The debate comes amid controversy over banning minarets in neighboring Switzerland and as the French government considers whether to ban Muslim women from wearing a face-covering veil in public.

VOA: standard.2009.12.30

Polls show French opinion is divided over the identity debate.

VOA: standard.2009.12.30

French general Stephane Abrial takes over as supreme allied commander in Norfolk,Virginia, in the United States, just months after President Nicolas Sarkozy of France announced his country would rejoin the NATO military command more than 40 years after leaving it.

VOA: standard.2009.09.10

I suddenly realized I was in this absurd situation: I am an amateur baker, I hadn't been in a church in years, I barely speak French, and found myself going over to try to restore the lost 1300-year-old tradition of baking at the abbey."

VOA: standard.2010.07.16