AP explains what is at stake following first round of the French Elections

The far-right National Rally leaped into a strong lead in France's first round of legislative elections, polling agencies projected, bringing the party closer to being able to form a government in round two and dealing a major slap to centrist President Emmanuel Macron and his risky decision to call the surprise ballot. The Associated Press Western Europe News Director Angela Charlton said Macron's "decision to call these snap elections is looking like a massive political miscalculation."