Prosecutors have launched an investigation into claims of illegal campaign funding for French President Nicolas Sarkozy.The move follows allegations by a former accountant for France’s richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt. Read the full story

French public debt has soared to 80.3 percent of its gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2010, invoking the specter of a Greek-style financial breakdown. Read the full story

President Nicolas Sarkozy will attempt on Monday to convince some 40 African government leaders gathered at a summit in Nice that France has cleaned up its relationship with the African continent, after years of dodgy dealings with its ex-colonies. Read the full story

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni are in China on a visit aimed at smoothing bilateral relations. They visited the life-size terracotta warriors at the tomb of China’s first emperor in the western city of Xian before heading on to Beijing. Read the full story

Belgium lawmakers are due to debate legislation that would ban full-face Islamic veils in public. If, as expected, they approve the draft law, Belgium would become the first European country to ban the wearing of the burka or niqab in public places. Read the full story

THE former French cabinet minister Rachida Dati has had her government security team withdrawn after being blamed for spreading rumours about the state of Nicolas Sarkozy’s marriage. Read the full story

French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ruling center-right bloc has suffered a comprehensive defeat in regional elections that comes as the last major national test before the country’s 2012 presidential vote. Read the full story

They always seemed a rather mismatched couple. Read the full story

The widow of former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, whose assassination triggered the Rwandan genocide, has been arrested in France. Read the full story

China has called for more negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program after Russia suggested it may consider new sanctions against Tehran. Read the full story

Nicolas Sarkozy’s immigrant grandparents came close to being deported from France because they did not have university educations, it emerged today. Read the full story

Prosecutors in France say they will appeal against the acquittal of ex-PM Dominique de Villepin for smearing his one-time rival Nicolas Sarkozy. Read the full story

Former French PM Dominique de Villepin has been cleared of plotting to discredit the then interior minister and now President, Nicolas Sarkozy. He had been accused of failing to stop the Clearstream corruption inquiry into Mr Sarkozy, despite knowing the claims against his rival were false. Read the full story

Germany has pledged an extra 500 troops to the conflict in Afghanistan – hours after French president Nicolas Sarkozy said he would send no more soldiers. Read the full story

French President Nicolas Sarkozy assessed that Israel “would not stand by while Iran develops nuclear weapons,” Al Hayat quoted sources close to the French leader on Saturday. Read the full story