Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s allies are hoping that new doubts about the New York chambermaid who accused of him of sexual assault can help revive his French presidential bid.

Chad's president insisted today that his government had total control of the country, even as he said three-quarters of his officials had disappeared during weekend battles with rebels which left hundreds dead and prompted thousands to flee the capital.

Threat of a terror attack remains “real” for France, new interior minister Michele Alliot-Marie said today.

Presidential front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy said months of campaigning had made him think of France as a person, while rival Segolene Royal called herself a free woman and said election victory was within reach.

Presidential hopefuls Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal tonight urged their supporters to make a final push before voters go the polls on Sunday.

French presidential candidates Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy will face off today in their only televised debate.

FRENCH and American diplomats last night said they were getting closer to a common UN resolution for stopping the fighting in Lebanon.

French and American diplomats were getting closer to a common UN resolution for stopping the fighting in Lebanon, France’s foreign minister said today, but emphasised there was still progress to be made.

Far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen today called for a “union of patriots” to present a single candidate in 2007 French presidential elections.

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has been sidelined. President Jacques Chirac has been forced into a subtle switch of loyalties to save face. And the two leaders’ mutual rival, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, is now at centre-stage.

A POWERFUL union leader threatened France with a general strike yesterday over a contested jobs plan that sparked violent protests in Paris over the weekend.

An argument between teenage girls appeared to be behind a weekend fire in a suburban Paris housing project that killed 16 people, judicial officials said today.

The French defence minister today warned of “worrying signs” in Ivory Coast, saying rebel militias there are rebuilding and re-arming in violation of cease-fire accords.

France’s European affairs minister singled out Britain today for causing the collapse of a crucial European Union summit, saying national egos were the main obstacle to surmounting the bloc’s crisis.

A French lawyer infamous for defending terrorists and a Nazi leader today said he has been asked to defend Saddam Hussein.

Two top French ministers publicly disagreed today on whether Paris had prior knowledge of secret British and American diplomacy that prompted Libya’s pledge to renounce weapons of mass destruction.

The UN Security Council will vote on Tuesday on a British proposal to lift sanctions against Libya, though France and Tripoli are still deadlocked on how much to pay the families of 170 people killed in an 1989 airliner bombing, diplomats said.

FRENCH leaders used their traditional Bastille Day interviews yesterday to press for the return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq, saying such a move could help settle doubts over Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass murder.

On the eve of France’s presidential election, conservative incumbent Jacques Chirac urged voters to assure his landslide victory and reject the anti-foreigner views of his ultra-right opponent, Jean-Marie Le Pen.