Paris - The leaders of the four EU members belonging to the G8 group of leading industrial nations were set to meet later Saturday in Paris to discuss a common European response to the global finance crisis.

The mini-summit was called by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, as current EU president, and will be attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Algiers/Paris - At least 10 people have been killed in two attacks in recent days as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan came to a close, Algerian media reported Saturday.

Six members of the security forces were killed in one attack when armed attackers opened fire on their vehicle in Theniet el-Had in the west of the country, el-Khabar newspaper reported.

The attackers were members of the terrorist group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the report said.

Paris, Oct 4 : After reaching the second-lowest extent ever recorded last month, sea ice in the Arctic has begun to refreeze in the face of autumn temperatures, closing both the Northern Sea Route and the direct route through the Northwest Passage.

This year marked the first time since satellite measurements began in the 1970s that the Northern Sea Route, also known as the Northeast Passage, and the Northwest Passage were both open at the same time for a few weeks.

Paris - After shrinking by 0.3 per cent in the second quarter of this year, France's economy will continue to contract for the next two quarters, plunging the country into a recession, the government's statistical office Insee said on Friday.

According to the forecast, France's GDP is to contract by 0.1 per cent in each of the next two quarters. A recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

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.