French police arrested four people Monday over a package bomb explosion in the heart of the southeastern city of Lyon last week which injured 13 people, authorities said.

Christophe Chalencon, a blacksmith with right-wing views, is on the campaign trail around France seeking to turn his fame as a "yellow vest" protester into a seat in the European parliament. And it's no easy task. 

A Saudi cargo ship that had been expected to pick up a hugely controversial shipment of French arms from France's Le Havre will not dock there, a port source said Friday. 

With the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle at the centre, France and India on Friday stepped up their biggest naval exercises as the Indian Ocean's strategic shipping lanes draw ever more envious eyes.

France opposes "repeated extensions" for Britain's exit from the European Union, a presidential official said Friday, keeping to the hard line of Paris on Brexit.

Riot police clashed with anti-capitalist protesters in Paris on Wednesday, firing tear gas to disperse them as thousands gathered for a May Day march in the city's south.

In a tense atmosphere, hundreds of so-called "black bloc" activists pushed to the front of the gathering crowd on Montparnasse Boulevard, hurling bottles and other projectiles at police in a confrontation some 90 minutes before the march was to start.

Three adults and a teenager have been arrested over a planned attack on the security forces in the coming days, prosecutors said Monday, which a minister described as "extremely violent". 

France's finance minister promised Friday that a new round of tax cuts announced by President Emmanuel Macron will benefit low-earners and would not bust the budget because spending cuts will be found.

Speaking Thursday evening, Macron promised further income tax cuts worth 5.0 billion euros ($5.5 billion) as he responded to five months of protests over living standards by anti-government "yellow vest" demonstrators.

French President Emmanuel Macron will unveil his long-awaited response to nearly six months of humiliating street protests Thursday as he lays out reform plans that could prove decisive for his political future.

Macron swept to power in 2017 on hopes he would be a youthful breath of fresh air for France.

French President Emmanuel Macron will on Thursday reveal his long-awaited response to almost half a year of street protests in a reform plan that could prove decisive for his presidency and long-term political future.