The race to be the next president of France could come down to voting for whoever will do the least damage, writes Noah Barkin. 

At least 13 people have been killed and six others were injured after a fire swept through the basement of a bar in the French city of Rouen.

An elderly French priest murdered a week ago by two extremists tried to push away his attackers with his feet, saying “go away, Satan”, the archbishop of Rouen has told his funeral Mass.

Three terror attacks since January 2015 have tested France’s spirit. With high gun ownership and an isolated immigrant community, the country is on tenterhooks, says Jonathan Miller

Muslims have attended Catholic Masses in churches and cathedrals across France in a gesture of solidarity after the brutal killing of an 85-year-old French priest in Normandy.

French officials have identified the second man involved in the murder of a priest in a Normandy church.

Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, is concerned that the fatal stabbing of Fr Jacques Hamel, in France, may spur copycat killings.

Ireland’s Catholic primate Archbishop Eamon Martin joined in the voicing of global shock as he offered prayers to those affected by the terrorist murder of an 86-year-old priest at his church in France.

Special teams of police, social workers, mental health practitioners, and community and religious leaders are needed to try and identify potential lone- wolf terrorists, according to a security expert.

Pope Francis has expressed “sorrow and horror” over the suspected terror attack in a French church.

A nun who escaped said she saw the attackers video themselves.

HONDA has long been regarded as one of the most innovative and ingenious of all the motor manufacturers in the world and thus, when the company announced a return to the pinnacle of motor sport with a new hybrid Formula One engine, it was expected that the Japanese company would make an immediate and sustained impact, writes Declan Colley

Stena Line have launched a €6 per person return day trip to Wales, travelling every Tuesday from Dublin Port.

Eugenie Bouchard used to idolise Maria Sharapova, now she will face her in the semi-finals of the French Open.

A foul-smelling cloud of gas which wafted over to parts of the South East of England from a chemical factory in France has prompted dozens of calls to emergency services.

Bradley Wiggins was today set to stay out of trouble on the sixth stage of the Tour de France as Mark Cavendish again went in search of a 22nd Tour stage win of his career.

Dan Martin’s Garmin-Sharp team have endured more than most in the opening week of the Tour de France but matters worsened yesterday when their team manager Jonathan Vaughters was taken to task before the stage start in Rouen about reports in a Dutch newspaper that some of his riders had received six-month bans after confessing to doping.

Irish duo Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) survived another day of carnage at the Tour de France yesterday but world champion Mark Cavendish wasn’t so lucky as he crashed heavily inside the final three kilometres on the run-in to the finish in Rouen.

For a moment it appeared Mark Cavendish’s Tour de France and Olympic hopes might be over on stage four to Rouen today, but the world champion is set to live to fight another day.

Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) came close to winning his first ever stage of the Tour de France when he came seventh on yesterday’s third stage from Orchies toBoulogne-sur-Mer in the north of the country.

Winning came easy but François Hollande now has to learn to govern, writes Michael Mainville

TILLAGE farmers in some parts of Ireland are experiencing drought impacts that are at least as bad as their counter-parts in neighbouring European Union member states, according to industry analysts.

The killers of a man kidnapped and murdered 30 years ago were “playing God” with other people’s lives, the head of the Catholic church in Ireland said today.

A FRENCH prisoner dubbed “Hannibal Lecter” was yesterday sentenced to serve another 30 years in jail for killing his cellmate and devouring his lung.

A FRENCH prisoner suspected of killing his cellmate and then eating part of the man’s lung has gone on trial in the Normandy city of Rouen.

Regular contact between the IRA and forensic investigators is guiding searches for people abducted, murdered and secretly buried during the North’s Troubles, it emerged tonight.

Investigators who uncovered the partial remains of a suspected IRA victim on a remote Wicklow hillside are using their ground-breaking methods at five other potential burial sites, it was revealed tonight.

Five men suspected of helping the al-Qaida UN bombers who killed nearly 40 people last week were being held in France today.

A French court has ruled that a Maori head that New Zealand wants back must remain in France.

A court in northern France convicted an 80-year-old woman today of killing her disabled and bedridden daughter, but it spared her from serving any prison time.

FRENCH students staged a fresh day of wildcat protests yesterday, vowing to keep up the pressure on the government and calling for further concessions despite the scrapping of a contested jobs contract.

French protesters are aiming to rally at least a million people for nationwide marches and strikes today against an employment law that has plunged the country into crisis.

FRENCH protesters declared themselves on the brink of victory yesterday in their battle against the controversial ‘first employment’ labour law.

AUTHORITIES imposed curfews in the French Riviera cities of Nice and Cannes yesterday to prevent rioting, while the interior minister called for the deportation of foreigners convicted of participating in the unrest.

Tensions have cooled somewhat in France today, with a drop of nearly half in the number of cars burned, police said.

Youths torched 750 cars, stoned paramedics and burned a nursery school in a ninth night of violence that spread from Paris suburbs to towns around France, police said today.

Bands of youths torched cars, warehouses and a nursery school early today in a ninth night of violence in the suburbs of Paris and beyond.

A train collided with a truck carrying gas bottles in northern France today, setting off explosions and injuring at least two people, authorities said.

A RAILWAY passengers’ group in Britain has warned Irish commuters about the track record of the firm awarded the contract to run the long-awaited Luas.

A THRILLING sprint finish win for Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu and a catastrophic crash in the peloton were the features of stage five of the Tour de France yesterday.