Presidential: Macron and Le Pen throw themselves into a duel that promises to be close

Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen throw themselves Monday in the battle for the second round of April 24, with this time a transfer of votes from the left determining after the good score of Jean-Luc Mélenchon as well as the debacle of the PS and LR.

For if Emmanuel Macron has scored more than in 2017 (27-28% against 23-24% for Marine Le Pen), the gap with his far-right rival is expected to be tighter in the second round.The gap with his far-right rival looks closer in the second round, with a score of between 54% and 51% against 46%-49%, according to polls conducted Sunday after the first round.

The two candidates will have to mobilize the voters while the first round, marked by an abstention of four to six points higher than five years ago, is leading to the recomposition of the electorate.The two candidates will have to mobilize voters, while the first round, marked by an abstention rate four to six points higher than five years ago, has entrenched the recomposition of the political spectrum, consecrating the relegation of the two government parties of the Fifth Republic, which have achieved the worst score in their history: Valérie Pécresse (LR) around 5% of the vote, the threshold for reimbursement of campaign expenses, and Anne Hidalgo (PS) with less than 2%.

Each will therefore try to recover the nearly 22% of voters who chose the Insoumis Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The candidate, who managed to capitalize on the useful vote on the left, has clearly called him not to vote far right. "We must not give a vote to Ms. Le Pen!" he repeated several times on Sunday evening.

France: A very broad call from the political class to vote for Emmanuel Macron

The vast majority of the political class called to vote for Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the presidential election against the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who for her part received the support of Eric Zemmour.

The outgoing president of the Republic thanked the candidates -- Anne Hidalgo, Yannick Jadot, Fabien Roussel and Valérie Pécresse -- who gave him from Sunday their "support" and welcomed the "clarity" of those who call like LFI to "barrage the far right.

Reaching out to "all those who want to work for France", he said he was "ready to invent something new to bring together the various convictions and sensibilities".

Ms. Le Pen, for her part, called for the "great alternation that (France) needs," inviting "all those who did not vote" for Emmanuel Macron to "join" her.

Ukraine: Austrian Chancellor in Moscow, Kiev is preparing for a massive offensive in the east

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Monday becomes the first European leader to visit Moscow since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, a "mission at risk" as Kiev prepares for a massive Russian offensive in the east.

After scaling back its plans and withdrawing its troops from the Kiev region and northern Ukraine, Russia has made it its priority to fully conquer the eastern Donbass, part of which has been controlled since 2014 by pro-Russian separatists.

"Next week will be no less important than this one or the previous ones. Russian troops will move on to even bigger operations in the east of our state," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in a statement Sunday night.

"The battle for Donbass will last for several days, and during these days our cities could be completely destroyed," predicted for his part on Facebook Sergei Gaidai, the governor of the Lugansk region in Donbass.

Controversial pro-Russian demonstrations in Germany

Several controversial pro-Russian rallies were held this weekend in Germany at the initiative of the country's large Russian-speaking community, which feels discriminated against since the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow's troops.

About 800 people, according to the police, gathered Sunday in the center of Frankfurt behind the slogan "against hatred and harassment" and waving a tide of Russian tricolor flags.

In Hanover, in the north of the country, 600 people gathered at the same time at the call of members of the Russian-speaking community. The day before, similar demonstrations were held in Lübeck, in the north, with 150 participants, according to the police, as well as in Stuttgart (southwest).

Israeli army on the "offensive", two Palestinians killed in the West Bank

The Israeli army conducted a new heavy operation in the Jenin area, stronghold of Palestinian armed factions in the occupied West Bank, the scene of security incidents that cost the lives of two Palestinian women.

Following two deadly attacks in two weeks in Tel Aviv by Palestinians from the Jenin area, Israeli soldiers led a team of soldiers to the area.nine region, Israeli soldiers conducted a series of operations on Sunday that led to exchanges of fire and some 20 arrests.

The Israeli forces, who restricted access to the Jenin area this weekend, said they had seized weapons stolen in Israel during these operations, which left a dozen injured.

In the evening, the situation remained tense in Jenin, local sources said, reporting Israeli army fire in the wake of aThe situation remained tense in Jenin in the evening, local sources said, reporting Israeli army fire the day after an army operation that killed a fighter from Islamic Jihad, the main armed Islamist movement after Hamas.

IN BRIEF

- Incidents broke out Sunday evening in the center of Rennes and in Lyon, where several hundred people gathered after the announcement of the results of the first round of the presidential election, causing damage.

- The president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, will remain in power after the referendum of Sunday where the Mexicans largely validated the continuation of his mandate, but with a very weak participation.

- Polish President Andrzej Duda said he would bring the Katyn massacre - the murder of nearly 22,000 Poles by Stalin's police in 1940 - to international justice.

- Marseille took over second place in Ligue 1 from Rennes with a 2-0 win over Montpellier on a 31st day that saw Lyon and Nice slip off the podium.