The US-led Nato force in Afghanistan has conceded that several children died during a bombing raid last week in the northeast province where French troops are based.
Former French defence minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement has withdrawn from the race for president, saying he does not have the means to continue his campaign.
Nato is committed to plans to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, even after France decided to end its fighting role a year earlier.
The history of the African National Congress is a source of universal inspiration, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said on the occasion of the party's centenary celebrations.
An Afghan soldier has killed 2 French Nato troops in eastern Afghanistan.
Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin has shaken up the presidential campaign by announcing he'll run as an independent.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned that there will be "no second chance" if a crucial European Union summit fails to reach a deal to save the euro.
France and Germany have agreed to new reforms to address the eurozone debt crisis to be presented this week to EU President Herman van Rompuy.
US President Barack Obama has refused to discuss an overheard conversation he was party to in which French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu a "liar".
Sarkozy has been overheard telling Obama that Netanyahu is a liar, and that he cannot stand him.
A simple "no" answer by the Greek public could see the "complete meltdown of the European banking system and throw Europe into turmoil" after a stunning move by the Greek prime minister.
Two thirds of the world's population live without social security protection, according to a UN report.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has launched a scathing attack on British Prime Minister David Cameron at an EU summit.
After a day of keeping the nation guessing, French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has announced her baby's name on her website.
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, 43, has gave birth to her first child with President Nicolas Sarkozy.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in Morocco to kick off work on Africa's first high-speed rail line, in a bid to highlight France's role.
The new Libya will join the international community as a nation committed to peace, security, and democracy, the head of the transitional government says.
The Libyan visit of David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy "marked the start of the colonisation of the oil-rich country", Muammar Gaddafi’s spokesperson Mussa Ibrahim warns.
UK’s prime minister David Cameron says his government would look to unfreeze a further £12bn in Libyan assets if a UN Security Council resolution on Libya is passed.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are set to hold talks with the head of Libya's NTC in Tripoli.
A French appeals court has confirmed the acquittal of former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin over a political scandal in which he was accused of smearing President Nicolas Sarkozy.
French first lady Carla Bruni has said she will never let the media film or photograph her baby.
France and its partners are working on a draft resolution aimed at unfreezing Libyan assets and unlocking sanctions, says a French diplomatic source.
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy has condemned Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi's "criminal and cynical" attempt to cling to power despite the apparent collapse of his regime.
Syrian anti-regime activists have called for fresh protests after the weekly Muslim prayers, as US President Barack Obama led a chorus of calls for Syria’s autocrat leader to step down.
European Union President Herman Van Rompuy has welcomed new Italian austerity measures as "crucially important" for the entire 17-nation eurozone.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he wants further sanctions against the Syrian government as it continues to crack down on protestors.
Doubts cast on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sex assault case have raised hopes among France's opposition Socialists that he may return to help them fight Nicolas Sarkozy.
A person in a crowd has yanked French President Nicolas Sarkozy by the shoulder and nearly knocked him to the ground before being tackled by security officers.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has shrugged off criticism of the Nato-led campaign in Libya, saying the Western alliance should stay put until Muammar Gaddafi departs.
A minister has resigned from the French government to fight allegations of sexual harassment, two weeks after ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest on sex crime charges.
The heads of top internet firms have met in Paris at the first "e-G8" summit, touting the power of the web to world leaders amid concerns over copyright and censorship.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has kept up a carefully calculated silence as sex assault charges against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn have rocked his country.
The wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is expecting a child, the president's father has told a newspaper.
Guards could return to Europe's utopian border-free area as the EU unveils proposals to ease French and Italian fears about a potential deluge of penniless north African migrants.
Carla Bruni and her husband, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, are expecting their first child together.
Police in France, home to Europe's biggest Muslim population, have arrested two protesters wearing niqab veils after a ban on full-face coverings went into effect.
France has launched military strikes and dragged the international community into action against Libya and the Ivory Coast.
A huge crowd in the Libyan capital's Shatt al-Henshir cemetery prayed before a row of open graves, but by nightfall, no bodies had arrived.
The European Union has announced it will "mobilise all appropriate assistance" for Japan after the country was hit by a massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake.
Western powers are tightening the screws on Muammar Gaddafi, reaching out to his opponents as leaders mull military and economic options to deal with the crisis.
South Africa and France have signed several co-operation agreements during President Jacob Zuma's state visit this week, the department of international relations and co-operation says.
France hosts President Jacob Zuma with all the ceremony due to the leader of an emerging regional power and a key player in Paris's plan to use its G20 presidency to reform world finance.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office says three hostages kidnapped in a Niger mining town have been released in good health.
Agreements on development and nuclear energy will be sealed during President Jacob Zuma's state visit to France next month.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned his ministers to stay in France on holiday to avoid diplomatic gaffes after scandals over hospitality from authoritarian north African leaders.
World leaders have condemned a suicide bombing that has killed at least 35 people at a Moscow airport, with the UN chief saying he was "appalled".
French president Nicolas Sarkozy says price volatility should be curbed and commodity markets regulated to avoid food riots.
Seven hostages, including five French nationals, held by an al-Qaeda regional offshoot have been scattered and are no longer in Mali.
Almost all in their 40s, a new generation of far-right political leaders are taking root across a fortress-Europe hunkering down to foreigner-phobia, analysts say.
Gabon's late president Omar Bongo allegedly lined his pockets with money from a $37m bank embezzlement scheme, according to a classified US embassy cable.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has trudged from one political fight to another this year, but the biggest battle begins in 2011 as he prepares to seek a second term.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni have spent nearly an hour at a private visit to Taj Mahal during an official visit to India.
Quizzed about alleged kickbacks, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told journalists that if they questioned him without proof he might as well call them all paedophiles, say reports.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has emerged at the head of a more right-wing government, as President Nicolas Sarkozy regrouped for a possible 2012 re-election bid.
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade's purchase of $43m aeroplane from French President Nicolas Sarkozy has triggered an uproar in the poor country.
A suspect parcel at the Hungarian embassy in Athens has been found to contain only documents after a controlled explosion, say Greek police.
Italy has opened an inquiry into a parcel bomb addressed to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, as officials searched for links to militant groups.
Greek police have detained two men after an explosion at the Swiss Embassy in Athens while other embassies were also apparently targeted.
French lawmakers say coach Raymond Domenech has refused to take responsibility for his team's performance at the World Cup.
The leaders of the world's most powerful countries are to pursue talks on settling their differences over how to nurse the fragile world economy back to health.
President threatened to pull France out of the euro at a meeting of European leaders deciding Greece's aid package, according to Spain's El Pais newspaper.
The Syrian regime's rocket and shell bombardment of protest hubs has left another 79 civilians dead, activists say.
France's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan a year earlier than planned threatens to trigger a "rush to the exits" by other Nato members, say experts.
France remains committed to bringing stability to Afghanistan, its defence minister says after Paris threatened to accelerate its troop withdrawal.
France's election contest has turned into a mudslinging match after Socialist challenger Francois Hollande was reported to have called President Nicolas Sarkozy a "nasty piece of work".
Britain's press have waded into the bickering between London and Paris over the state of each other's economy, but warned that the "playground" spat was getting both sides nowhere.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted that the European Union was now a two-speed alliance but insisted that Britain would not be forced out of the bloc's single market.
France and Germany have called for Europe's leaders to agree on strict rules for fiscal discipline at their summit this week.
The IMF could bail out Italy with up to €600bn, an Italian newspaper has reported Prime Minister Mario Monti came under pressure to speed up anti-crisis measures.
French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy helped to persuade President Nicolas Sarkozy to arm Libya’s revolution and says Muammar Gaddafi’s downfall should serve as a warning to dictators everywhere.
European leaders suspended €8bn in aid and are contemplating the possibility of Greece leaving the eurozone to preserve the 12-year-old single currency.
China remains confident Europe can solve its crippling debt crisis even though it continues to balk at requests for it to use its financial firepower.
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister David Cameron has brushed off French criticism that he was interfering in the eurozone crisis.
Nato’s operation in Libya can be considered over now that Muammar Gaddafi is dead and the new regime is in control of the entire country, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe says.
President Nicolas Sarkozy returned Thursday to a Paris maternity clinic to visit his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and his infant daughter on the morning after her birth.
Huge crowds of reporters and onlookers have gathered in the streets outside a Paris maternity clinic after reports that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was about to give birth.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's re-election hopes have been slightly dimmed after the best man at his wedding was charged with receiving kickbacks on an arms deal.
Greater emphasis needs to be put on development in Africa, former South African president FW de Klerk says.
Turkey’s prime minister is set to visit Libya, a day after the French and British leaders won a hero’s welcome there for helping to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi.
Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged UK’s help in hunting down fugitive Muammar Gaddafi as he and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy became the first foreign leaders to visit new Libya.
British PM David Cameron has arrived on a visit to Libya where he and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet the country’s new leaders, a spokesperson says.
African leaders gave French former president Jacques Chirac and Dominique de Villepin $20m in cash, including to finance elections, a lawyer says.
France's Sarkozy is fending off claims that he took illegal campaign cash from the L'Oreal heiress.
With the sexual assault case against him about to collapse, ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn could in theory return to French politics, but no one expects a return in force.
About a hundred Libyans gathered outside the White House to celebrate the rebel takeover of Tripoli, waving the country's flag and chanting "Libya is free!"
France's Nicolas Sarkozy will host his counterpart Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris as he tries to chip away at German resistance to increased European financial governance.
France and Germany have used the wrong measures to resolve the eurozone debt crisis and thrown away the chances of recovery, says UK ex-premier Gordon Brown.
Mauritanian soldiers are patrolling Bassiknou after al-Qaeda extremists attacked a nearby army base which houses an anti-terrorist unit.
News that the sex assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn could collapse has raised prospects of his return to French politics.
France is providing weapons to Libyan rebels in the Western Mountains in an effort to help them push on to Muammar Gaddafi's stronghold in the Libyan capital Tripoli, says a report.
Nato is facing an identity crisis as its members grapple with just how much its mission in Afghanistan and its new campaign in Libya size up as national interests.
Two French lawyers say they plan to initiate legal proceedings against French President Nicolas Sarkozy for crimes against humanity over the Nato-led military campaign in Libya.
France will always maintain troops in Ivory Coast "to ensure the protection of our citizens", not to prop up the new government, French President Nicolas Sarkozy says.
The wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is expecting a child, the president's father has told a newspaper.
G8 powers have launched a strategy to curb drug trafficking by sharing intelligence particularly targeting west Africa.
Syria has sent more troops to the southern town of Daraa where a deadly crackdown against pro-democracy protesters has raged into a second day.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has insisted that Nato isn't edging toward the deployment of ground troops in Libya.
France's ban on full face veils, a first in Europe, has gone into force, exposing anyone who wears the Muslim niqab or burqa in public to fines of €150.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has called for more flexible exchange rate regimes at a G20 meeting in China.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son has told "this clown" French President Nicolas Sarkozy to "give us back our money" allegedly used to finance his 2007 election victory.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his ruling clique have lost legitimacy and must step down to end violence in the country, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron have said.
The French finance ministry has shut down 10 000 computers after a "spectacular" cyber attack from hackers using internet addresses in China, say officials and reports.
President Jacob Zuma says SA will back France's G20 agenda that includes reforming the global monetary system and reducing instability in commodity markets.
France will send "massive" aid to opposition territory in Libya and has not ruled out supporting a Nato enforcement of a no-fly zone over the country, says the prime minister.
The UN Security Council plans to meet to receive a French-British draft proposal for sanctions against Libyan leaders over the deadly attacks on demonstrators there, say envoys.
If France's presidential election outcome depends on the popularity of the would-be first ladies, Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife will be no match for his heavy-hitter rivals.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has again urged governments to impose taxes on financial transactions to help fund development.
France’s president Nicolas Sarkozy has admitted that France had previously underestimated the anger of the Tunisian people at the Zine El Abidine Ali’s ousted regime.
A hacker has taken over French President Nicolas Sarkozy's Facebook account and posted a fake announcement that he was abandoning plans to run for re-election.
Al-Qaeda says a French airstrike killed one of two young Frenchmen its fighters had kidnapped in Niger, while claiming its militants executed the other, a US monitoring group reports.
A Taliban spokesperson says France has not done enough to win the release of two French journalists kidnapped east of Kabul a year ago.
Police have confirmed a link between Italian and Greek anarchists, saying the Italian group sent parcel bombs in response to an appeal from its Greek counterparts.
Cosatu and Fedusa members will take part in talks on global economic recovery at the G20 summit chaired by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has arrived on a four-day visit to India, seeking to drum up business for French firms, with a deal expected on building nuclear plants.
France has rejected demands from an al-Qaeda cell holding five French hostages in northern Africa that it negotiate their freedom with Osama bin Laden.
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Francois Fillon and his cabinet.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's reform raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 has become law, a victory over unions for the conservative government.
Bomb disposal experts are examining a suspicious package at the Hungarian Embassy in central Athens, say police.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have signed two landmark defence treaties at a summit in London.
Greek police have intercepted a booby-trapped parcel addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, after another exploded at a courier company in Athens.
The French football coach and the ex-president of the French football federation will appear before parliament.
Thierry Henry has met President Nicolas Sarkozy to give an explanation for the French team's disastrous showing at the World Cup.