Thousands of left-wing demonstrators took to the streets across France on Saturday to protest against the appointment of centre-right Michel Barnier as prime minister, accusing President Emmanuel Macron of a “power grab.”

Police reported that around 26,000 people participated in the Paris demonstration, while left-wing groups claimed a much higher turnout.

Smaller protests occurred in cities across France, including Nantes in the west, Nice and Marseille in the south, and Strasbourg in the east.

Macron appointed Barnier, a 73-year-old former foreign minister and the EU’s Brexit negotiator, as prime minister on Thursday, following July’s snap elections in which his centrist alliance came second.

Barnier said on Friday that he was open to appointing ministers from across the political spectrum, including “people from the left.”

However, the left-wing coalition, which became the largest political force after the June-July elections, though without an overall majority, expressed dismay at Macron’s choice of Barnier.

The left-wing bloc had preferred Lucie Castets, a 37-year-old economist, as prime minister, but Macron dismissed the idea, arguing that she would not survive a confidence vote in the hung parliament.

Many demonstrators voiced their frustration with Macron, with some calling for his resignation.

‘Old elephant’ –

“The Fifth Republic is collapsing,” said protester Manon Bonijol.

“Voting is pointless as long as Macron remains in power,” added the 21-year-old.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI), which is part of the left-wing coalition, has claimed that the election was “stolen from the French” and urged people to take to the streets.

On Saturday, he encouraged his supporters to prepare for ongoing resistance.

“There will be no break,” he promised.

“Democracy isn’t just about accepting victory, it’s also about having the humility to accept defeat,” Mélenchon said at the protest.

Project manager Alexandra Germain, 44, accused Macron of disregarding the voters’ wishes.

“Protesting is the only way I can express my disagreement, even though I know it won’t change anything,” said Germain.

Abel Couaillier, a 20-year-old student, said he was shocked by Barnier’s appointment, calling him an “old elephant.”

“I’m still young, and I want to believe we can change things,” Couaillier added.

Leading LFI figure Mathilde Panot claimed on X (formerly Twitter) that 160,000 people protested in Paris and 300,000 across France.

Police reported that five people were detained in Paris.

‘Under surveillance’ –

Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) in parliament, said her party would not join the new cabinet and would wait for Barnier’s first policy speech in parliament before deciding on their support.

RN party leader Jordan Bardella, who had hoped to be the next prime minister, said the far-right would scrutinise Barnier’s actions closely.

“Mr Barnier is a prime minister under surveillance,” said Bardella, 28.

Barnier responded, stating his responsibility was to the French people, not just the far-right.

“I am under the surveillance of all French citizens,” Barnier said during a visit to Necker Children’s Hospital in Paris.

Barnier will oversee the budget, security, immigration, and healthcare, and must account for the National Rally, the largest single party in a divided legislature, to avoid a motion of no confidence.

With limited support in the Assembly, Barnier’s immediate challenge will be to present the 2025 budget by early October.

The sentencing of former United States President Donald Trump in a criminal hush-money case has been delayed until after the November presidential election.

New York Judge Juan Merchan announced on Friday that he would move the sentencing date, previously scheduled for September 18, to November 26.

This is the second delay in the sentencing hearing, which was originally set for July 11. Merchan explained the new date was chosen to reflect Trump’s candidacy in the upcoming election.

“The imposition of sentence will be adjourned to avoid any appearance — however unwarranted — that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching Presidential election in which the Defendant is a candidate,” Merchan wrote in his decision.

“The Court is a fair, impartial and apolitical institution.”

While Merchan sought to avoid the appearance of political bias, some critics have argued that such thinking offers Trump special treatment based on his status in national politics.

Trump, meanwhile, has argued the mere fact of the case is prejudicial to his re-election bid this November.

On his Truth Social platform on Friday, he wrote, “This case should be rightfully terminated, as we prepare for the Most Important Election in the History of our Country.”

The new sentencing date is set for exactly three weeks after the November 5 election.

In late May, Trump became the first president in US history to be tried and convicted on criminal charges.

A jury in the New York case found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records, after prosecutors argued he attempted to conceal hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election season.

The state-level New York case is one of four criminal indictments Trump faces. The former president has decried his legal woes as political persecution from his perceived rivals.

Trump is currently running as the Republican nominee in a third successive presidential race.

Two of the criminal indictments he faces — one in Georgia and the other in Washington, DC — relate to alleged efforts to overturn the results of the last presidential race in 2020, which Trump lost to President Joe Biden.

The New York case is the only one of the four indictments to reach trial before this November’s election.

May’s verdict is sure to be appealed by Trump’s legal team. In a statement on Friday, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung called for the case to be thrown out entirely, saying there should be “no sentencing in the Manhattan DA’s Election Interference Witch Hunt”.

Trump echoed those remarks afterwards on Truth Social, falsely blaming the case’s existence on his Democratic rival in the presidential race, Kamala Harris. He also maintained his innocence.

“The Manhattan D.A. Witch Hunt has been postponed because everyone realizes that there was NO CASE, I DID NOTHING WRONG!” Trump wrote. “It is a political attack against me by Comrade Kamala Harris.”

Merchan’s decision follows a highly controversial Supreme Court ruling earlier this year, in which the conservative-majority court ruled that US presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for “official” acts committed while in office.

Critics say the ruling grants the already powerful executive branch broad immunity from prosecution, arguably increasing its authority beyond what is established in the US Constitution.

In American politics it’s customary to suggest that most voters don’t start paying attention to the presidential election until after the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Well, that occasion – seen here as the unofficial end of summer – has now been and gone. And as a noticeable chill is felt in the air, many more voters will start to take note of politics. That includes the crucial swing voters in a handful of closely contested states who will ultimately decide the race for the White House.

Right on cue, as these eyes start to focus on the election, we have a presidential debate that will see Donald Trump and Kamala Harris go head-to-head for the first time. In fact, it will be the first time the two candidates have ever met in person. The high-stakes event in Philadelphia on Tuesday night is expected to draw in tens of millions of viewers.

Many of these viewers will be getting a first look at Ms Harris beyond the comfort of a rally stage. Before she dramatically replaced Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket in July, Ms Harris’s national profile was unusually low despite her serving as vice-president for almost four years.

And make no mistake, her explosion on to the big stage so late in the election cycle is highly, highly unusual.

The normal rhythms of American politics allow candidates to introduce themselves to the country as they campaign for their party’s presidential nomination in primary contests held much earlier in the year. This process weeds out those who, while popular in their home states, are not ready or equipped to take the leap on to the national stage (see Ron DeSantis) and gives participants vital experience at campaigning and debating.

Ms Harris did none of that this year. When she ran for the Democratic nomination in 2019, she pulled out before a single primary vote was cast after a campaign dogged by poor messaging, in which she struggled to sell her own vision.

Yet, this time around, it appears that Ms Harris’s unusual anonymity may in fact be a secret superpower.

She has been able to present herself to America on her own terms, highlighting her relatively humble background, her record as a prosecutor and her promise to uphold what she sees as fundamental rights such as access to abortion.

Ms Harris has also positioned herself as the candidate of change – a fresh face for the future – even though she has been part of the current administration for almost four years.

Trump is attacking her as a dangerously radical liberal. But to do so he is relying on statements she made and policies she promoted when she was competing in Democratic primaries in 2019. That’s because, to win the Democratic nomination, candidates have to appeal to more liberal members of the party before then trying to move to the centre in the general election.

In this election, Ms Harris did not have to compete against members of her own party to win the nomination and so had no reason to adopt more liberal policy positions as she did in the past.

Just look at her failed bid in 2019, when she advocated for a ban on fracking and offshore drilling as well as universal free healthcare. Both ideas have been rapidly dropped this time around.

Of course, we don’t know what promises Ms Harris would have made in a 2024 primary process, but to win the support of progressives she may well have taken similar positions to the above that Trump would now be using to attack her. No primary contest means less ammunition for the former president. And relying on statements his opponent made five years ago, and policy positions she has since dropped, is blunting his attacks.

This week, Ms Harris announced tax proposals that differentiate her platform from what President Biden was promising. She is calling for a lower tax hike than Mr Biden proposed on the investment earnings of Americans making more than $1 million a year. That is not the sort of idea that would have won her support in any Democratic primary vote.

There are arguably downsides to entering the race at such a late stage, however. Competing for the nomination would have given Ms Harris more experience with unscripted appearances – press conferences, interviews and TV debates.

So far, she has done only one broadcast interview since President Biden stepped aside and that was a joint appearance with her running mate Tim Walz. That encounter on CNN wasn’t exactly a tough interrogation, and she still struggled to answer what she would do on day one of the job if elected.

At her vast rallies and during her well-received speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, Ms Harris relied on a teleprompter and familiar lines. The 90-minute debate on Tuesday will be her longest unscripted appearance in this campaign.

Trump, who is far more experienced on the presidential debate stage, will try to knock her off her prepared talking points and do what has yet to happen in the race: press Ms Harris aggressively on policy and her changing positions.

And Ms Harris knows better than anyone that the last time Trump took to the debate stage his opponent ended up leaving the race. For America’s surprise presidential candidate, who has completely avoided the challenges and scrutiny of a Democratic primary, this debate represents a sterner test than anything she has faced so far in this pain-free campaign.

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of the race for the White House in his weekly US Election Unspun newsletter.