Russia's Prokhorov denies buying world's No.1 home

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov denied on Tuesday French media reports he had bought the world's most expensive home, a French Mediterranean villa. Newspapers said on Monday Prokhorov, 43, paid 496 million euros (392 million pounds) for a property in southern France called Villa Leopolda, built in 1902 for Belgian King Leopold II.

France's former elite go on trial over arms trade

The son of a former French president, an Israeli-Russian billionaire and a tycoon with ties to Arizona's jet set were among the headliners yesterday as 42 defendants went on trial in Paris, accused in a worldwide web of trafficked arms to Angola, money laundering and kickbacks. Defense lawyers and Angola's government are trying to stop the show, however...

Billionaire in court over pop star's murder

It is a case that has mesmerised people across the Middle East. Yesterday, an Egyptian tycoon and an associate whom he allegedly hired as a hit man sat close together in a metal cage in a Cairo court and pleaded not guilty to charges of orchestrating the gruesome murder of a Lebanese pop star. Egyptians were amazed that billionaire Hisham Talaat Moustafa...

Sarkozy visits French troops in Afghanistan

President Nicolas Sarkozy has travelling to Afghanistan to support French troops a day after one of the deadliest attacks on French forces abroad. Ten French soldiers were killed and 21 injured in an ambush by Taliban fighters east of the capital, Kabul. Sarkozy said France was committed to its fight against terrorism and the mission in Afghanistan would continue.

Je t'aime (again): The French love affair with Serge Gainsbourg

To the British, Serge Gainsbourg was once the ugly, pouting, unshaven French bloke who sang with the fresh, English rose, Jane Birkin, on the rudest pop record ever, "Je t'aime ... Moi Non Plus". To the French, he was either a pop intellectual rebel or a drunken, pretentious, unpatriotic bore.

France's Sarkozy says troops must stay in Afghanistan

President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday French troops must stay in Afghanistan to fight terrorism, a day after insurgents killed 10 French troops, the biggest single loss of foreign forces in Afghan combat since 2001. The soldiers were killed in a major battle that erupted when Taliban insurgents ambushed a French patrol just 60 km (40 miles) east of the Afghan capital on Monday.

Diplomatic Licence: DSK and the case of the French wives

There's something that bothers me about the case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn (aka DSK), the French head of the International Monetary Fund, who is being investigated over whether a romantic affair may have led to him abusing his power.

French soldiers killed in Taliban gun battle

Ten French soldiers were killed today in fierce fighting with Taliban insurgents near Kabul, Afghan military officials said today. A French patrol came under attack yesterday at a point 30 miles east of the capital, sparking a three-hour gun battle. The soldiers were killed when fighting picked up again today. District chief Qazi Suliman said 13 Taliban militants had also been reported killed.

EU 'Big Four' in bailout row

The French President Nicolas Sarkozy pressed ahead with plans for the summit yesterday, despite what one French newspaper called a "crisis" between Paris and Berlin. Gordon Brown, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi will attend what could be a difficult meeting.

Channel tunnel 'may take months to repair'

French officials said today. cross-Channel travellers. three of the trucks had burned. yesterday and said that it was too early to say how the fire had started. had started accidentally. firefighters took turns to attack the flames in 15-minute bursts. normal French judicial procedure. groups, allowing a reduced and, somewhat slower, service to resume.

In Afghanistan, British Leader Shows Support

KABUL, Afghanistan The British prime minister, Gordon Brown, visited Afghanistan on Thursday to reaffirm his countrys commitment to security and development here. He arrived a day after the French president came to honor 10 French soldiers who were killed Monday amid increasing insurgent attacks and casualties among foreign forces.

Sarkozy tries to rally united European response to crisis

Jeremy Warner's Outlook: Are governments getting it right on bank bailouts? A French plan for a European mini-summit to respond to the global financial crisis generated a mini-crisis of its own yesterday. The meeting between the French, British, German and Italian leaders was provisionally set for next Saturday afternoon...

Russian lawyer 'poisoned'

French police have opened an inquiry into allegations that a Russian human rights lawyer may have been deliberately poisoned in Strasbourg on Monday. Karina Moskalenko, who represents some of the Kremlin's best-known critics, became ill after finding a substance similar to mercury inside her car. French police said there had not been enough of the substance to endanger life...

Gunmen abduct aid worker

Kabul Gunmen have kidnapped a French aid worker and killed an intelligence agency employee who tried to stop the abduction. Three men in a Corolla tried to kidnap two French citizens riding in a van but after a scuffle they fled with only one, police said. The Interior Ministry said the dead man was the driver for the intelligence chief of Panjshir province. Etienne Gille...

Gunmen abduct aid worker in Kabul