May 7 French Runoff Election

From Bloomberg, “France Braces for Runoff Between Nationalism and Globalism“.

The far-right Le Pen and centrist Macron both took just under a quarter of the vote in a contest with 11 candidates. Now they must convince the rest of the population that they have what it takes to lead the country after the May 7 runoff.

The next round will see two radically different visions. Macron embraces globalization and European integration, Le Pen channels the forces of discontent that triggered Brexit and brought Donald Trump to power. The runoff will also be unique in that it will be the first contested by neither of the major parties, giving Macron, 39, and Le Pen, 48, space to try to forge alliances that might have seemed unlikely until recently.

Canadian’s Trudeau – Burqa Bitch

Reuter’s reports, “France’s Le Pen cancels meet with Lebanon grand mufti over headscarf“.

French far-right National Front presidential candidate Marine Le Pen canceled a meeting on Tuesday with Lebanon’s grand mufti, its top cleric for Sunni Muslims, after refusing to wear a headscarf for the encounter.

Le Pen, among the frontrunners for the presidency, is using a two-day visit to Lebanon to bolster her foreign policy credentials nine weeks from the April 23 first round, and may be partly targeting potential Franco-Lebanese votes.

Then we have Justin Trudeau, “Candian PM responds to refugee ban: ‘Welcome to Canada’“, as reported by The Hill.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday responded to President Trump’s executive order banning refugees and halting immigration from several countries by welcoming those refugees to Canada.

“To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada” Trudeau tweeted.