Fifty violent attacks shock France ahead of crunch vote

Fifty violent attacks shock France ahead of crunch vote

Fifty violent attacks shock France ahead of crunch vote, More than 50 candidates and activists in France have come under physical attack in the run-up to Sunday's tense final round of parliamentary elections, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has said.

He revealed the figure after government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot, her deputy Virginie Lanlo and a party activist were brutally assaulted as they put up election posters in Meudon, south-west of Paris.

The motive for the attack is not clear, but Ms Thevenot returned to Meudon on Thursday with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who condemned what he called "attacks of intolerable cowardice".

The spate of assaults across France reflects the febrile mood on the final day of campaigning in an election that the far-right National Rally (RN) is poised to win.

Although RN is well ahead in the polls, 217 candidates have dropped out from local run-off races so another candidate has a better chance of stopping them winning an outright majority in the National Assembly.

Mr Darmanin told news channel BFMTV the attacks were taking place in a climate in which France was "on edge" and more than 30 people had been arrested.

He said the attackers were either people who had "spontaneously become angry" or they were the "ultra-left, ultra-right or other political groups".

Images filmed from a block of flats showed the youths swarming around the candidate, her deputy Virginie Lanlo and a party activist for President Emmanuel Macron's Ensemble alliance.

Ms Thevenot told Le Parisien website that when she and her colleagues objected to the youths defacing party posters "they immediately attacked one of my activists, injuring Virginie". Ms Lanlo suffered an arm injury, while the activist was punched and hit with a scooter, ending up with a broken jaw. The car windscreen was also smashed by the scooter.

Three teenagers and a man aged 20 were arrested by police and the incident was quickly condemned across the political spectrum.

Mr Attal called on people to "reject the climate of violence and hatred that's taking hold", while RN leader Jordan Bardella said one of his "big commitments as prime minister" would be to "combat record insecurity and repeat offending".

Mr Darmanin has announced that 30,000 police will be deployed across France for Sunday's vote in an attempt to prevent "the ultra-left or ultra-right" from stirring up trouble.

The BBC spoke to voters in his constituency in northern France on Thursday who said they feared youths would go on the rampage whoever won, to express their anger at the political system.

Law and order is one of RN's big priorities, alongside immigration and tax cuts to target the cost-of-living crisis.

RN candidates have also come under attack. Marie Dauchy described being "violently assaulted" as she campaigned at a market in La Rochette near Grenoble in the south-east.

A conservative candidate allied with RN, Nicolas Conquer, complained that he and a female colleague had been pelted with eggs. And last month another RN candidate was treated in hospital after he was set upon while handing out pamphlets.

Having won 33.2% of the vote in the first round of the snap election, called out of the blue by President Macron, Mr Bardella's party is now aiming to win an absolute majority in the 577-seat National Assembly.

But his political opponents have agreed to do all they can to block the far right from winning enough seats to form a government.

Seventy-six seats were won outright in the first round by candidates who won more than half the local vote in their constituency, including 39 RN candidates and their allies.

The other 501 seats will be settled in run-off votes, and 217 third-placed candidates have pulled out of the race to hand a rival a better chance of defeating RN. Of those 217 withdrawals, 130 candidates came from the left-wing New Popular Front and 81 from the Macron alliance.

Marine Le Pen has complained bitterly about the operation to secure "mass withdrawals", and blamed those who sought to "stay in power against the will of the people".

However, she said she thought there was still a chance of winning an absolute majority, if the electorate turned out in big numbers.

The latest Ifop poll suggests RN will win 210-240 seats, short of the 289 it needs to form a government. That is down on the 240-270 range of seats that it was estimated to win after the first round.

Nevertheless there is fear among some of France's minorities of what RN might do if it gets into power.

It aims to give French citizens “national preference” over immigrants for jobs and housing and to abolish the right to automatic French citizenship for children of foreign parents, if those children have spent five years in France from the age of 11 to 18.

Dual citizens would also be barred from dozens of sensitive jobs.

One Muslim woman in a district that voted 54% for RN last Sunday told the BBC that RN was gaining ground with every election that took place.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are investigating an extremist "patriotic network" website that published a list of almost 100 lawyers "for eliminating", after they signed an open letter against National Rally.

On the eve of France's quarter-final tie against Portugal in the European Championships in Germany, national football captain Kylian Mbappé called on voters to "make the right choice".

After Sunday's "catastrophic" first-round results, he said "we can't put the country into the hands of those people", without specifying who they were.

UK general elections: Labour Party set to end Conservative dominance, exit poll projects

UK general elections: Labour Party set to end Conservative dominance, exit poll projects

UK general elections: Labour Party set to end Conservative dominance, exit poll projects, The centre-left Labour Party is set to secure a decisive victory in Britain's general election, according to a comprehensive exit poll. This outcome ends a 14-year reign of the Conservative Party and positions Labour leader Keir Starmer to assume the role of prime minister imminently, CNN reported.

The exit poll, conducted by Ipsos for BBC, ITV, and Sky, predicted Labour would capture 410 seats, relegating the Conservatives to a mere 131 seats. This landslide marks a clear rebuke of the ruling party by British voters, an anticipated outcome amidst mounting discontent.

Votes are being tallied throughout the night, with expectations high for Starmer to replace Rishi Sunak as prime minister by Friday morning, according to CNN.

While falling short of more dramatic predictions made during the campaign, these results signify a significant decline for the Tories since their landslide victory under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2019.

Since then, internal strife and a series of scandals have plagued the Conservative Party, failing to reverse public skepticism about their performance. In contrast, Starmer's disciplined campaign centered on the promise of "Change," resonating with voters disenchanted by the Tories.

According to the exit poll, the Liberal Democrats are projected to secure 61 seats, reclaiming their position as Britain's third-largest party in Parliament. Meanwhile, Reform UK, a right-wing populist group led by Nigel Farage, is forecast to secure 13 seats, with the Green Party likely to secure two.

Starmer, a former barrister who entered Parliament in 2015 and assumed Labour leadership in 2020, has steered his party towards the political center. His platform emphasizes revitalizing public services while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

This victory stands as a counterpoint to rising populist sentiments across Europe, even as insurgent parties like Reform UK attracted voters with anti-migration rhetoric, siphoning support from the Conservatives. Conversely, the Tories lost centrist voters in affluent southern English regions to the Liberal Democrats, as reported by CNN.

While Starmer's projected seat count may fall short of Tony Blair's 1997 landslide, when Labour last ousted the Conservatives, it ensures a robust parliamentary majority for governance.

As the transition of power unfolds, a battle ensues for control of the opposition. Right-wing Tories sought alliances with Farage's bloc during the campaign, facing opposition from moderate Conservatives intent on anchoring the party in the political center.

Regarding foreign policy, particularly Britain's stance towards Russia's aggression in Ukraine, no significant shifts are expected with Starmer's ascension. He has committed to maintaining Britain's supportive stance towards Kyiv.

Additionally, Starmer has called for a ceasefire in Gaza amid Israel's conflict with Hamas, coupled with efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by the militant group, CNN reported.

US election: Who can replace Joe Biden as lead candidate?

US election: Who can replace Joe Biden as lead candidate?, 

US election: Who can replace Joe Biden as lead candidate?, With just months left before the US heads to the polls, Joe Biden is under pressure to clear the way for a younger, more energetic candidate to run against Donald Trump. Who could step in, if Biden decides to step down?The first 2024 presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden proved disastrous for the current US president. Biden, who is now 81, often appeared absent and confused, frequently slurring his speech and stumbling over his words, making 78-year-old Trump, famous for his emotionally fueled, hard-to-follow rants, look collected and lucid by comparison.

While concerns over Biden's age and mental faculties are nothing new, the debate felt like a breaking point. A poll commissioned by the US news outlet CBS after the event found that 72% of all registered voters felt Biden did not have the "mental and cognitive health" to serve as US president. Roughly half of registered voters say the same of Trump.

Perhaps more concerningly, 46% of registered Democratic voters now believe Biden should not be running for another term in office at all. This marks a 10% jump since February.

The Democratic Party has already taken notice. Despite its top leaders closing ranks behind Biden, and the White House insisting that he was "absolutely not" dropping out of the race, speculation is rife about candidates who could possibly stand in to face off against Trump this November. So, who could take over Biden's campaign this late in the game?

Biden's second-in-command, Kamala Harris, is the most obvious choice for the next Democratic nominee. In 2020, she made history by becoming the first woman, the first Black person, and the first person of Indian origin to serve as a US vice president.

But Harris has struggled to establish herself as a political leader independent from Biden during her time in the White House. In the early days of the Biden administration, she was tasked with leading the US response to mass immigration from Latin America. She has widely failed to curb migration, and Trump's campaign has already used this against her.

Since 2023, Harris has been building up her profile as a voice for reproductive rights, even becoming the first vice president in history to visit an abortion clinic this March. Her gender identity and heritage might help her secure the support of more female, Black, and Southeast Asian voters. At the same time, her career as a prosecutor in California leaves her open to attacks from parts of the left, best summarized under the "Kamala is a cop" slogan which haunted her presidential bid in 2019.

An Ipsos poll this week put Harris just one percentage point behind Trump (Harris' 42% to Trump's 43%) in a potential matchup. However, the same poll put Trump and Biden in a dead heat, with each of them projected to claim 40% of the votes. Harris is 59 years old.

Hezbollah fires 200 rockets Thursday at northern Israel, one IDF soldier dead

Hezbollah fires 200 rockets Thursday at northern Israel, one IDF soldier dead

Hezbollah fires 200 rockets Thursday at northern Israel, one IDF soldier dead, Tensions between Israel and Iran's proxy group Hezbollah in Lebanon have risen in recent days as airstrikes increase amid the fallout from the recent killing of a top Hezbollah leader.

Hezbollah fired a "massive barrage" of at least 200 projectiles toward northern Israel early Thursday morning, Israel Defense Forces confirmed by 7:30 a.m. local time. It also saw more than 20 "suspicious aerial targets," several of which were intercepted, launched at Israel.

The slain IDF soldier, hit by a rocket in Golan Heights, was identified as Maj. Res. Itay Galea, 38.

Fires erupted in several areas and there were original reports of several injuries on the Israeli side, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Sirens in a handful of northern Israeli towns were heard in the morning hours as the Lebanese-based terror group fired at cites like Acre and Nahariya, which have typically not been targets, in what has been described as one of the most intensive attacks by Hezbollah on neighboring Israel since the October war with Hamas began.

In response, the IDF says it carried out a series of airstrikes at supposed Hezbollah launch posts at Ramyeh, Houla, Shihine and southern Lebanon's Jabal Blat area.

According to the Israeli military, Hezbollah launched toward the Golan area, some of which were intercepted by IDF's Aerial Defense Array and Israeli Air Force responders.

This arrives as the Gaza-run Health Ministry claims of now more than 38,000 dead since Hamas attacked Israel and 87,445 injured.

The Israeli military and Hezbollah have been engaged in daily fighting, mostly restricted to parts of southern Lebanon and northern Israel, since the Lebanese militant group joined the battle a day after Hamas' Oct. 7 sneak attack on Israel sparked the war in the Gaza Strip in southern Israel.

But Israel was bracing for the strikes, a direct response to Wednesday's killing of Muhammad Nimah Nasser, a second most senior Hezbollah commander who was killed in IDF military strikes in the coastal city of Tyre, The Times of Israel reported.

Hezbollah then responded in kind by firing at least 100 rockets to Israel's north by Wednesday afternoon local time.

The United States recently deployed an amphibious assault ship to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, intended to act as a military deterrent, in a show of force as tensions mount along the Lebanese border.

However, Iran's proxy militia is not willing to go into a full-scale war with Israel, preferring to maintain the status quo of a "gray-zone warfare," analysts told UPI in January.

A Shiite Muslim political party and militant group based in Lebanon, Hezbollah has "an extensive security apparatus," political organization and social services network which has fostered its reputation as a 'state within a state,'" the Council on Foreign Relations explains.

Founded in the chaos of the 15-year-long Lebanese Civil War, the Iran-backed Hezbollah, similar to Hamas, is "driven by its opposition to Israel and its resistance to Western influence in the Middle East."

Another top Hezbollah official has signaled how attacks are likely to keep intensifying.

Last week, Israel struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to Hezbollah's recent airstrikes from southern Lebanon toward Kibbutz Misgav Am along the Israeli-Lebanese border. No injuries were reported at the time.

"The series of responses continues in succession, and this series will continue to target new sites that the enemy did not imagine would be hit," Hashem Safieddine, a senior Hezbollah leader said in Beirut commemorating Nasser.