The Loop: Macron wins but next election hurdle just weeks away, Anzac Day around Australia, and Perth Wildcats incredible streaks ends

Good morning, it’s Monday, April 25. Here’s what you need to get going today.

Emmanuel Macron has defeated the far-right’s Marine Le Pen. Here’s the lowdown:

• Mr Macron’s victory has made him the first French president to secure re-election in 20 years, but his second term could be even rockier than the first, with mounting political opposition and boiling social discontent
• And his far-right challenger, Marine Le Pen, claimed a greater share of the vote for her side than before
• The first pollsters’ projections showed Mr Macron securing around 57–58 per cent of the vote, while Ms Le Pen took out 42 per cent. Here’s what she said after conceding:

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• And the next hurdle is only a few weeks ahead — parliamentary elections in June will define the make-up of the government that Mr Macron must rely on for reform plans that would see an unprecedented shake-up of France’s welfare state

One thing you’ll be hearing about today: Anzac Day around Australia

Let’s have a look at what’s happened this morning:

• In many states, they’re the first face-to-face (and unrestricted) events since the pandemic started. The veterans’ march will return in full to Canberra, the first since 2020.
• In Sydney, the service got underway at the Centotaph in Martin Place at 4.30am. Junior Legatee Lily Owens read the Ode to the Fallen:

• Elsewhere, large crowds have gathered in Melbourne for the dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Kings Domain, and in Brisbane for the dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Anzac Square:

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• In Canberra, principal chaplain Andrew Lewis of the Royal Australian Navy says Australians must remember the sacrifice of the Anzacs with gratitude:

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• The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is due in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv today, but Washington is refusing to confirm the trip is even going ahead. Around 6:30am AEST, a Ukrainian presidential adviser said Mr Blinken and US Defense chief Lloyd Austin were meeting now with Volodymyr Zelenskyy
• Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi faces a possible 15 years in prison on Monday, when a court in the military-ruled country is scheduled to deliver a verdict in the first of multiple corruption cases against her
• And the Perth Wildcats have missed the play-offs for the first time since 1986, after they lost an overtime thriller to South East Melbourne Phoenix, 102 to 100, in Perth. It ends one of the most incredible streaks in Australian sporting history — here’s what their coach Scott Morrison had to say:

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• Orrin Hatch: That’s the news from yesterday that the longest-serving Republican senator in history — and a fixture in Utah politics for more than four decades — has died at age 88. President Joe Biden said Senator Hatch was a fighter but he had a softer side, sharing poems and songs with friends.

One more thing: Twitter is under shareholder pressure to deal with Musk, sources say

Reuters is reporting the social media company is under pressure to negotiate with Elon Musk, even though the world’s richest person has called his $43 billion bid for the social media platform his best and final offer.

Twitter’s board is expected to find that Musk’s all-cash $54.20-per-share offer for the company is too low by the time it reports quarterly earnings on Thursday.

However, some shareholders who agree with that stance still want Twitter to seek a better offer from Musk, whose net worth is pegged by Forbes at $270 billion, the sources told Reuters.

One of the fund managers said, under condition of anonymity:

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That’s it for now

We’ll be back later on with more.

ABC/wires