Former Labour Minister Eric Woerth was placed under formal investigation Thursday for his involvement in a complicated campaign finance scandal that comes inauspiciously close to the expected re-election bid of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
French judges on Wednesday filed preliminary charges against former Labour Minister Eric Woerth for "passive influence peddling" in a scandal linked to the management of the fortune of France's richest woman Liliane Bettencourt.
Syria is still in the spotlight - we look at what Sergei Lavrov might be saying to Bashar al-Assad later, and Asma al-Assad's first appearance in the international press for 11 months. There's also reaction to the agreement on a unity government between Fatah and Hamas.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani defended himself Thursday against contempt of court charges involving his alleged refusal to reopen corruption probes into the country's president, who the ruling party says is immune from prosecution.
Remains exhumed this month in the Ivory Coast do not belong to a missing French-Canadian journalist, a family lawyer said Thursday. Guy-André Kieffer was investigating corruption in the cocoa industry when he disappeared in Abidjan in 2004.
The medical charity Global Fund is denying allegations it awarded sizeable contracts without tender to a friend of French First Lady Carla Bruni (pictured), who is a Global Fund ambassador. The charges appeared in French weekly Marianne.
Libération, L'Humanité and Les Echos target President Nicolas Sarkozy, pointing to corruption scandals, failed economic policies and political gambles. Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui-en-France, in contrast, encourages its readers to "Say Non to the crisis". That's the focus for this look at the French papers, Monday 2nd January 2012.
Is China's social stability cracking at the seams? The recent spate of strikes and tense standoffs between low-income farmers and local authorities may be a sign that the People's Republic is struggling to maintain an image of social harmony. In the southern fishing village of Wukan more than 10,000 residents claim land has been seized illegally and then sold by the local government to developers for the past decade. Our reporters Baptiste Fallevoz and Jack Zhang went to find out more.
We take a look back at the life of one of Europe's most respected poets, philosophers and politicians, Vaclav Havel, who has died aged 75. We then meet the new - rapping - frontman for Austria's far right. Heinz-Christian Strache has led his party to a resurgence in popularity. Finally, find out why the Spanish king's son in law has been suspended from his duties.
