France's polling commission has issued a warning over a Russian news report suggesting conservative candidate Francois Fillon leads the race for the presidency - something which contradicts the findings of mainstream opinion pollsters. The cautionary note from the watchdog on pre-election polling followed allegations in February by aides of centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron that he was a target of 'fake news' put out by Russian media including the Sputnik news agency. Macron takes a hard line on European Union sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, whereas Fillon has said they are totally ineffective, creating a 'cold war' climate that needs to be reversed.
