The Paris appeal court has upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misusing EU funds but shortened her sentence, clearing the path for her to run in the April 2027 French presidential election.

A five-year ban on holding public office has been reduced and backdated to March 2025, and the court said it now considered the penalty had already been served.

However, the leader of the hard-right National Rally has been given a one-year term wearing an electronic ankle tag under house arrest, although that would not necessarily stop her running either.

Le Pen has said repeatedly she would not run for president if she had to wear an electronic tag as she would not feel “totally free” to campaign.

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US President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran “hard” tonight, hours after saying he thinks the US-Iran ceasefire is “over”.

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Two years of conflict have devastated Gaza’s infrastructure and its ability to feed itself. With food supplies unreliable and prices soaring, many Gazans have turned to urban farming – planting on rooftops, in home gardens, and next to tents.

At the heart of this struggle is a small seed bank run by Salama Mhanna and his daughter Hanadi.

Originally started in 2017 to preserve local crop varieties, their project was destroyed during the fighting in 2024. Now operating from a tent, they are starting again to provide farmers with the seeds they need to survive.

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The renewed strikes between the US and Iran this week have put Gulf countries back in the firing line.

The latest escalation was sparked when Iran’s Islamic Revoluationary Guard (IRGC) targeted three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz – including Saudi and Qatar-owned oil and gas tankers.

The US retaliated with dozens of strikes on Iran. Tehran now says it has responded by targeting US-linked sites in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and Iraq.

So what do the Gulf’s leaders make of this escalation? What role was set out for them in the Memorandum of Understanding anounced by President Donald Trump last month? And how could it the continuing uncertainty caused by the US-Israel war with Iran affect regional alliances with Washington?

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