- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
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- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
Crunch time for Macron, Le Pen ahead of presidential vote
French presidential hopefuls Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen kicked off a final flurry of campaigning Friday, hoping to mobilise millions of hesitant voters before the weekend media blackout imposed for Sunday's contest.
Both candidates launched attacks in interviews before a heavy schedule of walkabouts, with Le Pen insisting that opinion polls giving her rival the lead would be proved wrong.
A win for Macron "is not inevitable," Le Pen told CNews television. "He calls millions of French voters the 'far right'... and for him it's an insult."
"Never have I expressed even the slightest bit of hostility toward Emmanuel Macron's voters," she said, accusing the centrist incumbent of "not liking the French" and failing to appreciate the need for tougher measures to protect low-income households from rising prices.
Macron for his part said Le Pen was trying to mask an authoritarian "extreme right" platform that stigmatises Muslims with a plan to outlaw headscarves in public and "to abandon the founding texts of our Europe... that protect individuals, human rights and freedoms."
"Millions of our fellow citizens have moved toward her party and project because she gives the impression that she has an answer for the problem of purchasing power. But her answers aren't viable," he told France Inter radio.
Le Pen later posed for selfies at a market in the northern Channel town of Etaples, while Macron was headed for Figeac in southern France to discuss "rural issues and offshoring," an advisor told AFP.
Starting at midnight, neither candidate will be allowed to give interviews, distribute flyers or hold campaign events until 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) on Sunday, when initial estimates of results start coming in. Publishing opinion polls will also be banned.
- Low-turnout wildcard -
Analysts say abstention rates could reach 25 to 30 percent, in particular among left-wing voters unhappy with Macron's pro-business agenda and plans to push back the retirement age to 65 from 62.
Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who scored a close third-place finish in the first round on April 10, has pointedly refused to urge his millions of followers to block Le Pen by voting for the former investment banker.
"It's been eight months that I've been trying to pull people away from this abstentionism," Le Pen told CNews. "I want to be the president of harmony... who reconciles the people with their leaders."
Spring school vacations will also be in full swing across much of the country this weekend, increasing the chances that many voters won't cast ballots -- and adding a wildcard to the final outcome.
A highly anticipated TV debate between the two rivals on Wednesday has not appeared to change their momentum in the polls, with most showing intentions to vote for Macron at 53 to 56 percent against 44 to 47 for Le Pen.
That would be a much closer result than in 2017, when the same candidates faced off but Macron carried the day with 66 percent to 34 percent -- a sign for analysts that Le Pen's efforts to soften and "de-demonise" her party's image have paid off among a large part of the electorate.
If he wins, Macron would be the first French president to win re-election since Jacques Chirac in 2002, when Marine Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, rocked the political establishment by reaching the second-round run-off.
P.Mira--PC