President Nicolas Sarkozy dismissed his labour minister and reshuffled several other Cabinet posts today after a heavy defeat for his conservatives in France’s regional elections – a loss which exposed his inability to convince the public on his economic reforms.

FORMER French prime minister Dominique de Villepin yesterday accused president Nicholas Sarkozy of conducting a vendetta against him.

Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin today accused president Nicholas Sarkozy of conducting a vendetta against him.

Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin was today cleared of being involved in a smear campaign against President Nicolas Sarkozy when he stood for election.

JACQUES CHIRAC will be the first former French president to be tried for corruption, officials said yesterday, after charges from his years as mayor of Paris returned to taint the twilight of his long career.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he is confident the justice system will make the right call in a case involving allegations of a smear campaign against him.

FORMER prime minister Dominique de Villepin lashed out at French president Nicolas Sarkozy at the start of a slander trial involving alleged dirty tricks by top politicians and businessmen.

A former French leader has taken the stand to defend himself in a high-profile trial that accuses him of helping perpetuate a smear campaign targeting his long-time rival, president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin has been charged for his suspected role in a smear campaign against Nicolas Sarkozy.

Investigating judges expect to file preliminary charges against former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin over an alleged smear scandal targeting President Nicolas Sarkozy, Villepin’s office said today.

Prime minister Dominique de Villepin has ordered tougher security measures to protect French citizens abroad from the threat of terrorism.

An Airbus restructuring strategy includes 10,000 job cuts, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said today.

French prime minister Dominique de Villepin today ordered stricter measures to ward off bird flu.

French prime minister Dominique de Villepin today wrapped up a gruelling 17-hour-long grilling by judges investigating a suspected smear campaign against presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy.

Judges were today questioning the French prime minister over his role in a suspected scheme to smear presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy and other French personalities.

European intelligence and security chiefs are said to be on “tenterhooks” over the “extremely high” threat of a Christmas terror attack by Islamic militants.

Rescue workers worked through the night to free bodies from the crumpled wreckage of a passenger train that collided head-on with a freight train near France’s north-eastern border with Luxembourg, killing at least five people.

France’s prime minister Dominique de Villepin has announced a ban on smoking in public places.

Diplomatic efforts to end Israeli-Hezbollah fighting gained traction today, with Israeli officials saying the country would agree to halt fighting if its two captured soldiers were returned and Islamic guerrillas withdrew from the border.

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin today survived a no-confidence vote sparked by accusations of a dirty-tricks campaign that have engulfed his government.

Prime minister Dominique de Villepin today faced a no-confidence vote filed by opposition politicians who contend that a dirty tricks scandal dominating French political life for weeks has discredited the government.

Calls of back-stabbing and betrayal further soured the political atmosphere of France, already heavy with dirty tricks allegations, after the centrist leader’s decision to vote for a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.

French President Jacques Chirac yesterday broke his silence to denounce a “dictatorship of rumours” at the heart of a political scandal tarnishing his government, and he rebuffed calls to sack his prime minister.

French prime minister Dominique de Villepin today said the name of his chief rival, interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, was never mentioned at a critical 2004 meeting at the centre of a scandal that has thrown the government into crisis.

French prime minister Dominique de Villepin today said that military action was not the solution to the international stand-off over Iran’s nuclear programme.

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin defended himself today against new allegations that he was deeply involved in a scheme to undermine his chief political rival.

French prime minister Dominique de Villepin today said he would not resign, despite a growing political scandal.

FRENCH Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is facing a fresh battle to keep his job following accusations that he contributed to a smear campaign against his chief rival for the presidency, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

More than 5,000 people marched through Paris yesterday to protest a tough immigration bill that critics say will favour only skilled immigrants.

A scandal that has shaken France’s political elite has gained momentum with a report quoting a former secret agent alleging that Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin asked for an investigation into his chief political rival.

By surrendering to the street, French President Jacques Chirac is all but acknowledging that his government is powerless to push through even a minor labour reform that many call a necessary first step toward ensuring that France thrives in today’s global economy.

President Jacques Chirac, juggling the demands of outraged students, frustrated MPs and his loyal premier, must make a key decision today on how to handle a controversial youth employment law to pull France out of crisis.

Some 2,000 angry students massed on railway tracks in Paris today, stopping international train traffic in a new push to force a contested youth labour law off the books.

Protesting students shut down Eurostar trains to the UK and blocked a convoy of parts for the crown jewel of European aviation, Airbus’ A380, to put more pressure on France’s embattled government to repeal a new labour law.

France’s biggest trade unions set a 10-day deadline today for the government to revoke a divisive jobs law, threatening more protests and strikes that have spiralled into a national crisis.

Demonstrators blocked off a French wholesale market and two mail sorting centres in small, scattered protests today that followed a day of massive marches against a youth jobs plan.

DEMONSTRATORS opposed to a new jobs law swarmed parts of downtown Paris last night throwing stones, tearing down street signs and ripping up park benches.

French protesters are aiming to rally at least a million people for nationwide marches and strikes today against an employment law that has plunged the country into crisis.

French protesters, declaring themselves on the brink of victory, hoped today to rally at least a million people for nationwide marches and strikes against a law – aimed at stemming joblessness – that has plunged the country into crisis.

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.

FRENCH Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has conceded he made errors in his management of a hotly contested youth labour law that sent one million protesting students and union members into the streets.

President Jacques Chirac sought to defuse one of the biggest crises of his 11-year presidency by offering to soften a new type of job contract that has sparked furious protests because it would make firings easier.

France’s Constitutional Council was today expected to rule on whether to strike down the government’s new job contract for youths, which has prompted massive protests.

French unions and students yesterday ordered a fresh round of strikes and demonstrations to pressure President Jacques Chirac to reject a new type of job contract, adding momentum to their swelling nationwide movement against the measure.