PARIS (Reuters) – France urged pro-Palestinian activists, who plan to visit Bethlehem this month in solidarity for residents of the occupied West Bank, to avoid joining the operation given there was a high risk of being detained or turned back by Israeli authorities.

About 1,200 Palestinian supporters throughout Europe have bought plane tickets for the visit on April 15 to help open an international school and a museum at the request of a local organization called “Welcome to Palestine”.

PARIS (Reuters) – Jean-Luc Melenchon, the fiery leftist whose anti-capitalist agenda has shaken up France’s presidential race, has gained four points in two weeks in the polls, a result that would see him seize third place in the first-round vote.

A poll for LH2/Yahoo published on Sunday showed that his more mainstream Socialist rival Francois Hollande would still win the first-round vote on April 22 with 28.5 percent.

PARIS (Reuters) – Lawyers for disgraced former IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Tuesday he was being hounded for his “libertine ways” and that they would challenge a judicial inquiry where he is suspected of participating in pimping in France.

Strauss-Kahn’s French lawyers hit back after an overnight announcement that he had been formally put under investigation in a prostitution scandal in the northern city of Lille, on counts that could expose their client to up to 20 years in jail.

PARIS (Reuters) – “Everyone is shocked. It’s horrible,” said a young man selling honey cakes in Paris’ Marais Jewish quarter which on Tuesday mourned three children and a rabbi killed in Toulouse.

“There are no words.”

The shooting by a lone gunman on Monday revived painful memories of a 1982 grenade and gun attack on the Goldenberg Jewish restaurant in the Marais that killed six people.

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s Socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande, the favorite to win the April-May election, is under fresh pressure to court the far left after a radical rival managed to organize the biggest rally of the campaign so far.

Hollande, who polls show should soundly beat incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy in the election’s second round runoff, finds himself in the awkward position of being upstaged – at least temporarily – by Jean-Luc Melenchon, a firebrand leftist who heads a group of radical left parties, including Communists.

PARIS (Reuters) – Stella McCartney sent models down the runway in sporty but sophisticated school girl outfits on Monday, as cutesy collars and flouncy skirts found an anchor in classic English tailoring and rich country tweeds.

The British designer presented a winter ready-to-wear collection that was young, fun, feminine and light in the spectacular grand ballroom of the Hotel de Ville, Paris’ city hall, with its soaring painted ceiling, imposing arches and ornate chandeliers.

PARIS, March 2 (Reuters) – Fashionistas celebrated
designer Alber Elbaz’s 10th anniversary as the creative force
behind Lanvin on Friday night under a huge crystal chandelier at
the foot of a runway after a fashion show saturated with colour,
flair and glamour.

Elbaz, never without his signature bow tie, serenaded guests
after the show with a rendition of “Que sera, sera,” – after
warning them that his talents lay more in fashion than music.

PARIS (Reuters) – Christian Dior presented a toned-down version of elegance for autumn/winter on Friday, as the atelier’s signature silhouette of full skirts and cinched waists took on a ballet-like flair.

Neutral tones of champagne and dusty pink, along with warmer aubergine and rich charcoal, dominated a collection which was high on femininity and was classic Dior.

PARIS, Feb 28 (Reuters) – A warmer reception for
Nicolas Sarkozy at this year’s Paris farm show – where
politicians traipse through the straw to steer support their way
- suggests the French president’s push to reclaim rural voters
is making headway.

The presidential race has been in full swing since Sarkozy
declared his candidacy in mid-February and began campaigning
hard to overturn Socialist challenger Francois Hollande’s clear
lead in opinion polls.

PARIS (Reuters) – France was awash in Oscar celebrations on Monday after “The Artist” won five Academy Awards including the first Best Actor win for a Frenchman, unleashing a wave of national pride.

Television stations played The Artist star Jean Dujardin’s acceptance speech over and over — his Hollywood victory came too late to make the front pages — and politicians on the campaign trail sought to capitalize on the excitement.