PARIS: Polls opened across France Sunday for the first round of the country’s presidential election, where up to 48 million eligible voters will be choosing one of 12 candidates.
President Emmanuel Macron is seeking a second five-year term, with a strong challenge from the far right and seeking to counter nationwide voter apathy.
Polls opened at 8 a.m. Sunday and close at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT) in most places and at 8 p.m. in some larger cities.
Unless someone gets more than half of the nationwide vote, there will be a second and decisive round on Sunday, April 24.
Aside from Macron, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon are among the prominent figures vying to take the presidential Elysee.
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Polls open in first round of France’s presidential election
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Polls open in first round of France’s presidential election
- President Emmanuel Macron is seeking a second five-year term, with a strong challenge from the far right
Seven elephants killed by train accident in India
NEW DELHI: A passenger train smashed into a herd of elephants in India’s northeast, killing seven animals on the spot, officials said Saturday.
No travelers were injured in the accident in Assam state, home to more than 4,000 of the roughly 22,000 wild elephants in India.
Senior Assam police official V.V. Rakesh Reddy told AFP that seven jumbos were killed, and one elephant sustained an injury.
Five coaches of the train, which was headed to New Delhi from remote Mizoram state, were derailed.
Authorities have introduced speed restrictions along routes designated elephant corridors, but the latest accident occurred outside of these zones, Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, an Indian Railways spokesman said.
“The loco pilot, on observing the herd of elephants, applied emergency brakes. However, elephants dashed with the train,” he said.
Deforestation and construction activity near their habitats force elephants to stray further afield for food, often bringing them into conflict with humans.
According to parliamentary figures, 629 people were killed by elephants across India in 2023-2024.
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