In a speech Monday, far-right French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen copied comments made two weeks earlier by Francois Fillon, the former frontrunner who was eliminated in the first round of the election, AFP has found.

The two frontrunners in the French presidential election, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, were staging rival rallies in Paris Monday...

French conservative candidate Francois Fillon has seen his hopes of becoming president severely dented by a fake jobs scandal, yet he has clung on in the race and could still spring a surprise.

French Communist-backed presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon drew tens of thousands of supporters to a mass open-air rally Sunday, underlining his surging popularity just two weeks from the unpredictable election.

French centre-right presidential candidate Francois Fillon on Thursday accused President Francois Hollande, a Socialist, of orchestrating media leaks that have dented his image as a scandal free leader a month ahead of the key vote.

France's tumultuous presidential race steps up a gear on Monday as the five leading candidates face off in a TV debate, the first of its kind in the eurozone's second biggest economy, with just a month to go before the vote.

Former French prime minister Alain Juppe ruled himself out on Monday as an alternative to his rightwing party colleague Francois Fillon whose campaign has been thrown into chaos by a fake job scandal.

"No one today can prevent me being a candidate," Fillon said in a TV interview in which he again said a probe into allegations he gave his wife a highly-paid fake parliamentary job was politically motivated.

Embattled French conservative Francois Fillon told supporters Sunday to "never give up the fight" and gave no indication that he intends to quit the presidential election race over an expenses scandal.

The wife of scandal-hit French conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon broke her silence Sunday over the "fake jobs" scandal that threatens to engulf his bid for power.

French presidential candidate Francois Fillon suffered new blows to his scandal-hit campaign Friday, while veteran conservative Alain Juppe stood ready to replace him in the race.

Embattled French presidential candidate Francois Fillon suffered a new setback Friday as his spokesman quit, while veteran conservative Alain Juppe stood ready to replace him in the race.