Le Pen refuses headscarf, nixes talks with Lebanon cleric

France's far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen refused to don a headscarf for a meeting with Lebanon's top Sunni Muslim cleric on Tuesday and walked away from the scheduled appointment after a brief squabble at the entrance.

The debacle topped Le Pen's three-day visit to Lebanon, where she held her first campaign meeting with a head of state. It drew the focus to her strong support for secularism and a proposal in her presidential platform that promotes banishing headscarves and other obvious religious symbols in all public spaces.

Peugeot buys iconic Indian car brand

French car manufacturer Peugeot has bought India's most iconic car brand from its maker Hindustan Motors in a deal that signifies the passing of an era in India's motoring history.

Over the weekend, the C.K. Birla Group that owns Hindustan Motors said it had signed an agreement with Peugeot SA to sell the Ambassador for 800 million rupees ($12 million).

Oscar-nominated Emmanuelle Riva dies in Paris, age 89

Emmanuelle Riva, a French star of screen and stage who was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress in 2013, has died. She was 89.

Riva died Friday afternoon in a Paris clinic after a long illness, her agent, Anne Alvares Correa, told The Associated Press.

Riva was Oscar-nominated for her role in "Amour, " Michael Haneke's brutal depiction of an aging couple.

Eyewear giant to emerge from tie-up of Luxottica, Essilor

A new European eyewear giant worth more than 50 billion euros ($52.5 billion) is set to emerge as Italy's Luxottica — owner of Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses — merges with French lens manufacturer Essilor.

Essilor International SA said Monday it had reached a share exchange deal with Luxottica's main shareholder, Delfin, to create a combined company making both frames and lenses.

Shares jumped in both Luxottica, which is based in Milan, and Essilor, headquartered near Paris.

Georges Pretre, conductor in NY, Vienna, Milan, dies at 92

Georges Pretre, who conducted renowned orchestras from Vienna to Milan and New York and beyond and was instrumental in Maria Callas' singing career, has died. He was 92.

Still conducting until the final months of his life, "the Maestro Georges Pretre" died at his home in southern France on Wednesday, according to a statement from Milan's La Scala hailing his 50-year relationship with the theater.

Frenchwoman who got world's 1st face transplant dies at 49

Isabelle Dinoire, a Frenchwoman who received the world's first partial face transplant, has died more than a decade after a complex and daring operation that set the stage for dozens of similar transplants worldwide. She was 49.

Her life with a new face was a miracle to many, but was also marred by infections, kidney trouble and hypertension linked to her treatment. In announcing her death Tuesday, the Amiens University Hospital in northern France said Dinoire's experience "illustrates perfectly the high stakes of face transplants."

Facebook nude-painting case can face trial in France

If you post a 19th-century nude painting on Facebook, is it art or impermissible nudity? That question is now cleared for trial in France, after an appeals court there ruled that an aggrieved user can sue the social network over the issue.

Five years ago, Facebook suspended the account of Frederic Durand-Baissas, a 57-year-old Parisian teacher and art lover, without prior notice. That was the day he posted a photo of Gustave Courbet's 1866 painting "The Origin of the World," which depicts female genitalia.

French president in India to strengthen strategic ties

French President Francois Hollande began a three-day visit to India on Sunday that could push a multibillion-dollar deal for combat airplanes and closer cooperation on counterterrorism and clean energy.

Hollande landed in the northern city of Chandigarh where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined him at official engagements and lauded France's decision to invest $1 billion every year in India in various sectors.

AP PHOTOS: French security forces end 3 days of terror

In this Jan. 7, 2015, file photo, an injured person is transported to an ambulance after a shooting, at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo's office, in Paris. Masked gunmen stormed the offices of a French satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing at least 12 people before escaping, police and a witness said. French police hunted down the two heavily armed brothers suspected in the massacre on Friday.