Paris - The French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband are shortly to travel to the threatened Congolese city of Goma.

Paris - Pirates boarded a French tug off the coast of Cameroon and took 10 of its 15 crew hostage, a spokeswoman for the owners said Friday.

Brussels - The European Commission on Thursday cleared a French plan for re-financing troubled lenders, describing it as an "appropriate" system for injecting confidence in the country's financial

Paris - When French historian Pap Ndiaye was asked recently what Barack Obama's election as US president would mean to him personally, his voice grew soft: "I will be very moved. The most powerful man in the world will be a black man. This is incredible."

But Ndiaye - the author most recently of The Black Condition: An Essay on a French Minority - was quick to add that he also expected Obama's election to bring about certain changes in French society.

Paris  - Roger Federer is keeping focus as he heads into the business end of the ATP season, with solid performances laying the groundwork for what he hopes in a return to world-class wins in 2009.

The Swiss claimed his home Swiss Indoors in Basle for the third time at the weekend before making a late confirmation of his entry into the Paris Masters.

He then leaves early next week for Shanghai to defend his title in the season-ending Masters Cup.