Why France’s government fell

plus: unpacking research on beta blockers ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

France's government lost a confidence vote in parliament on Monday, spelling the end of François Bayrou's nearly nine months as prime minister. Facing steady opposition to his plans for spending cuts to help tackle public debt, Bayrou had called for the vote himself, even though it was difficult to see how he could win. In an interview, political scientist Frédéric Sawicki discusses the institutional and personal factors that led to this "political suicide", and shares ideas for constitutional changes that could make French voters feel better represented – and representatives more willing to compromise.

Macron named a new PM, defence minister Sébastian Lecornu, on the eve of a day of protest in France dubbed "Bloquons tout" ("Block everything"), a phrase that had circulated online even before Bayrou presented his proposed cuts in July. By noon Wednesday there were reports of a partial staff strike outside a Paris hospital and a blocked highway in Lyon; by 6pm the interior ministry said about 175,000 people had attended protests across the country. The French inter-union group did not sign on to "Bloquons tout", but at least five unions came out against Bayrou's fiscal plan, and strikes loom next week. Historian Stéphane Sirot explains how strikes "have become firmly established as a central feature of social relations in France", even if walking off the job and taking to the streets no longer reflects a union-driven utopian aim.

Doctors have been prescribing beta blockers for patients who have suffered heart attacks for more than 40 years. Media reports suggested that a recent study showed most heart attack patients did not benefit from the drug, and that beta blockers might even increase the risk of hospitalisation and death in women. However, a study published the very same day showed almost the opposite. Cardiologist Tomas Jernberg writes that the key to understanding the different results lies in a figure called the ejection fraction, which denotes a percentage of blood in the left chamber of the heart that each heartbeat pushes into the body.

City-dwellers need the shade, improved air quality and noise reduction that trees provide, but they also need protection from falling branches and trunks, risks that come when trees age. It's hard to know just how ill a tree is until it's cut down, but delaying a felling, writes biodiversity researcher Enrique Baquero, threatens public safety. To preserve urban green spaces, tree removals should be followed by new plantings of native or adapted species.