Politics

A French court’s decision to bar Marine Le Pen, the leader of the hard-right National Rally (RN), from running for president in 2027 sent shock waves through the country’s politics. The court found that Ms Le Pen and eight other politicians had spent money earmarked for use in the EU parliament to pay for staff in the RN. Her supporters accused the establishment of suppressing the election front-runner. Ms Le Pen has lodged an appeal. She welcomed a statement by the Paris Court of Appeal that it would issue a verdict in the summer of 2026.

Realpolitik

Finland joined Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in announcing that it would withdraw from a global treaty banning the use of landmines, as it seeks to protect its long border with Russia. It is also increasing defence spending to at least 3% of GDP. But on a visit to Britain the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, said his country would have to “mentally prepare” to restore relations with its neighbour at some point, prompting the Kremlin’s spokesman to say that Russia was open to resuming ties.

Russia called up another 160,000 men between the ages of 18 to 30 for the armed forces, the largest cohort of conscripts since 2011. The raw recruits won’t be sent to fight in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said America’s proposals to end the war were not acceptable in their current form, because they do not meet Russia’s demands relating to the conflict’s “root causes”.

The British government introduced legislation to stop controversial new guidelines on sentencing from taking effect. The Sentencing Council, an independent body, had proposed changes that would have brought in differential treatment for sentencing based on ethnicity, religion and other variables. Some took this to mean that white men would be treated more harshly than other offenders. The justice minister had warned the council she would legislate if it did not change its guidance.

A senior official in Hungary’s government said it would withdraw from the International Criminal Court. The announcement was made soon after Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, arrived in Hungary for a visit. Last November the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Mr Netanyahu for alleged war crimes, which Viktor Orban, the populist Hungarian prime minister, said he had no intention of acting on.

Israel expanded its military objectives in Gaza to include seizing large parts of the Palestinian territory and turning them into buffer zones along the border with Israel. This will entail a “large-scale” evacuation of the population from combat areas. The group representing the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas said it was dismayed, and that instead of seeking to end the war, Israel was returning to areas where it has “already fought time and time again”.

Meanwhile, humanitarian conditions in the devastated strip continued to deteriorate. The World Food Programme said all bakeries it supported in Gaza had been forced to shut for lack of fuel and flour and that it would run out of hot meals within two weeks.

Israel carried out its first air strikes in southern Beirut, a Hizbullah stronghold, in months. The air strikes were a response to a rocket attack launched from Lebanon.

Mr Netanyahu quickly withdrew his appointment of Eli Sharvit to lead Israel’s domestic intelligence service, the Shin Bet, following a political backlash. Mr Sharvit had reportedly participated in protests against judicial reforms that swept Israel in 2023. Mr Netanyahu fired Ronen Bar as head of the Shin Bet last month, but the courts have said he must remain in the job until they rule on his dismissal.

The African Union sent a team of mediators to South Sudan, as a fragile peace deal agreed to in 2018 came close to collapse. Tensions have increased between Salva Kiir, the president, and Riek Machar, the country’s senior vice-president, risking another civil war. Mr Machar was recently put under house arrest.

The foreign ministers of three countries in the African Sahel, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, headed to Moscow for talks on strengthening ties with Russia. All three countries are ruled by military juntas and have kicked out French and other Western troops that were helping fight jihadists.

South Africa’s government got its budget through parliament, but the ruling African National Congress had to rely on smaller parties to pass the bill after its main coalition partner, the Democratic Alliance, withdrew its support. The pro-business DA rejected the budget’s increases to value-added tax, among other things. It had spent months trying to negotiate a compromise with the ANC.

America’s beleaguered Democrats took some comfort from the election of a liberal judge to Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, which retains the court’s liberal majority. The race took on a national significance when Elon Musk ploughed $25m into supporting the conservative candidate. In Florida the Republicans handily held on to two seats in special elections, albeit with reduced majorities.

Health crisis

Around 10,000 employees across various federal health departments started to receive their redundancy notices. Robert F. Kennedy junior, the health secretary, announced the lay-offs. After a new commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration was sworn in, its most senior vaccine official resigned, claiming that Mr Kennedy wants only “subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies”. The FDA’s tobacco regulator was removed from his job.

Pete Hegseth, America’s defence secretary, ordered the armed forces to introduce physical-fitness standards for armed-combat roles that are “sex neutral” and do not lead to a service member being held to a lower standard. The order reduces the likelihood that women will pass the tests for combat roles.

A judge in Manhattan dismissed the federal corruption charges that had been brought against Eric Adams, New York’s mayor, by a former top federal prosecutor in New York. The Justice Department under Donald Trump moved to dismiss the case, arguing that it was interfering with Mr Adams’s ability to support Mr Trump’s deportation policies. The judge rejected the government’s claim that the charges were politically motivated.

Data provided by the US border agency showed that the number of migrants crossing the border from Mexico fell in March to its lowest ever monthly tally. Around 7,180 crossings were recorded compared with the monthly average of 155,000 over the previous four years, proof, the agency said, that it is securing the border.

In Haiti armed gangs attacked Mirebalais, a town about 30km (19 miles) north of the capital, Port-au-Prince, storming a prison and releasing 500 inmates. The gangs may be trying to gain control of roads leading into Port-au-Prince.

At least 3,000 people died and many remained missing in the strongest earthquake to hit Myanmar in over a century. Mandalay and Sagaing bore the brunt. The ruling junta took advantage of the chaos to step up air strikes against the rebels it is fighting. The earthquake was also felt in Bangkok, causing a skyscraper under construction to collapse and many other buildings to sway. Water spilled from swimming pools perched at the top of luxury blocks and hotels.

China conducted military drills in the East China Sea close to Taiwan, firing long-range live ammunition that the Chinese command said was aimed at “simulated targets of key ports and energy facilities”. Taiwan denounced the drills as more harassment. China called the Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-te, “a parasite”.

Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, called a general election for May 3rd. Polls show that both Mr Albanese’s Labor Party and the opposition Liberal Party may struggle to gain a majority in parliament.