Paris - Car makers are preparing to showcase their latest creations mirroring the trend toward funky city cars and fuel efficient compact SUVs at the Paris Motor Show this year.

With the legendary Citroen 2CV celebrating its 60th birthday this year, the French car maker is still holding back on presenting a reinvented "ugly duckling" but will unveil the C3 Pluriel in the twin-coloured look of the famous 2CV Charleston models of the 1980s.

Paris - Seat will launch two additions to the new Ibiza generation with the sporty Cupra and the low-emission Ibiza Ecomotive at the Paris Motor Show next month.

The Cupra comes with the Volkswagen 1.4 TSI engine and seven-speed DSG sequential-shift gearbox with paddel-shifts mounted to the steering wheel.

The Ibiza Ecomotive, available as a five-door and Sport Coupe version, is powered by an 80 hp 1.4-litre TDI engine with the car maker listing fuel consumption at just 3.8 litres per 100 kilometres and a carbon dioxide emission figure of 99 g/km.

Paris - France on Tuesday joined the United States in calling for additional sanctions against Iran after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Monday that Teheran was continuing to expand its uranium enrichment programme.

"We have no other choice but to draw up another UN Security Council resolution on sanctions in the coming days and weeks," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevalier said.

Chevalier described as "very worrying" the fact that Iranian authorities had not replied to questions regarding matters that could be related to the development of nuclear weapons.

Paris - Police believe that the "excessive speed" of a tourist riverboat led to the sinking of a private launch on the Seine river in the heart of Paris in which two people died, French media repor

Paris - Reacting to the collapse of US bank Lehmann Brothers, the Paris Bourse plunged by nearly 3.5 per cent shortly after opening, led downward by financial shares.

Paris - European aerospace giant EADS will not withdraw from the bidding for a 35-billion-dollar contract for new US air tankers after the Pentagon halted the competition, a company spokesman said Sunday.

"No decision has been taken regarding a withdrawal," Pierre Bayle told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, refuting a report by the German news magazine Der Spiegel.

On Saturday, the magazine had quoted a senior EADS manager as saying the company would only submit a bid "if we are sure we will have a fair chance."