After former Prime Minister Michel Barnier's administration was overthrown by a vote of no confidence earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron nominated his centrist ally Fran ois Bayrou as the country's new prime minister on Friday in an attempt to keep it out of political turmoil. The 73-year-old Bayrou, who founded the Democratic Movement party, will now have to try to form a government capable of passing laws in the same sharply split parliament that united in a rare show of solidarity to overthrow Barnier on December 5. Addressing France's failing economy and creating a cost-cutting budget that lawmakers can approve—a challenging undertaking that contributed to Barnier's downfall—will be his primary tasks. Three months after Barnier was chosen by Macron, he was removed, ma...

What can be the most crucial The NFL matchup in Week 15 isn't a matchup between the division leaders. Not even two teams with winning records are included. However, of the week's noteworthy games, the Indianapolis Colts' trip to Denver to play the Broncos could be the one that has the greatest potential to change the playoff picture. No, it's not the 10-win Buffalo Bills vs. 12-win Detroit Lions or the 10-win Pittsburgh Steelers vs. 11-win Philadelphia Eagles, two games on Sunday that might determine the No. 1 spot in the NFC or maintain long-shot routes to the top slot in the AFC. However, those four teams are almost guaranteed to make the playoffs or have already secured them. Meanwhile, the Broncos (8-5) and Colts (6-7) are still vying for spots one month before the playoffs start, and ...

Lawmakers still want additional information, despite the White House's claim that drones flying over New Jersey and New York don't represent a public safety risk. According to the corporation, UnitedHealthcare never had insurance for the suspect in CEO Brian Thompson's death. Additionally, following an NBC News exposé, a couple's $92,000 medical debt is erased. What to know today is as follows. Lawmakers demand more information about mysterious drones The White House is downplaying recent enigmatic drone sightings in New Jersey and New York. A White House National Security official is adamant that there is currently no proof that the reported sightings are related to foreign countries or pose a threat to public safety or national security. Still, important senators and members of the H...

Israel gave troops instructions on Friday to get ready to spend the winter on Mount Hermon, a strategic peak inside a buffer zone that has been shared with Syria for decades but that Israeli forces have taken control of since the fall of the Assad administration. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that, given the situation in Syria, "our holding of the Hermon peak is of great security importance and everything must be done to ensure the IDF's preparations in the area, to allow the troops to stay there in the difficult weather conditions." Although Israel has maintained that its presence in the buffer zone is defensive and transitory, worries have been raised by what UN chief António Guterres called "severe violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity" o...

A phony Uber driver who is accused of stealing over $300,000 in bitcoin from unwary passengers has been taken into custody by police. Nuruhussein Hussein, 40, was arrested by Scottsdale, Arizona, a desert community east of Phoenix, on Wednesday on felony counts of theft, fraud, and money laundering, according to a statement from the Scottsdale Police Department. Police claimed they discovered that between March and December of this year, the suspect posed as an Uber driver and picked up gullible passengers who had requested a real trip outside a Scottsdale hotel as part of a combined operation with the US Secret Service field office in Phoenix. According to the police, Hussein would then want to use the victim's phone, claiming that he needed to connect to the Uber app or look up instructi...

Israel gave troops instructions on Friday to get ready to spend the winter on Mount Hermon, a strategic peak inside a buffer zone that has been shared with Syria for decades but that Israeli forces have taken control of since the fall of the Assad administration. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that, given the situation in Syria, "our holding of the Hermon peak is of great security importance and everything must be done to ensure the IDF's preparations in the area, to allow the troops to stay there in the difficult weather conditions." Although Israel has maintained that its presence in the buffer zone is defensive and transitory, worries have been raised by what UN chief António Guterres called "severe violations of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity" o...

After being found guilty of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor, a U.S. airman stationed in Japan was given a five-year jail sentence on Friday. On December 24, 2023, while serving at Kadena Air Base on the Japanese island of Okinawa, 25-year-old Senior Airman Brennon Washington contacted the girl, who was under 16, at a nearby park and brought her to his off-base home. He was indicted in March for allegedly kidnapping her and having sex with her without her will, but the case wasn't made public until June, which infuriated the local administration. According to local media, Washington entered a not guilty plea when prosecutors urged the Naha District Court to sentence him to seven years in prison. According to the Kyodo news agency, Judge Tetsuro Sato explained his decision by stat...

As she considers whether to back Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for defense secretary, Republican Sen. Joni Ernst encounters some intraparty strife in her home state of Iowa, which feeds rumors that she may be challenged from the right when she seeks reelection in 2026. Ernst's supporters are not concerned about a possible primary challenge, pointing out that she has solid conservative credentials and is still well-liked by Republicans in the state. Conversations with a dozen Iowa Republican leaders and strategists, however, showed that grassroots conservatives who want Republicans to support Trump's Cabinet choices were angry with Ernst. Other Republicans, on the other hand, eye-rolled him, claiming that rank-and-file Republicans are not as upset about Ernst as some a...

Portugal's Braga Rocks and dirt in a little plastic jar, collected at a family tomb just before she left Kabul, are among 15-year-old Farida Ahmadi's most treasured belongings and serve as a memory of home. It's still unknown whether she will ever visit that hallowed location in Afghanistan or see her family in person after three years and 4,000 kilometers away in her new home in northern Portugal. Farida told NBC News that while she was a student at the Afghan National Institute of Music (ANIM), she was afraid that Taliban gunmen who had taken back control of the nation would knock on her door and declare, "You are arrested." Notes of Protest: Afghanistan's Orchestra in Exile will be broadcast on NBC News NOW tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET. In one of her interviews this year, she stated, "I d...