Protesters clashed with police in southern France on Saturday over the death of a young activist killed by a police grenade, in the latest of a series of demonstrations which have embarrassed the Socialist government.
Thomas Middelhoff, once one of Germany's most prominent and respected business leaders, was convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion by a state court on Friday and immediately taken to jail to start a three-year sentence.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who suffered a stroke last year, was hospitalised in the Alpine city of Grenoble in France on Thursday, French police and government sources said.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Friday that France would not be dictated to after an unidentified Russian official was quoted as giving Paris two weeks to deliver the first of two Mistral helicopter carriers or face possible compensation claims.
