President Michel Suleiman defended on Thursday Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s recent statements, saying that they stem from his role as the representative of Christians in Lebanon and the region.

He said after holding talks with the Patriarch in Diman: “The Patriarch succeeded in voicing to the French state the Christians’ concerns over sectarian tensions and the naturalization of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.”

The Progressive Socialist Party is shrugging off reports and rumors about deterioration in the relations between PSP chief Walid Jumblat and Hizbullah over his remarks on the Shiite party’s weapons.

Ministers Ghazi Aridi and Wael Abou Faour, who are loyal to Jumblat, stressed before a cabinet session held on Wednesday that ties between the Druze chief and Hizbullah officials are “good,” An Nahar daily reported.

A French investigating judge has charged a Lebanese businessman suspected of a role in a bribery scandal surrounding the 1994 sale of French submarines to Pakistan that may have been linked to an attack that killed 15.

Ziad Takieddine said he was satisfied with the judicial action since it gives him access to the investigators' file.

A French anti-racism group has threatened to sue Apple over an iPhone application called "A Jew or Not a Jew?" that allows users to consult a database of celebrities and public figures to determine whether they are Jewish or not.

SOS Racisme said the application, sold for 0.79 euro cents ($1.07) on the Apple Store France, violates France's strict laws banning the compiling of people's personal details without their consent.

A French appeals court on Wednesday confirmed the acquittal of former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin over a political scandal in which he was accused of smearing President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The public prosecutor had called for the suave potential candidate in next year's presidential election and bitter Sarkozy rival to be given a 15-month suspended sentence in the so-called Clear stream scandal.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he made little headway Tuesday in convincing Beijing to back a tough United Nations resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

The visiting Juppe met his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi and discussed the need for a resolution condemning the military crackdown on protesters, he told journalists.

The United Nations' failure to take a clear position on the bloody repression of demonstrations in Syria is "a scandal", the French foreign ministry said on Monday.

Recalling that according to the U.N. at least 2,600 people have been killed in Syria, ministry spokesman Bernard Valero also slammed the "revolting murder" of a protest organizer, Ghiyath Matar, while in Syrian detention.

The French government sought to play down fears of a radioactive leak after the explosion Monday at a nuclear site in the south of France in which at least one person died.

France's state nuclear regulator had said earlier that there was a risk of a leak after the blast at Codolet in the Rhone Valley near the southern city of Nimes.

French Ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton questioned on Monday the uproar created in Lebanon over Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s statements from France, saying that it is unfortunate that it caused division among the Lebanese political class.

He said after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati that the patriarch’s visit was a success and it granted him an opportunity to express himself.

A lawyer with ties to African leaders declared on Monday he had personally handed over $20 million dollars in cash to French former president Jacques Chirac and his close ally Dominique de Villepin.

Robert Bourgi said in an interview with Europe 1 radio the money came from several presidents of France's former African colonies, and was handed over to the center-right politicians in stages between 1995 and 2005.