Artists around the world respond to the Charlie Hebdo shooting as #JeSuisCharlie sweeps Twitter.

Masked gunmen shouting "Allahu akbar!" stormed the Paris offices of a satirical newspaper overnight, killing 12 people, including the paper's editor, before escaping in a getaway car.

Despite receiving numerous threats over cartoons of Muhammed, France's foremost satirical magazine never shied from attacking Islamic extremism.

Airbus has rushed two specialists to Jakarta to assist in the investigation of the disappeared A320 airliner operated by AirAsia, the budget carrier that rose from almost nothing in 2001 to be its biggest customer.

A French mayor has been accused of a shameful lack of Christmas spirit after banishing homeless people from the city centre by putting cages over public benches.

French police have shot dead a man who attacked them with a knife in a police station while shouting "Allahu Akbar", a source says.

In French rugby, different rules apply. Dan Carter got a taste of what life will be like at Racing Metro when he played five matches for Perpignan in 2009...

He has signed what's understood to be the richest contract in rugby, but Dan Carter says his decision to join Paris club Racing Metro 92 wasn't all about money.

The southern French city of Marseille has been forced to scrap a system of yellow triangles intended to help spot homeless people after it was accused of employing Nazi-style tactics.

Former President Nicolas Sarkozy seems set to clear the first obstacle in a once-improbable bid to return to France's highest office this weekend when he secures the leadership of the conservative UMP party.

Two military heroes - former spy Pippa Doyle and Willie Apiata - rubbed shoulders last night as France bestowed its highest honour on the 93-year-old Mrs Doyle.

She parachuted behind enemy lines, evading the Nazis to to spy on their troop movements. Now a quiet Aucklander is to receive France's highest honour.

PK Stowers travels to France's Loire Valley and discovers its historic chateaux.

Named after the country's longest river, the Loire Valley is referred to as the 'cradle of the French language' because of its rich history of human habitation going back thousands of years. It's also renowned for its magnificent chateaux, from mediaeval fortresses to renaissance palaces, all within a relatively short distance of each other.

The Wallabies are bracing for a backlash from a new-look French team as they look to extend their winning start under the coaching of former Parisian Michael Cheika.

An agent who evaded the Nazis to send coded messages to Britain is to be honoured by France. Andrew Stone writes about a modest war hero who lives quietly in Auckland.

A British woman died in France after her doctor was reported to have been drunk and to have botched her care during childbirth.

Danielle Murray saddles up for a family trip cycling the canalways and forested paths of southern France.

Toulouse-Lautrec painted its leggy showgirls, Edward VII quaffed champagne there and Nicole Kidman starred in a film about the Moulin Rouge.

He's the bad boy of French cinema. But just how bad has become apparent with the publication of Gerard Depardieu's new autobiography and its shocking revelations.

France is on the verge of introducing some of the most stringent anti-smoking legislation in the world, following Australia's lead - and it could work.

Airbus Group predicted airlines will buy planes worth $4.6 trillion at list prices over the next 20 years.

Thirty years ago, the Louvre Museum was the Queen Mum of the art world, a genteel, rather fusty storehouse everyone knew was wonderful but few felt compelled to visit.

A family OE in Europe was an eye-opener for Caitlin Wright.

Francois Hollande is a cold, cynical cheat, and a Socialist who "doesn't like the poor", according to a devastating memoir written by a vengeful Valerie Trierweiler.