Paris's Hotel Ritz, famed for generations as the city's highest-profile luxury hotel, said Tuesday it is to close for more than two years from next summer for an "unprecedented" renovation.

The move comes after the five-star hotel in central Paris, owned by billionaire Egyptian tycoon Mohamed Al Fayed, failed earlier this year to win France's coveted "palace" designation marking a top luxury destination.

A handicapped Frenchwoman who was kidnapped from her beachfront home at a Kenyan resort island and taken to neighboring Somalia has died, France said on Wednesday.

"The contacts through which the French government was seeking to obtain the release of Marie Dedieu, held in Somalia since October 1, have announced her death, but we have not been able to determine the date nor the circumstances," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

France's opposition on Tuesday called for the resignation of the head of the country's domestic intelligence agency, a friend of President Nicolas Sarkozy, after he was charged over spying on a journalist.

DCRI spy agency boss Bernard Squarcini was charged Monday with violating confidential correspondence, illegally collecting data and violating the confidentiality of sources of a journalist with the daily Le Monde.

France vowed Tuesday to do everything in its power to keep its triple-A rating following a warning from Moody's, as markets fell after Germany dampened hopes that an EU summit will resolve the Eurozone crisis.

Paris shares tumbled by as much as 2.01 percent early Tuesday after the Moody's warning, following earlier falls on Asian markets amid concerns over the spreading impact of the Eurozone's debt woes.

Japan has overtaken France for the number of restaurants with three Michelin stars, according to the latest guide to the nation's western cities to be released on Friday.

Japan is now home to 29 establishments that hold the highly coveted three-star rating, against 25 in France.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday hailed the release of dual-nationality Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as "a huge relief for France", voicing hope that stalled peace talks could now restart.

Sarkozy said that Shalit, captured by Gaza-based Palestinian militants in 2006 and released on Tuesday in exchange for Israel freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, would "soon" travel to France.

L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, 88, is to be placed under the guardianship of family members, the lawyer of her estranged daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers said Monday after a court hearing.

Billionaire Bettencourt, whose mental health is reportedly declining, will be placed under a grandson's guardianship and her wealth and property under that of her daughter Francoise and two grandsons, Charlotte Robbe-Phan said.

French Socialist lawmaker Francois Hollande was crowned favorite for next year's presidential election on Sunday, winning the left's primary to choose a challenger for Nicolas Sarkozy.

The center-right incumbent is expected to stand for re-election, but all recent opinion polls show him on course to lose to any left-wing challenger, and Hollande's victory will serve as a springboard for his campaign.

The French left votes Sunday in the second round of France's first U.S.-style primary, called to decide who will take on Nicolas Sarkozy as the Socialist candidate in next year's presidential election.

Facing off for the prize are 57-year-old lawmaker and former Socialist Party chief Francois Hollande, the frontrunner, and Martine Aubry, another party leader who gave France the 35-hour working week when labor minister.

France said Wednesday it was tightening immigration rules to require would-be citizens to provide written proof that they speak enough French to manage their daily lives.

Announced in the government's official gazette, the new rules require candidates for citizenship to "prove knowledge of the French language consistent with understanding the essential points needed to manage daily life."