PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron and his far-right challenger traded barbs on Monday as they began a final fortnight of campaigning ahead of a run-off vote set to be much closer than their 2017 contest.
After a first round of voting on Sunday, Macron came top with 27.85 percent, while far-right leader Marine Le Pen finished second at 23.15 percent, final results showed on Monday.
As the top two finishers, they advanced to a second round scheduled for April 24.
Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon came close to qualifying for the run-off after a late surge gave him a score of just under 22 percent.
The Macron-Le Pen duel is a replay of the 2017 election final from which Macron emerged victorious with 66 percent. This time, however, polls suggest it will be a closer contest.
Making an aggressive start to the next phase of the campaign, Macron headed to deprived former mining and steel-making areas of northern France that have become Le Pen strongholds.
“I’m not going to pretend nothing happened, I have heard the message from those who voted for the extremes, including those who voted for Ms Le Pen,” Macron told a scrum of journalists who followed him in Denain.
“I realize that people will vote for me to stop her, but I want to convince people. So I may possibly round out my project” with more social welfare measures, he said.
Macron later said he was prepared to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64 — rather than 65 as his campaign program pledged — to avoid “too many tensions” and “build a consensus.”
In an interview with the Voix du Nord newspaper, he called Le Pen a “demagogue,” saying she was “someone who said to people what they want to hear at the moment they want to hear it.”
Le Pen met with her campaign team Monday morning before heading to visit a cereal farmer in the central Yonne region, which placed her first in Sunday’s vote.
Returning to the main priority of French people — and the focus of all her campaigning — she accused Macron of doing too little to help voters with the rising cost of living.
“Anticipating events is absolutely essential. At the moment, we’re improvising,” she said, before repeating her promises to slash taxes on food and fuel.
The arch-nationalist, 53, also denied that she planned for France to leave the European Union, saying instead she wanted to “change the structure” of the 27-member club.
Polls gauging second-round voting intentions mostly point to around 53 percent for Macron and 47 percent for Le Pen.
But one poll by the Ifop-Fiducial group suggested Macron could have only a razor-thin win with 51 percent versus 49 percent.
While opponents accuse her of being divisive and racist, Le Pen has sought to project a more moderate image in this campaign and has focused on voters’ daily worries over inflation.
Both candidates will now scramble to woo voters of their defeated first-round rivals.
“We’re going to have to win over the French people who didn’t vote for Emmanuel Macron in the first round,” government spokesman Gabriel Attal told the France Inter broadcaster on Monday.
In an early boost for the president, Communist Party candidate Fabien Roussel, Socialist Anne Hidalgo, Yannick Jadot of the Greens and right-wing Republicans candidate Valerie Pecresse said they would vote for him to prevent the far-right leader coming to power.
Melenchon told his supporters not to give a “single vote” to Le Pen, but he stopped short of backing Macron directly.
“If Macron wants to convince our voters, he’s going have to work for it,” said Melenchon’s campaign director, Manuel Bompard.
Meanwhile Le Pen’s far-right rival Eric Zemmour, who garnered just over seven percent on Sunday, threw his weight behind her.
A pivotal moment in the next stage of the campaign will come on April 20 when the two candidates take part in a live TV debate, just like five years ago when a better-prepared Macron won the day.
But this time will be different, said political scientist Brice Teinturier.
Macron, he said, “is no longer the new candidate representing a kind of freshness” while Le Pen “is no longer the person people automatically reject.”
Macron is expected to target her past admiration for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, an explosive issue during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Marine Le Pen is the candidate for depending on Russia,” Macron told the Voix du Nord.
The candidates from France’s traditional parties of government — the Socialists and the Republicans — suffered humiliating defeats.
Sunday’s vote spelled disaster for Hidalgo, the Socialist mayor of Paris, who won only 1.75 percent, a historic low for the party.
The vote for Pecresse’s Republicans collapsed to 4.78 percent from 20 percent in 2017.
On Monday, Pecresse admitted her campaign finances, which included five million euros ($5.5 million) of her own money, were in a “critical” state, and called for donations from supporters.
Public campaign spending reimbursements are drastically reduced for candidates who fail to reach five percent.
Abstention on Sunday hit 26 percent, a sharp increase from the first round in 2017.
France’s Macron, Le Pen trade barbs ahead of run-off
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France’s Macron, Le Pen trade barbs ahead of run-off
Brother of Manchester suicide bomber charged over attack on jail guards
Hashem Abedi, the elder brother of Salman Abedi who killed 22 people at the Manchester Arena in northern England, was charged with five offenses following an incident in April this year at HMP Frankland jail when four prison officers were injured, British police said.
He is accused of three counts of attempted murder, one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and one count of unauthorized possession of a knife. He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates Court on September 18.
Hashem Abedi was jailed for at least 55 years in 2020 after being convicted of helping his brother plan the attack which injured more than 200 and whose victims included seven children.
The brothers, born to Libyan parents who emigrated to Britain during the rule of late leader Muammar Qaddafi, had plotted the attack at their home in south Manchester, prosecutors said.
Zelensky warns Trump that Putin is 'bluffing'
- Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska on Friday for talks on ending Ukraine war
- Zelensky’s comments came after a virtual call with Trump and European leaders
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that he warned US President Donald Trump ahead of his talks with Vladimir Putin this week that the Russian leader is “bluffing” about his desire to end the war.
Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska on Friday, where Kyiv and its allies are worried the two leaders may try to dictate the terms of peace in the 3-1/2-year war.
“I told the US president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing,” he said at a joint briefing in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine.”
Zelensky’s comments, made after a virtual call with Trump and European leaders, come as Russian forces step up pressure on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, aiming to force Kyiv to give up land.
Zelensky, who said he hoped the main topic of the talks in Alaska would be an immediate ceasefire, added that any discussions regarding territory should be covered during a three-leader meeting.
“Regarding our principles and territorial integrity, in the end this is all decided at the level of leaders,” he said. “Without Ukraine, it is impossible to decide this. And, by the way, everyone also supports this.”
Zelensky said Trump told him he would debrief him about his talks with Putin.
Former British officer sues Ministry of Defense over handling of Afghan data breach
- Individual worked on Afghan cases for under two years before his role ended unexpectedly after he threatened to become a whistleblower
- He is suing the MoD and his third-party recruiter, and the case is set to be heard next year
LONDON: A former British military officer is suing the Ministry of Defense for constructive dismissal after speaking out about the handling of a data leak that exposed the personal details of thousands of Afghans seeking relocation to the UK.
The Times reported that an unnamed individual was contracted to assist with Operation Rubific, a secret mission addressing the fallout from a massive data breach.
The former officer worked on Afghan cases for under two years before his role ended unexpectedly after he threatened to become a whistleblower. He was then reassigned to another area in a position for which he was overqualified.
“He complained they are letting in people they shouldn’t and not letting in those he should,” a source close to the former officer suing the MoD told The Times.
He also raised concerns that the government was not prioritizing those most at risk among the tens of thousands of Afghans identified for resettlement in Britain. He assisted four Afghan individuals in relocating to Britain after their details were revealed on the leaked list.
The MoD is facing scrutiny over a superinjunction that blocked public and parliamentary oversight after a spreadsheet leaked containing the names, telephone numbers and email addresses of Afghans seeking relocation to Britain.
The former officer allegedly threatened to alert other departments about the superinjunction and was subsequently “managed out,” according to the source.
The individual is suing the MoD and his third-party recruiter, for whom he worked as a contractor after leaving the military. The case is set to be heard next year.
Officials argued that the data breach should remain secret for nearly two years, claiming it put 100,000 Afghans at risk of Taliban retribution, including death and torture. However, the superinjunction was lifted in July after a government review deemed it “highly unlikely” that Afghans on the leaked spreadsheet were at risk.
Ministers reduced the number of Afghans brought to Britain from 42,500 to 24,000, including family members, based on their presence in the country or prior invitations. Concerns have also been raised about the motive behind the secrecy order, questioning if it aims to protect the MoD’s reputation and prepare for potential mass applications from affected Afghans, The Times reported.
Adnan Malik, the head of data protection at Barings Law, is now representing 1,400 individuals from the leaked list; a number that continues to grow daily.
He told The Times that the MoD’s “attempt to silence one of their own whistleblowers is another shameful development” after tens of thousands of Afghans had their data breached without their knowledge.
A source from the MoD said that the individual’s contract had concluded.
Indian politicians demand action against Israeli envoy after attack on Priyanka Gandhi
- Israeli ambassador posted disparaging remarks against Gandhi after her comments on Gaza
- Congress party demands official apology for his ‘public attempt to intimidate’ the MP
NEW DELHI: Indian politicians are demanding action against the Israeli ambassador in Delhi following his verbal attack on Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi.
Gandhi, a lawmaker from the opposition Congress party, who is the daughter of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and sister of Rahul Gandhi — leader of the opposition — wrote on social media on Tuesday that “the Israeli state is committing genocide” in Gaza.
“It has murdered over 60,000 people, 18,430 of whom were children. It has starved hundreds to death including many children and is threatening to starve millions,” she said, calling out the Indian government over its inaction.
“Enabling these crimes by silence and inaction is a crime in itself. It is shameful that the Indian Government stands silent as Israel unleashes this devastation on the people of Palestine.”
The post was almost immediately responded to by Reuven Azar, Israel’s ambassador to India, who told Gandhi: “What is shameful is your deceit.”
The post triggered outrage among Congress members, with the party’s spokesperson Supriya Shrinate demanding that the Indian government act over the envoy’s “casting aspersions” on Gandhi.
“He should be officially made to apologize. She is a member of parliament, she is an elected representative, and how dare the Israeli ambassador talk to her in that tone. The government should take this up in no uncertain terms,” Shrinate told Arab News.
“We seek an unconditional apology for the use of tone and words that the Israeli ambassador has used, and the reality is that the world is watching what Israel is doing in Gaza.”
Priyanka Chaturvedi, an MP and spokesperson of the Shiv Sena (UBT) party, said inaction from the Ministry of External Affairs would only embolden foreign diplomats “to speak to Indian parliamentarians in this tone and tenor in their own country.
“This is unacceptable,” she wrote on X. “Hope Ministry of External Affairs reprimands this Hon. Ambassador.”
For Gaurav Gogoi, a Congress lawmaker from Assam, “the disparaging comments made by a foreign Ambassador against a Member of Parliament of India is a serious breach of privilege,” he said in an X post, urging Parliament to take action if the government does not respond.
The government in New Delhi has largely remained quiet since Israel launched its deadly assault on Gaza in October 2023.
But India’s civil society and the opposition are increasingly speaking up against Israeli war crimes.
Pawan Khera, chairman of the Congress party’s publicity department, called on External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to address the Israeli ambassador’s “public attempt to intimidate” Gandhi.
“That the ambassador of a state accused of genocide worldwide would target a sitting Member of the Indian Parliament is both unprecedented and intolerable. It is a direct affront to the dignity of Indian democracy,” he wrote on X.
Khera also addressed the envoy directly: “No amount of deflection or whitewashing can obscure the facts. The international community is witnessing, in real time, the killing of civilians in Gaza — including those queuing for aid. The world sees the heartbreaking images emerging from Gaza every day. It will neither forget nor forgive.”
Senior figures in UK’s ruling party sound alarm over Palestine Action ban
- Ex-minister: ‘You devalue the charge of terrorism by equating it with the protests we have seen’
- Civil liberties campaigner: ‘Spraying paint on airplanes is not the same as being the IRA or Al-Qaeda’
LONDON: Senior figures in the UK’s ruling Labour Party are sounding the alarm over the government’s banning of the group Palestine Action.
It comes after hundreds of people were arrested in London last weekend under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act.
The protesters had held signs demonstrating support for Palestine Action, which was proscribed as a terrorist organization in July.
Former Minister Peter Hain said the issue “will end in tears for the government,” The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
The former anti-apartheid activist added: “We are seeing retired magistrates, retired and serving doctors and all sorts of people being arrested and now effectively being equated with terrorists such as Al-Qaeda, which is absolutely wrong.”
If the ban is contested through a legal challenge and overturned, it “would be a mercy to all concerned, including the government,” he said.
Hain was one of three Labour peers in the House of Lords who voted against the ban last month.
“It’s going to get worse (for the government) because I don’t see people from that ‘middle Britain’ background who have joined these protests in such large numbers to suddenly decide that all is OK,” he said.
“In fact, I think more are going to come out and face arrest because the approach to Palestine Action is contrary to every form of peaceful protest in British history, whether that’s the chartists and suffragettes, or anti-apartheid and anti-fascist protesters.”
The government has faced mounting pressure over the ban after it emerged that of the 532 arrested under the Terrorism Act on the weekend, half were aged 60 or older.
Hain served as secretary of state for Northern Ireland, a role that gave him great insight into the realities of terrorism.
“There is a battery of other crimes that could be applied to Palestine Action but terrorism is not one of them, while you also devalue the charge of terrorism by equating it with the protests we have seen,” he said.
“I … worked with the intelligence services and others to stop dissident IRA (Irish Republican Army) groups from killing. I have signed warrants to stop other real terrorists, Islamist terrorists, bombing London. So, I am not soft on terrorism. But I am a strong believer that you have to know what it looks like.”
Many Labour MPs and peers are now doubting the decision to ban Palestine Action, Hain added.
The government has justified the proscription by describing the group as a “violent organization” that was planning to carry out extensive attacks.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said court restrictions have prevented the British public from discovering the “full nature of this organization.”
However, Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti warned that the ban could result in an “I am Spartacus” moment, The Independent reported on Wednesday.
She was referring to the 1960 film “Spartacus,” and a situation in which a group of people claim to be one person in an act of solidarity against an authority.
The civil liberties campaigner urged the government to “think again” over the ban, saying her worries are “greater now even than they were before” after last weekend’s mass arrests.
Chakrabarti told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” program: “There are blurred lines now … some people are, as always, protesting about the horrific events they’re watching unfold in Gaza, but others think they’re standing up for civil liberties because this ban was disproportionate.”
She added that a distinction must be made between criminal damage and terrorism, and that “spraying paint on airplanes,” as Palestine Action members did, “is not the same as being the IRA or Al-Qaeda.”
Saturday’s mass arrest of protesters is believed to be the largest of its kind by London’s Metropolitan Police since the poll tax riot of 1990.
Rights groups including Amnesty International and Liberty warned that the arrests were “disproportionate to the point of absurdity,” and that the Terrorism Act is threatening freedom of expression.
Chakrabarti said: “And so we've got more people taking to the streets, a bigger headache for the police. Frankly, I’m very sympathetic to the police on this issue. I think it may be time to think again.”
