Tensions for France-Israel, sword of Damocles for Marine Le Pen and Valence on alert

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It is a meeting which will go beyond the simple framework of football. Mixing politics, geopolitics and sport, a particularly explosive cocktail will in fact be served this Thursday evening at the Stade de France: the Blues host Israel in the middle of the conflict in the Middle East. An exceptional security system has therefore been put in place in order to avoid reliving the violence of last week on the sidelines of a Maccabi Tel-Aviv match in Amsterdam. And for the symbol against anti-Semitic acts, the stand of honor will be well filled. Emmanuel Macron will be present as well as his two predecessors, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, as will Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

The latest news from the Paris criminal court does not please the right at all. The requisitions of the prosecution in the trial of the RN parliamentary assistants have in fact sparked a wave of protests on this part of the political spectrum. It must be said that Marine Le Pen sees in the call for her ineligibility an intention to stop her political rise. The prosecution requested five years in prison, including two years in prison that could be adjusted, a fine of 300,000 euros and five years of ineligibility against the three-time presidential candidate. If Jordan Bardella or even Éric Ciotti unsurprisingly denounced this position of the prosecution, they were also joined by Gérald Darmanin. A rare voice outside the field of the extreme right to speak out, the former minister estimated that “fighting Madame Le Pen is done at the polls, not elsewhere”.

Already tragically bereaved by the deadly floods which left at least 223 dead on October 29, the inhabitants of Valencia, Spain, are once again in danger. The region's coastline, hit by new torrential rains, was placed on red alert on Wednesday evening. “The danger is extreme. Avoid travel. Rivers overflow and floods may occur,” warned the Spanish Meteorological Agency (Aemet). This red alert, the maximum possible level, was activated at 9 p.m. and will remain in effect until Thursday noon.