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america. s the french government collapses after prime minister michelle bowen yang -- the prime minister receives a vote of no confidence. the chief executive of a major u.s. health care company is shot dead on the streets of new york a manhunt is underway. welcome to world news america. hours ago, prime minister michel barnier was ousted. parliament united to vote in support of the motion toppling the government and making michel barnier the shortest serving prime minister in history. 331 mps voted to remove him.

earlier in the day therime minister defended himself at the end of a heated debate at the national assembly. he used special powers to push through a social security budget bill without. the approval of the assembly. now that mr. barnier has lost the vote, france faces uncertainty. anonymous sources tell reuters that president macron is looking to appoint a new prime minister and the president is expected to address the nation thursday evening. >> france has been thrown into political crisis and economic instability by the vote, the first time in's 1962 that the french prime minister haseen brought down by a parliamentary vote of confidence and michel barnier becomes the shortest serving prime minister of france's republic. we understand president macron

says he wants to name a successor within the next 24 hours, but who will be able to command a majority inside this parliament, which is fractious and fragmented, divided and angry? and really, many people believe france is almost ungovernable. it is so polarized. there could be a technocrat government, could there be somebody from the left to try to get votes from the right? it is unclear and france's economic woes mount as the country has a deficit twice the level of the eu limit. it will have a 6% budget deficit this year, twice what the eu mandates and it was what michel barnier was trying to reduce in the budget that was voted down along with his government. huge questions over france's position internationally because this comes while there are wars

on europe's doorstep in ukraine and the middle east, and less than seven weeks until trump takes office in the white house, when europe will be called upon to provide unity and a counterbalance to the unpredictability we expect from trump. a difficult time for france to be in this crisis. a lot of blame being placed at the feet of macron, many calling for his resignation. he says he will serve out the rest of his term until 2027 and anybody entertaining the alternative would be living in a political fiction. >> we speak to a professor of politics in london. why do you think we saw michel barnier fall? was it because of the budget bill he pushed past the national assembly? >> it was a symptom, not the

broad cause. the broader cause was the huge political division in france, which came to the forefront when there were three fairly evenly sized factions within french parliament, the left, the center and the far right. none of whom form a majority or could work together. barnier was doomed to fail from the start because he had a minority government. it was not surprising he felt obliged to push his budget through using the constitutional mechanism that allows them to bypass parliament because the left said they couldn't support it because it made too many concessions to the far right, the far-right said it made too many concessions to the left so when trying to compromise there was no solution in sight. now both sides are trying to use the opportunity to make ends even more difficult for macron. >> what will macron do next?

>> appointing michel barnier took him two months and he says he can't afford to waitnother two months. he needs to act weekly. he has a visit to france later this week by donald trump to celebrate the reopening of notre dame, an opportunity to show france in its best light. he also needs to protect his own position. the longer this drags on the more vulnerable he becomes. france has no budget and the current budget expires at the end of this month so they face a potential shutdown situation similar to ones we have seen in america, where government employees can't get paid on the first of january.

they passed the previous year's budget via emergency legislation but that would not address the deficit and inflation so it is not a long-term solution. he needs to act fast to get someone else in charge. >> the fractious nature of politics in france, why is it difficult to build a stable government? >> it is difficult because there are many different sides who can see i tie. this is partly a legacy of macron's style of politics. he made a place for himself that used to be the main left and mainstream right. he tried to take over both t left and right from the center and create a party at the center pitted against the far-right. what happened was the mainstream right either moved to the center or to the far-right. the left moved to the center or the far left. when the center became unpopular

the far left and far-right increased in strength. they can't work together and can't work with the center so we have ended up with a situation of three opposing forces who left the country ungovernable. >> interesting times in french politics. rainbow murray, thank you for sharing your insights with us. south korean lawmakers are pushing to them preach -- impeach president yoon. the main opposition to the president's right wing people power party described his declaration of martial law tuesday as insurrectionary behavior. parliament will have to vote on whether to impeach yoon saturday. he accuses the opposition a paralyzing the government and sympathizing with north korea but lawmakers overturned his declaration of martial law and president yoon rescinded the order.

protesters gathered around the president's office demanding his regular -- resignation. our correspondent sent us this report. >> this candlelit camp followed a night of aos. they gathered on the steps of the parliament with one aim, to call for the impeachment of a president who declared martial law. >> because we have a history of defending democracy a few times, the people will strongly defend democracy again. >> i'm here as a citizen who cannot sit by and watch democracy breakdown. >> resign, they chanted, before the wave. a different scene from last nights turmoil.

president yoon plunged his country into martial law. soldiers broke the windows of parliament to prevent elected members of -- from overturning his decree. they were unsuccessful. after six hours, seoul's meant was back in control -- parliament was back in control. the building bore the scars of the struggle. repairs have begun as well as a motion to impeach the president. >> if they are willing to violate human rights under martial law it is obvious they are ready to sacrifice people's lives. stay alert and fight with us. >> protest sprung up in other parts of the city as south koreans reflected. the prospect of martial law brought back chilling memories

of authoritarian rule. in the 1970's and 80's groups of students in seoul took on dictators, often clashing with riot descent risking their lives. there defiance and resilience help south korea become a democratic country. south koreans value democracy. they fought and died for it. they may be questioning how robust it may be but they have turned out in the thousands to protect it. president yoon remains in power. some tried to march to his office. they were blocked by police. it is unclear whether mr. yoon hears their calls to resign, but until he does, these demonstrations, however peaceful, will only grow. >> the u.s. supreme court heard

arguments in a landmark case involving access to gender affirming care for minors experiencing gender dysphoria. that is defined as the unease some people feel about the difference between their biological sex and gender identity. the case relates to a tennessee law that bans medical care like puberty blockers and horne therapy for transgender teenagers. 24 u.s. states have similar measures. if the court upholds the ban, it could open the door to wider restrictions. one argument is whether transgender surgery reduces the likelihood of suicide. conservatives suggest that is not the case, citing an independent report from the u.k. known as the cass review. the issue has become politicized. the biden administration supports gender affirming care and crisis hotlines reported a surge in calls from transgender youth since trump won the election. a former president of the world association for transgender

health on the first transgender person to perform gender affirming surgery spoke with me. conservative justices appear to be poised to uphold the ban on gender affirming care for some minors in tennessee. what do you think? >> i can't comment on the specifics of the case because of pending litigation and the discussion but i can tell you that to uphold the ban would be devastating. if the issue is looked at with a review of the evidence, rather than some sort of personal ideology, i think it is clear that gender affirming care is beneficial, and the lack of access to it would be devastating. literally, tens of thousands of

american families. >> can you tell us what you think this type of gender affirming care, puberty blockers, surgery, should be offered to these minors? >> puberty blockers are not new. they have been around for more than 50 years as treatment for other medical condions in the same age group. for things like precocious puberty, for example. so what this is potentially doing is basically targeting transgender individuals for exclusion, and lack of health care. >> tennessee's solicitor general says the ban is not discriminatory. i want to read a quote from the brief, tennessee, like many other states, acted to ensure minors do not receive these treatments until they can fully understand the lifelong

consequences or until the science is developed to the point that tennessee might take a different view of their efficacy. what do you think of that? there arepen questions in the field about the age at which you provide puberty blockers are surgery. what do you think of that defense from the state of tennessee? >> does it make a lot more sense for doctors and families and patients to be making these decisions, or justices and lawyers and legislators? we don't do that for any other we shouldn't be doing it for especially this critical issue. the inability to access these medications at a young age put the individuals at risk for psychosocial problems. potential suicidality, that sort of thing. so it really is devastating.

the effects of puberty, allowing them to take hold rather than being blocked or delayed, which is all we are doing. we are not doing anything affirmative with these medications. that has devastating effects for these people because they cannot be reversed in the future. >> could i come back and follow up on the point that was made in the statement, that tennessee wants to wait until it can fully understand the lifelong consequences and science behind this therapy. what do you think of that? >> there is lots of talk about the science not being good, or the cass report had questions about the quality of the science. even in the cass report, they didn't take into account research that has been done since they did the report in 2022. there has been literally hundreds of papers since that time, and there is evidence that gender affirming care does work

in this age group, that it is -- has value and to ignore that is doing a disservice to the general public. >> lease in the -- police in new york city are searching for a gunman who shot dead the chief executive of united health care. brian thompson was shot on wednesday, found outside t hilton hotel in manhattan where he had been scheduled to speak at an investor conference. the 50-year-old father of two was pronounced dead at the hospital. in a statement in the last hour his family said, we are shattered to hear about the senseless killing of our beloved brian, adding, brian was an incredibly loving father to her two sons and will greatly missed. our correspondent is following the latest from new york. what do we know about where the shooter is? >> well, the police have been

scouring thi city with everything they've got at their disposal, using cctv cameras and helicopters, drones and dogs. last we know, officially, is that from the video footage of the killing itself, this was all caught by cctv camera outside the hilton hotel, is that the gunmen ran off in a north direction of 6th avenue, got onto an e bike and was last seen moving through central park. we don't know whether the police have any further leads, but they say they are determined to track him down. this is a shocking killing, shocking not only mr. thompson's family and the company he works for but for new york as well. central manhattan is not normally the scene of this kind

of thing and police say they are determined to catch the suspect. >> investigations are continuing but is there any indication of what the motive might have been? >> the police were very clear th believe this was a targeted killing. the video of the shooting shows the gunmen apparently waiting for mr. thompson. another -- a number of members of the public walked by unhindered and mr. thompson appears to be singled out, shot he walks past.mes in the back as why the shooting took place in public, the police do not yet have a motive. significantly perhaps, mr. thompson's wife gave a short interview to nbc news earlier today saying her husband had been facing rats of some kind.

there was little further detail given in the interview but clearly, if that is the case that is likely to be a focus of the investigation. >> john reporting there in new york city. great to get that update from you. thank you so much. let's turn to other headlines now from around the world. u.s. president joe biden met the presidents of zambia and the demo arctic republic of congo to promote plans for a u.s. funded railway line, which aims to make it easier to export minerals via a port in angola. the u.s. pledged 500 $50 million to refurbish and expand the railway first -- the railway. mr. biden's visit counters the influence of china. human rights groups believe 135 fans were crushed at a football stadium. the number exceeds the official total of 56.

the group says it is based on information from hospitals, cemeteries, witnesses and media. mexican police say they have made their biggest seizure of fentanyl. the president said the drugs seized in sunil lowa are enough -- sinaloa are enough for 200 million doses. fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid responsible for thousands of deaths in the west and other countries. judges and the corruption trial of benjamin netanyahu have agreed the prime minister can take the stand in a heavily fortified bunker in tel aviv when he appears in court next week. security forces recommended the move from jerusalem. netanyahu requested special safety considerations for the hearing in which he will testify on charges of fraud and breach of trust. netanyahu denies wrongdoing. nato's secretary-general is

urging member states to provide more ammunition and air defense to ukraine to trip -- change the trajectory of the war with russia. he said it is necessary for ukraine to get from being on the back foot as he called it, to a position of strength before peace talks with russia can be considered. he said russia is supporting north korea's missile and nuclear programs in exchange for the ointment of north korean troops to ukraine. >> allies are looking to deliver 400 -- 40 million euros in 2024. i expect the new command and nato security assistance to be fully operational by the end of this year. but we must do more than just keep ukraine in the fight. we must provide enough support to change the trajectory of this conflict once and for all. >> the opposition in georgia says one of its leaders is in detention after being beaten

unconscious by police in the capital. footed shows the man -- footage shows the man being dragged along the street by what appeared to be security forces. police raided the officer -- offices of opposition parties and the offices and homes of activists. over 300 people have been arrested in seven days of antigovernment protests into billy see. -- in tblisi. the police were accused of torture on those detained. an official tells what is needed. >> the protests must not continue. people jailed for their political opinion must be freed. the new elections must take place and we are calling for a general strike. >> our correspondent has more from tblisi. >> this is a tense confrontation

between police and journalists from the oppositionedia. a short while ago, one of the members of the opposition party was arrested outside the hotel, where opposition leader is a short while ago held a meeting and they announced their plan, what to do next. they are calling for a general strike saying the protests should continue but outside the hotel where the meeting was held, there is a huge number of police. it has been a tense day in tblisi. earlier wednesday, the police raided the officers of opposition parties and one of the opposition leaders was detained as he confronted police. about 200 meters from where i'm standing now, huge protests have resumed for the seventh night. >> reporting for us there.

before we go, the world's oldest known wild bird is caring for an egg she laid at the age of 74. wisdom is an albatross in the pacific ocean. the u.s. fish and wildlife service filmed a video showing wisdom and her partner looking after the big. -- the egg. these albatrosses live up to 40 years but she was first tagged in 1956. she is thought to have had more than 30 chicks in her lifetime. you can get the latest news on our website, bbc.com/news, and check us out on your they are it -- favorite social media site. thank you for w announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james.

announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: gethe free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. ♪ >> good evening. on the news hour tonight, u.s. supreme court case pushes gender affirming care for transgender minors back into the national spotlight. >> being