Against this background, the clubby French military elite hunted for a traitor.

ECONOMIST: The Dreyfus affair

The background is that the French newspapers were insisting that Google should pay them for including their pages in the search index results.

FORBES: And Google Comprehensively Outsmarts The French

While his background is rooted in traditional French cuisine, he stresses the use of fresh foodstuffs, naturally raised meats, game birds, and organic fruits and vegetables.

CNN: trotter

She was doused with water when she visited the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, a French overseas territory whose citizens come from a racially mixed background where many view the extreme right as the real threat.

CNN: Marine Le Pen: Right-wing wild card in French election

David Macey's life of Fanon provides, as background, an excellent guide to the history of French decolonisation and the intellectual debates of post-war France.

ECONOMIST: The roots of prejudice

Errani, also 25, had never advanced past the second round at the French Open before this year, despite a strong clay-court background.

WSJ: French Open 2012: Maria Sharapova's Time to Shine

The background to this is that the new Socialist President of France, Hollande, has insisted that high income French people must contribute more in these tough times.

FORBES: French Tax Exile Gerard Depardieu Gains Russian Citizenship