The party of French President Emmanuel Macron has lost its outright majority in parliament, after a group of MPs broke away to form a new party.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel presented a joint plan to spur EU recovery from the coronavirus crisis on Monday, after weeks of debate over how to deploy billions of euros needed to end a painful recession.

French drugmaker Sanofi said on Thursday it would ensure a future vaccine against Covid-19 reaches all regions of the world at the same time, a day after its CEO angered the French government by saying the US would enjoy priority access.

Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi should not give the US first access to its Covid-19 vaccine, Secretary of State for Economy Agnes Pannier-Runacher has said, urging that the firm make the treatment available to all countries.

The Covid-19 outbreak found China uniquely positioned for a global soft power grab with its “mask diplomacy” supply of medical equipment. But then a drip of anti-Beijing headlines followed by an aggressive diplomatic onslaught unravelled the gains. The race for world power dominance is now up for grabs.

France said on Friday it was readying a "historic" package of multi-billion euro loans to help carmaker Renault and flag-carrier Air France through the crisis caused by the coronavirus.

Work on restoring the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris will gradually resume Monday after the coronavirus lockdown forced a halt to repairing the gothic landmark nearly destroyed by a fire one year ago, the general heading the project said Thursday.

France is pressing Apple to let its forthcoming coronavirus contract-tracing app work in the background on iPhones without building in the privacy measures the US company wants.

The assailant, understood to be a refugee from Sudan in his 30s, was arrested after the brutal attack

French law enforcers have slapped fines on tens of thousands of uncooperative citizens, less than a week after the government introduced restrictions on non-essential travel and business in an effort to combat Covid-19.

Coronavirus: France imposes 15-day lockdown, further measures expected

French President Emmanuel Macron has imposed a two-week lockdown, declaring a ‘war’ on the ‘invisible enemy’ of the coronavirus and canceling the second round of municipal elections.

France’s national competition regulator announced on Monday it has fined American tech giant Apple a record €1.1 billion ($1.23bn) for anti-competitive practices after nearly a decade of investigations.

French people should not underestimate the threat of the coronavirus since the situation in the country is already dire and likely to get worse fast, a senior health official has warned, adding that people need to stay home.

Franco-German frontier remains opened, yet border controls have been reinforced, French government has said. Earlier reports suggested that Berlin decided to shut it altogether in a bid to stop the coronavirus outbreak.

France has warned Britain to expect a bruising battle with the EU in post-Brexit trade negotiations.

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned of a looming arms race and called for new controls to limit the proliferation of conventional and nuclear weapons.

France will delay its tax on big tech firms like Google and Facebook in exchange for the United States's promise to hold off retaliatory tariffs — a potential sign of goodwill in the U.S. and European Union's increasingly tense relations over trade.

Ukraine and Russia have agreed to implement a "full and comprehensive" ceasefire in eastern Ukraine by the end of 2019, after top-level talks.

France's largest nationwide strike in years has severely disrupted schools and transport.