Presidential in France: last marathon week for the candidates

The moment of truth is approaching for the presidential candidates who are entering a final week of campaigning marathons, culminating in evening television broadcasts and a big day of meetings on Thursday. There is no doubt that the war in Ukraine will still be part of their interventions, after the discovery in Boutcha of numerous corpses of civilians whose murder is attributed to Russian soldiers. In the international chorus of condemnations, candidate president Emmanuel Macron denounced "unbearable" images on Sunday and said that "the Russian authorities" should "answer for these crimes". After a weekend of meetings for a good part of the candidates, including the first and a priori unique of Emmanuel Macron, they are now betting on final meetings to mobilize their voters and convince the undecided, at a time when the pollsters fear a very significant abstention after a sluggish campaign, first asphyxiated by the Covid crisis then engulfed by the war in Ukraine.

Some 30% of French people could abstain on April 10, a record level for a first round of presidential elections under the Fifth Republic, underlines an Ipsos SopraSteria poll published on Sunday. Stronger expected abstention in households with the lowest incomes, shows this study, while purchasing power is the priority of voters in this campaign. And if the duel has settled between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, the outgoing head of state has stabilized around 27% while the far-right candidate crossed the 20% threshold at the end of March. And the outgoing president's lead has narrowed in the margin of error (53% against 47% for Marine Le Pen) now worrying Macronie.

Corsica: new demonstration for Yvan Colonna, more violence

Like the previous ones, the new demonstration for Yvan Colonna, a Corsican independence activist fatally attacked in prison, degenerated into violent clashes in Ajaccio, at the risk of delaying the opening of the discussions announced with the government around a possible autonomy for the island. . Started around 4:00 p.m., immediately after the arrival of the procession at the prefecture, these clashes between 150 to 200 young people, often hooded and equipped with gas masks, and the police, still continued around 11:00 p.m. Responding to the throwing of Molotov cocktails and agricultural bombs, the police replied with water lances, tear gas canisters and stun grenades. At the end of the evening, the demonstrators notably used electoral signs as projectiles. According to the prefecture, these clashes left 15 injured, 14 demonstrators and a policeman, including three seriously injured. Among them, a 54-year-old woman affected in one leg.

IN SHORT

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky intervened Sunday via a speech recorded during the 64th edition of the Grammy Awards, equivalent of the Oscars for American music, to ask for support for his country, in the grip of an invasion by Russia.

The new pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo won the Grammy Award for "Breakthrough of the Year" on Sunday, a high-profile category in which the young woman won against rappers Saweetie and The Kid Laroi. And Jon Batiste, a 35-year-old African-American pianist, won album of the year for "We Are", a triumph for this rising star with still modest notoriety.

A super Kylian Mbappé, author of a double and three assists, launched Paris Saint-Germain on the road to redemption against Lorient (5-1), for the 30th day of Ligue 1, in a sulky Parc des Princes . The PSG star striker, whose contract ends at the end of the season, announced that he had not yet made a decision about his future.