>> a reminder of our top stories. at least 50eople have been killed in eastern ukraine. it is a train station in kramatorsk . moscow denies involvement. ahead head of the european commission, called big -- attack appalling.

russian forces are accused of committing atrocities against civilians. she promised to speed up the process of ukraine joining the eu. >> ukraine is marching towards the european future. we stand with you as you defend your country and this is my second point. ukrainian people are holding up the torch of freedom for all of us. anchor: ukraine's president has warned al jazeera of attacks on russia. he says seen towns liberated has given many people hope. in other news, pakistan's parliament will meet on saturday to consider removing the prime minister from office. the supreme court ruled on thursday that he broke the law.

his decision to block the no-confidence vote was unconstitutional. the man accused of masterminding the attacks on mumbai is since its to jail any charges. he has never been charged in connection with the mumbai attacks. sri lanka's central bank has doubled its key interest rate in a bed to help the soaring inflation. students clashed in police where they called for the president to resign. those were the headlines.

>> francis president macron is seeking to be reelected.

anchor: paris 14th of july 2021. as happens every year, members of france's military elite have been invited to march for the parade. french president emmanuel macron was there. among the spectators were soldiers families. but with only nine months to go before the next presidential election, many here dismissed his presence at the show and an attempt to regain some of the

authority he lost. even as the spread was in progress, security forces were showing 60% of them were planning to grab a far right opponent, the leader of the rally, marine le pen. some of the soldiers marching blamed emmanuel macron's for failing to stand up for french values. it is a situation he has faced before. in 2017 he won power after comfortably beating marine le pen. but since then, france has

directed to the right and he faces challenges from her and a new opponent. a controversial commentator twice convicted for inciting hate speech. he has been infamous for its intimidation platform. after 20 years as a familiar face, he has become a populist challenger. all three have put patriotism at the center of the campaign and with the left in disarray, polls show one of them will certainly be facing president macron in the election. it means he will be seeking another mandate in a political landscape shaped by populist rhetoric. for a centrist incumbent for was first years, it has been a real problem.

to understand more about how far france has moved, we went to the north of the country. anti-crump sentiment is very strong here. it is also a region where marine le pen's party has been scoring high. the mayor was reelected in 2020 with 74% of the vote.

he is one of her oldest allies. he claims he is the one who predicted her local success in the north, an area scarred by the economic crisis. when he came into power, he says he inherited debts and an increase in crime rate. [speaking foreign language] anchor: in recent years, the

party was derided for its extremist views and has worked hard to have a more reasonable tone. the party changed its name and image, hiring younger faces to try to broaden its appeal. back here, people gathered supporters from the muslim community and granted a building permit for a new mosque. [speaking foreign language] anchor: in this part of france, the national rally has turned down its most blatant islamophobia. [speaking foreign language]

[speaking foreign language] anchor: marine le pen has seen an advantage in softening her party's image. but he has gone in the opposite

direction. [speaking foreign language] anchor: he has popularized the great replacement theory in france as a belief that suggests the white christian population of europe is at risk of being replaced by muslim immigrants. [speaking foreign language] anchor: if he gets elected, he

said he would ban families from given their children non-french first names. [speaking foreign language] anchor: as the election draws near, they have put immigration at the center of the political program, but it is so far only reaching part of the electorates. but show only 9% of the french working class are backing him, while marine le pen is reaching 29%. if you put the two together, the french far right has never been stronger. [speaking foreign language]

anchor: meanwhile, on the other was the political spectrum, with no less than six candidates in the race, the left is struggling to make round after two waves of surprise win in 2019 and 2020, the party is hoping to break away from the past -- pack. [speaking foreign language] anchor: she is the spokesperson

of the party's candidate. [speaking foreign language]

anchor: although the party has built its program around two issues of great concern to many french people, social justice and climate emergency, it seems highly unlikely she will get past the first round of voting. [speaking foreign language]

anchor: at the town council meetings, the gap between then could not be more stark. [speaking foreign language]

anchor: supported by a permanent local media group. she is the director of one of the biggest newspapers. the party of birds the paper went right to reply statements which the paper is compelled by law to print in full. by december 2021, the newspaper had received over 100. [speaking foreign language]

anchor: not only that, in the official city bulletin, journalists are attacked and mocked. [speaking foreign language] anchor: and the conflict spills over even on the mayor's facebook page. [speaking foreign language]

anchor: but at the national level, the french media has been more willing to give marine le pen the stage. supporters find it easier to get ideas once considered too radical into the mainstream of public debate. 33-year-old runs far right weekly magazine. [speaking foreign language]

anchor: by january 2021, he was reaching an audience of 4.3 million monthly breeders and now claims over 21 million pages viewed every month. -- pages. [speaking foreign language] anchor: every thursday, they anticipate and not debate broadcast on 24 hour news channels. [speaking foreign language]

anchor: 60 days before the election, 3000 supporters gathered at marine le pen's

campaign rally. [speaking foreign language] anchor: both candidates have rejected the idea of an alliance.

senior figures of the national rally have deserted the camp. so far, he has stayed loyal. [speaking foreign language] anchor: only 26 years old and is the parties rising star. [speaking foreign language] anchor: but though he its junk,

his ideas -- but though he is young, his ideas seem straight from the playbook. [speaking foreign language] anchor: then, it was marine le pen's turn to turn up the rhetoric. she starts by sharing her dark vision of france. [speaking foreign language]

anchor: she then goes on to present her solutions for restoring the france her voters love. higher salaries, a stronger army and also social benefits. [speaking foreign language] anchor: but while marine le pen on the move may have been able to whip up the faithful, outside events may have stopped them in their tracks. russia's invasion of ukraine.

just a few weeks before election day, the gap between emmanuel macron and his opponents suddenly began to widen. the international emergency allowed the french president to position himself as a key diplomatic player on the world stage and a reassuring figure at home. as far right opponents lack of foreign experience was compounded by the fact that both had previously expressed their support and admiration for russia's vladimir putin on the left, the green candidate going to antiwar protests and canceled his campaign events. but although a member of the e -- european parliament, he too has never held a government position. it may have encouraged them to

think twice about voting him out of office.

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zoe daniel: alaska's arctic national wildlife refuge known as anwr, protected by the us government, but also contested for decades. here, animals roam in a pristine wilderness in one of the last places of its kind on earth, but it's under threat. [gunshot] donald trump: anwr in alaska, one of the great sites of energy in the world. zoe: the trump administration plans to allow drilling here for oil and gas.