World News for Students of English

04-04-2025 15:00

Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right party National Rally, broke EU rules.

She took EU money for workers in the European Parliament and used it to pay her party’s staff in France. Because of this, she cannot be a candidate in elections for five years, including the next presidential election in 2027. She also has a prison sentence, but she will stay at home with an electronic bracelet for two years. Le Pen was the favorite for the next election, and this decision is a big problem for her party. Now, they must choose someone else. The most likely person is Jordan Bardella, who is the party’s leader, but some people think he doesn’t have enough experience to be president.

This case is also important for the European Union and how people feel about it. Other politicians also took EU money unfairly before. For example, Nigel Farage from the UK used EU money in the wrong way. In recent years, many politicians had to return money they took unfairly.

Difficult words: staff (all the people who work for a company or organization), candidate (a person who people can vote for), electronic bracelet (a device which a person wears so that the police know where that person is).

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