Face-off

When Emmanuel Macron decided to run for French president, the consensus among politicians and pundits was that he stood no chance. A 39-year-old former banker who served under the deeply unpopular François Hollande, a man with no party behind him and claiming to be neither on the right or on the left could never sit in the Elysée Palace, it was said. But today, with less than two months to go before the first round, the maverick is firmly in the race and could even clinch France's top job.

Marine Le Pen has finally broken a glass ceiling - not in France, but in Lebanon. For the first time, the French far-right leader was hosted by a foreign sitting president and head of government. She hopes it will boost her international credentials and presidential bid. In the meantime, with less than two months to go before round one of the elections, the left is still struggling to figure out how many candidates it will field - and the clock is ticking.

With just over two months to go before the first round of France's presidential election, conservative candidate François Fillon is mired in a scandal over the hiring of his wife and children as parliamentary aides. The former frontrunner is now edged in opinion polls by far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist newcomer Emmanuel Macron. As Fillon battles to keep his run alive, he is also warning that if he is forced out, many of his sympathisers could throw their support behind Le Pen.

With his poll ratings in freefall amid claims he might have created a fake job for his wife, French conservative candidate François Fillon held a defiant press conference this week to try to save his presidential bid. But will he be able to hold on until the elections? And has the scandal damaged his chances of victory?

The stage is finally set. Less than three months before the French presidential election, all the candidates are now known after the Socialists chose Benoit Hamon as their flag-bearer. It is certainly a wide-open race. The favourite, conservative candidate François Fillon, is mired in controversy over allegations his wife held a fictitious job, while his two main rivals, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist newcomer Emmanuel Macron, are gearing up to fully launch their campaigns.