PARIS ― France is looking at slashing at least €4 billion in spending this year to keep its public finances under control. With France's economic outlook for the year deteriorating as a result of the war in the Middle East, the government is looking for ways to make sure its budget deficit — the gap between what it collects in taxes and what it spends — doesn't exceed 5 percent of gross domestic product, as Paris envisioned when it passed its 2026 budget. The French government is also trying to