisted on two goals. This was Trenin’s first multipoint effort of the season. The victory improved the Wild to 6-4-2 against the Central Division, but they have struggled against the playoff teams. They have only one victory in their past seven games vs. Dallas. Stars update : The Stars upended Utah 3-2 in their final game before the break. C Roope Hintz buried his team-leading 15th goal and has scored four times in his past four games. Dallas has been solid on home ice, going 13-5. LW Mason Marchment had both goals in the Stars’ 2-1 win over the Wild on Nov. 16. That victory improved Lakeville G Jake Oettinger to 6-0-1 in his career against the Wild with a .917 save percentage and 2.30 goals-against average. Injuries : Wild C Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body) has been skating. LW Jakub Lauko (lower body) and D Jake Middleton (upper body) are out. Stars D Matt Dumba (upper body) and C Tyler Seguin (hip) are on injured reserve.
Volunteerism deemed ‘alive and well’ in Greater Grand Forks communityLAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Thomas Brown insists he's focused on the job at hand and not the one he might have down the line. His immediate task as the interim coach of the Chicago Bears is helping the team finish strong over the final five games, starting this weekend at San Francisco. The rest of his life can wait. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a week
South Korea Gross Domestic Product Growth (QoQ) came in at 0.1% below forecasts (0.5%) in 3Q
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SAN FRANCISCO — About 90 minutes before the Warriors’ Christmas Day game against the Lakers, Steph Curry addressed his team. This season can go one way or another, he told them. The message was brief, only two or three minutes. They’d lost 10 of 13 entering the Lakers matchup, sinking from 12-3 to 15-13. They didn’t quite need a players-only meeting, but Curry decided it was time to at least speak up. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.AP News Summary at 5:52 p.m. EST
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