Paris  - Apparently not too shy to carry out some high- profile public relations on her own, France's First Lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has presented each cabinet minister with a copy of her latest recording, the daily Le Figaro reported Tuesday.

Issued under her artist's name, Carla Bruni, the album, Comme Si de Rien N'Etait (As If Nothing Happened), shot to the top of the French charts two weeks after it came out.

But, according to unsubstantiated rumours, her husband's office at the Elysee Palace is said to have bought up a large number of the recordings.

Paris - Faced with a weakening automobile market and rising costs for raw materials and transport, French auto maker Renault said Thursday it would cut jobs to reduce overhead costs by 10 per cent.

The move was to be based primarily on what the company said would be "voluntary departures," most of them in Europe. The announcement was made as Renault announced excellent first-half profits and sales results.

Renault provided no details about how many jobs would be cut, but French radio station RTL reported Thursday that it involved some 7,000 employees, most of them in France.

The station also said that Renault head Carlos Ghosn had discussed the step with French President Nicolas Sarkozy late Wednesday.

Paris  - Inspectors found that 100 people have been "slightly" contaminated near the French nuclear plant Tricastin, French media reported Wednesday.

The incident is the second incident at the plant this month.

Radioactive elements leaked from a hose. The nuclear regulatory authority (ASN) categorized the incident as level "0", and the director of the plant, Alain Peckre, described the incident as "inconsequential."

Paris - French auto maker PSA Peugeot Citroen said Wednesday it had earned net profits of 733 million euros (1.16 billion dollars) in the first half of 2008, up by a hefty 49 per cent over the same

Paris  - The French Parliament on Monday approved a revision of the constitution that strengthens the role of the legislatures and limits the presidential mandate to two five-year terms.

In what is widely seen as a major victory for President Nicolas Sarkozy, both houses of parliament approved the measure by a vote of 539 to 357.

To become law, the amendment of the constitution had to be approved by two-thirds of the nearly 900 lawmakers gathered in special session in Versailles.

Bogota/Paris  - Millions of people in Colombia and around the world gathered to demonstrate for the release of an estimated 2,800 hostages being held for years by leftwing Colombian rebels.

In Colombia alone, people in 1,100 cities and towns flooded the streets Sunday in solidarity with the hostages, with music from 100,000 Colombian performers.

The day, July 20, commemorated the independence of Colombia from Spain 198 years ago.

Demonstrators in Paris were led by Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, freed just weeks ago by a sophisticated, tricky Colombian commando ruse after nearly seven years in captivity.

"Never again hostages," the former presidential candidate shouted to thousands of protestors.