Briefly

FRANCE

PM survives third no-confidence vote

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou survived a third no-confidence vote in the National Assembly on Wednesday over the 2025 social security financing bill. National Assembly Speaker Yael Braun-Pivet announced that 121 out of 577 deputies voted in favor of ousting Bayrou after he activated the special constitutional power of passing a bill without the assembly's green light. A no-confidence vote needs at least 289 votes in the legislature. The bill includes a 2.6 percent increase in health spending, bringing the total to 264.2 billion euros ($275.5 billion), Le Figaro reported.

PHILIPPINES

VP Duterte faces criminal complaint

The Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday recommended criminal charges against Vice-President Sara Duterte for inciting sedition and making grave threats. In a radio interview, NBI Director Jaime Santiago also confirmed that the complaint was submitted to the Department of Justice. Duterte described the move as "expected".The case stemmed from Duterte's remarks last year, where she said she ordered someone to "kill" the president and his wife, as well as the House speaker, should harm come to her. She later claimed her words were "maliciously taken out of logical context".

JAPAN

Honda and Nissan say merger talks called off

Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan confirmed on Thursday they had scrapped the merger talks announced in December, ending a tie-up that would have created the world's third-largest automaker. The companies said in a joint statement that they "agreed to terminate" the memorandum of understanding signed on Dec 23 "for consideration of a business integration between the two companies".

Agencies - Xinhua