French President Francois Hollande on Monday "formally confirmed" the death of French hostage Philippe Verdon at the hands of his al-Qaida captors in Mali.

"The death of our compatriot Mr Philippe Verdon is formally confirmed," Hollande said in a statement. "The remains will be transferred to our country as soon as possible and the autopsy will reveal the causes of his death."

Several dozen Greenpeace campaigners snuck into a nuclear plant in southern France at dawn on Monday, in the latest such break-in by the environmental group.

The activists managed to enter the grounds of the Tricastin plant, some 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Marseille, at around 5:00 am (0300 GMT), Greenpeace and police said.

President Francois Hollande vowed Sunday to fight French "pessimism" in the face of a struggling economy, and acknowledged that the country's rail network needed better maintenance, after a deadly derailment.

In an interview with leading television channels to mark Bastille Day, Hollande insisted the recovery had already started. France entered recession this year and has a record-high 3.26 million unemployed.

President Francois Hollande vowed Sunday to fight France's deep-rooted "pessimism" in the face of a struggling economy, while admitting the country's rail network should be better maintained after a deadly derailment.

In an interview with leading television channels to mark Bastille Day, Hollande insisted that recovery had already started in the French economy, which entered a recession this year and has record-high unemployment.

Two French journalists kidnapped shortly after arriving in Syria in June are alive and Paris is working for their release, the defense minister said on Sunday.

Didier Francois, 53, a seasoned reporter in troublespots with Europe 1 radio, and 22-year-old photographer Edouard Elias were taken hostage after being stopped at a checkpoint on the road to Aleppo.

French police have arrested a former Rwandan colonel wanted for his alleged role in the east African nation's 1994 genocide, his lawyer said Saturday.

Laurent Serubuga, around 75 years old, was apprehended near the northern French city of Cambrai on Thursday under an international arrest warrant issued by Rwanda, lawyer Thierry Massis said.

A train derailment near Paris that killed six people was caused by a fault in the tracks, France's state rail company said on Saturday, as the transport minister urged upgrades to aging regional lines.

The SNCF said the derailment on Friday, which also left dozens injured, was caused by a connecting bar that had come loose at a rail switch at the station at Bretigny-sur-Orge, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Paris.

Rescue workers searched for survivors early Saturday, hours after a high-speed train derailed just south of Paris, killing at least six people and injuring 30 more.

The accident, in which the train crashed into a station platform on Friday afternoon, is France's worst rail disaster in 25 years.

At least seven people were dead and dozens injured on Friday after a speeding train split in two and derailed at a station in the southern suburbs of Paris, officials said.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls gave the initial toll of seven dead and said there also were "dozens of injured" following the accident at the Bretigny-sur-Orge station involving a train heading from Paris to the west-central city of Limoges.

Spanish police said Thursday they had smashed an international cocaine ring in a two-year operation with other forces that led to the arrests of 74 people in Spain, Brazil and Colombia.

Police seized 575 kilograms (1,270 pounds) of the drug and closed five secret laboratories in a global swoop together with U.S., Brazilian and French police.