Colin Randall

The new South Korean president has much work to do as he battles against his northern neighbours and endemic political corruption.

Other presidents before him have learnt painful lessons about the power of the street, how trade unions can block reform, stage disruptive strikes and demonstrations and paralyse society if they feel their members’ interests are threatened, Colin Randall writes in Nice

An important daily regional newspaper did not carry a single page one reference to the election on Saturday, while Sunday’s front page offered only a tiny mention – as if the editors had judged that interest in the election was flagging in an area that overwhelmingly votes centre-right or far-right.

The centrist former banker, aged 39, won a resounding 65.8 per cent of the vote, according to exit polls. The 48-year-old Ms Le Pen was left trailing behind on 34.2 per cent.

Polls give centrist candidate 62 per cent of support in Sunday's run-off vote against far-right rival Marine Le Pen.

The major French polling institutions were not only broadly correct in their forecasts for the first round of voting on April 23, they also accurately forecast the order in which the four main candidates would finish.

Colin Randall attempts to make sense of Marine Le Pen's political theatre

The centrist candidate may have come out on top in the first round of voting, but he can't rely on picking up all of the votes of other non-Le Pen candidates, writes Colin Randall in Nice.

The choice for France is now between a far-right woman who is ani-immigration and anti-European Union and a man who has never held elected office.

The debate was dominated by corruption, extremist left and right-wing policies and fake news, but with the murder of a policeman, terrorism is back on the election agenda.

Some 50,000 police officers and gendarmes and 7,000 soldiers will be on duty throughout the country amid fears that ISIL or its sympathisers may try to mount another operation

Colin Randall says the result of the French elections looks desperately tight and hard to predict

In a surprise announcement, Mrs May said the election will be held on June 8.

Individuals take any of a number of paths to terrorism while the inspiration and motivations remain the same, writes Colin Randall

Britain's minister to the Middle East displayed calm discipline when he tended to fallen policeman Keith Palmer after the London terror attack last week.