The Economist.
Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist.
I'm your host, Rosie Blore.
Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.
Home rental costs have been going up and up in recent years.
Our correspondent explains what's going on and asks whether those of us who can't afford to get on the housing ladder have any chance of respite.
And Oleg Gordievsky came from a family of spies, so it made sense when he became a KGB officer.
But he also ended up spying for Britain and later defecting.
Our obituary's editor remembers his extraordinary double life.
But first, it was a political earthquake.
Marine Le Pen's outspoken views on immigration and Islam have made her one of the most popular politicians in France.
She brought the Hard Right Party her father founded into the heart of the country's political system and had led the polls for the first round of the 2027 presidential election.
Yesterday, she was banned from running for any elected office for five years.
A criminal court in Paris found Le Pen and a number of other members of the National Rally Party guilty of misusing 4 million euros of European public funds to finance their party.
The penalty was unusually and unexpectedly harsh.
It ruins Le Pen's bid to succeed Emmanuel Macron as president and leaves the National Rally Party in disarray.
Marie Le Pen seemed absolutely livid yesterday
as she left the courtroom before the presiding judge had even read out her sentence.
She just walked out, carried her handbag, disappeared into the car and was off.
She muttered under her breath, unbelievable.