Marine Le Pen’s decision to do two things at once is something of a gamble. The leader of the hard-right National Rally (RN) party is going to run for the French presidency next year, availing herself of the appeal court’s decision to effectively remove her bar on public office. But …

France is waking up bleary-eyed on Wednesday, with many still incredulous at the political uproar triggered by right-wing nationalist figurehead Marine Le Pen the night before. Within hours of a court of appeal in Paris confirming her guilty verdict for misuse of public funds, she not only defiantly announced she …

Leader of the French National Rally party Marine Le Pen has said she will run for the presidency in 2027. Le Pen also said she will attempt to appeal and embezzlement conviction that requires her to wear an electronic tag for a year. “I can’t campaign with a tag,” the …

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 …

Born in 1995, the young Jordan was brought up by his Italian-born single mother, Luisa, on the outskirts of Paris. Although Bardella has often said Luisa struggled to make ends meet, his father Olivier, also of Italian origin, ran a drinks distribution business and lived in the more affluent town …

Although the anti-immigration policies are intact, with promises to prioritise homes, jobs and benefits for French nationals, gone is the overt racism and antisemitism of her father, who died last year. Marine Le Pen has been taken to court herself but ultimately she was acquitted in 2015 of inciting racial …

A Frenchman convicted of murdering his wife despite her body never being found has made a confession from prison. Cédric Jubillar, 38, sent a letter to his lawyers admitting that he was responsible for the death of Delphine at their family home in southern France in December 2020. He also …

A resident inside Crimea has told the BBC the situation there is “catastrophic”, as Ukrainian drones strike oil refineries and power plants on the peninsula, as well as military targets. The strikes on Russian-annexed Crimea have increased significantly in recent weeks – partly to cut off supply lines to Russian …

The World Chess Federation (Fide) has banned former world champion Kramnik for at least a year over verbal attacks he made on other players, including the late Daniel Naroditsky. The body said it had found Kramnik “responsible for multiple violations” of its ethics and disciplinary code after the Russian accused …

“He studied drones for three months – and yet they still threw him into a frontal assault, into the meat grinder,” said Valery Averin’s foster mother Oksana Afanayeva. The 23-year-old is among the first Russian students known to have been killed in Ukraine after signing up as part of a …

Poland’s prime minister has said the country is preparing for “various” scenarios and that the coming months could be “critical” concerning the threat from Russia. Donald Tusk was responding to media reports that Moscow was planning an armed “provocation” in Poland to test Nato’s resolve, citing US intelligence. “I don’t …

Stand-up comedian Deniz Göktaş appeared in court on Friday after he was arrested at Istanbul’s main airport over a performance that has attracted 9.4 million views on YouTube. Göktaş is accused of publicly “insulting religious values” in his stage routine, as well as insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish authorities …

A large waterspout formed over a lake in Germany near the southern city of Friedrichshafen. The phenomenon was said to have lasted five to 10 minutes on Wednesday. Waterspouts occur about two to three times a year, according to the German weather service DWD, as cited by Associated Press. BBC …

The SSPX was founded in 1970 in opposition to the modernising reforms made by the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960s, at what was known as the Second Vatican Council. The Society is thought to number around 600 000 worshippers globally. In response to the Vatican’s decree, Rita Reid, an …

Russian forces launched a major drone and missile attack on Kyiv overnight, killing 18 people. The city’s mayor described it as the “most massive attack” on the Ukrainian capital. Several neighbourhoods were evacuated as strikes rocked buildings throughout the city, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russia was preparing …

The mother of a politician from Greece’s ruling New Democracy party has died of injuries sustained in one of a series of suspected arson attacks targeting party officials. Vagia Nestora, 72, suffered extensive burns and multiple organ failure, according to the hospital where she was taken in the northern city …

A number of people have died and others have been injured in a fire that broke out in a 10-storey block of flats in Antwerp, Belgian police say. Thick smoke was seen billowing from the eighth floor of the building in the Linkeroever district, after the fire broke out just …

Dazzling orange lava snakes across Europe’s largest active volcano, as shown in striking new footage. Last Friday’s eruption at Mount Etna, located on the Italian island of Sicily, created a thick streak of bright lava that has run at least 300 meters (1,000ft) lower than the rupture height. The eruption …

There are plans in Berlin to tear down one of the last remnants of Adolf Hitler’s power centre. Almost nothing remains of the Nazi leader’s chancellery in central Berlin, except a bunker. But now there are plans to demolish it to build flats and offices. The New Reich Chancellery, built …

A man has been found dead as an out-of-control wildfire burns in northern Greece, forcing residents of a nearby village to evacuate. The man’s body was found in a charred area near Liti, about 15km (nine miles) north-west of the city of Thessaloniki, where more than 100 firefighters are working …