Le Journal

PARIS (AP) — French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s political future hangs in the balance at an appeals trial in Paris which may damage her party’s ambitions of radically changing France’s direction through anti-immigration and nationalist policies. Le Pen started answering the judges’ questions Tuesday as she seeks to overturn a March ruling that found her guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016. She was given a five-year ban from holding elected office, two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet and a further two-year suspended sentence. Here’s why the appeals trial could significantly impact France’s political landscape: France’s 2027 presidential race is at stake If she’s able to run, Le Pen, 57, is expected to be among the top contenders in the 2027 presidential election, possibly the front-runner, according to opinion polls. She finished runner-up to Emmanuel Macron in 2017 and 2022, making her one of the most experienced senior politicians in the country. For the past 15 years, Le Pen has been trying to bring the far right into France’s political mainstream, striving to remove the stigma of racism and antisemitism that has clung to the party. Since 2024, her National Rally party has become the largest single political group in France’s powerful lower house of parliament, even though it fell short of an outright majority. If Le Pen is ruled ineligible, she has already designated her 30-year-old protégé, Jordan Bardella, as her successor in the presidential bid. The fraud case involved money for hiring party aides The National Rally and 11 of its officials, including Le Pen, are accused of having used money intended for European Union parliamentary aides instead to pay staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, in violation of the 27-nation bloc’s regulations. Some EU money was used to pay for Le Pen’s bodyguard, as well as her personal assistant. Another aide worked as a graphic designer. Le Pen’s sister, Yann, also was paid as an EU parliamentary aide when she was in charge of organizing the party’s big events. Others worked as aides to party officials they had no employment contract with. “That was how it was. It may have been reprehensible, questionable — the system was not ideal, I am aware of that — but all of those people were actually working,” Le Pen said Tuesday. The legal proceedings stem from a 2015 alert raised to French authorities about possible fraud by Martin Schulz, then-president of the European Parliament. Le Pen acknowledges possible unintentional mistakes Since the appeals trial opened last week, Le Pen’s defense appeared focused on arguing the party may have made unintentional mistakes. “We did not feel we had committed any offense,” Le Pen told the court. She said European Parliament officials did not at the time tell her party that the way it was hiring people was potentially against any rules. Faced with several emails mentioning details of internal meetings about hiring aides, Le Pen said staffing choices were aboveboard and justified by the multiple tasks required of the party. She also acknowledged some of the aides were “shared” by several elected officials for organization purposes — no matter what their contracts stated. “We pooled a certain number of aides — though not all of them. I note that over this entire 10-year period, the European Parliament never advised us nor reproached us for having aides who were obviously working with several MEPs,” Le Pen said Tuesday. Regarding her bodyguard, “again, the European Parliament was aware he was a security officer,” she said. March ruling says Le Pen part of ‘fraudulent system’ A Paris court ruled in March that Le Pen was at the heart of “a fraudulent system” that her party used to siphon off EU Parliament funds worth 2.9 million euros ($3.4 million). The ruling described the embezzlement as “a democratic bypass” unfair to competitors. The court noted “the seriousness of the…

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Barnes & Noble Education Inc. (BNED) on Tuesday reported fiscal second-quarter net income of $25 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier. The Florham Park, New Jersey-based company said it had net income of 72 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 76 cents per share. The operator of book stores on college campuses posted revenue of $644.4 million in the period. Barnes & Noble Education shares have declined almost 5% since the beginning of the year. The stock has decreased 22% in the last 12 months. _____ This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BNED at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BNED Source

SENECA, S.C. (AP) — SENECA, S.C. (AP) — Oconee Federal Financial Corp. (OFED) on Tuesday reported net income of $1.1 million in its fiscal second quarter. On a per-share basis, the Seneca, South Carolina-based company said it had profit of 20 cents. The holding company for Oconee Federal Savings posted revenue of $7.5 million in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $4.6 million. _____ This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on OFED at https://www.zacks.com/ap/OFED Source

Agentes federales de inmigración forzaron la entrada de una puerta y detuvieron a un ciudadano estadounidense en su casa de Minnesota a punta de pistola sin una orden judicial, luego lo sacaron a la calle en ropa interior pese a las temperaturas bajo cero, según su familia y videos revisados por The Associated Press. ChongLy “Scott” Thao dijo a la AP que su nuera lo despertó de una siesta el domingo por la tarde y le dijo que agentes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos estaban golpeando la puerta de su casa en St. Paul. Él le dijo que no la abriera. Entonces, agentes enmascarados se abrieron paso y apuntaron con armas a la familia mientras les gritaban, recordó Thao. “Estaba temblando”, afirmó. “No mostraron ninguna orden; simplemente derribaron la puerta”. Inmigrante muere en un centro de detención de Texas; es el tercero en 44 días En video: vecinos logran frenar la detención de dos jardineros por presuntos agentes federales En medio de un despliegue masivo de agentes federales en las Ciudades Gemelas, como se conoce a las ciudades vecinas de Minneapolis y St. Paul, las autoridades de inmigración están enfrentando la indignación de vecinos y líderes locales por arrestos sin orden judicial, enfrentamientos agresivos con manifestantes y el tiroteo fatal de Renee Good, madre de tres hijos. “El ICE no está haciendo lo que dicen que están haciendo”, dijo la alcaldesa de St. Paul, Kaohly Her, una estadounidense de origen hmong, en un comunicado sobre el arresto de Thao. “No están persiguiendo a criminales peligrosos. Están yendo tras cualquiera y todos en su camino. Es inaceptable y antiestadounidense”. Incidente grabado en video Thao, que es ciudadano estadounidense desde hace décadas, dijo que mientras lo detenían pidió a su nuera que buscara su identificación, pero los agentes le dijeron que no querían verla. En cambio, mientras su nieto de cuatro años observaba y lloraba, Thao fue sacado esposado vestido sólo con sandalias y ropa interior, con apenas una manta colocada sobre los hombros. Los videos capturaron la escena, que incluía personas haciendo sonar silbatos y bocinas y vecinos gritando a los más de una docena de agentes armados que dejaran en paz a la familia de Thao. Thao dijo que los agentes lo llevaron “al medio de la nada” y lo hicieron salir del auto al exterior gélido para poder fotografiarle. Dijo que temía que lo golpearan. Le pidieron su identificación, que los agentes anteriormente le impidieron tomar. Finalmente, los agentes se dieron cuenta de que era un ciudadano estadounidense sin antecedentes penales, dijo Thao, y una o dos horas después, lo llevaron de regreso a su casa. Allí le hicieron mostrar su identificación y luego se fueron sin disculparse por detenerlo o romper su puerta, dijo Thao. El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional defiende la operación El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos (DHC, por sus siglas en inglés) describió la operación del ICE en la casa de Thao como una “operación dirigida” en busca de dos delincuentes sexuales convictos. “El ciudadano estadounidense vive con estos dos delincuentes sexuales convictos en el lugar de la operación”, dijo el DHS. “El individuo se negó a ser identificado por huellas dactilares o reconocimiento facial. Coincidía con la descripción de los objetivos.” La familia de Thao dijo en un comunicado que “rechaza categóricamente” la versión del Departamento y “se opone firmemente al intento del DHS de justificar públicamente esta conducta con afirmaciones falsas y engañosas”. Thao dijo a la AP que solo él, su hijo, su nuera y su nieto viven en la casa alquilada. Ni ellos ni el propietario de la propiedad están incluidos en el registro de delincuentes sexuales de Minnesota. El delincuente sexual más cercano que figura como residente en el código postal vive a más de dos cuadras de distancia. El DHS no respondió a una solicitud de The Associated Press de obtener las identidades de los “dos delincuentes sexuales…