User Articles

Bardella: We’ll take to the streets

Far-right party chief Jordan Bardella called on the French to rally this weekend to protest against a ruling that banned Marine Le Pen from running for public office for five years after being found guilty of embezzling European Union funds. The ruling was a catastrophic setback for Le Pen, the long-time National Rally (RN) leader, who had been the front-runner in opinion polls for the 2027 presidential election. “I believe today that the French must be outraged, and I tell them: Be outraged!,“ Bardella said over a ruling that far-right leaders said was biased and undemocratic.

Reuters

Lebanon

Strike kills Hezbollah official

An Israeli airstrike has killed four people including a Hezbollah official in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Lebanese security source says, further testing a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. The Israeli military said the official – Hassan Bdeir – was a member of a Hezbollah unit and Iran’s Quds Force, and he had assisted the Palestinian group Hamas in planning a “significant and imminent terror attack against Israeli civilians”.

Reuters

Trade

18 hours ago

EU has ‘strong plan’ to hit back at US

The European Union has a “strong plan” to retaliate against tariffs imposed, and set to be imposed, by US President Donald Trump, although it would prefer to negotiate a solution, EU executive chief Ursula von der Leyen says. The Trump administration put in place tariffs on imported steel and aluminium in March and higher duties on cars will take effect on Thursday. Trump will also set out plans for “reciprocal tariffs” on Wednesday. Von der Leyen said she understood US arguments that others had taken advantage of global trade rules, adding the EU had suffered too.

Reuters

18 hours ago

USA

20 hours ago

Britain still hopeful of tariff deal

Britain is still hopeful that any tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump will be reversed shortly, if the two sides can agree the outline of a new economic partnership, its business minister says. Britain had sought to avoid Trump’s global tariff plan by offering to more closely align with Washington on areas such as technology and artificial intelligence. But business minister Jonathan Reynolds said Trump now appeared to want to impose levies on every country before discussing individual exemptions.

Reuters

20 hours ago

Energy

Finland’s last coal-fired plant shuts down

Finland’s last coal-fired power and heat plant in active production will shut down permanently today, enabling Helsinki energy group Helen to cut its emissions and put an end to rising energy costs for its customers, its chief executive says. Finland’s renewable power and heat production capacity, such as wind and solar, has increased rapidly in the past few years, leading to a collapse in the use of coal after the previous government in 2019 passed a law to ban coal from 2029.

Reuters

United Nations

Ambassadors in mix for UN role

President Donald Trump says he has several potential candidates for US ambassador to the United Nations, including Richard Grenell, a former ambassador to Germany, and David Friedman, a former envoy to Israel. Last week Trump withdrew the nomination of Representative Elise Stefanik for the job over concerns that her exit from the House of Representatives could threaten Republicans’ narrow majority. Asked who he was considering instead, Trump said as many as 30 people were interested in the job.

Reuters

Taiwan

23 hours ago

Massive Chinese drills a warning to ‘parasite’ president

China has begun joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan as a “stern warning” against separatism and called Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te a “parasite”, as Taiwan sent warships to respond to China’s navy approaching its coast. The exercises around the democratically governed island, which China views as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring under its control, come after Lai called Beijing a “foreign hostile force” last month.

Reuters

23 hours ago

France

Trump: Le Pen case a ‘very big deal’

US President Donald Trump says that French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s conviction and resulting prohibition from running in the 2027 presidential election is a “very big deal”. A French court this week barred Le Pen from running in the 2027 presidential election after she was convicted of embezzlement. “That’s a very big deal,“ Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the conviction.

Reuters

Middle East

Trump set to visit Middle East

US President Donald Trump says he plans to visit Saudi Arabia as early as May to sign an investment agreement in what will be the first foreign trip of his second term, with stops also planned in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. “It could be next month, maybe a little later,“ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Reuters

Russia

Russia still ‘working with US’ on peace

The Kremlin says Russia and the United States are working on ideas for a possible peace settlement in Ukraine and on building bilateral ties despite US President Donald Trump saying that he was angry with Vladimir Putin. Trump told NBC News he was very angry after the Russian leader criticised the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the US president suggested he could impose secondary tariffs of 25 to 50 per cent on buyers of Russian oil.

Reuters

Greenland

Greenland strengthens Danish ties

Greenland will strengthen its ties with Denmark until it can become a sovereign nation, the Arctic island’s incoming prime minister says, noting that the semi-autonomous Danish territory ultimately wants to become independent. Jens-Frederik Nielsen, 33, was sworn in as prime minister of Greenland late last week and will lead a four-party coalition government amid challenges posed by US President Donald Trump’s ambitions to control the island.

Reuters

Hong Kong

Chinese, Hong Kong officials sanctioned for rights abuses

The United States has sanctioned six senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials for “transnational repression” and actions it says eroded the autonomy of Hong Kong, one of the first moves by the new Trump administration to punish China over its crackdown on democracy advocates in Hong Kong.

Reuters

Government

Trump order targets scalpers

US President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order aimed at protecting fans from “exploitative ticket scalping” and reforming the US live entertainment ticketing industry, according to a White House fact sheet. The order directs Treasury...

Reuters

France

Le Pen barred from running for office

A French court has barred French far-right leader Marine Le Pen from running in the 2027 presidential election after she was convicted of embezzlement, in a seismic ruling that could fuel global tensions over judicial efforts to police politics. The French court’s ruling was a catastrophic setback for Le Pen, 56. The National Rally (RN) party chief is one of the most prominent figures of the European far right, and a front-runner in polls for France’s 2027 contest.

Reuters