Foreign
Emmanuel Macron rejects Prime Minister’s resignation after chaotic election that leaves French government in limbo

French President, Emmanuel Macron refused the resignation of the country’s prime minister, asking him on Monday, July 8 to remain temporarily as the head of the government after the weekend’s chaotic election results that left the government in limbo.
Macron on Monday his PM to stay, pending difficult negotiations to form a new government after a left-wing surge delivered a parliament divided into three.
The leftist New Popular Front (NFP) emerged as the dominant force in the National Assembly after Sunday’s election, thwarting Marine Le Pen’s quest to bring the far-right to power.
However, no party has secured a working majority, meaning the electoral outcome heralded a period of political volatility.
Possibilities open to the French government include the NFP forming a minority government or the coming together of a coalition of right, left and centrist parties with no common ground, meaning legislation might never get passed by Parliament.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, a centrist and close ally of Macron, tendered his resignation on Sunday, but the head of state, Macron rejected it.
“The President has asked Gabriel Attal to remain prime minister for the time being in order to ensure the country’s stability,” Macron’s office said in a statement.
A fragmented parliament will weaken France’s role in the European Union. The left won 182 seats, Macron’s centrist alliance 168 and Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) and allies 143, Interior Ministry data cited by Le Monde newspaper showed.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, one of the most divisive figures in French politics, explicitly ruled out any deal with centrists on Sunday, and on Monday his ally Eric Bompard sounded uncompromising.
“The president must appoint as prime minister someone from the New Popular Front to implement the NFP’s programme, the whole programme and nothing but the programme,” he said on France 2 television.
However, there is little chance that any of the left-wing bloc’s key proposals, which include raising the minimum wage, reversing Macron’s pension reform and capping the prices of key goods, would pass a parliamentary vote without some kind of agreement with lawmakers from outside the bloc.
Foreign
Trump offers Elon Musk continued role in administration

President Donald Trump on Wednesday, at the White House, offered to extend Elon Musk’s advisory role within his administration.
The 53-year-old tech billionaire attended the first Cabinet meeting since President Trump marked his first 100 days in office.
In what resembled a farewell message, Musk said the American people “voted for secure borders, safe cities, and sensible spending, and that’s what they’ve gotten.”
Musk observed that “a tremendous amount” had been accomplished in the first 100 days—more, he claimed, than any previous administration.
He stated that this achievement “portends very well for what will happen for the rest of the administration,” and opined that it could be the “greatest administration” in America’s history.
Musk, a senior presidential adviser who heads the Department of Government Efficiency, confirmed that $160 billion had been saved since January.
The Tesla CEO, however, expressed concern about the attacks on his company, adding: “They do like to burn my cars, which is not great.”
In response, President Trump thanked Musk for his contributions, noting that he has “sacrificed a lot” and has also been “treated unfairly.”
Trump added that the vast majority of people respect and appreciate Musk for opening “a lot of eyes to what could be done.”
“We just want to thank you very much, and you are invited to stay as long as you want,” the President added.
Musk reportedly no longer operates from the West Wing, but his DOGE team continues to work from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building within the White House complex.
Foreign
Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger seek access to Atlantic through Morocco

Foreign ministers of military-ruled Sahel states of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger said on Monday they endorse an initiative offering them access to global trade through Morocco’s Atlantic ports, Reuters reported.
The foreign ministers expressed their countries’ position during a meeting with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI in Rabat, it said.
The West African nations, run by military leaders who took power in coups in recent years, withdrew from the regional grouping ECOWAS last year and formed an alliance known as the Confederation of Sahel States (AES).
Morocco, a major investor in West Africa’s financial and agricultural sectors, announced its trade access initiative in November 2023, after ECOWAS imposed trade restrictions on the three states.
The initiative is conducive to “diversifying our access to the sea,” Mali’s foreign minister Abdoulaye Diop told state media.
The meeting “is part of the strong and longstanding relations of the Kingdom with the three brotherly countries of the Alliance of Sahel States,” Morocco’s news agency said.
The visit takes place as relations between the AES and Algeria, Morocco’s regional rival, deteriorate.
Algeria has cut ties with Morocco and backs the Polisario Front which seeks an independent state in Western Sahara, a territory Morocco considers its own and where it is building a port worth $1 billion.
The new AES grouping expelled French and other Western forces and turned towards Russia for military support.
In December, Morocco mediated the release of four French spies held in Burkina Faso, five months after Paris recognised Rabat’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Foreign
Massive power outage hits Spain, Portugal

A massive power outage paralyzed Spain and Portugal on Monday in an incident with no immediate explanation.
“It’s best to not speculate. We will know the causes soon. We are not discarding any hypothesis, but right now, we just focus on what’s most important: returning electricity to our homes,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said at a news conference Monday.
The stoppage, which occurred about 12:30 p.m. Madrid time, caused chaos across the Iberian Peninsula and showed the vulnerability of Europe’s electrical grid — even on days without extreme weather or spiking demand.
Trains stopped running. Hospitals canceled surgeries, according to news agencies, and depended on backup generators. Business ground to a halt as machines were unable to process credit card transactions. The outage even suspended several Madrid Open tennis matches, with photos showing a court with nonfunctioning scoreboards and darkened stands. Sánchez urged citizens to restrict cellphone use and to call emergency dispatchers only “when it is really necessary.”
By about 5:30 p.m. Madrid time, Red Eléctrica, the corporation that operates Spain’s electricity grid, said some power had been restored across corners of the peninsula, including parts of Catalonia, the Basque Country and Andalusia. About two hours later, the utility provider said more than a fifth of the peninsula’s power had been recovered. Full recovery may take up to 10 hours, Red Eléctrica told Spanish news outlets, which means the country’s power could be restored some time late Monday.
“Causes are being analyzed, and all resources are being dedicated to addressing the issue,” Red Eléctrica said in a statement.
More than 50 million people live on the Iberian Peninsula, but authorities did not provide an immediate estimate for the number of people affected by the outage. Portugal’s national grid operator described it as a “massive cut” in electricity supply across the peninsula. Data from Red Eléctrica showed a sudden plunge in electricity demand from about 27,000 megawatts to less than 13,000. Levels remained abnormally low two hours later.
Spain’s Energy Ministry said in a statement that Sara Aagesen, a deputy prime minister, visited the Red Eléctrica control center to “learn about the situation firsthand and monitor the incident.”
“All necessary measures will be put in place to restore normality as quickly as possible,” the statement said.
Prime Minister Sánchez also held a meeting at the control center, with Aagesen and several other ministers present, the Spanish newspaper El País reported, and Spain’s National Security Council called a meeting to address the outage.
Portugal’s Lusa News Agency said the country’s cybersecurity center had seen no evidence so far that the blackout stemmed from a cyberattack. Separately, the Reuters news agency quoted unnamed officials as saying a cyberattack had not been ruled out.
The Spanish grid also connects with Morocco, France, Andorra and Portugal. Spain and France experienced a major blackout on July 24, 2021, but it lasted less than an hour.
Previous power outages in Europe have been caused by technical problems, lightning strikes and damaged cables. In 2003, Italy faced a huge blackout because a tree was too close to a power line, resulting in a flashover, or a jump of electricity from the line to vegetation.
-
News14 hours ago
A Chat with Janet Odio Okolo: A Mother’s Journey Raising a Child with Down Syndrome
-
News20 hours ago
Alleged money laundering: EFCC produces Aisha Achimugu in court
-
News22 hours ago
JUST IN: Major General Paul Ufuoma Omu Rtd, dies at 84
-
News22 hours ago
Tinubu hails Dangote’s World Bank appointment
-
News16 hours ago
Hon. Dennis Agbo Resigns From Labour Party
-
News16 hours ago
Just in: Osun PDP receives defectors from APC, others
-
News20 hours ago
CBN announces revised documentation requirements for PAPSS transactions
-
News20 hours ago
Reps Set Stage for Nigeria’s First Legislative Conference on Renewable Energy