Shanghai - France's Gilles Simon will get a test of fire in his opening group match at the Masters Cup starting on Sunday when he faces holder Roger Federer.

Simon only squeezed into the field on Monday when world number one Rafael Nadal withdrew with a knee injury, now diagnosed as tendinitis.

Federer has won the last two editions in Shanghai and hopes to end the four-year run in China for the year-end event with a trophy hat-trick.

The Swiss who quit the Paris Masters last week with back pains, has won five Masters trophies and is top seed at the 4.45 million-dollar showcase.

Andy Murray and Andy Roddick make up the remaining members of Federer's Red group.

Paris - As black French civil rights activists and their friends began celebrating Barack Obama's election early Wednesday in a private club in Paris, one reveler sounded a sobering, and largely unappreciated, note of caution.

"Obama is an American politician and he will govern like an American president," said Cameroonian journalist Paul Heutching. "Let's not jump to unrealistic conclusions just because he looks like us."

Paris - Stung by the impact of the global financial crisis, French bank BNP Paribas said its profits for the third quarter of 2008 had fallen significantly compared to the same period last year.

Third-quarter profits stood at 901 million euros (1.16 billion dollars), down 55.6 per cent from 2007, BNP Paribas said in a statement.

The loss was attributed to "a direct impact of the financial crisis," which the bank estimated at 1.1 billion euros.

Turnover fell by a more modest 1 per cent, to 7.614 billion euros, compared to the third quarter of 2007.

"The direct impact of the financial crisis was significantly greater than in previous quarters," the bank said.

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday sent a letter to US President-elect Barack Obama congratulating him on what he called a "brilliant victory."

After extending the "warmest congratulations" on his behalf and that of the French people, Sarkozy wrote that Obama's election triumph "crowns an exceptional campaign ... (that) has shown the vitality of American democracy to the entire world."

Sarkozy added, "In choosing you, the American people have chosen change, openness and optimism."

Paris - At 2:30 am on Wednesday, the people gathered in a small private club near the Champs Elysees in Paris began clapping, cheering and chanting "Yes, we can," the slogan of the Democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States, Barack Obama.

CNN had just projected that Obama would win the key state of Pennsylvania, a sign for the politically savvy members of the Representative Council of Black Associations in France (CRAN) and their friends that he was on his way to victory.

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday sent a letter to US President-elect Barack Obama congratulating him on what he called a "brilliant victory."

After extending the "warmest congratulations" on his behalf and that of the French people, Sarkozy wrote that Obama's election triumph "crowns an exceptional campaign ... (that) has shown the vitality of American democracy to the entire world."

Sarkozy added, "In choosing you, the American people have chosen change, openness and optimism."