2. A united front against Le Pen’s RN makes a majority for the far right in France unlikely. However, according to surveys, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally came into a less favorable position in the second round on Sunday, when more than 200 candidates from the left and the centrist left the race to increase the chances of their rivals from the RN. In French legislatures, it is possible to have more than two candidates in the second round. According to the Elabe survey released today, the RN and its allies should have the largest bench with 200 to 230 seats, but far from the necessary 289 seats. Macron’s move is expected to be halfway, but he improved his estimate for Sunday and could save 120 to 140 seats. Le Pen criticized the “single party” blocking the RN.
3. Biden uses a TV interview to repair his damaged image after the debate. The US President will attend a rally in the decisive state of Wisconsin and later record an interview with ABC News, which is scheduled to be broadcast this evening. His goal in these commitments is to dispel doubts about his ability to lead the US for the next four years after he stuttered several times and lost his train of thought during the debate against Donald Trump. The network said it would release the full transcript of the interview unedited. In the radio interview on Thursday, Biden tried to play down the poor performance, declaring that he “had a bad night” and admitting that he made mistakes and “messed everything up.”
4. Bolivian Congress approves Mercosur accession protocol. President Luis Arce was tasked with implementing the rule, but the government has not indicated when this will be done. Arce will attend the Mercosur summit in Paraguay on Sunday, which Bolivia must join as a full member of the bloc. On Tuesday he will welcome President Lula in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The final step towards Bolivia’s entry into Mercosur comes a week after an attempted military coup in the country.
5. Reformists and ultra-conservatives face off in the second round of presidential elections in Iran. Analysts predict that this Friday’s vote should see a slightly higher voter turnout, after a record 60% absentee rate last week. Moderate Masoud Pezeshkian – who led the first round with 42.5% of the vote and defended an opening with the West to try to lift sanctions that have severely impacted the country’s economy – and former nuclear program negotiator Saeed Jalili are in the race. Jalili, who received 38.6%, believes it is possible to avoid sanctions by strengthening economic ties with other countries.
The New York Times wrote: “Uncertainty about Biden’s withdrawal affects Trump’s choice of vice president.” The vice president-elect must be announced before the Republican National Convention, which begins on the 15th, but the NYT says Donald Trump, like Joe Biden, is in no hurry to do so out of political calculation and is currently facing pressure to withdraw from the controversy. Trump’s advisers suggest he choose a young or black candidate to balance current Vice President Kamala Harris if she replaces Biden in the race for the White House. The newspaper says this scenario could favor Republican Senator from Ohio, the second youngest senator in the Senate, or Marco Rubio, a Cuban-born senator from Florida. Read more,
