Paris - A poll released on Monday showed that French President Nicolas Sarkozy's forceful handling of the financial crisis and his calls to reform capitalism have given his popularity a substantial boost.

According to the survey, which was conducted by the Viavoice institute for the daily Liberation, 48 per cent of respondents said they had a "positive opinion" of Sarkozy, a jump of 8 percentage points over one month ago and his best showing since January.

Sarkozy's popularity surge was due in large part to left-wing voters, among whom he gained 10 points, to a positive rating of 29 per cent.

Berlin - Germany faced a diplomatic row with Rwanda Monday after arresting a senior Rwandan official, Rose Kabuye, at Frankfurt international airport on an arrest warrant from France.

She has been wanted for questioning since last November in connection with the April 6, 1994 killing of Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana. She is chief of protocol to Rwandan President Paul Kagame and a leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front.

Rwanda broke off diplomatic relations with France after the warrant was issued by magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere.

Diplomatic sources in Berlin said Germany warned beforehand that it would arrest her if she travelled to Frankfurt.

Paris  - Metal pipes placed atop overhead power-supply lines in northern France have crippled high-speed rail transport between Paris and other European cities, rail company SNCF said Saturday.

It was not known who placed the pipes on the lines between Paris and Lille, but SNCF said it was preparing to file charges for the "malicious act."

More than 40 trains between Paris and London, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne had to be transferred to traditional tracks, resulting in trains running between one and three hours late.

Paris - Spain's largest tour and travel group, Marsans, has ordered 61 aircraft from European manufacturer Airbus, including four A380 superjumbos, Airbus said on Friday.

The order also includes 10 long-haul A350 planes, which will not be delivered to customers until at least 2013, and 42 planes from the medium-distance A320 family, Airbus said in a statement released in the southern French city of Toulouse.

"We are very proud to become the first operators of the A380 in Spain and Latin America," Marsans head Gonzalo Pascual said.

Brussels - At Friday's European Union summit on the reform of global financial markets, the French government, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, proposed five guidelines for future action which it wants EU states to back at a global summit on November 15.

TOTAL REGULATION: "No financial institution and no market segment must escape regulation or supervision," the paper says.

Brussels - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday urged his European Union colleagues to agree on how to reform global finance amid strong resistance from Sweden and scepticism among several other member states.

"We have no choice other than to reach an agreement," Sarkozy said at the start of Friday's extraordinary EU summit. "For Europe to count, we must be united."

Sarkozy, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU until the end of the year, is hoping that a unified European position will put the 27-member bloc in the driving seat when Group of 20 leaders meet in Washington next week to discuss ways of avoiding a repeat of the current market turmoil.