Former French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen dies aged 96

Jean-Marie Le Pen, an unabashed nationalist and founder of the French far-right National Front (Front National) party, has died aged 96, French media said on January 7, Report informs via Reuters.

Le Pen shook the French political establishment when he unexpectedly reached the presidential election run-off vote against Jacques Chirac in 2002, with his pugnacious mix of populism and charisma.

He was succeeded as party chief by his daughter, Marine Le Pen, who has since run for the presidency three times and turned the party, now branded the National Rally, into one of the country's main political forces.