Athens - Italy, France and Cyprus said on Friday they were sending firefighting aircraft to help battle a massive forest fire raging out of control for the fourth day on the Dodecannese island of Rhodes.

Officials said Italy was sending two firefighting aircraft and France two more to help battle the blaze. Cyprus said it was sending one helicopter which was expected to arrive on the island later in the day.

Hundreds of firefighters and soldiers, with the assistance of Greek aircraft, were fighting the flames which was approaching several mountain villages.

Authorities declared a disaster on the island, where dozens of homes have been burned and at least 2,500 acres of forest destroyed.

Paris - As he prepared to meet with US presidential candidate Barack Obama later Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a French newspaper that the Illinois senator was his "buddy."

"Obama? That's my buddy," Sarkozy was quoted as saying in Friday's edition of Le Figaro. "Contrary to my diplomatic advisors, I never thought Hillary Clinton had a chance. I always said Obama would be chosen" as the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party.

Paris - Faced with a weakening automobile market and rising costs for raw materials and transport, French auto maker Renault said Thursday it would cut jobs to reduce overhead costs by 10 per cent.

The move was to be based primarily on what the company said would be "voluntary departures," most of them in Europe. The announcement was made as Renault announced excellent first-half profits and sales results.

Renault provided no details about how many jobs would be cut, but French radio station RTL reported Thursday that it involved some 7,000 employees, most of them in France.

The station also said that Renault head Carlos Ghosn had discussed the step with French President Nicolas Sarkozy late Wednesday.

Paris - French auto maker PSA Peugeot Citroen said Wednesday it had earned net profits of 733 million euros (1.16 billion dollars) in the first half of 2008, up by a hefty 49 per cent over the same

Dublin - French President Nicolas Sarkozy was due in Dublin Monday to discuss Ireland's rejection of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty with Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, amid controversy sparked by his remarks that Ireland would have to hold a second referendum. 

Sarkozy, who is acting head of the EU as France currently holds the EU presidency, told members of his Union for a Popular Movement Party (UMP) Tuesday that "the Irish must vote again." 

Voters in Ireland rejected the treaty to streamline the EU in a referendum June 12. 

Paris, July 19 : The XMM-Newton, which is the ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) orbiting X-ray observatory has discovered an exploding star in the Milky Way, which was missed by the legions of star w