France

PARIS, April 20 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen battled on Wednesday over who would be best placed to improve voters' purchasing power and run France's foreign policy, in their only debate before Sunday's election.

For Le Pen, who lags Macron in voter surveys, the much awaited confrontation is a chance to persuade voters she has the stature to be president and they should not fear seeing the far-right in power.

PARIS (AP) — Paris prosecutors are studying a report by the European Union’s fraud agency accusing French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and other members of her nationalist party of misusing public funds while serving in the European Parliament.

The report was disclosed by French investigative news site Mediapart days before Le Pen faces incumbent Emmanuel Macron in a runoff election Sunday that could determine Europe’s future direction. Le Pen’s party National Rally seeks to diminish the EU’s powers.

PARIS, April 16 (Reuters) - Climate change activists forced the closure of a main square in central Paris on Saturday to protest against the environmental programmes put forward by France's remaining presidential candidates.

The Extinction Rebellion (XR) had said on its website that it planned to block a major Parisian location to disrupt the electoral cycle and its "business as usual" attitude.

MARSEILLE, France, April 16 (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron promised on Saturday to make France the "first great nation" to stop using oil, coal and gas as energy sources, in a pitch to young and green voters he fears could abstain in next week's election runoff.

In a rally in the Mediterranean city of Marseille, which voted massively for left-wing firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon in the first round of voting, Macron sought to widen what opinion polls show as a small lead over his far-right rival Marine Le Pen.

PARIS, April 16 (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-far right protesters marched across France on Saturday as opponents of presidential candidate Marine Le Pen seek to form a united front to prevent her from winning an election runoff against incumbent Emmanuel Macron on April 24.

Macron, a pro-European Union centrist, won the presidency in 2017 after easily beating Le Pen when voters rallied behind him in the runoff to keep her far-right party out of power.

This year, the first round of voting last Sunday set up the same battle, but Macron is facing a much tougher challenge.

PARIS, April 15 (Xinhua) -- The West bears some responsibility for the ongoing escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, two former French politicians have said in two separate articles, during which they expressed their concerns over sanctions against Russia.

In an article published in Le Figaro, Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, a senior former diplomatic adviser to former French President Jacques Chirac, said that since the end of the Soviet Union, the hubris of the West has resulted in the loss of sight of the fact that security must be "arranged."

PARIS (AP) — As she cooks lunch and talks politics, Jewish voter Sarah Gutmann has a nasty feeling — of would-be French president Marine Le Pen invading the privacy of her home, reaching directly into her life and the plates of chicken and kosher sausages that she is frying for her husband and their eldest son.

PARIS, April 13 (Xinhua) -- France's Constitutional Council announced on Wednesday the official results of the first round of the country's presidential election, confirming Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen as winners.

From a total of 48,747,876 registered voters, 35,923,707 have voted, which represents an abstention rate of 26.31 percent, said Laurent Fabius, president of the council.

Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron won 9,783,058 votes, or 27.85 percent of valid ballots cast and his rival, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen won 8,133,828 votes, or 23.15 percent.

PARIS, April 13 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron launched a scathing attack on far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Wednesday, saying her true "authoritarian" intentions were showing after she banned a team of reporters and did not rule out a return to the death penalty.

Macron, a pro-European centrist, became president in 2017 after easily beating Le Pen when voters rallied behind him to keep the far-right out of power. This time, he is facing a much tougher challenge.

PARIS, April 13 (Reuters) - Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen sought on Wednesday to play up her leadership credentials on the world stage, urging a break with France's recent diplomatic past to make what she called a country that "still counts."

A Le Pen victory in France's election run-off on April 24 would reverberate through Europe and across the Atlantic, installing a deep eurosceptic in the Elysee Palace who has long professed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.