After already spending time in jail on embezzlement allegations, former French Polynesia president Gaston Flosse, an ally of former French president Jacques Chirac, was again placed in provisional detention on Wednesday on fresh corruption charges.
French Senator Gaston Flosse, whose parliamentary immunity was partially lifted just six days ago, has been questioned and detained in a Tahiti jail. The long-time leader of French Polynesia faces accusations of embezzling some 1.5 million euros.
Police have searched the home and headquarters of French Polynesian political leader Gaston Flosse. Flosse was also questioned in Paris by financial investigators over an alleged embezzlement of some 1.5 million euros.
A Paris court of appeal has decided not to award reparations to the families of 12 former soldiers who suffered from health problems linked to nuclear tests conducted by France on Algerian soil in the 1960s.
In the 36 years that followed the 1960 explosion of the "Gerboise bleue" deep in the Sahara desert, France carried out a total of 210 nuclear tests in its former territory of Algeria and in the Pacific Ocean.
After decades of denial, the French government has announced a compensation scheme for victims of nuclear tests carried out by France in Algeria in the 1960s and in French Polynesia over more than three decades.
The pro-independence speaker of French Polynesia's assembly, Oscar Temaru (pictured), was re-elected president on Thursday for the fourth time since 2004, becoming the South Pacific archipelago's ninth president in just five years.
Gaston Flosse narrowly secured re-election as president of French Polynesia on Saturday, after a spate of last-minute political manoeuverings that saw his primary rival bow out of the race.