Eleanor Beardsley

The French presidential race has changed into a head-to-head contest between centrist Emmanuel Macron and a far-right candidate.

France held the first round of presidential voting on Sunday. Centrist Emmanuel Macron and rightist Marine Le Pen are headed to the second round on May 7.

Centrist independent Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen lead the first round of the French presidential election. Both are poised to compete in a May runoff.

The first round of the French presidential election takes place on Sunday and the race has turned into a very close four-way contest thanks to a late surge by a far-left candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Marine Le Pen grew up in a "house of political violence," a biographer says. Since taking control of the far-right party her father founded, she has tried to expand its reach, and kicked him out.

Just a few days before the first round in France's presidential election, a gunman in Paris killed a police officer. Candidates are now talking about security issues.

One police officer was killed and two others wounded in a shooting on Paris' Champs Elysees, just days before the French presidential election.

Three days before France's presidential election, a shooting on Paris' famous boulevard leaves one police officer dead and two seriously wounded, in an incident that left one attacker dead.

Entrenched politicians have been swept aside, and fringe candidates and untested newcomers have filled the void. Four front-runners lead the field of 11 in Sunday's first round of voting.

The twists and turns of the French presidential campaign have left voters with four leading candidates, anyone of whom could win the first round on Sunday.

Facebook is targeting 30,000 fake accounts linked to France that are being used to spread fake news, spam, hoaxes and misinformation. The company said it is trying to "reduce the spread of material generated through inauthentic activity, including spam, misinformation, or other deceptive content that is often shared by creators of fake accounts."

If elected, far right leader Marine Le Pen will hold a referendum to leave the EU, but that's hard to imagine in one of the most pro-Europe corners of France near the German border.

The industrial city of Amiens, France, is the hometown of presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron. But closed factories and angry workers there may vote for extreme political parties instead.

Maureen Hargrave's aunt and uncle were married at Versailles in 1944. "She's piecing together family history, and I'm piecing together the history of a very special moment," says the palace archivist.

Among 18- to 24-year-olds, Marine Le Pen is by far the No. 1 candidate, with 40 percent of the vote — a startling shift for a country that's traditionally known for its leftist youth movements.

NPR reports on the latest on the attack earlier this week in London that killed five people, including the attacker, and injured at least 50.

The latest on the attack in London this week that killed at least five people, including the attacker, and injured at least 50 people.

British authorities have identified the attacker who killed four people on Wednesday as 52-year-old Khalid Masood. Police believe he acted alone.

It was supposed to be the third victory for populism, after Brexit and Donald Trump, but Geert Wilders' relatively poor showing in the Netherlands general election has created a speed bump in what some hoped would be a populist momentum.

The scandals and party infighting in this year's French presidential election have left voters unsure about which candidate to vote for.