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The French government is aiming to place one of its nationals as EU Commission president after incumbent Jean-Claude Junker leaves the post this year, in preference to competing for the presidency of the European Central Bank, also due for a new head, according to informed sources cited by news agency Reuters.

Hundreds of fairground workers in Le Mans in north-west France, , some carrying baseball bats and shields, mounted a violent attack on the mayor's offices on Monday after he banned their business from operating in the town centre.  

China's president Xi Jinping arrived in France on Sunday for a three-day visit that began on the Riviera and a visit to the tiny prinicpality of Monaco, before meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron ahead of bialteral trade talks Monday, and further discussions on Tuesday in Paris with Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

While the 19th nationwide day of action on Saturday by France's so-called 'yellow vest' anti-government protest movement passed off largely without violence, a 73-year-old woman taking part in a banned rally in the south-east city of Nice received life-threatening head wounds in a charge by riot police.

A major political controversy has erupted over a government decision to use French troops, normally deployed on streets in anti-terrorism patrols, to defend official buildings and free-up police numbers during anti-government 'yellow vest' protests this weekend, amid tensions  heightened by a ban on demonstrations in certain towns and cities.

French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking on Friday on the sidelines of a European Union summit in Brussels, said 'the European project must not remain a prisoner to Brexit', after Britain was granted a delay until April 12th to finalise its exit from the European bloc. 

The French port city of Marseille which has diverse, low-income, working-class districts in its centre, is facing its biggest crisis in decades as residents fear historical buildings that have turned to slums could crumble and fall, the increasing fears prompted by the deaths of eight people in November when two buildings collapsed near the picturesque old port.

Israeli police interrupted an event at an official French cultural centre in Jerusalem on Thursday, claiming it intended to host an event organized with a women’s association 'sponsored or financed by the Palestinian Authority' and 'without authorization'.

In one of the sharpest confrontations in years between France’s powerful executive and its parliament, the Senate announced on Thursday it had referred Macron’s top aide Alexis Kohler, his chief of staff Patrick Strzoda and Lionel Lavergne, the Elysée’s top security official, to prosecutors for withholding information from an investigation into Macron’s former bodyguard Alexandre Benalla.

French customs officers are into their third week of work-to-rule action in protest at working conditions, prompted by what they say is lack of preparation for a no-deal Brexit, performing longer and more rigorous checks than usual of cross-Channel traffic, notably Eurostar services and sea ports, which are causing huge delays for passengers.