French MPs vote against wealth tax, setting scene for more political instability

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French PM Sébastien Lecornu's second government may well be hanging by a thread after France's lower house of parliament rejected a wealth tax, as expected. Proposed by the left, the so-called Zucman tax would have imposed a minimum 2 percent levy on wealth of over €100 million and responded to widespread public support for requiring the country's wealthiest to do their part in tackling France's growing debt. Lawmakers nonetheless struggled to reach consensus on the matter, with the French left now warning the government to find an alternative solution – or face yet another no-confidence vote.  

Also in this edition: four Bulgarian men are jailed for vandalising Paris's Holocaust Memorial last year; French MPs narrowly adopt a far right-backed resolution calling for the repeal of a 1968 agreement between France and Algeria; and the trial of 10 people for the cyberbullying of First Lady Brigitte Macron wraps up, with the verdict due in January.