PARIS (Reuters) - Far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon embraced technology during the launch of his presidential campaign at a rally in Lyon on Sunday, with a 3D hologram of him making his speech appearing at the same time at another rally in Paris. 
 
 Technicians are seen with equipment used to produce a hologram that is trasmitted to a gathering in Saint-Denis as politician Jean-Luc Melenchon, of the French far-left Parti de Gauche, and candidate for the 2017 French presidential election, speaks on stage during a campaign rally in Chassieu, near Lyon, France, February 5, 2017. REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot 
 
 Melenchon, wearing a Nehru-style jacket, tried to use the hologram technology give a modern look to his launch, which coincided with that of the far-right leader Marine Le Pen. 
 
 Melenchon is certainly not the first politician to employ such technology - in 2014, then-Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan used a huge hologram of himself to attract wider support, while India’s Narendra Modi trounced the opposition with a campaign that included holograms of his speeches in villages across the country. 
 
 Melenchon tried to position himself on Sunday as a key adversary of Marine Le Pen, choosing Lyon - and almost the same timing - for the launch of his campaign. 
 
 Le Pen, speaking in Lyon on Sunday, told thousands of flag-waving supporters chanting “This is our country!” that she alone would protect them against Islamic fundamentalism and globalisation if elected president in May. 
 
 There are some similarities between Melenchon’s platform and Le Pen’s, as both are skeptical of the EU and globalisation, but they differ sharply on other issues including migration. 
 
 During his speech, Melenchon mentioned the Socialist party’s presidential candidate Benoit Hamon, who has called on left-wing forces to unite. 
 
 “Everyone wants to abolish El Khomri (a labor law), including the Socialist candidate. I wonder what holds him back?” said Melanchon, who has between 11 and 11.5 percent support, according to Friday’s BVA poll. 
 
 The Socialists, weakened after the deeply unpopular presidency of Francois Hollande, have no chance of getting beyond the first round of the election in April, according to the latest polls. 
 
 The poll by BVA of voting intentions on Friday gave Hamon between 16 and 17 percent in the April 23 first round, behind far-right leader Marine Le Pen on 25 percent, independent centrist Emmanuel Macron on 21-22 percent and conservative Francois Fillon on 20 percent. ||||| Republican guards, right, line up in the courtyard of the presidential Elysee Palace, in Paris, Friday, April 14, 2017. The two-round presidential election is set for April 23 and May 7. (AP Photo/Christophe... (Associated Press) 
 
 Republican guards, right, line up in the courtyard of the presidential Elysee Palace, in Paris, Friday, April 14, 2017. The two-round presidential election is set for April 23 and May 7. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (Associated Press) 
 
 Republican guards, right, line up in the courtyard of the presidential Elysee Palace, in Paris, Friday, April 14, 2017. The two-round presidential election is set for April 23 and May 7. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) (Associated Press) Republican guards, right, line up in the courtyard of the presidential Elysee Palace, in Paris, Friday, April 14, 2017. The two-round presidential election is set for April 23 and May 7. (AP Photo/Christophe... (Associated Press) 
 
 PARIS (AP) — Facebook says it has targeted 30,000 fake accounts linked to France ahead of the country's presidential election, as part of a worldwide effort against misinformation. 
 
 The company said Thursday it's trying to "reduce the spread of material generated through inauthentic activity, including spam, misinformation, or other deceptive content that is often shared by creators of fake accounts." 
 
 It said its efforts "enabled us to take action" against the French accounts and that it is removing sites with the highest traffic. 
 
 Facebook and French media are also running fact-checking programs in France to combat misleading information, especially around the campaign for the two-round April 23-May 7 presidential election. 
 
 European authorities have also pressured Facebook and Twitter to remove extremist propaganda or other postings that violate European hate speech or other laws. 
 
 Facebook ramped up its efforts against the spread of false news and misinformation on its service in December, a month after the U.S. presidential election. The company said at the time that it will focus on the "worst of the worst" offenders and partner with outside fact-checkers and news organizations to sort honest news reports from made-up stories. 
 
 It was accused of allowing the spread of false news in the months leading up to the U.S. election, which critics said may have helped sway the results in favor of Donald Trump. Since December, the company has broadened its efforts beyond the U.S. 
 
 Last week, it launched a resource to help users spot false news in 14 countries including the U.S., France and Germany. It's a notification, available for a few days, that leads users to a list of tips for spotting false news and ways to report it. 
 
 Facebook's other efforts include participating with other companies and tech industry leaders to establish a "news integrity" nonprofit organization to promote news literacy and increase the public's trust in journalism. A nascent Facebook Journalism Project , meanwhile, is a lofty effort to work with news organizations to develop products, provide tools for journalists and generally promote trust in news. ||||| The French will go to the polls this weekend, and again on May 7 to pick their new president, and the world will be watching to see just how far the "populist wave" has travelled. 
 
 After the surprise of Britain's Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump as US president, just what kind of politician – and politics – France chooses will be of huge interest to many, not just those inside Europe. 
 
 Here's everything you need to know about the battle for the Élysée Palace. 
 
 Who are the candidates? 
 
 The top five candidates in 2017's French election are, in alphabetical order: François Fillon (Les Republicains), Benoît Hamon (Socialists), Marine Le Pen (Front National) and Emmanuel Macron (Independent) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (Unbowed France). 
 
 While there is no clear winner at this stage – political scandals, distrust of polls, the shock Brexit result and Donald Trump's victory mean that sure bets off – there is a frontrunner. 
 
 When is the election? 
 
 Candidates are pitted against each other twice – the first round of the vote takes place on Sunday, April 23. Then, the two top candidates face each other in a second run-off, on Sunday, May 7. 
 
 French elections always take place on a Sunday. 
 
 Who's the favourite to win? 
 
 French elections are usually a two-horse race between the conservative Les Republicains (formerly the UMP) and the Left-wing Socialist Party. But for this year's election, the goalposts have moved. 
 
 François Hollande's Socialist Party is in tatters after a disastrous term that has made him one of the least popular presidents in the country's history. ||||| Article réservé aux abonnés 
 
 Intentions de vote au premier tour, selon l’enquête Ipsos-Sopra Steria et « Le Monde » réalisée les 12 et 13 avril. Le Monde 
 
 Inédite et déroutante depuis le début, la campagne présidentielle 2017 le restera donc jusqu’au bout. A dix jours du premier tour de scrutin, dimanche 23 avril, l’on se retrouve dans une situation sans précédent depuis un demi-siècle : quatre candidats – François Fillon, Marine Le Pen, Emmanuel Macron et Jean-Luc Mélenchon – ont la possibilité de se qualifier pour le second tour. 
 
 Tel est le principal enseignement de la dernière enquête réalisée par Ipsos-Sopra Steria pour Le Monde auprès d’un échantillon de 1 509 personnes inscrites sur les listes électorales (dont 927 certaines d’aller voter et exprimant une intention de vote) interrogées par Internet les 12 et 13 avril. Compte tenu de « l’intervalle de confiance », autrement dit de la marge d’erreur de l’ordre de 2,7 points pour un échantillon de cette taille et pour des scores de plus ou moins 20 % d’intentions de vote, ces quatre candidats sont actuellement dans un mouchoir de poche, sans qu’il soit encore possible de déterminer les deux finalistes. 
 
 L’indécision des électeurs 
 
 Toutes les enquêtes en témoignent depuis des semaines. Le niveau d’indécision des Français est nettement plus élevé que lors des précédents scrutins présidentiels, exception faite de 2002. Actuellement, les deux tiers d’entre eux seulement (66 %) ont l’intention d’aller voter le 23 avril. La tentation de l’abstention touche particulièrement les plus jeunes électeurs : 55 % des 18-24 ans ont l’intention d’aller voter, 60 % des 25-34 ans. Tandis que près des trois quarts des plus de 70 ans assurent qu’ils iront voter. Ce niveau d’indécision n’a pas diminué depuis la précédente enquête d’Ipsos, réalisée une semaine plus tôt. 
 
 L’effritement des « favoris » 
 
 Evolution des intentions de vote au premier tour, selon l’enquête Ipsos-Sopra Steria et « Le Monde » réalisée les 12 et 13 avril. Le Monde 
 
 Depuis la fin du mois de février, la candidate du Front national et celui d’En marche ! faisaient nettement la course en tête, devançant leurs concurrents de 7 à 10 points en mars et encore de 6 points début avril. Leur érosion dans les derniers jours est sensible et parallèle. Ainsi Marine Le Pen recueille désormais 22 % des intentions de vote, soit 2 points de moins que lors de l’enquête des 7-9 avril et 5 points de moins qu’il y a un mois. Depuis la mi-mars, elle a perdu du terrain dans la plupart des strates de l’électorat, y compris parmi les électeurs qui se déclarent proches du Front national où elle est en recul de 6 points (86 % contre 92 % à la mi-mars). En revanche, elle consolide sa position parmi ses électeurs de 2012 : 90 % ont l’intention de revoter pour elle (en progression de 7 points par rapport à la mi-mars). En outre, elle est la candidate qui bénéficie des intentions de vote les plus déterminées : 85 % des Français qui déclarent vouloir voter pour elle assurent que leur choix est définitif.
– Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and independent Emmanuel Macron have been drawing the lion's share of attention as the French presidential election nears (the first round is April 23), but a leftist candidate who has used a hologram of himself to stump at campaign rallies is now gaining some traction. In what the Washington Post calls a "truly unprecedented campaign," Jean-Luc Melenchon has seemingly emerged out of thin air as the Unbowed France candidate, with added support from the French Communist Party—and he "gives shivers to banks, businesspeople, and the bourgeoisie," per the New York Times. Melenchon, once considered a fringe candidate no one really paid mind to, is running on an anti-capitalism platform, with a mission to dismantle the monarchy-styled governmental system implemented by Charles de Gaulle in the late '50s. Melenchon is now ahead of mainstream conservative Francois Fillon in the polls and only a couple of points behind Macron and Le Pen. He's been speaking to the younger set with videos on YouTube and a video game in which players go after bankers and the head of the IMF. What makes this year's election in France notable is that the slightly left-leaning Socialists and slightly right-leaning Republicans aren't the ones duking it out for the country's top seat. And the showdown between Le Pen and Melenchon, whom the Times says is sometimes depicted as a "French Bernie Sanders," even sounds strikingly like the one witnessed between Sanders and Donald Trump, with both candidates vying for voters who want to decimate the status quo, though with different tactics: Le Pen is tapping into nationalism, while Melenchon is pushing help for the poor. (Facebook is going after false accounts before the election.)