French President Emmanuel Macron comfortably won a second term Sunday, triggering relief among allies that the nuclear-armed power won’t abruptly shift course in the midst of the war in Ukraine from European Union and NATO efforts to punish and contain Russia’s military expansionism.

The second five-year term for the 44-year-old centrist spared France and Europe from the seismic upheaval of having firebrand populist Marine Le Pen at the helm, Macron’s presidential runoff challenger who quickly conceded defeat but still scored her best-ever electoral showing. 

Acknowledging that “numerous” voters cast ballots for him simply to keep out the fiercely nationalist far-right Le Pen, Macron pledged to reunite the country that is “filled with so many doubts, so many divisions” and work to assuage the anger of French voters that fed Le Pen’s campaign.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called for compromise in negotiations to replenish the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund and to pay frontline worker bonuses during his fourth State of the State address on Sunday.

Legislative leaders are deadlocked on the unemployment insurance issue, causing an automatic tax increase on employers statewide after lawmakers missed a March 15 deadline. Walz implored the joint session of the Legislature to find common ground in the last weeks of the session and provide relief for those workers and businesses.

Organizers of a vigil for four slain family members lit up their Duluth house with Christmas lights to celebrate their lives and their love for the holidays.

Riana Lou Barry, 44; Sean Christopher Barry, 47; Shiway Elizabeth Barry, 12; and Sadie Lucille Barry, 9, were shot and killed by a relative last week. Members of the tight-knit neighborhood, some of whom also decorated their houses with lights, and others gathered Sunday night to remember the victims.