French-speaking countries are to be included for the first time in this annual search for Africa's most talented journalists.

CNN: CNN African Journalist of the Year Competition

That led to an invitation from President Jacques Chirac to attend the recent meeting of French-speaking countries in Vietnam.

ECONOMIST: An old British crime: Cajuns’ belated counter-attack | The

The new funding will support HIV and AIDS prevention in 14 French-speaking countries in West and Central Africa, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.

UNESCO: Regional workshop for UNESCO staff working in HIV and AIDS in Central and West Africa | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Although little seen in Britain and still under-represented in America, Mr Wilson's theatre and opera productions are well-known in French- and German-speaking countries.

ECONOMIST: Philip Glass: Not all ravens are white | The

France also has 3, 500 troops stationed in neighbouring countries - part of the long-standing military commitment to French-speaking Africa that recent governments have actually been promising to scale back.

BBC: France's Mali intervention a risk for 'new' Hollande