Take a walk with Dominique de Villepin, during the latter part of his term as France's Prime Minister, through Marseilles in the south of France.

During the 2006 World Cup, and despite criticism from several right-wing politicians, footballers Lilian Thuram and Patrick Vieira invited eighty former squatters from Cachan to see the France-Italy match.

Birds aren't the only ones who might feel their lifestyle's been a bit restricted lately. France’s rural cats enjoy a good hunt. But the avian flu has put the lid on sporting felines living in affected areas.

Five of the nine districts of Lyon, the second largest French city, are being monitored for the H5N1 virus, better known as “Bird Flu”.

Young Tunisians take to the streets on May 1 to voice their discontent about Sarkozy's inflexible stance on refugee resettlement, which many see as racist.

Interviewees on the streets of Paris protest the banning of the burqa in public places in France and offer their perspectives on this controversial issue.

Two students from Gabon were expelled from a French University and deported back to their home country for having low grades in school. One was even forced to leave behind his wife and young daughter (a French citizen). The government of Gabon is not pleased and may take measures to retaliate in kind.

The largest Arabic TV network, Al Jazeera has been making its own headlines since 2001, for the depth and breadth of its coverage. This report from 2006 details the network’s evolution. Since then, Al Jazeera’s voice in international broadcasting has only become stronger.

Sakado (a play on sac à dos, “backpack”) is an organization that helps the homeless of France by collecting backpacks filled with all of life’s essentials, from hygienic products to books. As this article reports, homelessness is one of France’s biggest domestic problems.

In the wake of a deadly terrorist attack on a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt on New Year’s Day, many Coptic Christians are worried about celebrating Christmas (observed on January 6) as openly as they would like. Here is how a gorgeous Coptic church in Marseille is handling the situation.

Talk about service: a hospital in Nantes has devoted an entire department to making sure deaf patients receive the same medical attention as everyone else. Of course, all of its medical workers are fully proficient in French Sign Language. Did you know that most languages of the world also have their own sign language?

A blade fell off a wind turbine, causing a bit of alarm amongst nearby residents. Perhaps it’s time for an upgrade?

Héla Fattoumi, originally from Tunis, has taken her feelings on the full-body veil to the stage, in her dance performance piece “Manta.”

These brief interviews on the streets of Lille were conducted in order to test the waters of the tricky dispute over the banning of burqa-wearing in public.

Arlette Grosskost, UMP (Union for a Popular Movement) representative and member of the Parliamentary task force on the burqa in France, advocates a law aiming to ban the wearing of the full-body veil in public. What’s your take on this controversial issue? Is it a question of women’s rights? Of religious freedom? Are arguments against the burqa perhaps another type of veil—to cover up underlying racism?