French President Nicolas Sarkozy is taking legal action against Ryanair for using a picture of him and girlfriend Carla Bruni in an advert.

France's Interior Ministry today defended a new law that makes it illegal for anyone other than professional journalists to film and distribute images of real-world violence.

France’s storm of rioting lost strength today with a drop of nearly half in the number of car burnings, police said. But looters and vandals still defied a state of emergency with attacks on stores, a newspaper warehouse and a subway station.