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France’s Macron defeats far-right, pledges change

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Emmanuel Macron comfortably defeated far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Sunday, heading off a political earthquake for Europe but acknowledging dissatisfaction with his first term and saying he would seek to make amends.

His supporters erupted with joy as the results appeared on a giant screen at the Champ de Mars park by the Eiffel tower.

Leaders in Berlin, Brussels, London and beyond welcomed his defeat of the nationalist, eurosceptic Le Pen.

With 97% of votes counted, Macron was on course for a solid 57.4% of the vote, interior ministry figures showed. But in his victory speech he acknowledged that many had only voted for him only to keep Le Pen out and he promised to address the sense of many French that their living standards are slipping.

"Many in this country voted for me not because they support my ideas but to keep out those of the far-right. I want to thank them and know I owe them a debt in the years to come," he said.

"No one in France will be left by the wayside," he said in a message that had already been spread by senior ministers doing the rounds on French TV stations.

Two years of disruption from the pandemic and surging energy prices exacerbated by the Ukraine war catapulted economic issues to the fore of the campaign. The rising cost of living has become an increasing strain for the poorest in the country.

"He needs to be closer to the people and to listen to them," digital sales worker Virginie, 51, said at the Macron rally, adding he needed to overcome a reputation for arrogance and soften a leadership style Macron himself called "Jupiterian".

Le Pen, who at one stage of the campaign had trailed Macron by just a few points in opinion polls, quickly admitted defeat. But she vowed to keep up the fight with parliamentary elections in June.

"I will never abandon the French," she told supporters chanting "Marine! Marine!"

Macron can expect little or no grace period in a country whose stark political divisions have been brought into the open by an election in which radical parties scored well. Many expect the street protests that marred part of his first term to erupt again as he presses on with pro-business reforms.

"There will be continuity in government policy because the president has been reelected," Health Minister Olivier Veran said. "But we have also heard the French people's message."

How Macron now fares will depend on the looming parliamentary elections. Le Pen wants a nationalist alliance in a move that raises the prospect of her working with rival far-rightists like Eric Zemmour and her niece, Marion Marechal.

Hard-left Jean-Luc Melenchon, who emerged as by far the strongest force on the left of French politics, said he deserves to be prime minister - something that would force Macron into an awkward and stalemate-prone "cohabitation".

"Melenchon as prime minister. That would be fun. Macron would be upset, but that's the point," said Philippe Lagrue, 63, technical director at a Paris theatre, who voted for Macron in the run-off after backing Melenchon in the first round.

Outside France, Macron's victory was hailed as a reprieve for mainstream politics rocked in recent years by Britain's exit from the European Union, the 2016 election of Donald Trump and the rise of a new generation of nationalist leaders.

"Bravo Emmanuel," European Council President Charles Michel, wrote on Twitter. "In this turbulent period, we need a solid Europe and a France totally committed to a more sovereign and more strategic European Union."

"Congratulations to the President and a true friend @EmmanuelMacron on the election victory," Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on his Twitter account in early hours on Monday.

"The financial markets will breathe a collective sigh of relief following Macron's election victory," said Seema Shah, Chief Strategist at Principal Global Investors.

The disillusion with Macron was reflected in an abstention rate expected to settle around 28%, the highest since 1969.

Initial polling showed the vote was sharply split both by age and socio-economic status: Two-thirds of working class voters backed le Pen, while similar proportions of white-collar executives and pensioners backed Macron, an Elabe poll showed.

Macron won around 59% of votes by 18-24 year-olds with the vote almost evenly split in other age categories.

During the campaign, Le Pen homed in on the rising cost of living and Macron's sometimes abrasive style as some of his weakest points.

She promised sharp cuts to fuel tax, zero-percent sales tax on essential items from pasta to diapers, income exemptions for young workers and a "French first" stance on jobs and welfare.

"I'm shocked to see that a majority of French people want to reelect a president that looked down on them for five years," Adrien Caligiuri, a 27-year-old project manager said at the Le Pen rally.

Macron meanwhile pointed to Le Pen's past admiration for Russia's Vladimir Putin as showing she could not be trusted on the world stage, while insisting she still harboured plans to pull France out of the European Union - something she denies.

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Nineteen reported injured in central Israel after projectile launch

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Nineteen people in central Israel's Sharon region were injured, the Israeli police said, after the military reported the launch of three projectiles from Lebanon into Israeli territory early on Saturday.

The national ambulance service previously reported that seven people in the central Israeli town of Tira were injured, Reuters reported.

The Israeli military said that sirens sounded in several areas of central Israel after the projectile launch. Some projectiles had been intercepted, it said.

"A fallen projectile was most likely identified in the area," the army added, noting that details were under investigation.

The national ambulance service and local media said the injuries in Tira ranged from mild to moderate, while two other people suffered stress symptoms.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said later in a statement it had launched drones at a "vital target" in northern Israel. It was not immediately clear if the group's action was related to the injuries.

Fighting in Lebanon has escalated dramatically in recent weeks between Israeli forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

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Russia fires missiles to simulate ‘massive’ response to a nuclear attack

Defence Minister Andrei Belousov told Putin that the purpose of the drill was to practice delivering “a massive nuclear strike by strategic offensive forces in response to a nuclear strike by the enemy”

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Russia test-fired missiles over distances of thousands of miles on Tuesday to simulate a "massive" nuclear response to an enemy first strike, Reuters reported.

"Given the growing geopolitical tensions and the emergence of new external threats and risks, it is important to have modern and constantly ready-to-use strategic forces," President Vladimir Putin said as he announced the exercise.

It took place at a critical moment in the Russia-Ukraine war, after weeks of Russian signals to the West that Moscow will respond if the United States and its allies allow Kyiv to fire longer-range missiles deep into Russia.

On Monday NATO said that North Korea has sent troops to western Russia, something Moscow has not denied.

In televised comments, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov told Putin that the purpose of the drill was to practice delivering "a massive nuclear strike by strategic offensive forces in response to a nuclear strike by the enemy".

The exercise involved Russia's full nuclear "triad" of ground-, sea- and air-launched missiles.

A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Plesetsk cosmodrome in northwest Russia to Kamchatka, a peninsula in the far east.

Sineva and Bulava ballistic missiles were fired from submarines, and cruise missiles were launched from strategic bomber planes, the defence ministry said.

The 2-1/2-year-old war is entering what Russian officials say is its most dangerous phase as the West considers how to shore up Ukraine while Russian forces advance in the east of the country.

Putin said using nuclear weapons would be an "extremely exceptional measure".

"I stress that we are not going to get involved in a new arms race, but we will maintain nuclear forces at the level of necessary sufficiency," he said.

He added that Russia was moving to new "stationary and mobile-based missile systems" which have a reduced launch preparation time and could overcome missile defence systems.

The drill follows an Oct. 18 exercise in the Tver region, northwest of Moscow, involving field movements by a unit equipped with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of striking U.S. cities, Reuters reported.

Nuclear Signals

Since the start of the war, Putin has sent a series of pointed signals to the West, including by changing Russia's position on major nuclear treaties and announcing the deployment of tactical nuclear missiles to neighbouring Belarus.

Ukraine has accused him of nuclear blackmail. NATO says it will not be intimidated by Russian threats.

Last month the Kremlin leader approved changes to the official nuclear doctrine, extending the list of scenarios under which Moscow would consider using such weapons.

Under the changes, Russia would consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack - a warning to the United States not to help Ukraine strike deep into Russia with conventional weapons.

Putin has said that Russia does not need to resort to the use of nuclear weapons in order to achieve victory in Ukraine.

Russia is the world's largest nuclear power. Together, Russia and the U.S. control 88% of the world's nuclear warheads.

U.S. officials say they have seen no change to Russia's nuclear deployment posture during the war.

But the United States in 2022 was so concerned about the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia that it warned Putin over the consequences of using such weapons, according to Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns.

 

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North Korea’s foreign minister leaves for Russia amid troop dispatch

U.S. President Joe Biden called the situation “very dangerous”.

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North Korea's foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, is on her way to Moscow, state media KCNA and Russian officials said on Tuesday, for her second trip to Russia in six weeks amid rising concerns about Pyongyang's involvement in Moscow's war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

KCNA said a delegation led by Choe left on Monday for an official visit to Russia, without elaborating.

Russia's ambassador to Pyongyang, Alexander Matsegora, saw off Choe at the airport, the Russian embassy said in a statement posted on the embassy's Vkontakte social media page.

"The visit of the head of the DPRK Foreign Ministry to the Russian Federation is taking place within the framework of a strategic dialogue - following an agreement to enhance ties reached by the leaders of our countries during the June 2024 summit," the statement said.

DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

During a televised cabinet meeting, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said "illegal" military cooperation between Russia and North Korea posed a serious threat to the international community, read the report.

"I want everyone to be on alert about risk management," Yoon told the meeting.

Choe's visit comes as NATO joined Seoul, Washington and Kyiv in confirming Pyongyang's dispatch of troops to Russia, saying that North Korean military units had been deployed to Russia's Kursk region on the border with Ukraine.

The Pentagon said on Monday that Washington would not impose new limits on Kyiv's use of American weapons if North Korea entered Moscow's war against Kyiv. It also said that North Korea had sent 10,000 troops to eastern Russia for training, up from its estimate of 3,000 on Wednesday.

U.S. President Joe Biden called the situation "very dangerous".

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, after a meeting on Monday with a South Korean delegation, said the deepening military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang posed a threat to both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security, Reuters reported.

South Korea's president, in a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said the deployment of North Korean troops to the front lines of the war in Ukraine may come sooner than expected.

Since the meeting of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Vladimir Putin in Russia's Far East last year, North Korea and Russia have upgraded their military ties. They met again in June this year to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership that includes a mutual defence pact.

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