Chirac set to stand trial

FORMER French President Jacques Chirac is to stand trial next March in a party financing scandal – and become the first leader of modern-day France to face a court.

Chirac, now 77, is charged with embezzlement and breach of trust in a case that dates to his time as mayor of Paris City Hall, from 1977 to 1995.

The trial will be held between March 7 and April 8.