French far-right politician Éric Zemmour said on Friday that he would run in next year's presidential election, joining far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who was runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in the last two elections. Zemmour is campaigning on a crackdown on immigration, including a plan to expel unemployed foreigners even if they are legal residents. 

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Thursday that France will cut public spending by €54 billion next year to reduce the country's deficit. The announcement comes seven months ahead of the country's presidential election, and the government is wary of a new wave of demonstrations with a jump in global oil prices sparking concerns over the rising cost of living. 

Staff at public broadcaster Radio France began a two-day strike on Sunday over the appointment of Charles Sapin, deputy editor-in-chief at far-right weekly Valeurs Actuelles. Unions accuse Sapin of promoting far-right ideas ahead of next spring's presidential election, while management has defended the appointment in the name of pluralism.

The French UN mission said it regretted an online post criticising a US vote at the UN General Assembly in a move that should clear the way for the new French ambassador Aurélien Lechevallier to take up his post in Washington.

Kemi Seba, a controversial African activist known for his virulent anti-Western stance, has been arrested in Paris, a source close to the case told AFP Tuesday.

Our guest is Fabien Truong, a sociologist, author and associate professor at the University of Paris. A former schoolteacher, he spent a decade following the lives of around 20 of his students, charting their progress from the time they took their end of school exams to when they finished their higher education. Those 10 years took in the riots that rocked France back in 2005 to the terror attacks of January 2015. He gives us his take on the French presidential election campaign, as seen from the suburbs.

Christian Boltanski, one of France's top contemporary artists whose multimedia works probed the meaning of mortality and memory, has died aged 76, a former museum director told AFP on Sunday.

While the extension of France’s health pass and other new anti-Covid 19 measures announced by President Emmanuel Macron Monday night are yet to be hammered out in detail, what’s certain is that a full-throttled return to a normal life of frequenting café terraces, restaurants, cinemas, theatres and other culture and leisure activities will now hinge on having a pass sanitaire (or health pass).

France's new military programming law increases the country's defence budget to 2 percent of GDP by 2025. It's an investment in the modernisation of equipment, but also in the training of soldiers. The aim is to teach soldiers to face an army at least as well equipped as that of France in a context of global rearmament. Our reporters Fadile Bhayat, Mandi Heshmati and Caroline Grandjean followed French troops during a "high-intensity" training exercise.

A long-running family feud between Asterix co-creator Albert Uderzo and his daughter took a new twist on Tuesday after judges dismissed a claim by Sylvie Uderzo that her father was mentally frail and being exploited.