The case centres on wiretapped phone-calls in 2014, in which Mr Sarkozy allegedly sought to influence a judge who was looking into suspected illegal funding of his 2007 campaign.

The judge and Mr Sarkozy’s lawyer have also been ordered to stand trial.

They have all denied wrongdoing. Mr Sarkozy’s team says he will appeal against the decision.

In a separate case, the ex-president is accused of receiving campaign funding from late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

What is Sarkozy accused of?

In 2014, two years after being voted out of office, the former French president reportedly contacted Mr Azibert, then a senior magistrate at France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.

Mr Sarkozy is accused of phoning him and offering to use his contacts to secure a prestigious role in Monaco for Mr Azibert, in exchange for the information on a financing case.

Profile: Nicolas Sarkozy

The call – in which Mr Sarkozy allegedly used the alias Paul Bismuth – was wiretapped by police.

In the funding scandal, Mr Sarkozy was accused of taking cash from L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt to help him win the 2007 election. He was eventually cleared.

What other investigations does Sarkozy face?

Last week Mr Sarkozy was placed under formal investigation over allegations that he received campaign funding from late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2007.

He denies the claims, saying his Libyan accusers want revenge for his decision to send French warplanes during the 2011 uprising.

Mr Sarkozy also faces criminal proceedings over claims that he engaged in accounting fraud to exceed the limit for campaign expenditure in his failed bid for re-election in 2012.

The case is known in France as the Bygmalion affair, after the name of the firm that allegedly provided false invoices to Mr Sarkozy’s party rather than the campaign. Mr Sarkozy again denies any wrongdoing.

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Source: BBC

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Macron’s visit forms part of his tour of Africa since becoming President earlier in 2017.

Prior to that, Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, is also expected to be in Ghana today, Monday, November 27, for a day’s visit.

Macron’s African tour

Macron’s Africa tour which begins today, Monday, will see him visit Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire, and end with Ghana.

Macron’s advisers say he hopes to modernize France’s relations with Africa with the tour by emphasizing business links, education and sport rather than development aid.

Although Macron has pledged to increase France’s aid budget to 0.55 percent of GDP by 2022, France’s aid budget was cut by 140 million euros in July, as part of 4.5 billion euros of reductions in public spending.

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By: citifmonline.com with additional files from rfi.fr

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According to the report, Macron’s personal makeup artist put in two claims for payment, one for €10,000 and another for €16,000, for doing his makeup during his travels and ahead of press conferences.

The Elysée Palace said in response: “We called in a contractor as a matter of urgency.”

Aides said that spending on makeup would be “significantly reduced” in future, Le Point reported, adding that the amount spent is less than under Macron’s predecessors.

His predecessor, François Hollande, spent €30,000 per quarter on makeup, including the salary of a makeup artist. In addition, Hollande paid his hairdresser a gross salary of €9,895 a month.

Nicolas Sarkozy spent slightly less on his makeup than Macron — €8,000 a month.

The news comes as Macron’s popularity is falling, according to opinion polls. Only 37 percent of voters approve of the job Macron is doing, down from a high of 57 percent after his election in May.

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Source: Politico.eu

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