French politics

Marion Marechal delivers a speech as she inaugurates the Institute of Social Sciences, Economics and Politics (ISSEP) in Lyon, central France, June 22, 2018. (Laurent Cipriani/AP)

July 7, 2019, 2:27 pm

Le Pen family rivals? Rising French far-right star resurfaces, plays with fire

Marion Marechal, granddaughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, has been holding discreet meetings in bid to build bridges with enemy conservatives; denies undermining Aunt Marine

By Elaine Ganley

French Junior Minister attached to Finance Minister in charge of digital technology Mounir Mahjoubi gestures as he answers questions during an interview at Economny Ministry in Paris, on February 21, 2019. (Photo by BERTRAND GUAY / AFP)

February 24, 2019, 6:12 pm

French digital affairs minister tackles daunting task of purging online hate

Mounir Mahjoubi, 34, standing up to ‘yellow vest’ protesters, seeking to root out their anti-Semitism and racism, and mitigate their militancy

By Clare BYRNE

French far-right party Front National president Marine Le Pen speaks during her party's congress on March 11, 2018 in Lille, north of France, after being re-elected for a third term as leader. (AFP/PHILIPPE HUGUEN)

March 11, 2018, 2:08 pm

Seeking makeover, French far-right party jettisons anti-Semitic founder

National Front party reelects Marine Le Pen as leader, considers name change amid bid to break into mainstream

By AP

Far right National Front party regional leader for southeastern France, Marion Marechal-Le Pen, at a meeting with supporters, in Carpentras, southern France, December 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

February 20, 2018, 11:24 am

Niece of French far-right leader to speak at US conservative event

Marion Marechal-Le Pen will headline Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington alongside Trump, Pence

By AFP

Outgoing French president Francois Hollande, left, greets President Emmanuel Macron before the handover ceremony, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Sunday, May 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

May 14, 2017, 1:27 pm

Emmanuel Macron, youngest French leader since Napoleon, sworn in

After ceremony, outgoing president Hollande is applauded by staff – and his successor – as he leaves Elysee palace

By AP and TOI staff

French president-elect Emmanuel Macron (C) and his wife Brigitte Trogneux (R) greet supporters in front of the Pyramid at the Louvre Museum in Paris on May 7, 2017, after the second round of the French presidential election. (AFP PHOTO / POOL / Thomas SAMSON)

May 7, 2017, 9:34 pm

Macron overwhelmingly defeats Le Pen to win French presidency

Pro-European candidate wins over 65% of vote according to initial count, halting unlikely rise for leader of far-right National Front

By Adam PLOWRIGHT

A combination of video grabs from an AFP video taken on May 3, 2017 during a live televised debate shows French presidential candidates Marine Le Pen, left, and Emmanuel Macron, right, ahead of the second round of the French presidential election on May 7, 2017. (AFP Photo/Stringer)

May 7, 2017, 6:16 am

In French vote, two radically different visions for country’s future

The business-minded centrist Macron urges a France ensconced in a wider Europe; his populist challenger Le Pen wants to cut immigration, leave the EU and abandon the euro

By Joshua MELVIN and Guy JACKSON

This combination of pictures made on April 23, 2017 shows French presidential candidates Emmanuel Macron, left, and Marine Le Pen, right, posing in Paris. (Eric Feferberg, Joël Saget/AFP)

May 7, 2017, 5:26 am

Macron, Le Pen face off in dramatic final vote of French election

After Brexit and Trump’s win, race between pro-Europe centrist and anti-immigration far-rightist seen as bellwether of anti-globalization trend

By Adam PLOWRIGHT

Election campaign posters for French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen are displayed in front of the polling station where Marine Le Pen will vote in Henin Beaumont, northern France, Saturday, May 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

May 7, 2017, 1:23 am

Russian effort suspected in French election hacking attack

Paris’s cybersecurity agency to probe leak of Macron campaign documents as expert notes ‘Cyrillic script in the metadata’ of hacked files

By PHILIPPE SOTTO, John Leicester and Raphael Satter

French presidential election candidate for the far-right Front National (FN) party, Marine Le Pen (L) and French presidential election candidate for the En Marche ! movement, Emmanuel Macron pose prior to the start of a live brodcast face-to-face televised debate, on May 3, 2017 (AFP PHOTO / POOL / Eric FEFERBERG)

May 4, 2017, 1:56 am

Macron, Le Pen clash on terror, EU in heated final French debate

Ahead of weekend runoff, presidential candidates trade barbs over attitudes to Islam and globalization

By Adam PLOWRIGHT and Guy JACKSON

A person cast his ballot at a polling station in Strasbourg during the first round of the Presidential elections, April 23, 2017. (AFP Photo/Federick Florin)

April 23, 2017, 9:50 am

French voters begin casting ballots in presidential nailbiter

Over 60,000 polling stations open for some 47 million eligible voters, who will choose between 11 candidates

By AFP and TOI staff

Former French presidential election candidate for the far-left coalition La France insoumise Jean-Luc Melenchon on the campaign trail in eastern France, April 19, 2017. (AFP Photo/Sebastien Bozon)

April 23, 2017, 7:50 am

Melenchon, France’s ‘unbowed’ hard-left candidate

The fiery Communist-backed eurosceptic vows to return ‘power to the people’ if he shocks the establishment to become president

By Gina DOGGETT

French presidential election candidate for the far-right Front National (FN) party Marine Le Pen at a press conference at her campaign headquarters in Paris, April 21, 2017. (AFP Photo/Lionel Bonaventure)

April 23, 2017, 7:41 am

Le Pen: Far-right heir hopes to become France’s first female president

Propelled by anti-establishment fury that drove Brexit and Trump victories, ‘party of patriots’ leader is banking on rebranded ultranationalist rhetoric

By Clare BYRNE

French independent presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron speaking to the media in Berlin, Jan. 10, 2017. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images/JTA)

April 23, 2017, 6:47 am

Macron, 39-year-old maverick of French politics, eyes the presidency

The centrist candidate, running in his first-ever election, could become the youngest French president in modern times

By Adam PLOWRIGHT

A French riot police officer carries flowers given to him by a demonstrator, in Paris, Saturday, April 22, 2017, a day before the country begins its two-round presidential election. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

April 23, 2017, 5:47 am

Security tight as France goes to the polls in presidential vote

50,000 police, 7,000 soldiers safeguarding Sunday’s election, with terrorism and a lackluster economy topping voters’ concerns

By Thomas Adamson