Marine Le Pen, the far-right presidential candidate in France, battled accusations on Tuesday that she had plagiarized from sections of a speech by her conservative former opponent, François Fillon, at her May Day rally. Supporters of Le Pen, who is seeking to broaden her appeal with French voters before the second round of the presidential election Sunday, said that she had merely “winked” at voters with remarks that amounted to a “small loan.” In a speech in April, Fillon referred to France’s land and maritime borders, and he praised the country’s language and culture. Incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea off West Africa increased from 54 in 2015 to 95 in 2016, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy maritime project. Rescue officials are hopeful that a surfer who was plucked from the sea after more than 30 hours adrift off the western coast of Scotland will make a full recovery despite severe hypothermia. Greece and its international creditors said Tuesday that they had reached a preliminary deal allowing the country to receive crucial bailout payments in exchange for promises to raise taxes and to further cut pensions and social spending. Under the terms of the agreement, which is subject to the approval of eurozone finance ministers and the Greek Parliament, Athens will make changes to its labor and energy markets, cut pension payouts, and increase taxes. Drug traffickers frequently have shootouts with rival gangs over territory and police in many of the hundreds of slums in the city.
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