On Sunday (24 April), French voters are expected at the ballot boxes for the second and decisive vote in this year’s presidential elections.
There are now only two candidates to choose between: Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. But a third figure is ever so present: Russian president Vladimir Putin.
In the western parts of Paris-suburb Carrières-sous-Poissy most people are Muslim.
At least, that is the impression people living here have. One of Île-de-France biggest mosques is being built on a nearby field and many women wear headscarves.
It is not possible to know the exact number of Muslims living here, since it is forbidden by French law to collect information on race, ethnicity, or religion.
Here, only one presidential candidate seems to be left in the run-off: incumbent president Macron.
His posters are hung up on the strictly regulated billboards, installed by the town hall. By law, Le Pen, who wants to ban headscarves, is given equal space, but people here tend to tear her down as soon as she is hung up.
The threat of ‘total economic war’ looms. And July sees highest civilian deaths since 2022 (Ukraine Battlefield update, Day 1,616)
