France places two under formal probe

French judges have placed two people under formal investigation and detained them on suspicion of wanting to travel to Syria or planning attacks in France, a judicial source said on Saturday.

They were arrested last Tuesday along with a third person by French intelligence agents in the towns of Clermont-Ferrand and Marseille, and in the Paris region.

The two are facing charges of criminal conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, and possession of weapons, the judicial source said. The third person was released.