Marine Le Pen attacks ban on French presidency run as a ‘political decision’

Far-right leader, who was found guilty of embezzlement of European funds, says conviction is a ‘denial of democracy’

The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has railed against a Paris court’s “political decision” to bar her from competing for the presidency in 2027, attacking the move to ban her from running for public office as “a denial of democracy”.

In a day of high political drama, Le Pen was found guilty of embezzlement of European parliament funds on a vast scale, a conviction for which she was also handed a four-year prison sentence, with two of those years suspended and two to be served outside jail with an electronic bracelet. She was also ordered to pay a €100,000 (£84,000) fine.

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More than 1,900 scientists write letter in ‘SOS’ over Trump’s attacks on science

Members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine warned Americans of ‘real danger in this moment’

More than 1,900 members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine signed an open letter warning Americans about the “danger” of the Trump administration’s attacks on science.

The letter comes amid the administration’s relentless assault on US scientific institutions which has included threats to private universities, federal grant cancelations and ideological funding reviews, mass government layoffs, resignations and censorship.

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Israel awaits Hamas answer to counterproposal as military pressue mounts – Ynetnews

  1. Israel awaits Hamas answer to counterproposal as military pressue mounts  Ynetnews
  2. What We Know About Talks for a Renewed Gaza Cease-Fire  The New York Times
  3. Israel-Gaza conflict: Ceasefire plan back on table  BBC
  4. Hamas agrees to Gaza ceasefire proposal, the group's chief says  Yahoo
  5. Israel proposes hostage deal as fighting continues in Gaza  Reuters
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Three of four US soldiers missing in Lithuania found dead – The Guardian

  1. Three of four US soldiers missing in Lithuania found dead  The Guardian
  2. Bodies of three out of four US soldiers whose vehicle was submerged in Lithuania are recovered  CNN
  3. West Michigan family hopes soldier missing in Lithuania is found safe  WOODTV.com
  4. 3 American soldiers deceased after US armored vehicle pulled from Lithuanian swamp  Fox News
  5. GoFundMe set up to help families of Fort Stewart soldiers killed in Lithuania  WJCL
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Trump pardons January 6 loyalist and commutes jail time of Hunter Biden associate

President issues full pardon to veteran Thomas Caldwell and commutes Jason Galanis’s 14-year prison sentence

Donald Trump has issued a full pardon to another person involved with the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol and commuted the sentence of a former business associate of Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s scandal-plagued son.

Thomas Caldwell, 69, of Berryville, Virginia, has been granted a pardon for his alleged role in the Capitol attack following a series of pardons Trump has given out to those involved with or present during the events on 6 January 2021.

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Epstein and Prince Andrew accuser says she has days to live after bus crash

Virginia Giuffre writes on social media she has ‘gone into kidney renal failure … they’ve given me four days to live’

Virginia Giuffre, a victim of the disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein who once alleged she was sexually trafficked to Britain’s Prince Andrew, says she has just days to live after being involved in a vehicle accident.

“This year has been the worst start to a new year … I won’t bore anyone with the details, but I think it important to note that when a school bus driver comes at you driving 110km as we were slowing for a turn no matter what your car is made of it might as well be a tin can,” she wrote in a post on social media on Sunday, along with a photograph of herself lying in a hospital bed with a head injury.

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Tenants win £260,000 of rent back in legal fight with London ‘rogue landlord’

Residents took firms owned by billionaire to tribunal for operating unlicensed houses in multiple occupation

Tenants of two buildings in east London have been awarded a six-figure sum in rent repayments by a tribunal after challenging a billionaire described by a judge as a “rogue landlord”.

The group of current and former residents of Olympic House and Simpson House in Hackney took companies owned by John Christodoulou to tribunal for operating unlicensed houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), which meant the buildings were not subject to the safety and quality standards required by law.

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Scotland Yard protesters demand justice for drag artist found dead in Soho in 2023

Friends and fans of Heklina denounce Met’s investigation of unsolved death in her London flat

Nearly two years after the American drag artist Heklina was found dead in London, her friends and fans gathered outside Scotland Yard’s headquarters to protest against the force’s handling of the case.

Heklina, whose real name was Steven Grygelko, was found at a flat in Soho, central London, on 3 April 2023, by a friend and fellow drag performer, Peaches Christ, real name Joshua Grannell.

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Trump’s bombing threat over Iran nuclear programme prompts backlash

Iranian officials accuse US president of breaching UN charter and say ‘violence brings violence’

Iran has reacted with outrage after Donald Trump said the country will be bombed if it does not accept US demands to constrain its nuclear programme.

The US president said on Sunday that if Iran “[doesn’t] make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”.

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Pope Francis approves decree to advance sainthood causes of 5 people – Catholic News Agency

  1. Pope Francis approves decree to advance sainthood causes of 5 people  Catholic News Agency
  2. Venezuela will have its first female saint after approval from Pope Francis  AP News
  3. Pope clears path for canonization of PNG Blessed Peter To Rot  Vatican News
  4. Pope's work during convalescence includes clearing path for saints from Venezuela, Papua New Guinea  Yahoo
  5. Pope approves canonisation of Peter To Rot, who will be PNG's first saint  Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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Israel to reoccupy 25% of Gaza to press Hamas to release hostages, official says – Axios

  1. Israel to reoccupy 25% of Gaza to press Hamas to release hostages, official says  Axios
  2. Israel orders evacuation of southern Gaza city of Rafah  BBC
  3. Updates: Palestinians flee Rafah as Israel renews assault on south Gaza  Al Jazeera
  4. 15 first responders killed in Rafah, U.N. says; IDF orders mass evacuation  The Washington Post
  5. Middle East updates: Israel orders evacuation of Rafah  DW
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