Top story: Macron ahead but warns ‘nothing is decided’
Hello, I’m Virginia Harrison and these are today’s top stories:
France faces a brutal two-week campaign over the country’s future, as the centrist incumbent, Emmanuel Macron, faces the far-right Marine Le Pen for the presidency. Macron topped Sunday’s first round of the presidential election with 27.6% of the vote, ahead of Le Pen’s 23%, according to initial projected results by Ipsos for France Télévisions.
The president scored higher than his result in the first round five years ago, and clearly gained support in the final hours of the campaign after his harsh warnings to voters to hold back the far right and protect France’s place on the international diplomatic stage amid the war in Ukraine. But Le Pen’s score was also higher than five years ago. She had steadily gained support after campaigning hard on the cost-of-living crisis and inflation, which had become voters’ biggest concern.
Macron told reporters: “When the far right, in all its forms, represents that much in France, you can’t consider things are going well, so you must go out and convince people with a lot of humility, and respect for those who weren’t on our side in this first round.”
As our Paris correspondent Angelique Chrisafis writes, Le Pen’s success in reaching the runoff against Macron is not just about her long-running drive to sanitise her party’s image and move it away from the jackbooted and antisemitic imagery of the past. That Le Pen is now closer to power than ever before is in part the result of her own rethink of political strategy. Read Angelique’s analysis here and you can see how the two candidates stack up here.
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Austrian chancellor to meet Putin – Karl Nehammer is set to meet Vladimir Putin on Monday, the Russian president’s first face-to-face meeting with an EU leader since ordering the invasion of Ukraine, amid warnings of a fresh offensive and shelling in the east. Nehammer said the meeting would take place in Moscow and that Austria had a “clear position on the Russian war of aggression”, calling for humanitarian corridors, a ceasefire and full investigation of war crimes. Nehammer met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Saturday – the same day as Boris Johnson, who promised to give Ukraine 120 armoured vehicles and anti-ship missile systems. On the ground, Russian forces pounded targets in eastern Ukraine with missiles and artillery on Sunday, and Ramzan Kadyrov, the powerful head of Russia’s republic of Chechnya, said there would be an offensive not only on the besieged southern port of Mariupol but also on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. The US has warned that the appointment of a new general in command of Russia’s military campaign is likely to usher in a fresh round of “crimes and brutality” against civilians. Alexander Dvornikov, 60, has a record of brutality in Syria. Our reporter Isobel Koshiw in Borodianka investigates how – despite almost no successful major prosecutions over the past 30 years - those building war crimes cases against Russia hope things will be different this time. You can find our at-a-glance guide to the conflict here. Or follow all the latest developments at our live blog.
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Sunak inquiry – Rishi Sunak has written to the prime minister to ask for an investigation into his own affairs after days of criticism over his wife’s “non dom” tax status and lack of transparency over their financial affairs. The chancellor wrote to Johnson asking him for a referral to Lord Geidt, the independent adviser, requesting a review of all his declarations since becoming a minister in 2018. Sunak said he was confident it would find “all relevant information was properly declared” on the advice of officials. It follows criticism that his entry on the list of ministers’ interests contains no mention of Akshata Murty’s £690m stake in Indian company Infosys, which has UK government contracts. Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, has also written to Johnson and Geidt with a detailed series of questions, including whether Sunak had ever benefited from the use of tax havens.
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GP numbers drop – The number of GPs in England has fallen every year since the government first pledged to increase the family doctor workforce by 5,000, a minister has admitted. There were 29,364 full-time-equivalent GPs in post in September 2015, when the then health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, first promised to increase the total by 5,000 by 2020. However, by September 2020 the number of family doctors had dropped to 27,939, health minister Maria Caulfield disclosed in a parliamentary answer. Organisations representing GPs say heavy workloads, rising expectations among patients and excess bureaucracy are among the factors prompting experienced practitioners to quit. Separately, the country’s top emergency doctor has warned lives are at risk because 999 callers face unacceptable and appalling waits for ambulances in England.
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Graduates in demand – The UK has nearly a million graduate-level jobs without qualified staff filling them, according to a report for universities that predicts the labour market’s appetite for graduates will remain strong in the near future. Using data from official sources, the report published by Universities UK (UUK) found there were 15 million people with degrees or equivalent qualifications working in the UK at the end of 2020 – and nearly 16 million positions in managerial and professional occupations defined as graduate-level jobs. The UUK report is an attempt to rebut misconceptions about graduate employment, such as that undergraduate degrees can be poor value or that too many graduates are unable to find skilled employment.
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Today in Focus podcast: Where did all the bugs go?
What does the drastic decline in insect populations mean for our lives? The Guardian’s Oliver Milman talks about these miraculous creatures and how they play a vital role in making the Earth habitable.
Lunchtime read: ‘I thought I’d end up running an upholstery shop’ – Jack White
As one half of the White Stripes, the Detroit musician conquered the world. He has since played in other bands, opened record shops and worked with country legend Loretta Lynn. After a busy lockdown, he is back with two new solo albums.
Sport
Scottie Scheffler withstood one of the finest rounds in Augusta National’s fabled history from Rory McIlroy to etch his name into folklore as a world No 1 who has won the Masters. Tiger Woods has confirmed he will play this year’s Open after ranking his four rounds at Augusta as one of his greatest achievements. Pep Guardiola claimed Manchester City gave Liverpool “a life” by only drawing 2-2 with them, while Jürgen Klopp insisted his team would “not stop chasing” the champions. Lewis Hamilton has demanded more from his Mercedes team if he is to keep any hope of competing for this year’s Formula One world championship alive. A stunning first-half display helped France claim a 28-8 away win over Scotland in the Women’s Six Nations, while Ireland kickstarted their campaign with a 29-8 victory over Italy in Cork. Emma Lavelle, the trainer of Eclair Surf, has said her eight-year-old gelding had become the second horse to die as a result of an injury sustained in the Grand National at Aintree on Saturday. Leicester are on course for the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup after a ruthless first-leg win over Clermont, while a flurry of second-half tries gave Harlequins some hope despite a 40-26 defeat to Montpellier. And Alysa Liu, a 2022 Olympian and world championships bronze medalist, is retiring from competitive figure skating at age 16.
Business
Homebuyers wanting to take out a mortgage could soon struggle to get the size of loan they need, as banks begin taking into account the cost of living crisis when calculating how much they can lend. Santander is now updating its affordability models as households experience a surge in the cost of basic necessities. Mortgage brokers told the Guardian that they expected the other big lenders – HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest – to follow suit. The pound is buying $1.301 and €1.195.
The papers
The French election fills several front pages, including the Times with “French election in balance after narrow Macron win”. The Guardian leads with “Macron and Le Pen face off in a fight for France’s future” while the FT has “Le Pen’s late surge set to put her in election run-off with Macron”.
The latest development in Rishi Sunak’s tax affairs is the Telegraph’s splash: “Sunak faces inquiry into his financial interests”. The i newspaper’s take is “Sunak’s hopes of becoming PM evaporate”.
Metro leads with “Queen: My Covid fight”. The Mirror has “Queen: Covid left me exhausted” while the Express says “Queen reveals ‘horrible’ virus left her exhausted”.
The Mail says as fuel blockades threaten fresh misery over Easter getaways: “Priti blasts ‘selfish’ petrol protests”. And the Sun’s lead is “Bride & Vroom”, reporting on Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz’s wedding.
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