French authorities were hostageworking Saturday to free a luxury cruise yacht and its 30-member crew taken hostage by pirates off the coast of Somalia. “The defence and foreign affairs ministries are working to act as quickly as possible, I hope...

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s rightwing party is bracing for a disappointing weekend in the final round of local polls expected largely to favour the left-wing oppostion. A look ahead to the consequences of Sunday’s election, which could see the...