Lebanese soldiers fired machine guns and rifles into the air and lobbed volleys of tear gas at hundreds of angry protesters who are trying to storm the Lebanese government headquarters in Beirut.

Soldiers have carried two flag-draped coffins through a central Beirut square packed with thousands of Lebanese mourners who turned out for the funeral of a top intelligence official and his bodyguard.

Allies of French President Francois Hollande mobilised today in hopes of securing a crushing parliamentary majority for the Socialists that could bolster him in talks on how to save the embattled euro currency and revive Europe’s economic fortunes.

Voters in France’s overseas territories have begun casting ballots for Nicolas Sarkozy or Francois Hollande in the presidential election.

France's finance minister took a swipe at the state of Britain's economy today hours after French experts predicted his own country would slide into a recession.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has returned home to a mixed welcome in France – for the first time since attempted rape accusations by a New York hotel maid unleashed an international scandal that dashed his chances of the French presidency.

French star Gerard Depardieu has been accused of urinating in an airliner’s cabin ahead of takeoff.

Hackers launched cyber attacks on French government computers in search of information about the Group of 20 leading economies, the budget minister says.

Nicolas Sarkozy remained defiant over his plan to raise France’s retirement age to 62 and his government vowed to defeat efforts to block fuel after strikes sparked fears of a shortage.

Rogue French ex-trader Jerome Kerviel insisted today he was a scapegoat for his former bank and compared his three-year jail sentence to getting “hit on the head with a club”.

The threat of a terrorist attack on French soil is at its highest as authorities suspect al-Qaida’s North African affiliate may be plotting a conventional bomb attack on a crowded target, the director of the country’s national police said today.

A funeral for a murdered union activist turned into a demonstration by around 3,000 mourners on Guadeloupe, who demanded better treatment of the Caribbean island from France’s government.

Germany became the latest country to act over the financial meltdown, with a new rescue plan for its second biggest commercial property lender and a 100% guarantee on private bank accounts.

The head of the European Central Bank has called for European unity in responding to the global financial crisis.

Chadian President Idriss Deby said today he was “ready to pardon” six French aid workers convicted in December of trying to kidnap 103 children they said were orphans from Darfur.

Transport networks in France began returning to normal this morning, after striking workers ended a nine-day walkout protesting president Nicolas Sarkozy’s retirement reform plans.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet has called France “Europe’s No 1 spender” and said its public finances were a cause for concern.

The unrest across France was the sign of a “profound malaise” that must be met with firmness, but also fairness, President Jacques Chirac said.

PRESIDENT Jacques Chirac, intervening after six nights of rioting in suburban Paris, called yesterday for calm and said authorities will use a firm hand to curtail what may become a “dangerous situation”.

French President Jacques Chirac called for calm and a firm hand today in response to six nights of rioting in Paris’ troubled suburbs, warning of a “dangerous situation".

French prime minister Dominique de Villepin today cautioned against panic over bird flu before presiding over a meeting of key ministers on the potentially devastating virus.

President Jacques Chirac is eager to leave the military hospital where he has been confined since last week, and news about his health is “very good,” the French prime minister said today.

European negotiators today handed Iran their proposal for resolving the stand-off over the country’s nuclear program, France’s Foreign Ministry said.

The EU constitution will not be renegotiated if France rejects it in a referendum later this month and a rejection would damage member states’ economies, the president of the European Commission said today.

Yet another poll has shown the “no” vote winning in France’s May 29 referendum on the EU constitution, and the government spokesman said today that rejecting the document had become fashionable.

An explosion on the ground floor of the Indonesian embassy in Paris caused a number of injuries this morning, a French radio station reported.

Two French journalists being held hostage in Iraq could be free within hours, an unofficial mediator said today.

AN appeal by Israel’s leader for French Jews to flee for their safety prompted an outcry in France yesterday, with lawmakers and Jewish groups urging Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to mind his own business.

French police conducted a raid today in suburban Paris in search of suspects allegedly connected to a series of terrorist attacks in Morocco last year.

THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, began a visit to Rome yesterday in which he was due to meet Pope John Paul II for the first time.

As long as weapons inspectors are making progress in Iraq, France opposes a new UN Security Council resolution to pave the way for war, the French foreign minister has said.

France will formally submit its own resolution on Iraq if UN Security Council members fail to reach agreement on an American proposal, the foreign minister said today.