ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER WAR  CRIME

Red Cross 'outraged' by killing of medics in Gaza as Macron calls on Netanyahu to stop bombing

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday it had recovered the bodies of 15 rescuers, including eight of its medics, who were killed a week ago when Israeli forces targeted ambulances in the Gaza Strip. The international Red Cross federation said it was "outraged" by the medics' deaths.

Issued on: 30/03/2025
By: FRANCE 24

A file photo showing Palestinian Red Crescent volunteers handing water to drivers waiting to cross an Israeli army checkpoint in Beit Furik east of Nablus, on March 26, 2025, during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. © Zain Jaafar, AFP


The Red Cross federation voiced outrage Sunday after eight medical colleagues were killed while on duty in the Gaza Strip, asking: "When will this stop?"

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said earlier Sunday it had recovered the bodies of the medics, killed a week ago when Israeli forces fired on ambulances in southern Gaza.

The PRCS said the bodies were found along with those of six members of Gaza's civil defence agency and one UN agency employee. One Red Crescent ambulance officer remains missing.

"The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is outraged at the deaths of eight medics from PRCS, killed on duty in Gaza," the world's largest humanitarian network said in a statement.

Gazans outside a hospital in the territory's south after the Red Crescent announced the deaths of formerly missing rescuers © - / AFP

The IFRC said the bodies were retrieved after "seven days of silence" and of having access denied to the area of Rafah where they were last seen.

"I am heartbroken," IFRC secretary general Jagan Chapagain said in a statement.

"These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians. They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked. They should have returned to their families; they did not."

He stressed that under the rules of International Humanitarian Law, civilians, humanitarians and health services must be protected.

"Instead of another call on all parties to protect and respect humanitarians and civilians, I pose a question: when will this stop?

"All parties must stop the killing."

The IFRC said it was the single most deadly attack on its colleagues anywhere in the world since 2017.

The number of PRCS volunteers and staff killed since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023 is now 30, the global federation said.
Israel's bombing campaign continues

Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli air strike on a house and tent sheltering displaced Palestinians killed at least eight people on Sunday, including five children.

The strike hit Khan Younis on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the festival marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu to "put an end to the strikes on Gaza and return to the ceasefire", adding in a post on X after a phone call with the Israeli leader that "humanitarian aid must be delivered again immediately".

Samah Dahliz, 38, whose young relative was among the dead, said: "What kind of Eid is this that we are going through?"

"He's a child, his parents had bought him new clothes for Eid to make him happy," she told AFP.

"They bombed them in their tent while they were sleeping."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Israel admits firing at ambulances and fire trucks during Gaza offensive

The Israeli army on Saturday admitted its troops had opened fire on “suspicious vehicles” in the Gaza Strip that turned out to be “ambulances and fire trucks” during an offensive launched earlier this month. Hamas has condemned the attack and accused Israel of committing a war crime.


Issued on: 29/03/2025 
By: FRANCE 24

Palestinians inspect the damage at an ambulance repair yard that was hit by Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip on March 24, 2025. © Eyad Baba, AFP


Israel's military admitted Saturday it had fired on ambulances in the Gaza Strip after identifying them as "suspicious vehicles", with Hamas condemning it as a "war crime" that killed at least one person.

The incident took place last Sunday in the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood in the southern city of Rafah, close to the Egyptian border.

Israeli troops launched an offensive there on March 20, two days after the army resumed aerial bombardments of Gaza following an almost two-month-long truce.

Read moreIsrael expands Gaza ground offensive into Rafah as missiles intercepted


Israeli troops had "opened fire toward Hamas vehicles and eliminated several Hamas terrorists", the military said in a statement to AFP.

"A few minutes afterward, additional vehicles advanced suspiciously toward the troops ... The troops responded by firing toward the suspicious vehicles, eliminating a number of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists."

The military did not say if there was fire coming from the vehicles.

It added that "after an initial inquiry, it was determined that some of the suspicious vehicles ... were ambulances and fire trucks", and condemned "the repeated use" by "terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip of ambulances for terrorist purposes".

The day after the incident, Gaza's civil defence agency said in a statement that it had not heard from a team of six rescuers from Tal al-Sulta who had been urgently dispatched to respond to deaths and injuries.

On Friday, it reported finding the body of the team leader and the rescue vehicles – an ambulance and a firefighting vehicle – and said a vehicle from the Palestine Red Crescent Society was also "reduced to a pile of scrap metal".

Basem Naim, a member of Hamas's political bureau, accused Israel of carrying out "a deliberate and brutal massacre against Civil Defense and Palestinian Red Crescent teams in the city of Rafah".

"The targeted killing of rescue workers – who are protected under international humanitarian law – constitutes a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime," he said.

Tom Fletcher, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that since March 18, "Israeli airstrikes in densely populated areas have killed hundreds of children and other civilians".

"Patients killed in their hospital beds. Ambulances shot at. First responders killed," he said in a statement.

"If the basic principles of humanitarian law still count, the international community must act while it can to uphold them."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

WWIII

Khamenei warns of 'strong' response if Iran attacked

Tehran (AFP) – Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Monday of a forceful retaliation if the United States or its allies bomb the Islamic republic, following a threat by President Donald Trump.


Issued on: 31/03/2025 - 

A handout picture shows Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ahead of Eid al-Fitr prayer in Tehran © - / KHAMENEI.IR/AFP


"They threaten to do mischief," Khamenei said of Trump's latest threat, during a speech on Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

"If it is carried out, they will definitely receive a strong counterattack."

In an interview on Saturday, Trump said "there will be bombing" if Iran does not agree to a deal to curb its nuclear programme.

"If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing," he said, according to NBC News, which said he also threatened to punish Iran with what he called "secondary tariffs".


It was not clear whether Trump was threatening bombing by US planes alone or perhaps in an operation coordinated with another country, possibly Iran's nemesis Israel.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, in a post on X, said that "an open threat of bombing by a head of state against Iran is a shocking affront to the very essence of international peace and security."

Baqaei warned of unspecified "consequences" should the United State choose a path of "violence".

A statement on Monday also said the foreign ministry summoned the charge d'affaires of the Swiss embassy, which represents US interests in Iran, "following the threats by the US president".

Since taking office in January, Trump has reinstated his "maximum pressure" policy, which in his first term saw the United States withdraw from a landmark agreement on Iran's nuclear programme and reimpose biting sanctions on Tehran.

Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapon, which Tehran has denied, insisting its enrichment activities were solely for peaceful purposes.
'Indirect' channel

The 2015 nuclear deal, sealed between Tehran and world powers, required Iran to limit its nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief.

On March 7, Trump said he had written to Khamenei to call for nuclear negotiations and warn of possible military action if Tehran refused.

The letter was delivered to Tehran on March 12 by UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash, Iranian news agency Fars reported at the time.

On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country had delivered a response via intermediary Oman, without delineating its content.

Araghchi said Iran would not engage in direct talks "under maximum pressure and the threat of military action".

In his remarks, however, the minister left open the door for "indirect negotiations".

President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday said that Khamenei, who as supreme leader has the final say in major state policies, had permitted indirect talks.

Oman has served as an intermediary in the past, in the absence of US-Iranian diplomatic relations severed after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Beyond its nuclear programme, Iran is also accused by the West of using proxy forces to expand its influence in the region, a charge Tehran rejects.

Iran leads the so-called "axis of resistance" against Israel, which includes Palestinian movement Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and other armed group widely proscribed as "terrorist" by Western countries.

Iran does not recognise Israel, its arch enemy and the United States' main ally in the region, and frequently calls for attacks against it.

"There is only one proxy force in this region, and that is the corrupt usurper Zionist regime," Khamenei said, calling for Israel to be "eradicated".

© 2025 AFP

Deported by Trump, in a grey area in Costa Rica, with the fear of a return to their country

Paso Canoas (Costa Rica) (AFP) - Marwa fled Afghanistan and the persecution of women under the Taliban regime. Deported by the United States, she is now being held in a migrant shelter in Costa Rica, saying she fears being sent back: "The Taliban will kill me," she told AFP.

Published : 31/03/2025 - 

Afghan Marwa and her husband Asadi, deported from the United States, at a temporary reception center for migrants in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, on March 28, 2025 

© Ezequiel BECERRA / AFP

Behind the fences of the Temporary Reception Centre for Migrants (Catem), near the border with Panama, the 27-year-old Afghan woman says her husband is also in danger and that there is no future in Afghanistan for her two-year-old daughter.

"If I go back there, I will die. The Taliban will kill me. I lost my father and my uncle. I don't want to lose my husband or my baby," she told an AFP team that, hidden outside the compound, in a place without police surveillance, was able to speak with several deportees.

In addition to Costa Rica, the United States has reached agreements with Panama, which has taken in 300 migrants from Asia, and El Salvador, which has placed 238 Venezuelans in its maximum security prison, alleging their membership in the Tren de Aragua gang, considered a "terrorist organization" by Washington.


"Death penalty"

Of the migrants expelled at the same time as Marwa, 74 have been repatriated to their country of origin, a dozen should soon be repatriated, but more than a hundred are in a grey area: they refuse to return to their country but no other, including Costa Rica, which has a long tradition of welcoming them, grants them asylum.

Aerial view of the Temporary Reception Centre for Migrants (Catem) in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, on March 23, 2025 © Armando ACEVEDO / AFP

"We can't go back, but we can't stay here either. We don't know the culture, we don't speak Spanish. We don't have family in Canada, the United States or Europe," said Marwa, who covered her hair with a hijab.

She said her husband Mohammad, 31, sold building materials to American companies before the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

They then fled, first to Iran for two and a half years before going to Brazil from where they began the long march to the United States, notably through the dangerous Darien jungle, between Colombia and Panama.

"There are a lot of cartels on the way that have taken our money and tortured us physically and mentally," said Alireza Salimivir, a 35-year-old Iranian who went through a similar odyssey with his wife. They have been separated, she is being deported from the United States and Salimivir hopes to find her soon.

Russia's German Smirnov at the Temporary Reception Centre for Migrants (Catem) in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, on March 23, 2025 © Ezequiel BECERRA / AFP

For them, a return to Iran is not an option: "Because of our conversion from Islam to Christianity, they will inflict the death penalty on us," he says.

Deported with his wife and six-year-old child, German Smirnov, 36, fears that if he returns to Russia he will be "tortured" for denouncing anomalies as an observer during the 2024 elections. "I will be given no other choice but prison or go to war," he said.
"Accomplice"

All of them say they were not treated well by the American migration officers: "Like garbage," Smirnov said.

In Catem, 350 km south of San José, they say they are well fed, have access to phones but cannot go out despite having no criminal record. Their passports are withheld by the police.

Russian German Smirnov behind a fence at the Temporary Reception Centre for Migrants (Catem) in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, on March 23, 2025 © Ezequiel BECERRA / AFP

"There is a systematic pattern of human rights violations in a country that has always prided itself on defending them. This is a very serious setback for Costa Rica," said former diplomat Mauricio Herrera, who has submitted a habeas corpus in favor of the deportees so that they can be presented to a judge who will examine the legality of their placement.

Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves justified the agreement to receive the deportees from the United States as aid "to the powerful brother in the north".

"Costa Rica should not be complicit in the United States' flagrant violations," said Michael Garcia Bochenek of Human Rights Watch.

Marwa does not know what will happen, but categorically refuses to return to Afghanistan where she will be forced to wear the burka, without access to public space.

She wants even less of this future for her daughter. "Everything is closed there for women... schools, universities," she laments. "I'm a human being, I choose how I want to be," she says, pointing to the jeans she wears, before turning, hand in hand with her husband, to a more than uncertain future.

© 2025 AFP

US will not 'get' Greenland, island's new PM says in response to Trump comments

The United States will not get Greenland, newly elected Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Sunday in a Facebook post in response to Donald Trump's statements he wants to take control of the vast Arctic country. Trump said he had "absolutely" had real conversations about annexing the semi-autonomous Danish territory.


30/03/2025 
By FRANCE 24

Leader of Greenland's centre-right Demokraatit party Jens Frederik Nielsen talks to journalists during a march to the US consulate during a demonstration on March 15, 2025. © Christian Klindt, AFP


Greenland will decide its own future and the autonomous Danish territory will not become part of the United States, its new prime minister said on Sunday, responding to Donald Trump's latest comments about wanting the resource-rich island.

"President Trump says the United States 'will get Greenland.' Let me be clear: The United States will not get Greenland. We don't belong to anyone else. We decide our own future," Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post.

"We'll get Greenland. Yeah, 100 percent", Trump said on Saturday in an interview with NBC News. He told interviewer Kristen Walker that he had "absolutely" had real conversations about annexing the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

06:50© France 24



This latest exchange culminates a week of heightened tensions between the United States, Denmark, and Greenland, marked by Vice President JD Vance's visit to a US military base on the vast Arctic island.

Danish diplomacy on Saturday criticised Vance's "tone", after he said Denmark "has not done a good job by the people of Greenland".

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen will be in Greenland from Wednesday to Friday to "strengthen unity" between the kingdom and its Arctic territory.

Four of the five parties represented in the Greenlandic Parliament reached an agreement on Friday to form a coalition government.

Greenland's main parties all want independence, but they disagree on the roadmap. American pressure convinced them to form a coalition as quickly as possible with only the Naleraq party, which advocates rapid independence, declining to join.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

CAPPLETALI$M

France fines Apple 150 million euros over privacy feature

Paris (AFP) – French antitrust authorities handed Apple a 150-million-euro ($162-million) fine on Monday over its app tracking privacy feature, which is also under scrutiny in several other European countries.

Issued on: 31/03/2025 

Apple's privacy feature requires apps to obtain user consent through a pop-up window before tracking their activity across other apps and websites © JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

The watchdog said the way Apple implemented its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) software was "neither necessary nor proportionate to the company's stated goal to protect user data" and also penalised third-party publishers.

In addition to the fine, Apple will have to publish the decision on its website for seven days.

Authorities in Germany, Italy, Romania and Poland have opened similar probes over ATT, which Apple promotes as a privacy safeguard.

"While we are disappointed with today's decision, the French Competition Authority has not required any specific changes to ATT," Apple said in a statement.


The feature, introduced by Apple in 2021, requires apps to obtain user consent through a pop-up window before tracking their activity across other apps and websites.

If they decline, the app loses access to information on that user which enables ad targeting.

Critics have accused Apple of using the system to promote its own advertising services while restricting competitors.
'More control over privacy'

In its decision, France's Competition Authority said the ATT feature leads to an excessive number of consent windows for third-party apps on iPhones and iPads, making the experience more cumbersome.

It also found that Apple's system required users to opt out of ad tracking twice rather than once, "undermining the neutrality of the feature" and causing economic harm to app publishers and ad service providers.

The authority added that Apple's approach disproportionately affects smaller publishers, who rely heavily on third-party data collection to fund their businesses.

Following complaints from advertising industry players who claimed ATT hindered their ability to target users, France's competition watchdog initially declined to impose emergency measures in 2021 but continued its investigation.

Apple said on Monday that ATT "gives users more control of their privacy through a required, clear, and easy-to-understand prompt about one thing: tracking".

"That prompt is consistent for all developers, including Apple, and we have received strong support for this feature from consumers, privacy advocates, and data protection authorities around the world," it said.

© 2025 AFP

Apple heavily condemned in France for its ad targeting system

Paris (AFP) - Apple was fined €150 million by the French Competition Authority on Monday for abuse of a dominant position in the context of targeted advertising on its devices, as similar investigations target the company in other European countries.


Published: 31/03/2025 - 

Apple was fined €150 million by the French Competition Authority on Monday for abuse of a dominant position in the context of advertising targeting on its devices © Philippe HUGUEN / AFP/Archives

The American giant has been sanctioned for the use of its ATT ("App Tracking Transparency") device, presented as an additional protection of users' private data.

The "implementation methods (of this system) are neither necessary nor proportionate to Apple's stated objective of data protection", which penalises third-party publishers, the body stressed on Monday at a press conference.

"While we are disappointed by today's decision, the French Competition Authority has not required specific changes to App Tracking Transparency (ATT)," Apple said in a statement.

The French antitrust authority has indicated that it is up to the American company to comply.

This amount of 150 million euros "seemed appropriate" and "reasonable" to us, explained Benoît Coeuré, the president of the French competition watchdog, which he said represents "a fairly modest sum when you take into account Apple's turnover", which is close to $400 billion in 2024.

Apple will also have to publish a summary of the decision on its website for seven days.
Small publishers penalised

To justify its decision, the Competition Authority notes that this device "leads to a multiplication of consent collection windows, excessively complicating the journey of users of third-party applications" on iPhones and iPads.

In addition, the fact that the user has to refuse advertising tracking on third-party applications twice, instead of once, "undermines the neutrality of the system, causing a certain economic damage to application publishers and advertising service providers".

The regulator believes that the system as it is implemented by Apple "penalizes in particular the smallest publishers" who "depend largely on the collection of third-party data to finance their activity".

Introduced by the American giant in early 2021, the ATT system opens a consent window for the opening of each application.

If a user clicks "no," the app loses access to that person's advertising ID, a unique number that allows them to be tracked online.

This device was suspected of favoring Apple's own services to the detriment of third-party applications.

"Important victory"

"This decision marks an important victory for the 9,000 companies in the media and online advertising ecosystem," several players in the sector, including Alliance Digitale, the Syndicat des Régies Internet and the Union of Media Consulting and Buying Companies, said in a joint statement.

They had referred the matter to the French competition watchdog in 2020 to denounce an obstacle to their targeting capacity, which had initially rejected a request for interim measures in 2021 but had continued the investigation on the merits.

This decision should be observed in Germany, where Apple has been in the crosshairs since June 2022.

The American firm suffered a legal setback in mid-March after the courts confirmed that it had been placed under enhanced surveillance, leaving the group under the threat of measures to regulate its activity.

The competition authorities of Italy, Romania and Poland have also launched similar investigations.

For its part, the European Union reaffirmed in February that it would strongly defend its legislation on digital services targeting American tech giants.

And this, even in the event of retaliatory measures from Washington: President Trump has indicated that he will consider customs duties in response to the "taxes, fines and regulatory constraints on digital services" that would apply to American companies in the EU, and in particular the "tech" giants.

© 2025 AFP

France accuses US diplomats of meddling with French companies through DEI 'diktat'

French minister Aurore Bergé on Sunday accused the US embassy in Paris of trying to "impose a diktat" on French businesses after local media reported that companies had received a letter from embassy staff calling on them to comply with US President Donald Trump's executive order terminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes.

30/03/2025 - 
By:FRANCE 24

Aurore Bergé, France's minister for equality between women and men and combating discrimination, speaks during a session of questions to the government at the National Assembly in Paris on March 25, 2025. © Bertrand Guay, AFP

A French minister on Sunday accused US diplomats of interfering in the operations of French companies by sending them a letter reportedly telling them that US President Donald Trump's rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives could also apply outside of the United States.

French media said that the letter received by major French companies was signed by an officer of the US State Department who is on the staff at the US Embassy in Paris. The embassy didn't respond to questions this weekend from The Associated Press.

Le Figaro daily newspaper published what it said was a copy of the letter. The document said that an executive order that Trump signed in January terminating DEI programmes within the federal government also “applies to all suppliers and service providers of the US Government, regardless of their nationality and the country in which they operate”.

Read moreThe death of DEI? Trump wages war on diversity, equity and inclusion

The document asked recipients to complete, sign and return within five days a separate certification form to demonstrate that they are in compliance.

That form, also published by Le Figaro, said: “All Department of State contractors must certify that they do not operate any programmes promoting DEI that violate any applicable anti-discrimination laws.”

The form asked recipients to tick a box to confirm that they “do not operate any programmes promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws”.

The letter added: “If you do not agree to sign this document, we would appreciate it if you could provide detailed reasons, which we will forward to our legal services.”

Most affirmative action policies are in fact illegal in France, which bans treatment based on origin, ethnic group or religion, though many large companies have sought to diversify their recruitment pools.

France does however require companies with more than 1,000 employees to promote equality for women under a 2021 law, with benchmarks such as having at least 30 percent women executives.

Read more  Do or DEI: Trump's assault on diversity divides America

Aurore Bergé, France's minister for equality between women and men and combating discrimination, said Sunday that the letter is "a form, obviously, of interference".

"That’s to say it’s an attempt to impose a diktat on our businesses,” she said.

Speaking to broadcaster BFMTV, she said that France's government is “following the situation very closely” and working to determine how many companies received the letter.

The minister said that “many” companies have told the government that they don’t plan to reply, “because they don’t have a respond, in fact, to a sort of ultimatum laid out by the US Embassy in our country”.

“It's out of the question that we'll prevent our business from promoting social progress,” the minister said. “Thankfully, a lot of French companies don't plan to change their rules.”

(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)

Trump crackdown on anti-discrimination law hits French firms, sparking backlash

A directive targeting French companies with US government contracts has raised concerns about the widening reach of President Donald Trump's policies abroad. With transatlantic relations already under strain, French officials are pushing back, questioning the implications of Washington’s hardline approach.


Issued on: 29/03/2025 - RFI

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on 26 March 26, 2025 in Washington DC. Getty Images via AFP - WIN MCNAMEE


The Trump administration has issued a directive to French companies holding US government contracts, instructing them to comply with an executive order that bans diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes.

The firms have reportedly been asked to confirm their compliance by completing a separate questionnaire entitled "Certification Regarding Compliance With Applicable Federal Anti-Discrimination Law."

This move is likely to ruffle feathers in European boardrooms, as concerns mount that the Trump administration is expanding its crackdown on DEI initiatives beyond US borders.

The directive comes at a time when President Donald Trump's stance on tariffs and security cooperation has already shaken transatlantic relations.

French business daily Les Echos first reported on Friday that the letter had been dispatched to firms by the US mission in Paris, posting on X: "Several dozen French companies have received a letter from the US embassy".


UN rights chief deeply worried about 'fundamental shift' in direction in US

According to a version published by French newspaper Le Figaro the letter states: "We inform you that Executive Order 14173 – Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-based Opportunities – signed by President Trump, applies to all suppliers and service providers of the US government, regardless of their nationality or the country in which they operate".

The letter further requests that recipients sign and return the document in English within five days.

"If you do not agree to sign this document, we would appreciate if you could provide detailed reasons, which we will forward to our legal services," it adds, referring to the certification seen.

The US embassy in Paris has yet to comment on the matter.

French scientists join US protests in face of Trump administration's 'sabotage'

Reaction from France

The directive has sparked a strong reaction in France. A senior official close to Finance Minister Eric Lombard indicated that the French government would be addressing the issue with US authorities.

"This practice reflects the values of the new US administration. They are not the same as ours. The minister will make this clear to his counterparts in Washington," the official told the Reuters news agency.

It has yet to be confirmed which companies received the letter, though media reports suggest that defence and infrastructure firms could be among those affected.

It also remains unclear whether similar letters and questionnaires have been sent to other European nations.

Trump has made eliminating DEI initiatives a priority, arguing that such programmes are themselves discriminatory – a stance that continues to fuel debate both in the US and internationally.

French Court bans far-right leader Marine Le Pen from running for office

A French court has found far-right leader Marine Le Pen guilty of misusing EU funds to pay staff from her National Rally party between 2004 and 2016 and followed up the verdict on Friday with a sentence barring her from running for office, dashing her political ambitions of standing in the next presidential race.


Issued on: 31/03/2025 

By:FRANCE 24 

Video by:Shirli SITBON

03:47President of the parliamentary group of the French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party, Marine Le Pen arrives at the Paris courthouse for her trial verdict on March 31, 2025. © Alain Jocard, AFP


A French court found Marine Le Pen guilty Monday in an embezzlement case and followed up the verdict with a sentence barring her from running for office.

Le Pen and 24 other officials from her National Rally were accused of having used money intended for European Union parliamentary aides to pay staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, in violation of the 27-nation bloc’s regulations. Le Pen and her co-defendants deny wrongdoing.

The biggest concern for Le Pen was that the court may declare her ineligible to run for office preventing her from running for president in 2027 -- a scenario she described as a “political death.”

The Constitutional Council ruled Friday, in a separate case, that imposing the punishment immediately was constitutional.

Le Pen, 56, was runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, and her party’s electoral support has grown in recent years.

'Marine Le Pen has indeed been condemned'

03:17© France 24

During the nine-week trial that took place in late 2024, she argued that ineligibility “would have the effect of depriving me of being a presidential candidate" and disenfranchise her supporters.

“There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. So tomorrow, potentially, millions and millions of French people would see themselves deprived of their candidate in the election,” she told the panel of three judges.

With Le Pen unable to run in 2027, her seeming natural successor would be Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s 29-year-old protégé who succeeded her at the helm of the party in 2021.

Le Pen denied accusations she was at the head of “a system” meant to siphon off EU parliament money to benefit her party, which she led from 2011 to 2021.

She argued instead that it was acceptable to adapt the work of the aides paid by the European Parliament to the needs of the lawmakers, including some highly political work related to the party, which was called the National Front at the time.

While testifying, Le Pen told the court: “I absolutely don’t feel I have committed the slightest irregularity, the slightest illegal move.”

Hearings showed that some EU money was used to pay for Le Pen’s bodyguard — who was once her father's bodyguard — as well as her personal assistant.

Prosecutors asked the court to declare Le Pen guilty, requesting a two-year prison sentence and a five-year period of ineligibility.

Le Pen said she felt they were “only interested” in preventing her from running for president.

Prosecutors also requested a guilty verdict for all the other co-defendants, including various sentences of up to one year in prison and a €2 million ($2.2 million) fine for the party.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and Reuters)

LIVE: Marine Le Pen sentenced to ineligibility

Published: 31/03/2025 
By: FRANCE 24
Irène SULMONT

Marine Le Pen arrives with her lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut at the Paris courthouse for the verdict of her trial on suspicions of embezzlement of European public funds, on March 31, 2025. © Alain Jocarda, AFP

In the Paris court, Marine Le Pen and the elected officials tried in the case of the European parliamentary assistants of the National Front were sentenced to ineligibility. Follow our live stream.


SUMMARY
The Paris criminal court began to hand down its judgment at 10 a.m.
Marine Le Pen and her co-defendants sentenced to a sentence of ineligibility with immediate execution.
Marine Le Pen and eight MEPs were found guilty of embezzlement of public funds.
The twelve assistants tried alongside them were also found guilty of receiving stolen goods.
The prosecution has requested a sentence of five years of ineligibility with provisional execution in addition to five years in prison, two of which will be suspended, as well as a fine of 300,000 euros.
The finalist in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections as well as 24 other defendants are accused of having paid with European Parliament funds the parliamentary assistants of MEPs of the far-right party for an estimated damage of more than 3.2 million euros.
Marine Le Pen and the 24 other defendants have always disputed this embezzlement of public money.

Marine Le Pen and her co-defendants sentenced to a sentence of ineligibility with immediate execution.

The Ultra-Rich Have Exploited Our Tax System Long Enough—Make Them Pay!

Funny how these same apologists for our richest don’t have much sympathy for ordinary Americans who lack the “wherewithal” to pay for medical care, adequate housing, and other necessities.

Bob Lord
Mar 30, 2025

Inequality.org

The most gaping loophole in our tax law? The tax-free compounding of gains on investments.

This classic loophole enables the two most lucrative inequality-driving income tax avoidance strategies. The first, buy-borrow-die, allows wealthy Americans to avoid income tax entirely on even billions in investment gains.

These wealthy need only hold on to their appreciated assets until death. What if they need cash before then? They merely borrow against the appreciated assets, typically at very low interest rates.

Are rich Americans, including billionaires, truly unable to pay tax on their investment gains before they sell the assets yielding those gains? Wanna buy a bridge?

The second avoidance strategy, buy-hold for decades-sell, lets wealthy investors pay a super low effective annual tax rate on investments that appreciate at high rates over long periods of time. These investors typically experience decades of compounding gains without taxation.

The effective tax rates involved in this second strategy won’t reach buy-borrow-die’s zero tax, but may in some cases get as low as a 4% effective annual rate. A 4% effective annual tax rate would have an investment with a pre-tax growth rate of 20% per year enjoying an after-tax growth rate of 19.2% per year.

Congressional apologists for the ultra-rich on both sides of the aisle regularly claim that their wealthy patrons should be entitled to endless tax-free compounding of investment gains. Without this tax-free compounding, the argument goes, our richest wouldn’t have the “wherewithal to pay” tax on their investment gains before their assets get sold. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) invoked this tired canard at a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing.

Funny how these same apologists for our richest don’t have much sympathy for ordinary Americans who lack the “wherewithal” to pay for medical care, adequate housing, and other necessities. Average wage earners, under current law, can’t even wait until year-end to pay Uncle Sam their taxes. Those taxes come out of each paycheck, wherewithal to pay or not.

Are rich Americans, including billionaires, truly unable to pay tax on their investment gains before they sell the assets yielding those gains? Wanna buy a bridge?

Let’s start with the easiest case: a publicly traded investment that can be sold in smaller units, an investment in stocks, for instance. Say Rich, a wealthy investor, buys 1 million shares of Nvidia at $100 per share, and those shares, by year’s end, increase in value to $120 per share.

Our investor Rich now has a $20 million gain. If that annual gain faced a 25% tax rate, Rich would have a $5 million tax liability. To raise the cash to pay that tax, Rich could sell off 41,667 of his shares, leaving him with 958,333 shares, now worth just under $115 million.

That doesn’t seem very painful.

Now, let’s say Rich didn’t want to sell any shares. He could instead just borrow $5 million against the shares to pay the tax.

Or what if Rich had bought a parcel of land instead of Nvidia shares and, for whatever reason, having him borrow to pay tax on his annual investment gains didn’t turn out to be feasible?

Still no problem for Rich. For gains on illiquid assets, Rich could defer the payment of tax until he sold the assets, but the tax could be computed as if it accrued annually. How might this work? Say, for example, that Rich’s $100 million parcel of land grew at an annual rate of 10% for 20 years, at which point he sold it at its appreciated value of $672,749,995.

Had Rich paid tax at 25% on his gain each year, his rate of return would have been 7.5% per year, and after 20 years his investment would be worth $424,785,110.

The $247,964,885 difference between his sale price and the value of his investment with its actual rate of return reduced by the tax paid would be his tax liability upon sale. Payment of that amount would leave Rich with the same sum, $424,785,110, had he been able to sell a small share of his parcel each year, to pay the tax on his investment gain.

Put another way, Rich would be left with the same amount using this tax computation as he would if he sold his parcel each year, paid tax on the gain, and reinvested the remaining proceeds in another parcel.

And if Rich died before selling his parcel? His income tax could be determined for the year of his death in the same fashion as if he’d sold the parcel for its fair market value at the time of his death. Or, in the alternative, his inheritors could step into his shoes and pay the same tax when they sold the parcel as Rich would have had he survived and sold it at that time.

The bottom line: If we closed the tax-free compounding of investment gains loophole, some situations might exist where the immediate payment of tax on investment gains could pose a problem. But we can address those situations by deferring payment of the tax until investments get sold and accounting for the tax-free compounding in the determination of the tax.

These problematic situations, in other words, don’t justify leaving a gaping loophole in place.

So the obstacle to shutting down buy-borrow-die and buy-hold for decades-sell has absolutely nothing to do with ultra-rich investors lacking the wherewithal to pay taxes. That obstacle remains the politicians in Washington, D.C. who lack the wherewithal to summon the courage to make our rich pay the taxes they owe our nation.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.


Bob Lord is Senior Advisor, Tax Policy at Patriotic Millionaires and an Institute for Policy Studies associate fellow.
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Tens of Thousands Join in 'Tesla Takedown' Actions Around the World

'Elon Musk is destroying our democracy, and he's using the fortune he built at Tesla to do it'


A person in a Tesla Cybertruck gestures towards protesters demonstrating against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiatives during a nationwide “Tesla Takedown” rally while leaving a dealership on March 29, 2025 in Austin, Texas. 

Protesters in more than 30 states nationwide are demonstrating against the Department of Government Efficiency during what organizers are calling a global day of action.

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Common Dreams Staff
Mar 29, 2025

Outraged by Elon Musk's devastating contributions to the Trump administration, tens of thousands worldwide held "Tesla Takedown" protests at over 200 locations on Saturday.

Protests began the day in front of Tesla showrooms in Australia and New Zealand. They then rippled across Europe, including Finland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the UK. In the US, protests occurred in nearly every state, including the northeast, south, midwest, and west coast.

"Elon Musk is destroying our democracy, and he's using the fortune he built at Tesla to do it," organizers wrote on Action Network, which has an interactive map of the protest sites. "We are taking action at Tesla to stop Musk's illegal coup."

Organizers also have a message for people with ties to the company: "Sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines."

Since Musk began dismantling the federal bureaucracy as chief of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), critics have protested at Tesla facilities and posted videos about selling their vehicles on social media.


In an aerial view, protesters demonstrate against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiatives during a nationwide “Tesla Takedown” rally at a dealership on March 29, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (Getty image)

While protesting at the Tesla dealership in west London, Louise Cobbett-Witten told The Guardian: “It’s too overwhelming to do nothing. There is real solace in coming together like this. Everyone has to do something. We haven’t got a big strategy besides just standing on the side of the street, holding signs and screaming.”

Alainn Hanson, of Washington, DC, brought her mother from Minnesota to their first Tesla protest. She told CNN: “I’m sick of billionaires trampling over working class people.”

Here are some of Saturday's actions:

Saint Petersburg, Florida

Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Washington, DC

Tucson, Arizona

Manlius, New York

Salt Lake City, Utah

Vancouver, British Columbia

Chicago, Illinois

And in London, England

Ilhan Omar Is Reportedly Drafting Impeachment Articles Over Signalgate

Three-quarters of Americans are troubled by the administration’s use of Signal to discuss military plans, polling shows.

By Chris Walker , 

Truthout

March 27, 2025

Rep. Ilhan Omar is seen during a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on January 25, 2023.Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minnesota) is reportedly drafting articles of impeachment against three Trump administration officials who discussed U.S. plans to bomb Yemen in a Signal group chat that came to light after a journalist was mistakenly added to the chat earlier this month.

The controversy, which some in the media have dubbed “Signalgate,” has plagued the White House this week, with Trump administration officials scrambling to explain why such classified information was being shared so haphazardly on a messaging app. The leaked messages from that group chat show officials ordering and celebrating the bombing of civilians in Yemen, which is a war crime.

Several Democratic lawmakers — including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (New York) — have called for President Donald Trump to fire the officials involved, or for them to resign from their posts. On Thursday, Axios reported that Omar was planning to draft articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, all of whom participated in the chat.

“Pete Hegseth is an embarrassment to Minnesota,” Omar wrote on Bluesky on Wednesday. “His incompetence and blatantly illegal actions demonstrate he is grossly unfit to lead the Department of Defense.”

It’s currently unclear what specific articles Omar plans to charge the trio with; the charges need not be based on criminal statutes, although those can be included as well. Presidents and executive branch officials can be impeached for “high crimes and misdemeanors,” a centuries-old term that does not refer to literal crimes but rather abuses or negligence in office.

Omar’s charging document will likely detail how Trump administration officials discussed the details of a highly sensitive military operation on an app — and how that app does not save a long-term record of their conversations, which is likely a violation of the Federal Records Act and Administrative Procedure Act. Her articles of impeachment could also discuss how the U.S. airstrikes on Yemen were in violation of international laws relating to the killing of civilians; such laws prohibit targeting nonmilitary buildings, even if there is a military target inside.

“Rules of engagement that permit destroying an entire civilian apartment building to kill one alleged terrorist is part of Joe Biden’s legacy. It’s still a war crime though, and Waltz’s [and the group’s] text is a confession,” Matt Duss, executive vice president for the Center for International Policy (CIP), recently said on social media.

If Omar does complete the articles of impeachment, they will have little likelihood of being passed. However, she can force a vote on the matter using a privilege motion, which would mean that Republicans would have to publicly vote on whether the impeachment proceedings should commence.

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Trump to fire at least one official who was involved in the group chat. Some allies close to Trump are saying that individual should be Waltz, NBC News reports, as he was the one who mistakenly invited The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg into the chat.

Polling shows that most Americans are disturbed by the incident, with a new YouGov survey showing that 74 percent of Americans view the matter as serious, while only 13 percent say they aren’t concerned.