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French defence minister Florence Parly has announced an operation led by French forces this week killed Abdelmalek Droukdel, leader of al-Qaeda in North Africa, and that last month a senior Islamic State group commander in Mali had also been captured.

Immunologist Jean-François Delfraissy, head of the French government's scientific advisory council, on Friday pronounced that 'we can reasonably say' the Covid-19 virus epidemic was now 'under control' in the country.

Stocks of French wine unsold due to the consequences of the Covis-19 virus lockdown are to be sent to distilleries to make hand sanitizer liquid in a scheme to make room for the produce of the 2020 grape harvest and which is funded by the EU.

Protests around France continued on Thursday over alleged racist violence by police, prompted by a campaign by the family of Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old man of Malian origin, for a full investigation into his death in police custody allegedly from asphyxiation, and the outrage over the death in the US of George Floyd, 46, an Afro-American who was suffocated by a police officer during his arrest in Minneapolis.   

France recorded 44 new deaths of patients hospitalised for Covid-19 virus infection over the 24 hours to Thursday evening, bringing the total number of recorded fatalities since March 1st to 29,065, while the numbers of all those hospitalised for the disease fell for the seventh week in a row, including a further slight fall among those intensive care units, although the latest toll among care homes will not next be announced until June 9th. 

The French government has announced that the yearly Bastille Day grand military parade through central Paris, a tradition since WW1, is cancelled because of the Covid-19 virus pandemic and the associated requirements for social distancing, but will include the traditional flypast which this year will pay tribute to medical personnel.

Staff unions in France representing flight crews and cabin staff working for budget airline Ryanair have accused the Irish company of behaving as if it was in the 'Far West' after it announced it was imposing 20% salary cuts for flight crew and 10% for attendants to weather the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 virus pandemic.

The official toll of deaths in France from the Covid-19 virus rose to more than 29,000 on Wednesday, when a rise in confirmed cases of infection was also recorded.

French digital affairs minister Cédric O claimed on Wednesday that the launch of a contact-tracing app that warns users if they have come into contact with a person who has tested positive for the Covid-19 virus got off to a 'very, very good start' after it was downloaded around 600,000 times since becoming available the previous afternoon.

The French government's spokeswoman called for calm on Wednesday after violent scenes at a demonstration by around 20,000 people on Tuesday evening against what they claim is a cover-up over the 2016 death of Adama Traoré, 24, who suffocated while he was pinned down by gendarmes during his arrest in July 2016, a case which the protesters likened to the killing in the US of George Floyd.