France’s post-election violence continued for a second night, leaving cars burned and store windows smashed in several cities and prompting the defeated Socialists to call for calm.

France's presidential race headed into its final week today with conservative former Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy holding a narrow but enduring lead over socialist candidate Segolene Royal.

The battle between French conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal heated up today as their camps tried tactics to woo voters in the political centre – the key decision-makers in the presidential race.

Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal face a run-off for France’s presidency, giving voters a clear choice between a conservative who could push his anxious nation towards painful change, and a socialist who would be the country’s first female leader.

France began choosing a new president today after a frenzied campaign among a dozen contenders in a vote with unpredictable results.

Judges were today questioning the French prime minister over his role in a suspected scheme to smear presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy and other French personalities.

Segolene Royal began her campaign to become France’s first woman president in style, decisively beating two rivals to wrap up the nomination for the main opposition Socialist Party in a single round of voting.

Jean Marie Le Pen prepared his supporters for defeat at his final press conference in Paris yesterday.

As many as one million people have attended peaceful demonstrations throughout France to protest against the policies of far-right presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen.

French President Jacques Chirac appealed today to left-wing voters, asking for their help to defeat National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Tens of thousands have marched through Paris to protest against far-right presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen.

France’s extreme right-wing presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen today said he was ‘‘no more a racist’’ than Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The Prime Minister today condemned Jean-Marie Le Pen’s ‘‘repellent’’ policies and said he was confident France would reject his brand of ‘‘extremism’’.

French President Jacques Chirac has rejected the idea of a live television debate with his far right opponent in next month's elections.

The French Ambassador to Ireland says he is confident that voters in his country will do the right thing when it comes to the Presidential election.

Defeated French presidential hopefuls on both left and right are endorsing Jacques Chirac for the second-round vote.

Defeated French presidential hopefuls on both left and right are endorsing Jacques Chirac for the second-round vote.

The leader of France’s extreme right National Front party Jean Marie Le Pen has achieved a stunning first round presidential election result forcing voters to choose between him and conservative incumbent Jacques Chirac.