03 World

France’s Le Pen convicted of embezzlement, barred from 2027 presidential race – The Tribune India

pgnewser April 3, 2025 0

France’s Le Pen convicted of embezzlement, barred from 2027 presidential race – The Tribune India
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French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement on Monday and banned immediately for five years from running for public office, in a watershed moment that will rule her out of the 2027 presidential race unless she successfully appeals beforehand.

The French court’s ruling was a catastrophic setback for Le Pen, the National Rally (RN) party chief who has been a front-runner in opinion polls for the 2027 contest.

The judge also gave Le Pen a four-year prison sentence — two years of which are suspended sentence and two which will be served under home detention. She also received a 100,000-euro ($108,200) fine.

Danish PM heads to Greenland as Trump seeks control of the Arctic territory– abcnews.go.com

pgnewser April 3, 2025 0

Danish PM heads to Greenland as Trump seeks control of the Arctic territory– abcnews.go.com
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NUUK, Greenland — Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is traveling to Greenland on Wednesday for a three-day trip aimed at building trust and cooperation with Greenlandic officials at a time when the Trump administration is seeking control of the vast Arctic territory.

Frederiksen announced plans for her visit after U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited a U.S. air base in Greenland last week and accused Denmark of underinvesting in the territory.

Greenland is a mineral-rich, strategically critical island that is becoming more accessible because of climate change. Trump has said that the landmass is critical to U.S. security. It’s geographically part of North America, but is a semiautonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark.

Frederiksen is due to meet the incoming Greenlandic leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, after an election last month that produced a new government. She is also to meet with the future Naalakkersuisut, the Cabinet, in a visit due to last through Friday.

“It has my deepest respect how the Greenlandic people and the Greenlandic politicians handle the great pressure that is on Greenland,” she said in government statement announcing the visit.

Greece to ban having children via surrogacy for single men and male same-sex couples– abcnews.go.com

pgnewser April 3, 2025 0

Greece to ban having children via surrogacy for single men and male same-sex couples– abcnews.go.com
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ATHENS, Greece — Men in Greece will be barred from having children via surrogacy if they are single or in a same-sex relationship, the justice minister said Tuesday, asserting that it’s intended to eliminate legal ambiguity over the concept of inability to carry a pregnancy.

Giorgos Floridis said the proposed changes will be submitted to parliament soon as part of broader civil code reform.

“We are now clarifying unequivocally that the concept of inability to carry a pregnancy does not refer to an inability arising from one’s gender,” Floridis told reporters. “In other words, a woman may be unable to carry a pregnancy whether she is in a male-female couple, a female same-sex couple or on her own.”

Greece legalized same-sex marriage last year — the first Orthodox Christian-majority country to do so. The marriage equality law was opposed by Greece’s powerful Orthodox Church and conservative groups. Parliament approved civil partnerships for gay couples in 2015.

In contrast to growing consensus in support of same-sex marriage, Europe’s legal landscape for surrogacy varies widely. Many countries prohibit all forms of the practice or impose restrictions.

Twenty-three states sue Trump administration over decision to rescind billions in health funding – live | Trump administration– www.theguardian.com

pgnewser April 3, 2025 0

Twenty-three states sue Trump administration over decision to rescind billions in health funding – live | Trump administration– www.theguardian.com
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Nearly two dozen states sue Trump administration over decision to rescind billions in health funding

A group of Democratic-led states have sued the Trump administration over its decision to cut $11bn in federal funds that they were allocated during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the lawsuit, attorneys general and governors from 23 states and the District of Columbia argue that Department of Health and Human Services lacks the authority to unilaterally claw back funding the states had already built health programs around.

The “sudden and reckless cuts violate federal law, jeopardize public health, and will have devastating consequences for communities nationwide,” the lawsuit writes.

France’s Parliament Is Set to Debate Changing Rape Law to Include Consent – The New York Times

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France’s Parliament Is Set to Debate Changing Rape Law to Include Consent – The New York Times
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After dozens of men were convicted of raping a drugged Gisèle Pelicot, lawmakers moved to require that consent be given for sex to be considered consensual.

Many countries require that consent be given before sex — and have written that into their rape laws. France is not among them.

Now two lawmakers hope to change that, and they got a step closer Tuesday night when the lower house of the French Parliament passed a bill that expands the definition of rape to include nonconsensual penetration.

Their cause gained traction after a horrific trial last fall in which dozens of men were convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was in a deeply drugged state.

“This is a starting point, not a final one,” Marie-Charlotte Garin, one of the two lawmakers who proposed the bill, told the National Assembly after the vote. “We are moving from a culture of rape to a culture of consent, and this is the first stone we are throwing against the wall of impunity.”

Tariffs may raise much less than White House projects, economists say– www.cnbc.com

pgnewser April 3, 2025 0

Tariffs may raise much less than White House projects, economists say– www.cnbc.com
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President Donald Trump says that tariffs will make the U.S. “rich.” But those riches will likely be far less than the White House expects, economists said.

The ultimate sum could have big ramifications for the U.S. economy, the nation’s debt and legislative negotiations over a tax-cut package, economists said.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Sunday estimated tariffs would raise about $600 billion a year and $6 trillion over a decade. Auto tariffs would add another $100 billion a year, he said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Navarro made the projection as the U.S. plans to announce more tariffs against U.S. trading partners on Wednesday.

Economists expect the Trump administration’s tariff policy would generate a much lower amount of revenue than Navarro claims. Some project the total revenue would be less than half.

Roughly $600 billion to $700 billion a year “is not even in the realm of possibility,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s. “If you get to $100 billion to $200 billion, you’ll be pretty lucky.”

Trump set to unleash ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs– www.channelnewsasia.com

pgnewser April 3, 2025 0

Trump set to unleash ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs– www.channelnewsasia.com
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“COULDN’T CARE LESS”

Major economies including the European Union and Canada have vowed retaliation.

“We are going to be very deliberate in terms of the measures we take, to fight for Canada,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Tuesday.

The European Union, which Trump has accused of trying to “screw” the United States, said Tuesday it still hoped to negotiate a solution – but that “all instruments are on the table” to retaliate.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Trump on “productive negotiations” towards a trade deal between the US and the United Kingdom. Vietnam said on Tuesday that it would slash duties on a range of goods to appease Trump.

Israel announces plan to seize ‘large areas’ in Gaza – latest updates | Israel-Gaza war– www.theguardian.com

pgnewser April 3, 2025 0

Israel announces plan to seize ‘large areas’ in Gaza – latest updates | Israel-Gaza war– www.theguardian.com
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Airstrikes continued on Gaza on Wednesday morning after the Israeli defense minister announced that Israel intended to expand its war. In a statement, Israel Katz said the offensive was “expanding to crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and capture large areas that will be added to the security zones of the state of Israel.”

The move has been condemned by the Hostages Families Forum, who said it appeared that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government were making the return of 59 hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas “a secondary task” that had been “pushed to the bottom of the priority list.”

In a post to social media, Katz said:

I wish success to the IDF soldiers who are fighting bravely and powerfully in Gaza for the return of the kidnapped and the defeat of Hamas. The goal of Operation “Strength and Sword” is first and foremost to increase pressure for the release of all the hostages in the face of Hamas’ refusal.

Expanding the operation this morning will increase the pressure on the Hamas murderers and also on the population in Gaza and advance the achievement of the sacred and important goal for all of us. I call on the residents of Gaza to act now to remove Hamas and return all the hostages. This is the only way to end the war.

DOJ Charges Men Over Plot to Steal U.S. Technology for Iranian Regime– townhall.com

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DOJ Charges Men Over Plot to Steal U.S. Technology for Iranian Regime– townhall.com
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Federal prosecutors have charged an Iranian company and two Iranian nationals with trying to funnel money to the country’s military while obtaining U.S. technology to improve drones.

The Justice Department made the announcement on Tuesday.

A criminal complaint was unsealed today charging Hossein Akbari, 63, and Reza Amidi, 62, both of Iran, and an Iranian company, Rah Roshd Company (Rah Roshd), with conspiring to procure U.S. parts for Iranian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, also known as drones), conspiring to provide material support to the IRGC – a designated foreign terrorist organization – and conspiring to commit money laundering.

Akbari is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rah Roshd. Amidi is the company’s commercial manager and was previously the commercial manager of Qods Aviation Industries (QAI), an Iranian state-owned aerospace company. They are both citizens of Iran and remain at large.

Sue J. Bai, head of the DOJ’s National Security Division, explained, “Today’s charges lay bare how U.S.-made technology ended up in the hands of the Iranian military to build attack drones.”

Europe’s Attacks On Free Speech, Elections Prove Vance Right– thefederalist.com

pgnewser April 3, 2025 0

Europe’s Attacks On Free Speech, Elections Prove Vance Right– thefederalist.com
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It’s been a banner week for authoritarians in Europe, and it’s only Wednesday.

On Monday, a French court banned Marine Le Pen, the leader of the right-wing National Rally party and the frontrunner in the 2027 presidential election, from seeking public office for the next five years. The same day, The Telegraph reported that a toddler had been booted from a U.K. preschool for being insufficiently supportive of LGBT politics. Over the weekend, a British couple revealed they had been arrested based on complaints they expressed in a WhatsApp chat about their daughter’s public school.

This is exactly the kind of crackdown on free expression that Vice President J.D. Vance chastised complicit European leaders about in February, in an address at the Munich Security Conference. This week’s insanity further proves Vance’s dire warnings were right.

Vance called out the U.K., Germany, Sweden, and the European Union for censoring and criminalizing the free expression of their citizens, citing police raids against Germans for comments posted online and the prosecution of a British man who dared to pray in silence outside of an abortion facility.

‘The law is the same for everyone’: Macron addresses Le Pen verdict for first time and criticises threats against judges – as it happened | Europe– www.theguardian.com

pgnewser April 3, 2025 0

‘The law is the same for everyone’: Macron addresses Le Pen verdict for first time and criticises threats against judges – as it happened | Europe– www.theguardian.com
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French President Emmanuel Macron has commented for the first time since Marine Le Pen was found guilty of embezzlement and barred from running in France’s next presidential election.

Opening a weekly meeting of French ministers, Macron addressed the court’s decision by recalling the three things government spokesperson Sophie Primas said.

They were “that the judiciary is independent”, “that the threats made against judges are absolutely unbearable and intolerable”, and that “the law is the same for everyone”, Politico reports.

Macron also stated that “all defendants have the right to legal recourse,” Primas said.

Judge who sentenced Marine Le Pen under police protection amid online threats– www.euronews.com

pgnewser April 3, 2025 0

Judge who sentenced Marine Le Pen under police protection amid online threats– www.euronews.com
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A torrent of online abuse has been directed at Bénédicte de Perthuis, the judge who presided over the Paris court on Monday.

While far-right politician Marine Le Pen vowed to appeal the conviction she was handed on Monday, the judge who presided over her case has faced a torrent of intimidating online reactions.

Bénédicte de Perthuis, the judge who sentenced Le Pen for embezzling EU funds and barred her from running in France’s 2027 presidential election, was placed under police protection on Monday night over alleged death threats she received, domestic press reported.

The fiery fallout came her way as some took offence at what they claim is political revanchism — despite de Perthuis herself emphasising that the role of the court and her as a judge was to treat Le Pen’s case like any other.

“Equality before the law is a pillar of democracy. Elected officials enjoy no impunity,” said de Perthuis on Monday, before she issued a judgment, which she had worked on with two other high-profile judges.

Susan Crawford beats Brad Schimel: Why Wisconsin Supreme Court loss was personal for Elon Musk | World News– timesofindia.indiatimes.com

pgnewser April 3, 2025 0

Susan Crawford beats Brad Schimel: Why Wisconsin Supreme Court loss was personal for Elon Musk | World News– timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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In a closely watched and historically expensive election, liberal Judge Susan Crawford defeated conservative Brad Schimel to secure a 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, preserving the court’s narrow liberal majority. This outcome not only represents a significant victory for Democrats but also a deeply personal and strategic defeat for billionaire Elon Musk, who invested millions into the race in an attempt to sway its outcome.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court race shattered records as the most expensive judicial election in US history, with Musk pouring over $21 million into Schimel’s campaign. Much of this funding came through Musk’s America PAC, a political action committee he established to support former President Donald Trump. Musk’s contributions included direct financial backing for Schimel and controversial cash incentives for voters—offering $100 for signing petitions and $1 million checks to select individuals. Despite these efforts, Crawford emerged victorious, securing the liberal majority on the court with national implications for issues such as abortion rights, labour laws, and electoral redistricting.