The deepening diplomatic spat comes as France repositions thousands of its troops who are involved in the international fight against Islamist extremism in the southern Sahara.
An independent commission investigating child sexual abuse in the French Catholic Church has made a 'minimum estimate' that up to 3,200 paedophile priests and other church members have been active since 1950, the commission's chairman has revealed ahead of the presentation on Tuesday of a 2,500-page report, based on church, court and police archives as well as witness interviews.
Flamboyant French tycoon Bernard Tapie, who made his fortune in the 1980s buying failing companies and selling them on, who became a minister and owner of football club Olympique de Marseille, before being sent to prison for match-fixing and losing his business empire, returning to riches and a corruption scandal over a 400m-euro compensation payout he received in 2008 for which he was accused of fraud, died on Sunday at the age of 78.
The DNA of a former gendarme who later joined France's national police force has matched that found in evidence from a series of murders and rapes dating back to 1986, it has been confirmed, shortly after he was found dead on Wednesday alongside a suicide note containing a confession.
A French government minister has threatened the disruption of energy supplies to the UK, as well as cross-Channel traffic, following London's decision to severely limit licenses accorded to French fishermen, adding that France would urge reprisals at an EU level, including the proposition of limiting access for UK students to the bloc's educational institutions.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has announced he will appeal his conviction for illegal election campaign financing for which he has been handed a one-year prison sentence, which he could serve under house arrest with an electronic tag, and which is his second conviction and jail sentence.
France has announced it will halve the number of visas available to Moroccans and Algerians, and reduce by a third those available to Tunisians, after accusing the three north African countries of failing to co-operate over the return of nationals who have been denied visas.
The 239 pieces of gold coins minted before the French Revolution were found by builders in the walls of a mansion they were renovating near Quimper, in Brittany, and the profit from their auction will be divided between the owners and the workmen.
French soldier Maxime Blasco, 34, previously decorated for bravery in action during France's military intervention against jihadist forces in the Sahel region of Africa, and who died in combat in Mali last Friday, was posthumously awarded the Légion d'honneur and promoted to the rank of sergeant in a ceremony in Paris led by French President Emmanuel Macron.
French government spokesman Gabriel Attal warned that Paris could seek 'retaliatory measures' through the EU amid renewed tensions over limited post-Brexit fishing rights now granted by the UK to French trawlers.
