Destructive Cyclone Chido unearths tensions between locals and migrants in France's Mayotte

MAMOUDZOU, Mayotte (AP) — Cyclone Chido not only ravaged Mayotte’s fragile infrastructure but also laid bare deep-seated tensions between the island’s residents and its large migrant population. Thousands of people who have entered the island illegally bore the brunt of the...

Gisèle Pelicot's Australian supporters are moved that their French heroine wore an Aboriginal scarf

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A group of Gisèle Pelicot’s Australian admirers said Friday they're moved that the victim in France’s notorious drugging-and-rape case has acknowledged her distant supporters Down Under by wearing a scarf adorned with Aboriginal art. The 72-year-old...

France's anti-terrorism court convicts 8 people of involvement in the 2020 beheading of a teacher

PARIS (AP) — France’s anti-terrorism court on Friday convicted eight people of involvement in the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty outside his school near Paris four years ago, a horrific death that shocked the country. Paty, 47, was killed by an Islamic extremist outside his...

France's military is being ousted from more African countries. Here's why

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — It's been a tumultuous month for France and its relationship with former colonies in Africa, as its influence on the continent faces the biggest challenge in decades. As Paris was devising a new military strategy that would sharply reduce its permanent troop...

Gisèle Pelicot thanks backers after her ex-husband and his co-defendants are convicted in rape trial

AVIGNON, France (AP) — Gisèle Pelicot spoke of her “very difficult ordeal” after 51 men were convicted Thursday in the drugging-and-rape trial that riveted France and turned her into an icon, expressing support for other victims whose cases don't get such attention and “whose stories...

Burkina Faso releases four French nationals after detaining them for a year

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso's junta-led government said Thursday that it had released four French nationals it called spies, following Morocco-mediated negotiations with France. The West African nation's information agency said in a statement that Capt. Ibrahim...

France’s highest court upholds corruption conviction of former President Nicolas Sarkozy

PARIS (AP) — France’s highest court has upheld an appeal court decision which had found former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling while he was the country's head of state. Sarkozy, 69, faces a year in prison, but is expected to ask to be...

Verdicts are due in the historic French rape trial that turned Gisèle Pelicot into a feminist hero

AVIGNON, France (AP) — French judges plan to deliver hugely anticipated verdicts on Thursday in a historic drugging-and-rape trial that has turned the victim, Gisèle Pelicot, into a feminist hero. Everything about the trial in the southern French city of Avignon has been...

Sarkozy's court defeat: a look at the legal cases involving France's former president

PARIS (AP) — France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose conviction in a corruption case was made definitive by France's highest court Wednesday, has been involved in a series of legal proceedings in recent years. Another trial is to open next month over alleged Libya...

France’s highest court upholds lower court ruling that former president Nicolas Sarkozy is guilty in corruption case