President Emmanuel Macron re-elected in France

Centrist Emmanuel Macron has been re-elected as president of France, defeating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s run-off. The BBC’s Rob Young has been following the vote from Nice, and tells us that Le Pen increased her vote share in a rematch of the second round of voting from 2017. Tomasz Michalski, a professor at the renowned business school HEC Paris says that spiralling inflation, which is outpacing salary increases, leaves the incumbent victor with a big challenge on his hands over the next five years. Carsten Brzeski, chief economist at ING in Frankfurt, tells us that Macron’s victory will generate relief in Brussels and in capitals across the European Union. Away from France’s election, we look at how countries who are taking in Ukrainian refugees may stand to benefit from an influx of highly-skilled, competent workers. More than five million people have fled the country in the wake of Russia’s invasion according to the United Nations, and Anna Shevchenko, the chief executive of 3CN gives us her take on how host countries will see a positive impact from the new arrivals. Despite international efforts to punish Russia economically for invading Ukraine, Russian crude oil exports have actually increased since the start of the war. Mark Williams, a research director with Wood Mackenzie, explains what’s going on. And Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz will fly to Tokyo to meet Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida this week. High on Japan’s list of concerns is the increasing economic influence of China, particularly at a time when Beijing is growing closer to Moscow. Yuuchiro Nakajima, managing director of corporate advisory firm Crimson Phoenix, tells us what’s likely to be on the two leaders’ agenda.