French soldiers were deployed for a decade to fight an Islamist insurgency in its former colonial territory of the Sahel region. Read more at straitstimes.com.

President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday faced an angry backlash from France's remaining allies in West Africa and accusations at home of showing a neo-colonialist attitude after lamenting that African countries "forgot to say thank you" for France's decade-long military deployment to fight an Islamist insurgency.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that the African Sahel states forgot to thank France for preventing their nations from falling under the control of militants. Macron stated that France had a relationship with its former colonies based on security.

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron said his country was a “a solid ally” of President-elect Donald Trump on Monday as he outlined his vision for global diplomacy in 2025, while warning that France could lose the incoming U.S. leader’s respect by being “weak and defeatist.”

PARIS (AP) — A decade after gunmen stormed the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in a deadly assault that shook France to its core and ignited a global outcry in defense of freedom of speech, the nation paused on Tuesday to honor the victims and renew its resolve to fight for liberty and democracy.

Two masked al Qaeda-linked gunmen with assault rifles stormed what were then the offices of Charlie Hebdo and killed 12 people. The attackers sought to avenge the Prophet Mohammad

France on Tuesday marked 10 years since an Islamist attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper that shocked the country and led to fierce debate about freedom of expression and religion.- Cartoons - The 10-year anniversary of the killings has led to fresh introspection in France about the nature of press freedom and the ability of publications such as Charlie Hebdo to blaspheme and ridicule religious figures,