07:44 Macron defeats Le Pen to become French president:
Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron has decisively won the French presidential election, defeating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
Macron won by 66.06 per cent to 33.94 per cent to become, at 39, the country’s youngest president.
Macron will also become the first president from outside the two traditional main parties since the modern republic’s foundation in 1958.
He said that a new page was being turned in French history.
“I want it to be a page of hope and renewed trust,” he said.
He said he would “guarantee the unity of the nation and… defend and protect Europe.”
In his speech to the crowd, he said: “Tonight you won, France won. Everyone told us it was impossible, but they don’t know France.”
But he repeated a number of times that the task facing him and the country was enormous.
He said: “We have the strength, the energy and the will – and we will not give in to fear.”
Source: Rediff