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The first round of France’s presidential election has redrawn the country’s politics.
For the first time since 1958, none of the traditional center-right and center-left parties has a candidate in the final run-off, which takes place in two weeks.
Instead, the second round will be between a former economics minister (Emmanuel Macron) who had never stood for election and the anti-immigrant leader of the far-right National Front (Marine Le Pen).
Sunday’s result is the clearest and most dramatic example of a shift that’s been taking place across politics in many European countries for some time. With traditional political dividing lines fading, they are being replaced by contests shaped by identity, attitudes to globalisation and the choice between open or closed economies and societies. And no two candidates in the French election embodied this choice as clearly as Macron and Le Pen.
Very interesting election currently taking place in France.
And a little extra.
Members of the Jewish community in Paris expressed their fears for the future after Le Pen made it to the second round. France’s 500,000-strong Jewish population — the largest in Europe — has watched with concern as Le Pen’s popularity has grown in recent years. Although Le Pen has tried to play down the party’s past, the National Front has its roots in the “collaborateurs,” the French supporters of the Nazis.
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Thousands of people around the world marched to stand up for science over the weekend.
The March for Science took place in Washington, DC, on Earth Day Saturday amid growing concerns over the Trump administration’s policies. Satellite marches also took place in 600 cities on six continents.
These kids at the March for Science will give you hope for the planet. Take a look at these wonderfully nerdy science signs. And here are 19 perfectly British signs from the March for Science over there.
Almost no plastic bottles get recycled into new bottles.
If you consider every plastic soda, water, or juice bottle you've ever used, you might assume that because the label says it's recyclable, the bottle itself is made of recycled plastic too. This, however, is hardly ever true.
A Greenpeace report found six of the largest soft drinks companies, excluding Coca-Cola, use a combined average of just 6.6% recycled plastic globally. The vast majority of beverage bottles are exported to plastic manufacturers in emerging markets and used to make synthetic fabrics for clothing — demand has been helped along by the athleisure boom — as well as carpeting, bags, packaging, and straps for shipping boxes.
After a single use, nearly every bottle ends up either going straight to a landfill or becoming some other sort of plastic.
QUICK THINGS TO KNOW
Palantir: A video shows Palantir’s CEO ridiculing Trump and slamming his immigration rhetoric. And the company’s relationship with the intelligence community has been worse than you’d think.
President Trump hasn’t yet taken a trip abroad. His decision not to travel overseas reflects a combination of an election that focused on a return to “America First” and the homebody ways of a 70-year-old who spends a lot of time golfing at clubs he owns. And this pro-Trump website run from Eastern Europe may be the worst thing on the internet.
Listen in: Gay Republicans say they’ve got Trump on speed dial. Is he picking up the phone? BuzzFeed News’ Dominic Holden, in a co-production with WNYC, discusses. You can listen here or on iTunes.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Sunday that DREAMers, like “everyone that enters the country unlawfully,” are “subject to deportation.”
North Korea has arrested a third American citizen amid a dramatic escalation in tensions with the US.
Drag queens, puppies, and Lisa Rinna — BuzzFeed News got a behind-the-scenes look of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
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