Deauville, France - European Union countries should encourage their defence industries to specialize production and then pool resources in order to boost the bloc's security capabilities, French Defence Minister Herve Morin told his colleagues on Thursday.

"If we are talking about a European defence industry, we must accept the idea that not everybody is doing the same thing as everybody else," Morin said at an informal meeting of EU defence ministers in Deauville, France.

"For example, we could do some work in France and other work elsewhere, and then pool together," he added.

Hamburg - Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong may have to support his Astana team-mate Alberto Contador in next year's Tour, the team's cycling director Johan Bruyneel said.

"At the end of the day, the strongest rider will be supported, regardless of that person's name or what they've accomplished in the past," Bruyneel said on the team's website.

Contador won the 2007 Tour de France and followed that up by winning this year's Giro in Italy and Vuelta in Spain.

"Alberto is the best professional cyclist in the world," Bruyneel said. "The strongest rider will be supported."

Armstrong, 37, announced last month he was coming out of retirement to ride with the Astana team in 2009.

Paris - A top advisor to French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday that the financial crisis has "temporarily" rendered the Maastricht criteria on public deficits not a top priority.

"Temporarily, (the criteria) are not the priorities of priorities. The priority is to save the world banking system and therefore save citizens' savings," Henry Guaino told Canal Plus television.

GameStop Corporation, world's largest video game retailer, has agreed to buy French video game retailer Micromania for $700 million in cash, to expand its presence in the European market.

Paris  - French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the current president of the European Union, and Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen held talks on Wednesday in Paris on the future of the Lisbon Treaty, Sarkozy's office said.

According to a statement issued by the Elysee Palace, Cowen told Sarkozy that, at the October 15 EU summit, he would present the results of a study on the reasons for the rejection of the treaty in the June 12 referendum, which resulted in an institutional crisis for the EU and a freeze on taking in new members.

All 27 EU members must ratify the treaty for it to become law.