WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Le Pen barred, Birmingham's 'major incident', and Gaza's cash shortage

 
today's international story

Le Pen attacks 2027 election ban

What happened
Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far right, has railed against a Paris court's ruling that will bar her from competing for the presidency in 2027, calling it a "political decision" and a "denial of democracy".

Le Pen was found guilty of embezzling European parliament funds and handed a €100,000 (£84,000) fine and a four-year prison sentence, none of which she will serve in jail. The leader of the National Rally (RN) party said she would lodge an appeal against the ruling.

Who said what
Describing herself as the "favourite" to win the 2027 presidential election, Le Pen attacked "practices we thought were for authoritarian regimes".

Following the ruling, nationalist and populist figures from around the world "rushed to support her", said The Guardian. Elon Musk said the sentence against Le Pen would "backfire, like the legal attacks against president Trump".

There was also "unease within the political mainstream in France", said France 24. Laurent Wauquiez, the leader of the right-wing Republicans party, said "political debates should be decided at the ballot box".

What next?
"In theory there is still a (small) possibility" Le Pen could run in 2027, said the BBC. She has launched an appeal that could be accelerated and ruled upon next year.

Alternatively, RN could run its party president Jordan Bardella in her place. "What is certain" is that many would-be candidates on the "non-RN right" would see a Bardella candidacy as a "big opportunity for themselves".

 
 
today's politics story

Birmingham declares major incident over bin strike

What happened
Birmingham City Council has escalated the city's ongoing bin strike to a major incident as it estimates that 17,000 tonnes of waste remains uncollected.

Unite union members are on strike over job cuts within waste and recycling services, which has led to rubbish piling up in the streets and residents complaining about rats.

Who said what
"It's regrettable that we have had to take this step," said John Cotton, the leader of the council. "But we cannot tolerate a situation that is causing harm and distress to communities across Birmingham."

"Masses of putrid waste remains yet to be cleared across the city," said the Daily Mail. Rats, which some residents have reported to be "as big as cats", are now "running riot" across Birmingham, said The Telegraph.

What next?
By declaring a major incident, the council can request assistance from neighbouring councils and the government while expanding street cleaning and fly-tipping removal efforts.

 
 
Today's transport story

'Green signal' for Virgin's cross-Channel trains

What happened
Richard Branson's Virgin Group can start operating passenger trains through the Channel Tunnel after the Office of Rail and Road (OOR) ruled that operators other than Eurostar could store rolling stock at the only UK depot able to run European-style trains.

Eurostar had claimed that the facility in east London was full with its own carriages.

Who said what
"Finally a green signal for competition," said a Virgin Group spokesperson. "There are no more major hurdles to overcome."

But Eurostar said the OOR-commissioned independent report "confirmed" that the depot was "effectively almost full today for major maintenance work".

What next?
Virgin plans to order a dozen high-speed trains and start services connecting London with Paris and Brussels in 2029.

Two other companies vying to compete with Eurostar are Spanish start-up Evolyn and Gemini Trains, the latter chaired by the Labour peer Tony Berkeley.

 
 

It's not all bad

Varada Sethu, the new "Doctor Who" companion, has embraced criticism that the show is "too woke", saying it proves the series is on the right track. Sethu, who stars alongside Ncuti Gatwa, said: "Woke just means inclusive, progressive and that you care about people. And, as far as I know, the core of 'Doctor Who' is kindness". Showrunner Russell T. Davies has praised her chemistry with Gatwa, and Sethu described the upcoming episodes as "bright and energetic".

 
 
under the radar

Gaza is running out of cash

Gaza's ongoing humanitarian crisis has created yet another problem for residents – a desperate shortage of currency.

With the Israeli siege blocking supplies of fresh legal tender into the territory, Palestinians are having to mend their "tattered bills and rusted coins" to buy essential goods, said the Financial Times.

Gaza's last working ATM closed late last year, while most of its banks have either shut due to security fears or been destroyed by Israeli air strikes.

Due to the lack of new cash coming into the enclave, much of the remaining currency has ended up in the hands of "powerful wholesalers" trading in goods from Egypt and Israel. They use bank transfers to pay for the imports, but insist that buyers pay cash for the goods.

It has led to a "lucrative" sideline for black market money brokers, who buy cash from the traders and then sell it for "exorbitant" fees to desperate Gazans, receiving payment via electronic bank transfers.

Those charges have increased following Israel's renewed bombardment of Gaza, said the Financial Times. Traders have doubled their asking price from 15% to 30%.

Some Gazans have turned the situation to their advantage, restoring old, ripped notes for a price. But not everyone can repair or replace their currency, including some of the exchangers themselves. Money broker Abdallah Al-Mzeiny has found himself a victim of vendors' refusal to accept 10-shekel coins for fear they are counterfeit. He has more than 10,000 shekels – some £2,100 – in the coins.

Nevertheless, he will continue his trading. "It’s a way for anyone with cash to earn money," he said.

 
 
on this day

1 April 2001

The Netherlands became the first country to grant equal marriage rights to same-sex couples. Thirty other countries have since followed suit, most recently Thailand this year. But in the US, where same-sex marriage was legalised in 2015, Republican lawmakers in at least nine states are introducing measures to undermine it.

 
 
Today's newspapers

"No free trade without free speech" is The Telegraph's headline on a condition Donald Trump might include for securing a trade deal. The US state department has raised the case of an anti-abortion activist who was banned from holding a sign outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth. Metro says that Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew's most prominent accusers, has said she is in hospital following a "70 mph car smash".

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Tongue-twisting talent

A California woman with the world's longest tongue has demonstrated her lingual dexterity by playing Jenga with her mouth muscle. In a video made for Guinness World Records, 34-year-old Chanel Tapper also showed off her other tricks, including holding a spoon and flipping a plastic cup with her 3.8-inch-long tongue. "Honestly, the best reaction I could ever get when someone sees my tongue is screaming," she said.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Rebecca Messina, Harriet Marsden, Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, Ross Couzens and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Thomas Samson / Pool /AFP / Getty Images; Mike Kemp / In Pictures / Getty Images; Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images.