Pro-Europe Macron and Far-Right Nationalist Le Pen Are Set for a Runoff
Round One. First Brexit, then Trump. Now France, where voters on Sunday endorsed political outsiders Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen—one a political novice, the other a far-right firebrand—early returns and projections indicated. The result was a full-throated rebuke of France’s traditional mainstream parties. The two candidates appeared to be headed to a runoff on May 7.
Walled off. Border lawmakers don’t support Trump’s plan for a wall to keep immigrants out of our country. The Texas Civil Rights Project is working with landowners on legal representation. Environmentalists say the wall, which could cost $22 billion and take more than three years to build, could lead to extinction in the U.S. for endangered or threatened animals like jaguars and the Mexican gray wolf.
No Planet B. Demonstrators marched for science in more than 600 cities in six continents. The marches took place on Earth Day. The world recently passed the highest carbon dioxide reading in millions of years. We are on track to create the hottest planet our world has seen in 50 million years by the middle of this century.
Surgeon general sacked. Trump has fired yet another of former President Barack Obama’s appointees. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy “has been relieved of his duties,” according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Murthy has called gun violence a public health threat. Sylvia Trent-Adams is now the acting surgeon general.
