French far-right leader Le Pen questions president's role as army chief ahead of parliament election
With just three days to go until Franceโs landmark legislative election, the countyโs far-right leader has raised the question of who would be in charge of the military if her party takes over the government after the two-round balloting.
France bans extreme-right and radical Islamic groups ahead of polarizing elections
Franceโs government has ordered the dissolution of multiple extreme right and radical Muslim groups, four days before the first round of high-stakes legislative elections that may see a surge in support for political extremes.
As France reels from the rape of a Jewish girl, antisemitism comes to the fore in election campaign
The alleged rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a suspected antisemitic attack has sent shockwaves throughout France, and thrust concerns about antisemitism to the forefront of campaigning for the countryโs legislative elections.
EU criticizes France for excessive debt, putting pressure on Macron during election campaign
The European Unionโs executive arm is criticizing France for running up excessive debt, a stinging rebuke at the height of the election campaign where President Emmanuel Macron is fighting off challenges of the extreme right and the left.
French opposition parties on the left and right seek alliances ahead of snap elections
French opposition parties on the left and the right are scrambling to form alliances for the upcoming snap elections called by President Emmanuel Macron after his party suffered a crushing defeat by the far right at the European vote on Sunday.
Macron hopes to contain far right in national elections after it surged in EU vote. It's a risky bet
French President Emmanuel Macron called snap legislative elections after his pro-European party was handed a chastening defeat and projected to garner less than half the support of Marine Le Penโs National Rally.
The far right's election gains rattle EU's traditional powers, leading Macron to call snap polls
Far-right parties rattled the traditional powers in the European Union with major gains in parliamentary seats, dealing an especially humiliating defeat to French President Emmanuel Macron, who called snap legislative elections.
French farmers edge closer to Paris as protests ratchet up pressure on President Macron
Protests by French farmers are snowballing and creeping closer to Paris, ratcheting up pressure for government measures to protect the influential agricultural sector from foreign competition, red tape, rising costs and poverty-levels of pay.
Macron's centrist French govt survives no-confidence votes
French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist government has survived two no-confidence votes prompted by opposition lawmakers to protest the use of a special constitutional power to force the budget bill through the National Assembly without a vote.
First female premier poised to take helm of Italy government
A party with neo-fascist roots has won the most votes in Italyโs national election, setting the stage for talks to form the countryโs first far right-led government since World War II, with Giorgia Meloni at the helm as Italyโs first female premier.
Hard-left leader sees win in French vote, himself as new PM
Leftist parties that had nearly disappeared from the French political landscape have grown wings in the runup to Sundayโs legislative elections and now threaten to weaken President Emmanuel Macron and his hopes of slam-dunking his agenda through parliament.
Russia's Navalny accuses Le Pen of Kremlin ties before vote
Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny waded into Franceโs tight presidential campaign, urging voters to back incumbent Emmanuel Macron in Sunday's runoff and alleging that far-right challenger Marine Le Pen is too closely linked to Russia.
Macron attacks Le Pen on Russia, Muslim headscarf ban pledge
French President Emmanuel Macron has torn into his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen in a television debate for her ties to Russia and for wanting to strip Muslim women of their right to cover their heads in public, as he seeks the votes he needs to win another 5-year term.
Macron, Le Pen kick off French presidential runoff campaigns
French President Emmanuel Macron says he wants to โconvinceโ a broad range of French voters to back his centrist vision, kicking off a two-week battle against far-right challenger Marine Le Pen ahead of the countryโs presidential runoff vote.