France heading to polls for key elections

A woman holds her child outside a voting station in Strasbourg, eastern France (Jean-Francois Badias/AP)

France is heading to the polls on Sunday in pivotal runoff elections which could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision.

Sunday’s snap elections, which could also produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock, have potential impact on the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability.