FRANCE has scuppered hopes of an immediate cut in bailout interest rates after the row over Irish corporation tax levels re-ignited.

France’s unemployment rate jumped to 10%, the highest in a decade a figure likely to influence voters ahead of regional elections, figures released today showed.

French union members protested throughout the country today at the government's latest effort to encourage people to work more than the standard 35-hour week.

Civil servants, from teachers to postal workers, began a mass walkout across France today, the seventh day of a transport strike that has caused havoc on French rails.

France’s new government was holding its first Cabinet meeting today, taking up a first batch of planned reforms, as President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed to move fast on changes now that a new government is in place.