World
French authorities open probe into Le Pen's 2022 campaign finances
The judicial probe, which began last week, will investigate allegations of accepting a financial loan, misappropriation of property, fraud and forgery.
French criminal prosecutors have launched a preliminary inquiry into alleged illegality in the financing of Marine Le Pen’s 2022 presidential campaign, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.
The judicial probe, which began last week, will investigate allegations of accepting a financial loan, misappropriation of property, fraud, and forgery.
The investigation was opened after the National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Financing submitted a review of Le Pen’s campaign financing and alerted the authorities about its findings, domestic media reported.
Le Pen invested around €11.5 million in her 2022 presidential bid — her third run for France’s highest office, and the second she lost to President Emmanuel Macron.
Troubles with cash flow
One of the main figures of the far-right National Rally party (RN), Le Pen is no stranger to allegations of financial malfeasance.
She is already facing embezzlement charges stemming from claims that she and 26 other party members set up a fake jobs scheme at the European Parliament to finance RN activities in France.
If found guilty, she could face up to 10 years in prison and a prohibition from running for public office.
Her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of RN under its original name, the National Front, is also among the accused.
In 2020, RN had to reach a court settlement with a Russian company to clear its outstanding loan debt going back to 2014.
The party, believed to be heavily in debt at the time, took out a €9.4m loan from the relatively unknown First Czech Russian Bank — owned by the firm of a billionaire friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Gennady Timchenko — in the run-up to Le Pen’s 2017 presidential run.
Although the loan deal was not public at first, an investigation by French outlet Mediapart exposed the arrangement, triggering a hail of criticism and allegations that Le Pen and RN were under the Kremlin’s influence.
After the First Czech Russian Bank lost its licence, a Russian aeroplane parts company, Aviazapchast, took over the loan, then brought charges against Le Pen’s party in front of the Moscow Arbitration Court.
Le Pen claimed at the time that she had reached out to a Russian bank because Western banks had refused to give her loans, accusing them of discrimination.
After she lost the 2017 presidential race — also to Macron — two French banks shut down accounts belonging to Le Pen and RN.
Le Pen, a self-professed admirer of Putin, has urged the West in the past to withdraw its sanctions against Moscow for its partial invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea in 2014.
She has softened her stance since, saying the only issue she had with Macron’s staunch support of Kyiv against Moscow’s ongoing full-scale invasion was that he has not allowed France to become a belligerent in the conflict.
RN leader Jordan Bardella has also been largely supportive of Ukraine in the run-up to the French snap legislative elections earlier this month, saying he was ready to confront the Kremlin if he became PM and pledged he would not allow Moscow to “consume Ukraine”.
However, he has since been appointed president of the freshly formed Patriots for Europe group at the European Parliament.
Founded by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the Freedom Party of Austria’s Herbert Kickl and Czech ANO leader Andrej Babiš, the far-right group — now the parliament’s third-largest — is expected to take a largely pro-Russian line.
Additional sources • AP
World
Hyun Bin, Jung Woo-sung Crime Thriller ‘Made in Korea’ Sets Disney+ Debut
Hyun Bin and Jung Woo-sung go head-to-head in “Made in Korea,” a 1970s crime noir that launches Dec. 24 on Disney+ with a two-episode premiere.
The series stars Hyun Bin (“Crash Landing on You,” “Confidential Assignment”) as Baek Kitae, an ambitious KCIA agent in 1970s South Korea who leads a dangerous double life. By day, he works as a government operative, while by night he runs an illegal operation, using his underworld connections to consolidate power, protect his brother and generate substantial revenue for the agency.
Jung Woo-sung (“Tell Me That You Love Me,” “12.12: The Day”) co-stars as Jang Geonyoung, an incorruptible prosecutor determined to bring Kitae down. Woo Dohwan (“Bloodhounds,” “Mr. Plankton”) plays Kitae’s brother Baek Kihyun.
The series is written by Park Eunkyo (“Mother,” “A Normal Family,” “The Silent Sea”) and Park Joonseok (“A Normal Family”), directed by Woo Minho (“The Man Standing Next,” “Inside Men,” “Harbin”), and produced by Hive Media Corp (“Inside Men,” “The Man Standing Next,” “12.12: The Day”).
Following the two-episode premiere, “Made in Korea” will release two additional episodes on Dec. 31, with the final two episodes rolling out weekly through Jan. 14. The series has already been renewed for a second season, which is currently in production.
The thriller joins Disney+’s expanding slate of Korean drama content that launched in 2025, including “Unmasked,” “Nine Puzzles,” “Hyper Knife,” “Low Life,” “The Murky Stream” and “Tempest.”
The streamer has additional Korean series slated for 2026, including “Gold Land” starring Park Boyoung, “Perfect Crown” starring IU and Byeon Wooseok, and the return of “A Shop for Killers” for a second season with Lee Dongwook and Kim Hyejun.
World
Pope Leo XIV says he’s ‘very disappointed’ after Illinois approves assisted suicide law
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker meets with Pope Leo XIV
Illinois Democratic Gov. Jay Robert “JB” Pritzker met with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, a fellow native of the Land of Lincoln, at the Vatican this week. (Credit: REUTERS — No use Fox Weather/Outkick)
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Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday he was “very disappointed” after his home state of Illinois approved a law allowing medically assisted suicide.
Leo, who grew up in Chicago, said he had spoken “explicitly” with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker while the legislation was on his desk and urged him not to sign the bill into law, saying the measure undermines respect for human life from “the very beginning to the very end.”
“Unfortunately, for different reasons, he decided to sign that bill,” Leo told reporters outside Rome. “I am very disappointed about that.”
The Medical Aid in Dying Act, also referred to as “Deb’s Law,” was signed into law by Pritzker on Dec. 12 and allows eligible terminally ill adult patients to obtain life-ending medication after consultation with their doctors.
NY GOV. HOCHUL TO SIGN BILL TO LEGALIZE PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE: ‘WHO AM I TO DENY YOU?’
Pope Leo XIV met with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker during an audience at the Apostolic Palace on Nov. 19 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
The measure was named after Deb Robertson, a lifelong Illinois resident with a rare terminal illness who had pushed for the bill’s approval.
The law takes effect in September 2026, giving participating healthcare providers and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) time to implement required processes and protections.
Leo said Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich also urged Pritzker not to sign the bill, but his efforts were unsuccessful.
BISHOPS, CATHOLIC GROUPS SLAM CARDINAL CUPICH’S PLAN TO HONOR PRO-ABORTION SEN DICK DURBIN: ‘GREAT SCANDAL’
Pope Leo XIV said he was very disappointed” that Illinois passed a law allowing medically assisted suicide. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)
“I would invite all people, especially in these Christmas days, to reflect upon the nature of human life, the goodness of human life,” Leo said. “God became human like us to show us what it means really to live human life, and I hope and pray that the respect for life will once again grow in all moments of human existence, from conception to natural death.”
The state’s six Catholic dioceses have also criticized Pritzker’s decision to sign the bill, saying it puts Illinois “on a dangerous and heartbreaking path.”
Illinois joins a growing list of states allowing medically assisted suicide. Eleven other states and the District of Columbia allow medically assisted suicide, according to the advocacy group, Death with Dignity, and seven other states are considering allowing it.
After signing the bill, Pritzker said the legislation would allow patients with terminal illnesses to “avoid unnecessary pain and suffering at the end of their lives,” and said it would be “thoughtfully implemented” to guide physicians and patients through deeply personal decisions.
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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Medical Aid in Dying Act on Dec. 12, allowing eligible terminally ill adult patients to obtain life-ending medication after consultation with their doctors. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has reached out to Pritzker’s office for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Europeans show solidarity with Denmark after Trump’s Greenland threat
Published on
Exactly one year after Donald Trump first announced his intention to integrate Greenland into US territory on grounds of “national protection”, he’s back for more.
The US president has appointed Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, as the new US special envoy for Greenland with the stated objective of “integrating Greenland into the United States” and repeated the US needs the territory for its national security.
His comments have been taken seriously by EU heads of state and government, who are presenting a united front against what they describe as American expansionist ambitions towards the autonomous territory, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, both responded to the announcement by reaffirming their support for the integrity of Denmark’s territory.
“Greenland belongs to its people. Denmark stands as its guarantor. I join my voice to that of Europeans in expressing our full solidarity.”
On Tuesday, Trump told reporters the United States “needs Greenland for national security, not for minerals or oil, but national security. And if you take a look at Greenland, there are Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. So, we need this for protection.”
He also chastised Denmark for what he described neglecting the territory, “they have spent no money, they have no military protection, they say Denmark arrived there 300 years ago with boats – we were there with boats too, I’m sure. We’ll have to work it all out.”
Adding to the European voices pushing back on the US ambitions and the criticism of Denmark, Commission Ursula von der Leyen insisted that “territorial integrity and sovereignty are fundamental principles of international law”. Despite the tone coming out of Washington, she appeared to refer to the US as an ally in arctic security.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez echoed those remarks. “Respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity is central to the EU and to all nations of the world,” he wrote on X. “Security in the Arctic is a priority in which we seek to work with allies and partners.”
The US and Denmark are part of NATO, which is supposed to ensure mutual defence in the event of aggression against one of its members. That principle has never been tested by conflict between members of the alliance if one were to seize territory from another.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has so far remained silent on the issue. During a press conference with Trump in the White House’s Oval Office in March, he also chose not to comment after a question from a journalist.
“When it comes to Greenland, if it joins the US or not, I will leave that outside of me in this discussion because I don’t want to drag NATO into that,” he said.
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