- Dubois destroys Joshua to retain IBF world heavyweight crown
- Guardiola says critics want Man City wiped 'from face of the Earth'
- Biden says 'Quad' is 'here to stay' despite challenges
- Dubois knocks out Joshua to retain IBF world heavyweight crown
- Vinicius helps 'faster' Madrid overturn stubborn Espanyol
- Zelensky to press US on long-range missile strikes inside Russia
- PSG drop first points in draw at Reims
- Vinicius, Mbappe on target as Madrid crush plucky Espanyol
- Jeeno leads Ko by two at LPGA Queen City Championship
- Bottega Veneta goes for 'E.T.' chic as Madonna pops into D&G
- Messi, Miami frustrated by New York late leveler
- Musk's X platform takes first step toward lifting Brazil ban
- 'Business as usual' for Australia match-winner Carey amid boos
- Israeli jets pound Lebanon after deadly Beirut strike
- Ten Hag bemoans Man Utd's lack of killer instinct in Palace stalemate
- France's Macron appoints new government in shift to right
- Cheika proud of Leicester grit after winning start as boss
- Profligate Man Utd pay price in 0-0 draw at Palace
- Kane, Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Man Utd held at Palace
- LIV champion Rahm out of LIV Team semis with severe flu
- Slot surprised by tearful Nunez's moment of magic
- Title rivals Norris, Verstappen on 'cool' front row for Singapore GP
- Biden talks China with 'Quad' leaders in hometown summit
- Juve and Napoli play out goalless draw in early Serie A title tussle
- Alcaraz fears tennis tour grind will 'kill us'
- Carey sparks recovery as Australia thrash England in 2nd ODI
- Leclerc, Sainz lament 'disappointing' Saturday in Singapore
- Bottega Veneta holds investors' aces as Madonna pops into D&G
- Beirut digs for victims at building flattened in Israeli strike
- Verstappen stages protest over 'ridiculous' swearing punishment
- Bayern boss Kompany lauds 'special talent' Olise
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Spurs bounce back
- Heavy fire over Israel-Lebanon border after deadly Beirut strike
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win despite Hogg scuffle
- Myanmar flood death toll jumps to 384
- Chelsea owners 'happy' with win at West Ham amid rift report
- Kane and Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win
- Norris pips Verstappen to dramatic Singapore pole after Sainz crash
- Carey takes Australia to 270 in 2nd ODI against England after collapse
- Two Hezbollah leaders killed in Israel's Beirut strike
- Hungary Danube waters reach decade high after Storm Boris
- Bagnaia cuts Martin's MotoGP lead with Emilia-Romagna sprint win
- Jackson double fires Chelsea to victory at woeful West Ham
- Fiji beat Japan to lift Pacific Nations Cup
- Kasatkina to face Haddad Maia in Korea Open final
- S.Africa snowfall closes roads, strands motorists overnight
- Lawyers of women alleging Al-Fayed sex abuse receive over 150 new enquiries
- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
One month out, Macron's re-election looks his to lose
With the Ukraine crisis looming over the coming French presidential election, voters appear increasingly willing to stick with Emmanuel Macron and his promise to "protect" the country in turbulent times.
At just 30 days from the first round of voting, the 44-year-old former investment banker has seen a spike in opinion polls since last week, garnering 30 percent of intentions to vote in several surveys.
That puts him far ahead of his closest rival, far-right veteran Marine Le Pen, who is making her third run at the presidency and currently stands at 18 percent in an Ifop-Fiducial poll released Monday.
If Macron and Le Pen do make the second round run-off, in a rematch of their 2017 contest, the poll forecasts a solid Macron victory at 56 percent to 44 percent.
"He was already the clear frontrunner before the Ukraine crisis, and is even more so now," said Jeremie Peltier, head of research at the Jean-Jaures Foundation, a Paris-based think-tank.
"But that could also have a downside, in that some people might think it's already game over, that the die is cast, and they might very well stay home instead of voting," he said.
Weak turnout was the key factor in the stunning upset by Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, in 2002 when he beat out the Socialist favourite Lionel Jospin to reach the run-off, a political earthquake that still haunts mainstream candidates.
While the Ukraine crisis appears to have remobilised voters, abstention rates have been rising in France for decades, reaching 22 percent five years ago.
That could provide an opening to conservative Valerie Pecresse of the Rebublicains, who is neck-and-neck for third place in polls with the anti-immigrant firebrand Eric Zemmour, or for Jean-Luc Melenchon, the only leftist candidate in double-digits at 11.5 percent, according to Ifop.
- Real enthusiasm? -
In his inaugural campaign video, Macron insisted that "it's not at all a done deal" and promised to spell out his plans for a second term despite frenzied efforts to mediate an end to the Ukraine conflict.
He swept to the presidency as a centrist outsider vowing to shake up France's staid left-right divide with pro-business reforms to revive growth and create a "start-up nation."
He pushed through looser labour laws, tax cuts and a sweeping overhaul of the debt-laden state rail operator SNCF and is preparing to overhaul a byzantine pensions system that would push back the legal retirement age to 65 from 62, his spokesman confirmed Thursday.
"That could re-inject controversy and a bit of confrontation, because that would have a big impact on people's lives" and give traction to leftwing candidates who oppose the reform, Peltier said.
Macron's lofty agenda and a perceived aloofness fuelled the violent "yellow vest" backlash of 2018-19, when a fuel tax hike to pay for climate change efforts forced the president to make major concessions -- along with promises that he had learned "humility."
Surging fuel and energy prices in the wake of Russia's invasion could rekindle criticism that Macron isn't doing enough to shield low-income households from the fallout of the conflict.
At a campaign stop Monday he surprised many by announcing the end of an annual 138 euro ($152) broadcasting tax for every household with a TV -- echoing a pledge already made by most of his rightwing rivals.
"Even if he's a bit young, and since he has done a fairly good job so far, there's an element of rallying around the flag" and not wanting to take a chance on a new president as the Ukraine conflict persists, said Pascal Perrineau, a professor at Sciences Po university in Paris.
"But that doesn't mean he has real enthusiasm behind him -- anti-Macron sentiment is still there," he cautioned.
Macron's opponents have also cried foul at his refusal to take part in a debate ahead of the first round on April 10, accusing him of hiding behind fears of a "free for all" against his 11 fellow candidates.
"This contest must not be stolen from the French," Pecresse told BFM television on Wednesday, saying the Ukraine conflict was being used to "squash this election and the democratic debate that needs to be had on the state of France."
B.Shevchenko--BTB