- 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
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- 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
French in North America queue for a vote 'too important' to miss
With the stakes high in France's second-round presidential election, many French citizens in the United States and Canada trooped to polling places Saturday to cast their ballots, a day before their fellow citizens back home.
Centrist incumbent Emmanuel Macron and his extreme-right challenger Marine Le Pen have waged a bitter campaign, and Sunday's result is expected to be far closer than when the two faced off five years ago.
More than 130,000 French expatriates are registered to vote in the US and just over 100,000 in Canada.
In the first round, only 30 percent of eligible voters in the Washington voting district -- which also takes in five nearby states -- cast ballots.
Christine Polillo, 65, did not take part two weeks ago, like many people questioned by AFP outside the French embassy in Washington.
Polillo, a teacher who has lived in Baltimore, Maryland for 35 years, said it was difficult from afar to know the stances of the large number of first-round candidates.
But voting in the conclusive second round, she added, is "very important -- a way of feeling attached to France."
Added Rachida Boukezia, a 42-year-old IMF economist: "We are concerned," even if France is far away.
"I would like their future to be in good hands," she said of her two young daughters.
In the first round, French voters in the United States favored Macron by huge margins over Le Pen, sometimes outpolling her by 20 to one or more.
In Montreal Saturday, a long line wound around the convention center as people waited -- often with a coffee in one hand and a book or smartphone in the other -- to vote.
Claire Barsaq, 33, has lived in Montreal for 12 years. Her nursing job caused her to miss the election's first round.
But "I did not want to miss the second round," she told AFP. "The choice is too important."
More than 67,000 French nationals are registered to vote in Montreal. In the first round they favored far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon.
P.Cavaco--PC