Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat will travel to the French capital, Paris, on Sunday to carry out necessary medical checkups.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Saturday, Jumblat is suffering from back pain that require immediate treatment.

A French court on Friday convicted 26 members of three Croatian Roma families of forcing children to carry out more than 100 robberies in European countries.

The court in the eastern city of Nancy convicted all but one of the 27 accused, sentencing them to between two and eight years in prison.

About 10 Islamist rebels were killed in fighting involving French special forces in northern Mali earlier this month, the defense ministry said on Thursday.

The battle, which took place north of Timbuktu on October 1, was some of the heaviest fighting since a French military intervention dislodged rebel forces in control of northern Mali early this year.

A French MP has sparked outrage and accusations that politics is rife with sexism after he mocked a female colleague by clucking like a chicken in parliament.

France's government spokeswoman blamed the incident on "boozy dinners" among lawmakers while the culture minister said it reflected a deep-rooted culture of sexism in French politics.

France said Wednesday that reporter Nicolas Henin and photographer Pierre Torres had been abducted in Syria, bringing to at least four the number of its nationals held in the conflict-wracked country.

Henin, 37, and Torres, 29, were captured on June 22 while working in the northern city of Raqqa, according to their families.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Monday that his country and Saudi Arabia agree on the need to strengthen the Syrian opposition and rebel forces.

"Our approach to the situation is identical," Le Drian told reporters in Jeddah, following talks with Saudi officials, including King Abdullah.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian held talks on Monday with Saudi officials focused on cooperation in defense and armaments, SPA state news agency said.

Le Drian discussed with his counterpart, Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, who is also the crown prince, "ways to strengthen bilateral relations," SPA said.

Lebanese doctor Gabriel Gharib has been chosen as the best cardiologist in France, the state-run National News Agency announced on Saturday.

“Gharib was chosen as the best cardiologist among 200,000 doctors in the country,” French magazine Capital revealed in its October 2013 issue after conducting a thorough investigation.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called Saturday for a meeting of European countries on border management after the tragic shipwreck off Italy in which hundreds are feared dead.

"Beyond the tragedy... European political officials must talk, and soon," Ayrault said on the sidelines of a meeting in the eastern French city of Metz, adding: "It is up to them to meet to find a proper solution; compassion is not enough."

France on Friday renewed a call for the five main U.N. Security Council powers to suspend their right to veto any resolution when a "mass crime" is committed.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he was renewing the campaign because of the council's two year deadlock over the Syria war -- during which Russia has vetoed three resolutions.