France's wartime president Charles de Gaulle once asked: "How can anyone govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese?"

"More than 60 years on," said CNN, "the answer appears to be no one."
The resignation of François Bayrou (pictured above) as prime minister leaves Emmanuel Macron "weaker than ever", as the president searches for his fifth PM in less than two years amid growing calls for his own resignation.

What did the commentators say?
France's current instability "can be traced back" to Macron, said CNN. After he was re-elected in 2022, he lost his majority as voters "flocked to the extremes". Then came his "dramatic decision" last year to call a snap election, "piqued" by the success of the far-right National Rally. The left won the most seats but fell short of a majority, and Macron "refused to accept their choice of prime minister".

This mess long predates Macron, said Agence France-Presse. France's public debt has "steadily risen for decades", fuelled by "chronic budget deficits" and intensified by financial crises and the pandemic. The debt has climbed this year to about 114% of annual GDP, the third highest in the eurozone after Italy and Greece, leading some to raise "the spectre of a scenario reminiscent of the Greek debt crisis".

France is "hardly on a par with Greece", said The New York Times. It is a "too-big-to-fail economy" and "not about to go bankrupt". All the same, "things are bad", said Bruno Cavalier, chief economist at Oddo bank in Paris. The country's government spending has long been the highest in Europe and "much of it goes towards financing a generous social welfare system".

Yet, somehow, "there's not enough money for anyone", said Alexander Hurst in The Guardian. Most people are "to some extent, dissatisfied". But until France and other countries "learn to live within their means, there is no resolution to be had", said The Telegraph.

What next?
Macron will be "reluctant to hold fresh elections for fear of boosting National Rally still further", said The Telegraph. But if he appoints another centrist PM, it is "hard to see them avoiding Bayrou's fate". Both the left and the far-right have vowed to block a candidate from the other side, with an immediate vote of no confidence. The pressure may grow for Macron to call a presidential election before 2027.

A four-year manhunt for a fugitive father and his three children living in the New Zealand wilderness came to a tragic end yesterday when he was shot dead by police.

The death of Tom Phillips ends a saga that has gripped New Zealand and attracted worldwide attention. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called it a "sombre day" for the country as he paid tribute to a police officer injured in the shoot-out.

'Long-running mystery'
In December 2021, weeks before he was due to appear in court for wasting police resources, Phillips fled with his three children into the vast Waikato region, south of Auckland, following an argument with their mother. He did not have legal custody of the children, now aged nine, 10 and 12.

They were believed to be living "off-grid, with the father using his survival skills to feed, shelter and clothe his children", said CNN. The massive manhunt "gripped the nation" and after many aborted attempts to find them, the search resumed in 2023 following several sightings of Phillips. In October last year, the family were seen again, in footage filmed by pig farmers trekking through a forest. Phillips was last seen on CCTV last month, when he robbed a grocery store, accompanied by one of his children.

'Sombre day' for New Zealand
Phillips was shot dead on Monday by police responding to a break-in at a remote farm shop. While pursuing the two suspects – now known to be Phillips and one of his children – on their quad bike, an officer was shot in the head with a rifle. Police returned fire, fatally injuring Phillips.

A "massive and urgent search operation involving helicopters" was then launched to try to find the remaining two children, said CNN. They were eventually located at a remote campsite on the west coast of Waikato.

"In a country of close-knit communities," said The Guardian, New Zealanders have "struggled to understand" how Phillips could have survived and evaded detection for so long in such harsh terrain. Although there is no suggestion that he was helped by family members, there has long been "speculation others in the community may have aided him".

A demonstrator wields a gun outside Kathmandu's Singha Durbar government complex as anti-corruption protests escalate across Nepal. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned today following the deaths of at least 19 people in clashes with the Himalayan country's security forces.

Prabin Ranabhat / AFP / Getty Images

There are two sides to Japan. Travelers marvel at the advanced technology and infrastructure in a country often said to be "living in the future", but it is also a place bound by tradition and formalities.

Asaba Ryokan, Shuzenji
For more than five centuries, the Asaba family has welcomed guests to their ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. Service here is rooted in the concept of omotenashi, the "spirit of selfless hospitality", said The Japan Times, and there is a "profound sense of place".

First Cabin Tsukiji, Tokyo
First Cabin, a chain of 11 properties across Japan, is "redefining the capsule concept", said CNN. The goal is to "create a feeling of being in the first class cabin of an airplane", and a themed bar and reception area and "surprisingly spacious" capsules make each hotel "more luxurious" than similar lodgings.

Hakone Gora Karaku
Hakone is two hours from Tokyo but can feel like a world away. Hakone Gora Karaku offers the "perfect hideaway" from the capital's hustle and bustle, blending "contemporary elegance" and "time-honored Japanese hospitality", said The Michelin Guide.

Halekulani Okinawa
The serene Halekulani Okinawa offers visitors the chance to live like a local. Okinawa is a Blue Zone, meaning residents on average live longer, and the hotel runs wellness-focused retreats exploring longevity. This is a "unique opportunity" to learn about Okinawan culture and "better understand how to live a healthier lifestyle", said Travel and Leisure.

Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto
Staying at Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto gives visitors the chance to see "old Kyoto through a fresh prism", said Condé Nast Traveler. There is a "hint of history" as you enter the property through an "ornate" wooden gateway, and the "sleek" rooms feature wabi-sabi bowls and other local artisan touches.

Does Being Virtuous Entitle You to Be Bad?
Adrian Wooldridge on Bloomberg
"Why do people who pride themselves on their superior morality fall victim to sleaze when they come into office?" writes Adrian Wooldridge following Angela Rayner's fall. Studies suggest that people who regard themselves as "virtuous" are "often tempted to indulge in unethical and selfish behaviour precisely because they have such a high opinion of themselves". Labour's sins are "particularly damaging" to Keir Starmer’s government because they're also "bound up with two of the greatest sins of modern politics: hypocrisy and self-righteousness".

Disabled people don't need BBC do-gooders sticking up for them
Rob Crossan in The Spectator
Actor Jamie Borthwick has been "axed" from "EastEnders" after he "used a slur once commonly used against disabled people", writes Rob Crossan. "I'm disabled" and "I'm appalled"  – not by the slur, "bad though that is, but by the decision to give him the boot". I've faced the "insults and pejoratives that able-bodied people lob around", but a "quiet word from a disabled person can do a lot more to create an educated society than a wildly over the top, and strangely gleeful, public shaming".

Reverse this pointless Palestine Action ban
Joanna Williams in The Times
Our government risks fuelling antisemitism while undermining two "important, hard-won civil liberties", writes Joanna Williams following the arrests of almost 900 people at a Palestinian Action protest on Saturday. "To be meaningful", the "right to protest and the right to free speech" must "apply to those with views we loathe just as much as to those with whom we agree". Palestine Action should be "quietly unproscribed" before "thousands" try to be "arrested for the anti-Israeli cause".