Paris  - The government of French Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Tuesday easily rebuffed a no-confidence vote brought by the opposition Socialists in the National Assembly.

Although the no-confidence measure was supported by all left-wing law makers and the head of the centrist Modem party, Francois Bayrou, it fell 58 votes short of the
289-vote majority required.

The measure never had a realistic chance of passing because the UMP party of President Nicolas Sarkozy holds a large majority in the body.

Paris  - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new American counterpart, Barack Obama, held what was described as a "warm" telephone discussion on Monday, Sarkozy's office said.

The conversation, which was held on Obama's initiative, consisted of "substantial exchanges" on a number of vital international topics, the Elysee Palace said in a statement to the press.

They included the global economic crisis, the crisis in the Middle East, Afghanistan and the upcoming NATO summit in Strasbourg, scheduled for early April.

Paris  - French Justice Minister Rachida Dati has agreed to resign her post and stand in this spring's elections for the European Parliament, the daily Le Figaro reported on Friday.

After earlier refusing President Nicolas Sarkozy's request to lead the list of candidates for his UMP party in the greater Paris region, Dati has now consented to take the number two spot on the list behind Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier.

Paris  - With economic news growing more gloomy and Wall Street in a downward spiral, the Paris Bourse finished Thursday's session at its lowest level in nearly six years.

The benchmark CAC 40 ended the day down 1.24 per cent, at 2,869.62 points, its lowest level since May 2003, as declining stocks outpaced risers by 3 to 1.

Automobile shares led the losers, with the two largest French car makers, Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen, both off by more than 7 per cent, at 14.24 euros and 11.99 euros, respectively.

Paris  - French-Dutch carrier Air France-KLM said late Wednesday that it has probably incurred an operating loss of about 200 million euros (258 million dollars) in the third quarter of 2008.

The airline said in a statement that it was "not in a position at this stage to make any pronouncement on the operating income forecasts circulating in the market" for its full fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2009.

Air France-KLM said that its objective remained "to generate a positive operating result," but this depended on the economic situation, especially on its cargo business, "which is facing a tough operating environment."

Paris - Despite the financial crisis in the global banking sector, French bank Societe Generale said Wednesday it expected to post profits of some 2 billion euros
(2.58 billion dollars) for 2008.

The unexpectedly strong results were the consequence of "the solidity of (its) retail banking activities and its diversified business portfolio," the bank said in a statement.

Societe Generale said it expected to have broken even in the fourth quarter of last year, which was particularly difficult for the sector.