No image available
/ 14 November 2007
France was plunged into travel chaos for the second time in a month on Wednesday as striking railway unions staged a show of strength against the economic reforms of President Nicolas Sarkozy. Nationwide fewer than one-quarter of trains were running normally — and only 90 out 700 TGV fast trains.
No image available
/ 12 November 2007
Airbus named on Monday Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal as the first private buyer of an A380 superjumbo, the world’s largest passenger airliner. The prospective buyer’s identity had been kept secret for months but was unveiled to coincide with the Dubai air show.
No image available
/ 8 November 2007
Formula One’s spying scandal took a new twist on Thursday when Renault was accused by the sport’s governing body of possessing confidential information belonging to rival team McLaren. FIA summoned Renault officials to a hearing of the World Motor Sport Council in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on December 6.
No image available
/ 7 November 2007
A new drug therapy could help ease a terrible dilemma that has forced HIV-positive mothers to gamble with the well-being of their unborn children, as well as their own, a new study reported on Wednesday. Up to now, pregnant women infected with HIV or Aids and their doctors faced a terrible choice.
No image available
/ 5 November 2007
Olympique Lyon’s Czech forward Milan Baros was caught speeding at 268km/h in his Ferrari, a club source confirmed Friday. Local newspaper Le Progres quoted police as saying the former Liverpool player had broken the record for speeding for that French region, set by a motorcyclist who reached 246km/h.
No image available
/ 4 November 2007
David Nalbandian of Argentina handed out a tennis lesson to world number two Rafael Nadal to win his second straight Masters Series title in Paris on Sunday. The Argentinian won at a canter — 6-4, 6-0 — taking nine games in a row from 3-4 down in the first set against an increasingly disillusioned-looking Spaniard, who has been struggling with his fitness since the summer.
No image available
/ 3 November 2007
Argentine David Nalbandian extended his brilliant run of form by crushing local favourite Richard Gasquet 6-2 6-4 on Saturday to set up a Paris Masters final against world number two Rafael Nadal. The unseeded Nalbandian needed just over an hour to take his record against the Frenchman to a perfect 5-0.
No image available
/ 2 November 2007
Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) and HIV have merged into a double-barrelled pandemic that is sweeping across sub-Saharan Africa and threatening global efforts to eradicate both diseases, according to a report released on Friday. Overburdened health systems are unable to cope with the epidemic and risk collapse, says the report.
No image available
/ 29 October 2007
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned as illegal a bid by a French group to spirit more than 100 children out of Chad on the grounds that they were Darfur orphans in danger of being killed, his office said on Sunday. At least 16 people, nine of them French, have been detained for questioning by authorities in Chad.
No image available
/ 26 October 2007
An international team of astronomers have unexpectedly found hundreds of expanding ”super-massive” black holes buried deep inside galaxies billions of light years from Earth. The astounding discovery is the first direct evidence that most huge galaxies in the far reaches of the universe generated cavernous black holes during their infancy, when about 3,5-billion years old.
No image available
/ 26 October 2007
Nine French citizens have been arrested in Chad after being accused of attempting to take 103 orphaned children from Darfur out of the country to be adopted by French families, French media reported on Friday. The nine suspects were taken into custody at the airport of Abeche, in eastern Chad, as they were preparing to leave the country with the children.
No image available
/ 25 October 2007
Former British European Cup winners Liverpool and Celtic suffered another blow after both lost in the latest round of Champions League matches on Wednesday. Liverpool have just a point after three matches — having gone down 2-1 to Besiktas in Istanbul — while Celtic have three points following a 1-0 reverse away to Benfica.
No image available
/ 25 October 2007
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe cannot be excluded from the European Union-Africa summit just because he is a dictator, or others must be barred too, EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel said on Wednesday. ”We don’t … have the right to say to our African friends ‘you can invite anyone you like except him’,” he said.
No image available
/ 24 October 2007
McLaren will have to pay more than -million to the International Automobile Federation (FIA), which will use the money to promote safer motorsport worldwide, Formula One’s governing body said on Wednesday. ”Following the judgement of the World Motor Sport Council on September 13, a sum in excess of -million will be paid in December to the FIA,” the body said.
No image available
/ 24 October 2007
Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti once bragged he could produce a work of art in just a night. But a major exhibition of his works at Paris’ George Pompidou shows that to be untrue. The show aims ”to put the visitor in the workshop, to show them Giacometti’s creative process and the perpetual progress of his work”.
No image available
/ 23 October 2007
European giants Barcelona, Manchester United and Arsenal can all take a huge step towards qualifying for the Champions League knockout phase if they win their respective matches on Tuesday. All three have a perfect six points from their first two matches and another victory will leave them virtually assured of progression.
No image available
/ 22 October 2007
![]()
South Africa may have reclaimed the World Cup for the southern hemisphere after a one-off win by England in 2003, but that is not to say that the debate over who is in the ascendancy has been resolved. For many, the Springboks’ tactics in the 15-6 win over England in the final were decidedly of northern values.
No image available
/ 21 October 2007
![]()
France’s first hosting of rugby’s World Cup will leave mixed emotions on the home front. The six-week long tournament was superbly organised, the grounds were packed, and there was colour and drama aplenty. But the script that had the French hosts taking on the mighty All Blacks in the final in Paris failed to materialise.
No image available
/ 20 October 2007
![]()
A ruthless South Africa punished England’s ill-discipline with a 15-6 win over the defending champions in the Rugby World Cup final at the Stade de France north of Paris on Saturday. Fullback Percy Montgomery took his points total for the tournament past the century mark by converting each of his four penalty attempts.
No image available
/ 20 October 2007
![]()
South Africa defeated defending champions England 15-6 in a tense World Cup final at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday. South Africa, the 1995 champions, struck first after seven minutes when England centre Mathew Tait was penalised for holding on to the ball and Percy Montgomery slotted over a comfortable penalty in front of the posts.
No image available
/ 20 October 2007
![]()
In this most weird and wonderful Rugby World Cup, England is making it seem like anything is possible. That includes winning the final against South Africa on Saturday at Stade de France, a prospect that was utterly absurd little more than a month ago.
No image available
/ 19 October 2007
![]()
Argentina ended the World Cup the way they had started it, running in five tries to tame France 34-10 in an ill-tempered third-place playoff at the Parc des Princes on Friday.
No image available
/ 19 October 2007
![]()
South Africa captain John Smit will seek to emulate Francois Pienaar on Saturday in lifting the Rugby World Cup in the final and admits he is driven by a sense of destiny, though he accepts it will not fall into his lap. The 29-year-old hooker was present in Johannesburg when South Africa stunned the All Blacks and Pienaar received the World Cup from Nelson Mandela.
No image available
/ 19 October 2007
![]()
France and Argentina clash on Friday in a World Cup third place play-off overshadowed by simmering French resentment at their opening night shock defeat to the Pumas five weeks ago. That 17-12 embarrassment threatened to send the hosts’ campaign into freefall before they righted their listing ship with a spectacular quarterfinal win over the All Blacks.
No image available
/ 19 October 2007
Cecilia Sarkozy’s marriage to French President Nicolas Sarkozy ended because she hated being in the public spotlight and their relationship had broken down, she said in a newspaper interview. Sarkozy’s office announced on Thursday the couple had divorced after 11 years of marriage.
No image available
/ 18 October 2007
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia have divorced by mutual consent after an often tempestuous 11-year marriage, the Presidency announced on Thursday. The Elysee Palace released a statement to confirm the split as weeks of speculation reached fever pitch and newspapers for the first time devoted extensive front-page reports to the collapse of the marriage.
No image available
/ 18 October 2007
![]()
On Saturday, Springbok prop Os du Randt will look to bow out of rugby with a second World Cup winners’ medal. The 35-year-old is the sole survivor in the squad from the team that stunningly won the 1995 World Cup in South Africa, beating hot favourites the All Blacks, and he is looking forward to his retirement, which this time will be definitive.
No image available
/ 18 October 2007
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Cecilia, are separating by mutual consent, the president’s office said on Thursday, ending rampant speculation about the state of their 11-year old marriage. The terse statement said the couple would not make any comment about their separation.
No image available
/ 18 October 2007
![]()
Unbeaten South Africa face defending champions England in a mouth-watering Rugby World Cup final at the Stade de France on Saturday, a re-match of the pool match the Springboks won with consummate ease. But both sides have been quick to play down the significance of that record 36-0 rout, achieved when England were without talismanic flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson.
No image available
/ 18 October 2007
France put themselves firmly on course for next year’s European Championship finals with a 2-0 victory over Lithuania on Wednesday, just five weeks after a shock home defeat had almost derailed their campaign. Thierry Henry netted his 42nd and 43rd goals late in the match to pass Michel Platini’s French scoring record.
No image available
/ 17 October 2007
![]()
Mark Cueto was given a dream England recall on Wednesday when coach Brian Ashton named him as the replacement for injured winger Josh Lewsey for Saturday’s World Cup final. Lewsey misses the game with a hamstring strain and Cueto, injured and then out of favour since the pool stage, was put straight in.
No image available
/ 17 October 2007
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani urged Turkey on Wednesday not to launch an attack against Kurdish rebels in Iraq and said the government in Baghdad was ready to work with Ankara and Washington to resolve the problem. ”We hope the wisdom of our friend, [Turkish] Prime Minister [Tayyip] Erdogan, will be so active that there will be no military intervention,” Talabani said.