France’s far-right Marine Le Pen banned from 2027 presidential election
NewsFeed A French court found Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzlement, ordering a five-year ban on running for office and two years of electronic tracking. Her far-right National Rally party must now decide on a new candidate for the 2027 presidential elections. Published On 31 Mar 202531 Mar 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Children in Gaza among Palestinians killed on Eid
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Palestinian children were dressed in shrouds covering their new clothes after Israeli bombing in Gaza killed them on Eid
Meta profits as ads promote illegal Israeli settlements in West Bank
Facebook has platformed more than 100 paid advertisements promoting illegal settlements and far-right settler activity in the occupied West Bank, an Al Jazeera investigation has found, raising concerns that the social media giant is profiting from content that may violate international law. Among the advertisements identified were also calls for the demolition of Palestinian homes, schools, and playgrounds, as well as fundraising appeals for Israeli military units operating in Gaza. Facebook’s parent company Meta told Al Jazeera that any advertisements that ran on its platforms were reviewed by the company. While it admitted that some of the advertisements had since been removed for “violating our social issues, elections, and politics policies”, it did not specify whether the promotion of illegal settlements built on stolen Palestinian land breached those standards. Legal experts told Al Jazeera that Meta could be complicit in violations of international law by approving, accepting payment, and publishing these advertisements. Brian Leishman, an MP in the United Kingdom parliament, described the findings as “extremely concerning”. Advertisement Illegal settlements advertised on Facebook At least 52 paid advertisements from Israeli real estate companies were found promoting property sales in settlements across the occupied West Bank, targeting buyers from across Israel as well as some users in the UK and the United States. These advertisements were first published in March 2024, and many remain active on Facebook. “We have robust processes and teams to review ads, and our ad review system is designed to review ads before they go live,” Meta told Al Jazeera. “This system relies primarily on automated technology to apply our Advertising Standards to the millions of ads that run across our apps, while relying on our teams to build and train these systems, and in some cases, to manually review ads.” Among the advertisements identified by Al Jazeera were at least four promoting property sales in the illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel, 20km (12 miles) east of the Green Line in the occupied West Bank. The listings, written in Hebrew and targeting Israeli Facebook users, were paid for by a Facebook page called “Ramat Aderet”, which describes itself as offering “penthouses for a perfect quality of life”. According to the website, the Ramat Aderet (Hillside Crown) project is “two neighbourhoods – north and south – with a total of 27 … buildings of between 4 to 8 floors. The apartments provide a complete urban living experience in a perfect neighbourhood.” The company has a valuation of $300m, according to PitchBook, a research firm and financial data provider. Advertisement Ramat Aderet did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment. The Ramad Aderet Facebook page is full of computer renderings of modern buildings against blue skies [screengrab/Facebook] The real estate company selling apartments and houses in Ariel is Ram Aderet, which has received financing from the First International Bank of Israel. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has long called for a boycott of the bank over its role in financing illegal settlements. Following pressure, in January 2014, the Dutch pension fund PGGM withdrew investments from the bank, while insurance giant AXA divested in 2022. Another 48 advertisements were posted by Gabai Real Estate, advertising homes in the occupied West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim and the Efrat settlement. These homes are part of an expansion approved in March 2024 by Israel’s “Higher Planning Committee”, which is overseen by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who, since 2023, no longer needs political or military approvals for expansion plans. Yaniv Gabbay, the co-owner of Gabai Real Estate, told Al Jazeera: “Unfortunately, we were only able to post 48 ads because our budget is limited, and we advertise on many different platforms. But as we sell more homes to Jews returning home to Judea, our advertising budget will increase, and we can post more.” Some Israelis refer to the occupied West Bank as Judea and Samaria, and the far-right government has made a push towards annexing the Palestinian territory. Advertisement The advertisements attempt to portray living in the settlements as idyllic. One lists an eight-bedroom mansion with a “huge garden, large succah area (seats 50+), above-ground pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, cold plunge, and breathtaking desert mountain views… A dream home just 20 minutes from Jerusalem! Don’t miss out!” Carolina Are, a platform governance researcher at the Centre for Digital Citizens at Northumbria University, told Al Jazeera that “the real estate ads have been expertly framed as standard property listings, allowing them to elude moderation”. “Moderators may not be aware of the nuances of international law either,” she added. Under international law, all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal. The transfer of an occupying power’s civilian population into occupied territory is considered a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Professor Aoife O’Donoghue, international law expert from Queen’s University Belfast, said: “On the West Bank, property can be privately bought and sold. However, whether they have the legal title to sell that land at all would be highly questionable. “If the Israeli government is facilitating it, and they are settlements, then they would be in violation of the Third Geneva Convention. Here, the Israeli government has a duty to prevent illegal settlements.” [Screengrab/Facebook] Settler groups pushing for demolitions Al Jazeera also identified 50 advertisements posted by Regavim, a far-right settler group founded by Smotrich in 2006, that has called for the destruction of Palestinian homes, schools, and a children’s water park. The group receives funding from the Israeli government via the West Bank settlement councils, and also Amana, another pro-settlement organisation sanctioned by the UK and US governments. Advertisement One advertisement celebrated the demolition of a Palestinian school, boasting: “Following our petition, Civil Administration forces tore down an illegal Palestinian school built in the Herodian Nature Reserve… This school is only one out of more than 100 illegal school buildings.” Another advertisement called for a Palestinian water park to be demolished, claiming: “Palestinians are enjoying themselves at our expense.” Regavim defended the campaign against the school, saying it
Israel’s excuse for killing aid workers “a very bare assertion”
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Human rights lawyer Geoffrey Nice says Israel’s claim that Hamas used ambulances as camouflage lacks evidence.
Video: Le Pen sentence ‘as bad as it could get’ says Al Jazeera reporter
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler was at the court in Paris where Marine Le Pen was given jail time for embezzling EU funds.
Doctors Without Borders: Treating millions while global aid falls apart
Christopher Lockyear on war, racism allegations, and front-line aid workers. Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, provides more than 16 million medical consultations every year, often in the world’s most dangerous places. But even this Nobel Peace Prize-winning organisation is sounding the alarm: the global humanitarian system is falling apart. MSF Secretary-General Christopher Lockyear talks to Al Jazeera about working in war zones like Sudan and Gaza, the impact of aid funding cuts, and addressing racism accusations against the organisation. As crises escalate and trust in institutions fades, can the world still care for those who need it most, or is compassion collapsing with the system? Adblock test (Why?)
Ocean economy needs protection against wave of threats: OECD
The ocean economy doubled between 1995 and 2020, but future growth could be curtailed by multiple threats. The global ocean economy is at risk of major disruption without increased protection, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The global ocean economy had grown to a size of $2.3 trillion by 2020, the OECD said in a report issued on Monday, as it called for action to improve sustainability. Climate change, environmental degradation, lagging productivity, and slow digital transformation are intensifying pressures on marine ecosystems and economic potential, the report warns. The oceans provide food security for more than three billion people, facilitate the transportation of 80 percent of global goods, and are home to cables that carry 98 percent of international internet traffic, the OECD notes. From 1996 to 2020, the world’s ocean economy doubled in size, contributing to between three and four percent of total global gross domestic product (GDP). Tourism and offshore oil and gas generated almost two-thirds of that output during those years. Fishing and maritime trade were also important drivers of growth. Advertisement “If considered a country, the ocean economy would be the world’s fifth-largest economy in 2019,” the OECD said, highlighting that the blue economy supports more than 100 million full-time jobs. Beachgoers dip in the Atlantic Ocean at Hollywood Beach, Florida, the United States [File: Wilfredo Lee/AP] Published ahead of a high-level summit in Paris, the report adds that if historical trends continue, the ocean economy “could be nearly four times larger by 2050 than in 1995”. However, sustaining this growth will require policy measures, it warns. ‘Further action needed’ Oceans are struggling under the pressure of human population growth, increased environmental degradation, and increased territorial disputes, the OECD worries. Elsewhere, the growth of illegal activities has given rise to a “dark ocean economy”. “Further action is needed” to foster international cooperation and governance mechanisms to ensure a productive and sustainable economy, the report declares. “Through science-based policy, improved management of marine spaces, and innovative digital solutions, we can protect the jobs, livelihoods, and food security of hundreds of millions of people who depend on the ocean” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said. The report comes as the world’s oceans suffer a crisis of pollution, overfishing, and record-breaking levels of warmth that have harmed marine life and raised global temperatures. The United Nations is hosting a major conference in the southern French city of Nice in June to specifically address these challenges and the sustainable use of the world’s oceans. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
‘This is our home’: D-day for Afghans facing Pakistan deportation
Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan is the only home Mohammad Laal Khan has known. He was born here. He married here. His children were born here. He buried his eldest brother here. But a late-night police raid in November last year shattered his sense of belonging. Khan was born in South Waziristan, a tribal district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a few years after his parents fled the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Since the 1990s, the family — including Khan’s mother, four brothers, their families, and other relatives — has lived in the suburbs of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad in mud-plastered houses without electricity or other basic utilities. Now he is on Pakistan’s list for deportation. “It is as if being an Afghan is a curse upon our existence,” Khan, 36, told Al Jazeera on a recent March afternoon in the same room where dozens of police officers had stormed in, threatening to take away all the men. Khan says, despite much pleading, four of his brothers were taken away and charged with living in the country “illegally”. Their ordeal ended after two weeks when a court granted them bail. Advertisement The entire family possesses Afghan Citizenship Cards (ACC), a government-sanctioned identification document issued to Afghan citizens living in Pakistan. But over the past two years, between September 2023 and February 2025, a systemic government crackdown on Afghan nationals has resulted in the expulsion of nearly 850,000 Afghans from Pakistan, including women and children. Now, hundreds of thousands of ACC-holding Afghans like Khan, having spent almost their entire lives in Pakistan, face expulsion from April 1. “We don’t know anything about Afghanistan. We have lived here all our lives, made friends here, built our businesses here. If the government insists on throwing us out, we will leave, but we will return once again,” Khan said. “This is our home.” Pakistan’s deportation plan Pakistan currently hosts more than 2.5 million Afghans, according to government estimates. Among them, about 1.3 million possess a Proof of Registration (PoR) card, first introduced in 2006 and issued by the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, while another 800,000 hold an ACC, issued in 2017. These documents were previously recognised as proof of legitimate residence in Pakistan. Not any more. In a two-page document issued in January, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office outlined a three-phase “relocation” plan. The first phase targets the deportation of all Afghans now viewed as undocumented — including ACC holders. The second phase focuses on PoR cardholders, who have been granted relief to stay until June 2025. The final phase will address Afghan citizens who are awaiting relocation to third countries. Advertisement Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said the government was firm in its stance, despite pleas from the UNHCR and global rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International. “We have hosted Afghans in the country for four decades, showing our hospitality and generosity, but it cannot continue indefinitely. They will have to return,” he told Al Jazeera. With the start of this new wave of deportations slated for around Eid — Pakistan celebrates the otherwise festive occasion on March 31 — the deadline has prompted criticism. Many see it as an effort to wrongfully demonise Afghan nationals by linking them to criminal activities. In recent years, Pakistan has suffered from a series of deadly attacks by armed groups that Islamabad alleges operate from Afghanistan. This has also led to a spike in tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers. “Pakistani officials should immediately stop coercing Afghans to return home and give those facing expulsion the opportunity to seek protection,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at HRW, in a March 19 statement. Calling the deadline “unyielding and cruel”, Amnesty International also urged Pakistan to reconsider its decision. “These opaque executive orders contravene the government’s own promises and repeated calls by human rights organizations to uphold the rights of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers,” said Isabelle Lassee, deputy regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International, in a March 26 statement. Advertisement But echoing Chaudhry’s sentiments, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has insisted that the government had “fulfilled its obligations” by hosting Afghans and was not bound to consult the UNHCR. However, Qaiser Afridi, the spokesperson for the UNHCR, said they are concerned that among the ACC holders, there may be some individuals who may require international protection. “We are urging the government to see their situation through a humanitarian lens. We also call for engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan so that their return can be dignified and voluntary,” Afridi told Al Jazeera. That alone, Afridi said, would ensure that “reintegration in Afghanistan is sustainable”. Mohammad Laal Khan and his family members live in an informal settlement in the suburbs of Islamabad, where they do not have any amenities [Abid Hussain/Al Jazeera] ‘Why are we being pushed away?’ Originally from Kunduz in Afghanistan, Khan’s family relocated to Islamabad in the early 1990s and has lived there ever since. Khan’s room has rough, mud-plastered walls enclosing a modest space with folded mattresses, a simple rug, and a few personal belongings. Sitting quietly in the room was Khan’s mother, Guldana Bibi, 71, with a wrinkled face, deep-set hazel eyes, and a scarf covering her head. “I have lived in this country for four decades. My children, my grandchildren, were all born here. My husband was my last connection to Afghanistan, and he died years ago. Why are we being pushed away?” she said. Advertisement Along with his brothers, Khan ran a wood shuttering business, but twice in the last 10 years – in 2015 and 2023 – they were forced to stop work and sell what they had in their shops due to government crackdowns on Afghans. Khan claims he incurred losses of nearly 1.8 million rupees ($6,400). “People ask why we haven’t done better economically. My response is, how can you when your life is repeatedly uprooted, or you’re forced to pay bribes just to exist?” Khan said, sitting cross-legged with his
Musk hands $1m cheques to voters in Wisconsin judicial race
Race for state Supreme Court seat most expensive in US history as billionaire pushes to prevent challenges to Trump’s agenda. Elon Musk has handed $1m cheques to two Wisconsin voters as he promotes a conservative candidate in the state’s upcoming Supreme Court election. The tech billionaire, a close ally of President Donald Trump, handed out the oversized cheques at a rally in Green Bay on Sunday night, increasing the spending in what is already the most expensive judicial race in US history. Musk performed a similar move during November’s presidential election. Democrat rivals in Wisconsin – a contested swing state – have failed in their effort to block the handout by claiming it constitutes election interference. The April 1 election pits conservative candidate Brad Schimel against the Democrats’ Susan Crawford. The liberals currently hold a 4-3 majority on the court. The billionaire has become heavily involved in the judicial election, which is seen as an early referendum on Trump’s controversial first few weeks in the White House. He also insists that liberals will seek to use the Wisconsin court to change voting districts and thus affect future election results in the swing state, should they win. Advertisement In a speech on Sunday evening, Musk told a crowd that the vote was a “super big deal”. “What’s happening on Tuesday is a vote for which party controls the US House of Representatives,” he declared. “Whichever party controls the House … to a significant degree, controls the country, which then steers the course of Western civilisation,” he said, adding that he thinks the vote was “going to affect the entire destiny of humanity”. Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford addresses a crowd on Saturday, March 29, 2025, at a campaign stop in a field office for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee [File: Andy Manis/AP] Earlier, an effort to block the handouts was denied by the Supreme Court. Wisconsin Democrat Attorney General Josh Kaul argued in a filing that the Tesla chief’s actions violate state law. “Wisconsin law prohibits offering anything of value to induce anyone to vote,” Kaul said, adding, “Yet, Elon Musk did just that.” The Supreme Court declined to take the case, without providing a rationale for its decision. Trump agenda The vote comes as the court is expected to rule on abortion rights, union rights, and voting rules, as well as congressional redistricting, potentially affecting the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election. In the short term, the way the court swings is part of Trump’s broader agenda to prevent judicial bodies from blocking his agenda. Numerous legal challenges are under way seeking to halt the president’s controversial actions on immigration, state institutions, and foreign policy. Musk argued that if Crawford was elected it would open the way for a liberal court to “redraw the districts, they will gerrymander the district and deprive Wisconsin of two seats on the Republican side”. Advertisement “Then they will try to stop all the government reforms we are getting done for you, the American people,” he added. Musk also announced that he would pay supporters $20 for every voter they recruit over the next two days. Adblock test (Why?)
French court finds far-right leader Le Pen guilty of embezzlement
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, Prosecution demands that Marine Le Pen be barred from office threaten to derail her bid for the presidency in 2027. A French court has found far-right leader Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzling European Union funds. The Paris court ruled that Le Pen used more than 3 million euros ($3.3m) of European Parliament funds to pay members of her National Rally party. The ruling threatens to push the nationalist out of the 2027 presidential race, in which she is currently the frontrunner, according to opinion polls. The sentencing, set to be announced immediately, could see Le Pen declared ineligible to run for office. She has accused prosecutors of seeking her “political death”. A jail sentence and heavy financial penalty are also possible. “If Marine Le Pen can’t run, that would change the landscape of the French far right and its prospects,” said Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler from the Paris courtroom. “Most likely it would be Jordan Bardella to take her place, the current president of RN. “But he is much younger and not the same kind of dominant force as Marine Le Pen,” she added. “He’s not the figure that so many in France know, and so some say he would likely find it tougher in the 2027 race. Advertisement “Others say a fresh face may be what’s needed.” This is a developing story, more to follow … Adblock test (Why?)