Paris - The brutal and what seems to be unprovoked murder of an 11-year-old boy in France has prompted investigators to suspect the work of a psychotic serial murderer over more than a decade.

Stephane Moitoiret was quickly identified and arrested as the possible killer by genetic material on the boy, called Valentin, who was found with 44 stab wounds near the city of Lyon on July 28.

Kourou/Paris  - With its ninth successful rocket launch mission in 12 months, European space company Arianespace appears set to establish itself as a world market leader in satellite transport.

Ariane 5 ECA rocket took off from the launch centre in Kourou in French Guiana on Thursday night to place communication satellites Superbird-7 and AMC 21 into orbit.

"I think it is a perfect illustration of the fact that high performance, reliability and increase of pace can go hand-in-hand," said Arianespace chairman and CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall.

Paris - France's consumer price index stabilized in July with inflation at 3.6 per cent, down 0.2 per cent from the previous month and unchanged year on year, the country's statistics bureau INSEE said Tuesday in Paris.

France's economic growth appeared however to be losing steam with industrial output dropping 0.4 per cent in June to stand 1.4 per cent lower than the same month in
2007.

The automobile industry appeared particularly stymied, with manufacturing in the sector shrinking by 5.8 per cent for the second quarter.

Paris - France on Monday sent 30 tonnes of humanitarian supplies to the Georgian capital Tbilisi

Paris  - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Sunday will travel to Georgia in a bid to halt the fighting in South Ossetia as part of his country's role heading the European Union presidency.

Kouchner will be accompanied by Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, who the head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the EU presidency said in a statement on Paris on Saturday.

Delegations from the United States, European Union and OSCE were on the way to Tiblisi to discuss the fighting between Georgia and Russia.