France

French climber to scale building in Singapore

Singapore - French professional climber Alain Robert will scale a building in Singapore as part of The Straits Times' 163rd anniversary celebrations, the newspaper said on Tuesday.

France sends humanitarian aid to Caucasus, flies Europeans out

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

Dalai Lama arrives in France: No meeting with Nicolas Sarkozy

Dalai Lama arrives in France: No meeting with Nicolas SarkozyParis  - The Dalai Lama on Monday began a 12-day visit to France during which the Tibetan spiritual leader was due to meet French lawmakers.

No official reception was planned, but the Dalai Lama would meet privately with members from the Franco-Tibetan interest group, officials said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was not due to meet the Dalai Lama. While French media have been speculating over the politically sensitive nature of such a meeting, the Elysee Palace indicated that the Dalai Lama had not yet asked for a meeting with Sarkozy.

Council of Europe again calls for ceasefire in South Ossetia

Council of Europe again calls for ceasefire in South Ossetia Strasbourg, France  - The Council of Europe again called Saturday for an immediate ceasefire in South Ossetia, the breakaway Georgian region where Russian and Georgian forces are battling each other.

The parties to the conflict should begin a dialogue, council Secretary General Terry Davis said in Strasbourg, France on Saturday.

"I urge everyone to stop the shooting and stop the bombing and get round a conference table. A total ceasefire is the only way to stop the killing," Davis said.

Police defuse three bombs in Basque region in France

Paris - French bomb experts on Thursday night found and defused three bombs in the country's south-western Basque region, reports said Friday.

About 1,000 people were evacuated, France Info radio reported.

The bombs were discovered in the wake of repeated bomb threats by an unknown group.

One of the explosive devices was found on a high-speed train rail line near Bayonne.

The other two were found at the tourist resort of Arcangues, south of Bayonne.

Authorities had also received threats of bombs at a casino in Biarritz, a luxury hotel and holiday resort.

No explosives were found there, however.

Jean Sarkozy son files complaint over anti-Semitic grafitti

Jean Sarkozy, the 21-year-old son of French President Nicolas SarkozyParis - Jean Sarkozy, the 21-year-old son of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has filed a complaint against unknown persons over anti-Semitic grafitti, the daily Le Figaro reported Friday.

The paper said a suspect, 63, had been arrested by police, a man with a previous record of known anti-Semitic comments.

The younger Sarkozy's complaint followed a number of grafitti messages smeared on buildings in an up-scale suburb of Paris, with the message "Sarkozy, thieving Jew," the paper said.

Pages