The likely fall of another prime minister is a further blow to Emmanuel Macron’s becalmed presidency. A change in priorities is needed

Following a startling victory for Marine Le Pen in European elections last June, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, foolishly called a snap legislative poll. The idea was to give voters a salutary wake-up call, daring them to repeat their embrace of Ms Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in a domestic election. The unanticipated result was a suddenly deadlocked parliament, in which the influence of the National Rally and the left significantly increased, and a lame-duck status for Mr Macron’s second term.

That failed gamble has now led to another, which appears equally doomed. This week, Mr Macron’s fourth prime minister in two years put the future of his minority government on the line, in an attempt to pass a deeply unpopular budget this autumn. François Bayrou, intending to deliver his own wake-up call to MPs, has unexpectedly called a confidence vote to take place early next month. MPs will be challenged to either endorse in principle Mr Bayrou’s view that austerity is necessary to reduce the public deficit, or vote for the government to fall.

Spokesperson says government in ‘fighting spirit’ after PM called confidence vote he is expected to lose

Emmanuel Macron has given his “full support” to France’s beleaguered prime minister, François Bayrou, who is expected to lose a confidence vote next month, which would be likely to cause the government to collapse.

Macron chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday as France faces a fresh political crisis. The government spokesperson, Sophie Primas, said after the meeting that Macron fully supported Bayrou and the government was in a “fighting spirit”.

Spokesperson says government in ‘fighting spirit’ after PM called confidence vote he is expected to lose

Emmanuel Macron has given his “full support” to France’s beleaguered prime minister, François Bayrou, who is expected to lose a confidence vote next month, which would be likely to cause the government to collapse.

Macron chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday as France faces a fresh political crisis. The government spokesperson, Sophie Primas, said after the meeting that Macron fully supported Bayrou and the government was in a “fighting spirit”.

A new lawsuit aimed at Amazon questions the legitimacy of the word ‘buy’ when it comes to owning a movie on your devices

A possible class-action lawsuit against Amazon Prime, one of the world’s biggest platforms for streaming film and television, has raised an odd question: what does it mean to buy something?

The proposed lawsuit, which was filed last week in federal court and first reported by the Hollywood Reporter, alleges that Prime’s practice of offering users the chance to “buy” (as opposed to “rent”) content is inherently deceptive. The suit argues that buying something implies perpetual possession – but that Amazon, like many other streaming services, is really just selling its customers viewing licenses that can be revoked at any time, in keeping with fine print that most customers do not read or understand.

A new lawsuit aimed at Amazon questions the legitimacy of the word ‘buy’ when it comes to owning a movie on your devices

A possible class-action lawsuit against Amazon Prime, one of the world’s biggest platforms for streaming film and television, has raised an odd question: what does it mean to buy something?

The proposed lawsuit, which was filed last week in federal court and first reported by the Hollywood Reporter, alleges that Prime’s practice of offering users the chance to “buy” (as opposed to “rent”) content is inherently deceptive. The suit argues that buying something implies perpetual possession – but that Amazon, like many other streaming services, is really just selling its customers viewing licenses that can be revoked at any time, in keeping with fine print that most customers do not read or understand.

Richard Barnes says the lack of meaningful action by Keir Starmer and David Lammy makes them complicit in everything Israel does. Plus letters from Hilary Lang, Mike Cowley and Janet Dubé

David Lammy is good with words. He says “we need an immediate ceasefire”, in response to Israel’s horrific double tap attack on Nasser hospital (Israel bombed Gaza hospital a second time, killing rescuers, say health officials, 25 August). But he is, as usual, hopeless at following up the fine words with any action.

Ofer Cassif makes clear that the UK government is already “complicit in this devastating human-made catastrophe” (Protests in Tel Aviv, army reservists refusing to serve: in Israel, more of us are saying no to this endless war, 25 August), but lists a number of steps that Keir Starmer and Lammy could take to end this complicity. These include the immediate unconditional recognition of Palestine, acknowledging Benjamin Netanyahu as a war criminal and supporting new West Bank sanctions. Above all, they must “recognise the people of Gaza as victims of a continuing genocide”, with the actions that would have to follow from that under the genocide convention.