Le Pen lurches back to far right as race tightens

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A man held in France over a foiled plot to stage an attack ahead of the first round of France's presidential election was also sought by Belgian authorities, Belgium's federal prosecutor said.

The two men allegedly "intended to commit an attack on French soil in the very short term, which is to say in coming days", Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said during a brief news conference earlier on Tuesday.

It was unclear whether a campaign event was a potential target for the attack; Molins said investigators have not determined "the day, the targets and the exact circumstances" of the suspects' plans.

Fekl said police were carrying out searches and that security surrounding the elections and the candidates had been strengthened.

"It is one of the unknowns of a vote that has many unknowns". France has remained on high alert ever since the 2015 massacre in Paris, and national security has been a major focus of the election so far.

The presidential race has narrowed with just days to go, with the pack closing behind frontrunners Macron and Le Pen.

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Hank Jones, has benefitted from a surge of Democratic and liberal sentiment since Donald Trump was elected president in November. He is running on a positive local message that is the opposite of the political climate that has been fostered by Trump.

While national security previously has been a strong theme in the campaign, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen hardened her tone on foreign extremists and border controls in the wake of the arrests that came days before the first round of voting.

The first round of the presidential election is Sunday, with 11 candidates entered.

"There has been a real tightening of the race with four candidates between 19 percent and 23 percent".

"Don't believe what they tell you", he said.

"We need Europe, so we will remake it", Macron said. Having led the polls at the turn of the year, the scandal hit his support hard.

Fillon has been charged over allegations he gave his wife Penelope a fictional job as his parliamentary assistant for which she earned almost 680,000 euros ($725,000) in public money.

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