The row following Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier between France and Ireland is continuing, with French skipper Thierry Henry agreeing a replay would be the fairest solution - and former Irish captain Roy Keane telling his country to get over it.

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! And there's still an appetite for it in the bars and restaurants of Paris, despite the recession.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced this summer that he wants the government to borrow a large amount of money to boost the country's economic recovery. An advisory committee is to release a report Thursday on the plan, dubbed the 'Grand Emprunt', or Great Loan.

The government in Paris has proposed far reaching reforms which come down to the abolition of one of the four major taxes which cities and municipalities are charging directly to companies and citizens.

France and Brazil are forming a new green alliance. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva unveiled a "common position" in Paris last weekend. Together they will pursue the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 50 per cent below 1990 levels by the year 2050.

The week in which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad came to Paris, French Sports Minister Rama Yade waited to hear whether she would get the sack and new economic figures gave cause for concern.

The Israeli government says it is ready to restart peace talks with Syria immediately and without conditions. The comments came during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Paris earlier this week. On Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy welcomed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the capital in an attempt to breathe new life into the Middle East peace process. Jan van der Made reports.

 

Vaccinations against the H1N1 virus have started in France. The first people to receive the vaccinations are the groups thought to be most at risk - baby's under six-months- old, people with heart diseases and personnel of hospitals - who are most likely to be in touch with people infected with the virus. But not everybody is happy about the vaccination, as Jan van der Made reports