- Trump slams early voting, even while urging Pennsylvanians to do so
- Singapore ex-minister pleads guilty to bribery in rare graft trial
- Major Hurricane John hits Mexico's Pacific coast
- IMF says ready for talks with Sri Lanka's new leftist government
- Phillies clinch division title, eye top seed
- Bills trample Jaguars, Commanders claw Bengals
- China unveils fresh stimulus to boost ailing economy
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally on China stimulus on mixed day for markets
- Back to death row? Retrial verdict due in Japan murder saga
- Rare corruption trial of Singapore ex-minister begins
- Ghana a long way off from gender equality despite new law
- China unveils fresh stimulus to boost economy
- Hamas weakened, not crushed a year into war with Israel
- Israeli economy struggles under weight of Gaza war
- Israelis united in trauma, divided by war after October 7
- New York Liberty riding WNBA boom into playoffs
- Union says new Boeing pay offer 'missed the mark'
- Environmental groups urge EU 'high risk' label for Sarawak
- Argentina seeks Maduro's arrest for crimes against humanity
- Morales issues Bolivian president 24-hour ultimatum to shake up cabinet
- Armenia and Azerbaijan see progress, but peace treaty seems distant
- World leaders gather at UN as Mideast tensions explode
- Biden's UN goodbye aims to 'Trump-proof' legacy
- Singapore ex-minister set for high-profile corruption trial
- Man Utd, Spurs eye respite from domestic woes in Europa League
- Guatemala picks Supreme Court judges with focus on anti-graft fight
- Jill Biden announces $500 million for women's health research
- Injured All Blacks centre Jordie Barrett out of Australia Test
- 'Lead the future': youth challenge world leaders at UN
- Goosebumps and stars as Paris Fashion Week kicks off
- Boeing boosts pay offer in effort to end strike
- Global markets inch higher on hopes of further rate cuts
- Amazon forest loses area the size of Germany and France, fueling fires
- 'Curious' Dupont eyes position change after claiming Top 14 award
- Man Utd stadium regeneration could add £7.3bn to British economy
- At COP16, Colombia seeks to lead by example on biodiversity
- Dupont caps off Olympic gold season with Top 14 player award
- Leeds to expand Elland Road to 53,000 capacity
- Mysterious 18th century diamond necklace set for auction
- World's oceans near critical acidification level: report
- California sues oil giant Exxon over plastic recycling 'myth'
- As wars rage, UN's critics say global body is failing its mission
- Amazon forest has lost an area the size of Germany and France
- Nadal, Alcaraz and Sinner in Davis Cup finals teams
- Telegram's Durov announces new crackdown on illegal content
- African players in Europe: Ice-cool Jackson strikes twice
- Man City's Rodri 'out for season' after ACL injury: reports
- Venezuelan court issues arrest warrant for Argentina's Milei
- Arsenal not yet a match for Man City-Liverpool rivalry, says Silva
- Iran's new president calls Israel warmonger as he seeks talks with West
France's Le Pen wants NATO-Russia 'rapprochement'
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Wednesday said she would back closer ties between NATO and Russia and pull Paris out of the alliance's military command, if she defeats Emmanuel Macron for the presidency.
Le Pen faces Macron on April 24 in a run-off vote after she came second in the April 10 first round, with the latest polls showing the president holding on to a solid but slim lead.
Foreign policy is set to play an important role in the vote after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and also accusations from Macron that Le Pen is too close to President Vladimir Putin.
The far-right leader has sought to project a more moderate image in this campaign and held a news conference on foreign policy designed to present Le Pen as a credible figure on the global stage.
But tensions were exposed when her security tackled a female protester to the floor and then roughly dragged her out of the room by the arm.
The protester had stood up and brandished a picture -- cut into a heart shape -- of Le Pen meeting Putin in Russia in 2017.
Le Pen said there should be a "strategic rapprochement" between NATO and Russia once the war launched by Moscow against Ukraine had ended.
"We must ask about the role of the alliance after the end of the Warsaw Pact," the Moscow-led military alliance that grouped Soviet bloc nations, she told journalists.
- 'In interest of France' -
Le Pen emphasised that better ties with Russia would also prevent Moscow from becoming too close to China, noting that she was echoing an argument made by Macron in the past.
"This is in the interest of France and Europe but also I think the United States... which has no interest in seeing a close Sino-Russian relationship emerging," Le Pen said.
She also reaffirmed her intention of repeating France's 1966 move of leaving NATO's integrated military command, while still adhering to its key article 5 on mutual protection.
France rejoined NATO's military structure in 2009.
"I would place our troops neither under an integrated NATO command nor under a future European command," she said, adding that she refused any "subjection to an American protectorate".
On Europe, Le Pen made clear that any "Frexit" along the lines of Britain's exit from the European Union was not on her agenda.
But she argued that French predictions that Brexit would prove "a cataclysm for the English" had not come true.
"The British got rid of the Brussels bureaucracy, which they could never bear, to move to an ambitious project of global Britain," she said.
But she added: "This is not our project. We want to reform the EU from the inside."
While Macron has returned to the traditional notion of the Franco-German motor driving Europe, Le Pen also made clear she would not put relations with Berlin at the heart of her foreign policy.
"Germany is the absolute opposite of France's strategic identity," said Le Pen, speaking of "irreconcilable strategic differences" between Paris and Berlin.
Le Pen has been under pressure over her party taking a loan from a Russian bank but she explained this by saying it could not get the loan either in France or in Europe.
- Macron ahead, but tight -
The latest polls showed Macron slightly extending a lead over Le Pen in the second round but also giving no indication that the president is in for an easy ride.
An Elabe poll showed Macron on 53.5 percent and Le Pen on 46.5, with the president inching up 1.5 percent since its last survey.
Meanwhile, Iposos showed Macron at 55 percent with Le Pen on 45.
Macron has repeatedly warned that the election is far from in the bag and analysts have said it will be crucial to win backing from supporters of hard-left candidate Jean Luc-Melenchon who finished third and narrowly missed out on the run-off.
The president has taken a far more active role in the first three days of the final round campaign than he did for the most of the first round, where he appeared distracted by the war against Ukraine.
The opening salvoes of the campaign have been marked by bitter exchanges between the candidates, with Macron accusing Le Pen of "authoritarian tendencies" towards the media and his rival accusing the president of showing "febrility".
W.Lapointe--BTB