
-
Villa's Emiliano Martinez winds up PSG with cap
-
Hostage families fear outcome of intense Israeli strikes on Gaza
-
China seeks to 'tariff-proof' economy as trade war with US deepens
-
Some US consumers in 'survival mode' as Trump tariffs arrive
-
Japan to sell more rice reserves as prices soar
-
US takes aim at Zuckerberg's social media kingdom
-
US Pentagon chief says will not let China 'threaten' Panama Canal
-
Vietnam, Spain pledge to upgrade ties after tariff shock
-
'Some innings': Arya's 39-ball ton thrusts him into IPL spotlight
-
India central bank cuts interest rates as Trump tariffs kick in
-
Taiwan exporters count the cost of Trump's 'ridiculous' tariffs
-
Injury-time goal gives Brazil first win over US women since 2014
-
Japan badminton ace Shida blasts 'stalker' Chinese fans
-
Ekitike has Frankfurt dreaming of Europa League repeat
-
Shai scores 42, Doncic ejected as Thunder down Lakers
-
Nepal royalists seek return of king
-
Man Utd reliant on Europa League with season on life support
-
Kim Jong Un's sister says North Korea denuclearisation is a 'daydream'
-
Trump tariffs leave Italy's luxury furniture makers sitting uncomfortably
-
EU plan to end Russian fertiliser imports unsettles farmers
-
Equities resume selloff as Trump cranks up trade war
-
Inside Europe's last 'open-outcry' trading floor
-
AI tool aims to help conserve Japan's cherry trees
-
The Metals Company courts Trump for deep-sea mining contract
-
Indonesia president says ready to temporarily shelter Gazans
-
Musk brands Trump aide 'dumber than a sack of bricks' in tariff spat
-
Author of explosive Meta memoir to star at US Senate hearing
-
UK to host Europe's first Universal theme park
-
Argentine Congress backs inquiry into Milei crypto scandal
-
US will not let China disrupt Panama Canal: Pentagon chief
-
Judge orders White House to restore AP access
-
Shaken Real Madrid insist Arsenal comeback possible
-
Bayern 'fully believe' despite Inter setback, says Kompany
-
Inter 'showed what we were made of' against Bayern, says Martinez
-
US stocks fall again as global rally fizzles
-
Milan's England defender Walker has surgery on broken elbow
-
Judge orders White House to lift restrictions on AP access
-
Free-kick hero Rice revels in Arsenal's 'special' win over Real
-
'Totally new': Scheffler readies for Masters defense
-
Stuffy nose and steak knife join Scheffler's list of Masters tests
-
Late Frattesi strike gives Inter edge over Bayern in Champions League
-
Arsenal stun Real Madrid as Rice delivers free-kick masterclass
-
Emery relishes Aston Villa's 'huge challenge' against PSG
-
Rahm on LIV-PGA solution: not happening soon
-
US, China clash as Trump set to unleash more tariffs
-
Cabrera returns to Masters with regrets in second chance at life
-
No.4 Morikawa ponders career Slam with Masters in his sights
-
French parliament restricts birthright citizenship in Mayotte
-
Meghan Markle reveals pregnancy-related medical complications
-
Spain enjoy goalfest against Portugal in women's Nations League as France edge Norway

Defections sap rightwing hopeful in French presidential race
The conservative right-wing challenger to Emmanuel Macron in the looming French presidential vote grappled Friday with a wave of defections, while hoping former president Nicolas Sarkozy would finally offer his full-throated support.
Valerie Pecresse, whose poll numbers have stagnated since winning the Republicains primary in December, suffered the high-profile desertions just days ahead of her inaugural campaign rally.
Her team is hoping the event in Paris on Sunday will inject fresh momentum into Pecresse's bid, revealing a more personal side to Sarkozy's former budget minister and now president of the greater Paris region.
On Friday, Pecresse finally met with Sarkozy for over an hour to discuss a campaign on which he has remained noticeably silent, at least in public.
"It was a conversation among friends, frank and warm," a smiling Pecresse told a scrum of journalists after the meeting, adding that she was "very happy with the meeting".
"It was very useful for me to have the advice of a former president," she said, while declining to say if she would indeed have his backing.
- 'Inward-looking?' -
Several former aides of the popular former president, however, have already jumped ship, saying they would not support their party's candidate.
On Wednesday, Eric Woerth, a Republicains heavyweight and Pecresse's former colleague in Sarkozy's cabinet, surprised loyalists by announcing he would throw his weight behind the incumbent president Macron.
"I don't agree with the party's message" of a France that is "nostalgic and inward-looking," he told the Le Parisien daily -- reportedly without even warning Pecresse ahead of time.
The Republicains mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart, also close to Sarkozy, followed suit Thursday by saying Macron had been "attentive" to her coastal city's struggle to cope with migrants trying to reach Britain by sea.
And on Friday, another former Sarkozy minister, Nora Berra, told BFM television she would not support Pecresse.
Sarkozy has remained a fixture of the French right despite a series of legal convictions since failing to win his re-election bid in 2012.
His support is considered crucial for ensuring the Republicains base rallies behind Pecresse, who accuses Macron of being too weak on crime and immigration and simply "tells everyone what they want to hear".
But French daily Le Figaro reported Thursday that in private, Sarkozy has criticised Pecresse's campaign choices -- not least her choice of Paris for her first major rally -- and said "Valerie is all over the place" and "non-existent".
He is not expected to attend her rally at the Zenith concert hall on Sunday.
- 'Zemmour bounces back' -
Macron remains comfortably ahead at 23 to 25 percent in opinion polls, and is widely expected to finish on top in the first round of voting on April 10.
Another headache for Pecresse is that the upstart far-right candidate, the former TV pundit Eric Zemmour, is holding up in the polls and remains in contention to make it to the second round of voting.
Zemmour's views on French history and immigration, expressed with the clarity of someone who spent years as a commentator on prime time television, often chime with the hard right in Pecresse's own party.
An Ipsos-Sopra Steria poll of 12,500 people published Friday put Pecresse at 15.5 percent, just ahead of far-right contender Marine Le Pen at 15 percent, while Macron stood at 24 percent.
Zemmour, whose campaign late last year appeared on the brink after a series of mishaps, climbed up 1.5 points in the polls to 14.5 percent.
Analysts say the presidential vote will almost certainly boil down to a contest on the right, with no leftwing candidate currently polling in double-digits.
G.M.Castelo--PC