Paris - If nothing else, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's tenure as head of the European Union has done wonders for his popularity, according to a poll made public on Wednesday.

In the survey by the BVA institute, 48 per cent of respondents said they had a favourable opinion of Sarkozy while 47 per cent said they did not.

This was the first time since at least the beginning of the year that those having a good opinion of Sarkozy outnumbered those who did not.

This impressive rebound can be attributed almost exclusively to Sarkozy's handling of the economic crisis as EU head.

Paris - Representatives of former French presidential candidate Segolene Royal have formally asked the Socialist Party to annul last Friday's vote for party leader, the online edition of the daily Le Monde reported on Tuesday.

According to the still-official vote count, Royal lost the election to Lille Mayor Martine Aubry by 42 votes, out of nearly 135,000 cast, a margin of just 0.04 per cent.

Paris, Nov 25: After India’s lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1 released a probe that impacted close to the south pole of the Moon on November 14, the instruments on the spacecraft are being switched on to get the science observations started.

The Moon Impact Probe was dropped close to Shackleton crater, a place close to the south pole, where ice may exist in areas that are never illuminated by the Sun.

It carried three instruments: a video imaging system, a radar altimeter and a mass spectrometer.

Paris - France and Germany agree that lowering the Value Added Tax (VAT) is not an effective response to the economic crisis, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday in Paris.

"When we lower the VAT, what does that bring? Only lower prices. We think other measures, such as emphasizing innovation and research, would be more effective for our economies," Sarkozy told journalists after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Paris - The French Socialist Party on Monday began trying to resolve an ugly factional row that grew out of a disputed election for a new party leader.

A special party committee began examining complaints about the vote count that resulted in a victory of 42 votes out of 137,000 cast, or a margin of 0.04 per cent, for Lille Mayor Martine Aubry over former presidential candidate Segolene Royal in Friday's election.

Paris - The French Socialists just spent two days voting for a new leader, and the big winner was - President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The conservative Sarkozy is certain to be strenghened by the bad blood and infighting that marked the Socialist campaign and the bitter dispute accompanying the results announced early Saturday.

The official vote count of Friday's second round of the election showed Lille Mayor Martine Aubry edging out former presidential candidate Segolene Royal by 42 votes out of 137,000 cast, a victory margin of only 0.04 per cent.