Conservative candidate Francois Fillon faces investigation by France's financial prosecutors over jobs he gave to his wife and two of his children, pushing the case to a higher and riskier level for the man hoping to become the next president of France.

Brexit, the Donald Trump presidency and a rise in isolated terrorist attacks were some of the shocks that investors faced in 2016, writes Ryan McGrath.

Francois Fillon has won France's first-ever conservative presidential primary after promising drastic free-market reforms and a crackdown on immigration and Islamic extremism.

Alain Juppe has conceded defeat in France's first-ever conservative presidential primary, congratulating rival Francois Fillon for a "wide victory".

French conservatives are choosing their nominee for next year's vital presidential election from among two former prime ministers with deep experience in government and differing views on how to prevent more terror attacks.

I write these words from France while covering the presidential primary fight between Sarkozy, Fillon and Juppé, and am reminded of the local maxim “jamais deux sans trois” — “never two without the third”.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative party was in disarray today after a vote for its next leader produced a razor-thin result – and both candidates claimed victory.

France’s prime minister has rejected suggestions that anti-terrorism authorities fell down on the job in monitoring a radical Islamist who gunned down seven people in a wave of killings that revolted the country.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon is calling for the new EU fiscal treaty to be put to a referendum in his country, according to reports from Paris.

Prime minister Francois Fillon has warned the French that belts must tighten next year to reduce the debt.

FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government has announced tax increases on the highest earners, capital gains, alcohol, tobacco, and sugared drinks to meet deficit targets and avoid the worst of the euro debt crisis.

INTERNATIONAL leaders pledged millions of euro at a Kiev conference to complete a permanent shelter to secure the ruins of Ukraine’s exploded Chernobyl power station.

Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy’s party took a drubbing in local elections, seen as a test ahead of next year’s presidential vote, and the far-right National Front left its first footprint in France’s smallest administrative districts.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy has urged government ministers to holiday in France after his own prime minister was criticised for taking a family holiday paid for by Egypt’s government.

Nicolas Sarkozy appointed a new government in a marathon weekend reshuffle with faithful allies taking top posts clearly aimed at pleasing his conservative ranks before France’s 2012 presidential election.

FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday re-appointed Francois Fillon as prime minister and asked him to create a new government.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy today reappointed Francois Fillon as prime minister and asked him to create a new government.

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.

France will face two new rounds of nationwide protests next month against the government’s plans to raise the retirement age, union leaders said today.

FRENCH Prime Minister Francois Fillon believes the European Union needs a continent-wide plan for illegal gypsy camps and child beggars that he described as plagues of the 19th century.

The North Africa branch of al-Qaida may have executed a French hostage in the Sahara before a failed raid to free him, France’s prime minister said today.

France’s top advisory body today warned that a nationwide ban on wearing the burka could be ruled illegal.

FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy prepared yesterday to shake up his government after a humiliating defeat by the left in regional elections pressured him to recast his reform programme.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is meeting his prime minister first thing today to work out a response to their conservative party’s crushing defeat in regional elections, a vote that informally kicked off the 2012 presidential race.

PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy’s party yesterday fought to recover from a first-round beating in French regional elections that also saw the far-right National Front surge back.

President Nicolas Sarkozy suffered a national beating by voters who took their frustrations over the economic crisis to the ballot box and clearly favoured his leftist challengers in regional elections.

France’s prime minister Francois Fillon today said he will sign a decree denying nationality to a man who acknowledged forcing his French wife to wear a burka-style veil over her face.

Strikes that have crippled France’s Caribbean islands burst into violent clashes as police battled protesters angry at high prices and resentful of a tiny white elite on lands better known for beachside holidays.

The French government will back troubled bank Societe Generale against any attempted takeovers while it remains weakened by the rogue trader scandal, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said today.

Mauritanian prosecutors called the Christmas Eve murder of four French tourists a terrorist act and said security forces were hunting three suspects believed to be members of a regional al-Qaida-linked network.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy appointed reform-minded conservative Francois Fillon as his new prime minister today.

Thanks in part to an outpouring of sympathy for two French hostages in Iraq, only 101 girls are still refusing to respect a new law banning Islamic head scarves in schools, the French education minister said today.

Sikh schoolboys must exchange their turbans for a hair net when a new law banning religious clothing in France’s public schools takes effect in September.

Sikh schoolboys must exchange their turbans for a hair net when a new law banning religious apparel in France’s public schools takes effect in September.

French voters today delivered a stinging defeat to President Jacques Chirac’s government and its programme of painful economic reforms in regional elections that turned into a national vote of censure, exit polls showed.

Chipping away at the legacy of its socialist predecessor, France’s centre-right government disclosed plans today to ease rules governing the 35-hour working week.