French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said on Monday that the worst of the United States mortgage crisis was over even if some US investment houses and funds could still be in trouble. Stock exchanges worldwide were sent reeling this month as US borrowers with risky credit histories — the so-called subprime sector — defaulted on their mortgage repayments.
England coach Brian Ashton was left to rue a breakdown in the basics in his team’s tryless showing in the 22-9 defeat to France, the second loss in eight days against the World Cup hosts. The England squad now have 10 days off before gathering again in London on August 29 and Ashton and his coaching staff have been left with plenty to think about.
World leaders on Thursday insisted that the United States credit crunch would not cause an economic crisis but stock markets across the world plummeted yet again as investors remained unconvinced. US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson admitted that American growth will be hit but said the economy would weather the storm.
Nicolas Sarkozy’s hectic 100 first days in power have earned him the nickname of "hyperpresident", but can France’s new leader keep up the dizzying pace to deliver his promised reforms? For three months, France’s new-look president has grabbed the spotlight: jetting to meet world leaders, micro-managing his government team or coaching the French rugby side.
United States home-loan woes caused more turbulence on world markets on Friday despite the tens of billions of dollars released by central banks to stop the problem turning into a global economic crisis. London’s FTSE stock market closed a whopping 3,71% lower and European and Asian shares slumped after losses tied to US subprime mortgages spread.
Hordes of French gourmets joined forces at an annual snail festival over the weekend to munch their way through a record 100 800 gastropods, organisers said on Monday. "We’ve beaten all our previous records, despite the rain," said Jacky Pommier, who helped organise the festival, in Digoin, east of Paris.
Libya has reached a multimillion-dollar deal to buy anti-tank missiles and radio systems from European aerospace giant EADS in what would be the first such purchase since an arms embargo was lifted on Tripoli in 2004. French Defence Minister Herve Morin confirmed on Friday that a letter of intent had been signed.
Unesco called on Wednesday on the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to urgently stop the slaughter of mountain gorillas in a national park where four were found killed last month. Unesco said that another female gorilla and her young were also reported missing and that seven gorillas had now been shot in the Virunga National Park.
France has agreed to sell anti-tank missiles to Libya as part of a broader military agreement, the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi was quoted as saying on Wednesday. ”You know this is the first arms supply deal between Libya and a Western country,” Saif al-Islam said, adding he expected more to be signed shortly.
The controversy surrounding former Australia coach Eddie Jones advising the Springboks looks set to grow after it was revealed on Tuesday he had held talks with a view to staying on until the end of the South Africans’ campaign. Andy Marinos, rugby manager of the South African national teams, confirmed that there were ongoing talks with Jones.
A French trade union leader on Tuesday warned that the Rugby World Cup could be disrupted by industrial unrest unless the government changes a Bill intended to limit the impact of transport strikes. Bernard Thibault, of the General Labour Confederation, said the Bill was an ”intimidatory measure” because it restricted the right to strike.
Fears that teenagers using the social networking website MySpace are exposing themselves to sexual predators by disclosing too many personal details are probably overblown, researchers say. The site had come under fire from parents, teachers and law enforcement.
The 2007 Tour de France ended on Sunday after three weeks of unwelcome controversy and drama that has led to calls for far-reaching reforms ahead of 2008. One of the most tainted editions of the race since the Festina doping scandal in 1998 ended in triumph for Discovery Channel’s yellow jersey winner Alberto Contador on the Champs Elysees.
Spaniard Alberto Contador won the drug-tainted Tour de France in Paris on Sunday when he held on to his 23-second overnight lead on Australia’s Cadel Evans to secure the race’s fabled yellow jersey. Contador becomes the first Spaniard to win the three-week race since Miguel Indurain from 1991 to 1995.
Alberto Contador of Spain all but locked up a Tour de France victory on Saturday by holding off his top rival in the final time trial, a day before the doping-marred race ends in Paris. Contador lost most of his lead, but still holds a 23-second advantage over Cadel Evans.
The widest-yet investigation into cannabis and mental health says individuals who use marijuana increase their risk of developing a psychotic illness by more than 40%. Reporting in Saturday’s issue of the Lancet, the doctors call on health supremos to warn young people about the risk to their mind.
Frenchman Sandy Casar won the 18th stage of the Tour de France, a 211km ride from Cahors on Friday. The Francaise des Jeux rider outsprinted Belgian Axel Merckx of the T-Mobile team at the end of a 196km breakaway. France’s Laurent Lefevre came home third for the Bouygues Telecom team.
French judges placed former prime minister Dominique de Villepin under formal investigation on Friday for his role in an alleged plot to smear Nicolas Sarkozy and damage his chances of winning the presidency. Villepin went to the offices of judges Jean-Marie d’Huy and Henri Pons on Friday morning to answer questions.
McLaren were cleared on Thursday by Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, of any wrongdoing in the espionage affair that has engulfed the sport this season. An extraordinary hearing of the 25-strong World Motor Sports Council, the sport’s highest body, ruled that there was no evidence the British team had benefited from confidential Ferrari documents.
Did Jim Morrison OD on a nightclub toilet or die of a drug-induced heart attack in a bathtub at home? Thirty-six years after the death in Paris of the <i>Doors</i> legend, biographers are locking horns over his final hours. The latest book on the life and times of Morrison says he was found slumped behind a locked toilet door on July 3 1971 in the Rock’n Roll Circus.
Dane Michael Rasmussen took an important step towards overall victory in the Tour de France with an easy win on the 16th stage, a 218,5km ride from Orthez in the Pyrenees on Wednesday. The Rabobank rider beat Discovery Channel’s Levi Leipheimer of the United States by 26 seconds to retain the leader’s yellow jersey.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy heads on Wednesday to Tripoli for strategic talks with Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi, ahead of his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as head of state. Sarkozy announced he would make the ”political trip” to Tripoli after French efforts contributed to the release of six foreign medics held in Libya since 1999.
Astana team leader Alexander Vinokourov failed a dope test after winning Saturday’s Tour de France time trial, his team announced on Tuesday. They did not give any further details but a cycling source said the Kazakh, who has won two stages on this year’s Tour, tested positive for blood doping.
Six foreign medics convicted of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV have left Libya for Bulgaria aboard a French presidential jet, France said on Tuesday. Libya lifted death sentences against the medics last week and commuted them to terms of life imprisonment.
Alexander Vinokourov clinched his second victory of this year’s Tour de France with panache when he won the 196km 15th stage from Foix on Monday. The Astana rider, who lost all hope of winning the race when he cracked and crashed on Sunday’s 14th stage, went solo 15km from the summit of the Col de Peyresourde to beat Luxembourg’s Kim Kirchen.
Michael Rasmussen and Alberto Contador will resume their battle for the yellow jersey in the 15th stage of the Tour de France, a 196km ride from Foix to Loudenvielle on Monday. Dane Rasmussen leads his Spanish rival by two minutes and 23 seconds heading to the second Pyrenean stage.
A Cambodian-born French woman faces prosecution for criminal damage after planting a kiss on a painting by the artist Cy Twombly, leaving the imprint of her lipstick on the otherwise immaculate white canvas.
A French newspaper broke the embargo on the new Harry Potter book on Friday by revealing the fate of the principle characters. Le Parisien printed a brief summary of the conclusion of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows — but upside-down so that unwary readers could avoid the spoiler.
South African Robert Hunter of the Barloworld team won a wind-battered 11th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday after 182km of drama-filled racing between Marseille and Montpellier. The 30-year-old won a sprint finish just ahead of Swiss Fabian Cancellara and Brazilian Murilo Fischer to claim his, South Africa’s and his continent’s first-ever win in the race.
South African Robert Hunter won a crash-hit bunch sprint to take the 182,5km 11th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday. The Barloworld rider beat Swiss Fabian Cancellara of the CSC team by half a wheel. Brazil’s Murilo Fischer came home third for the Liquigas team. ”It is very important to me to win a stage on the Tour de France. I am speechless,” said Hunter.
Take the gecko, famed for its ability to scale walls, and the mussel, renowned for its clamping quality, and you have the inspirations for a superglue that can stick, unstick and stick again. The glue, dubbed "geckel", can have innumerable uses, say the inventors, whose research is published in <i>Nature</i>, the British journal.
Quick Step rider Cedric Vasseur gave the hosts their first stage win of this year’s Tour de France when he lead a French one-two ahead of compatriot Sandy Casar in the 229,5km tenth stage on Wednesday. The 36-year-old Vasseur won a sprint finish after five hours 20 minutes and 24 seconds of racing under the sweltering heat ahead of Casar, with Swiss rider Michael Albasini in third.