Newly-crowned World No 1 Andy Murray has been drawn in a group with Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic for next week&#39;s season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.

On Monday, Murray ended Novak Djokovic&#39;s 122-week reign to become the second-oldest player since John Newcombe in 1974 to debut at 
World No&nbsp;1.

The Briton will start his group round-robin matches against Croatian Cilic at the O2 Arena on November 14,Sport24 reported.In contrast, things look slightly easier for current second-ranked Djokovic as he has been placed with tournament debutants Gael Monfils, Dominic Thiem and Canada&#39;s Milos Raonic.

What makes the Serbian the likely group winner is the fact that he had never suffered a defeat to any of the players in his group before with a 23-0 record.Djokovic will kick off his campaign with a clash against Austria&#39;s Thiem.

Murray is currently 405-point ahead Djokovic in the race to finish the year ranked in the top spot, with 1,500 points up for grabs for a champion who goes undefeated at the World Tour Finals in London.

(ANI)

Murray ended Novak Djokovic's 122-week reign on Monday to become the second-oldest player since John Newcombe in 1974 to debut at World No?1

Newly-crowned World No 1 Andy Murray has been drawn in a group with Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic for next week's season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London. On Monday, Murray ended Novak Djokovic's 122-week reign to become the second-oldest player since John Newcombe in 1974 to debut at World No 1. The Briton will start his group round-robin matches against Croatian Cilic at the O2 Arena on November 14,Sport24 reported.In contrast, things look slightly easier for current second-ranked Djokovic as he has been placed with tournament debutants Gael Monfils, Dominic Thiem and Canada's Milos Raonic. What makes the Serbian the likely group winner is the fact that he had never suffered a defeat to any of the players in his group before with a 23-0 record.Djokovic will kick off his campaign with a clash against Austria's Thiem. Murray is currently 405-point ahead Djokovic in the race to finish the year ranked in the top spot, with 1,500 points up for grabs for a champion who goes undefeated at the World Tour Finals in London. (ANI)

Tennis: Andy Murray handed tough draw at ATP finals

Paris plans to commit 145 million euros ($162 million) for the renovation of stadiums and other infrastructure to ensure it hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics, an official told AFP on Monday. 
 
A Paris City Council meeting scheduled for next week will vote on a resolution that will give mayor Anne Hidalgo the power to sign&nbsp;guarantees mandatory to host the Games.

&quot;It&#39;s a formal stage but at the same time extremely important,&quot; Jean-Francois Martins, Deputy Mayor of Paris responsible for Sport told AFP.

Paris, that has seen a turbulent year due to a series of terror attacks, will compete with Budapest, Los Angeles and Rome to stage the sporting event.&nbsp;

According to AFP,a first dossier on the &quot;concept&quot; of the Games will be decided upon on February 17, followed by a second one on the legal and financial aspects which will be prepared by October 7. 
 
About 30 mn euros will be used to build a second stadium in Bercy, and 21 mn euros on an aquatic centre near the Stade de France in the north of the city.

Paris will also guarantee 4 mn euros to set aside for the future Olympic village, while the&nbsp;overall budget for construction work for the Games is estimated at 3 billion euros. 
 
(WION with inputs fromAFP) 
 
&nbsp;

Paris, that has seen a turbulent year due to a series of terror attacks, is competing with Budapest, Los Angeles and Rome

Paris plans to commit 145 million euros ($162 million) for the renovation of stadiums and other infrastructure to ensure it hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics, an official told AFP on Monday. A Paris City Council meeting scheduled for next week will vote on a resolution that will give mayor Anne Hidalgo the power to sign guarantees mandatory to host the Games. "It's a formal stage but at the same time extremely important," Jean-Francois Martins, Deputy Mayor of Paris responsible for Sport told AFP. Paris, that has seen a turbulent year due to a series of terror attacks, will compete with Budapest, Los Angeles and Rome to stage the sporting event. According to AFP,a first dossier on the "concept" of the Games will be decided upon on February 17, followed by a second one on the legal and financial aspects which will be prepared by October 7. About 30 mn euros will be used to build a second stadium in Bercy, and 21 mn euros on an aquatic centre near the Stade de France in the north of the city. Paris will also guarantee 4 mn euros to set aside for the future Olympic village, while the overall budget for construction work for the Games is estimated at 3 billion euros. (WION with inputs fromAFP)

Paris looks to commit 145 mn euros for  2024 Olympics bid

The militant attacks that have convulsed France in the past 18 months should not weaken France&#39;s bid to host the 2024 Olympics, President Francois Hollande said. 
 
He has warned previously of a long &quot;war&quot; against Islamist militants both at home and abroad, while Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said more attacks on French soil are inevitable. 
 
Several summer festivals have been cancelled because they cannot meet security standards, and on Friday police in Paris arrested an Afghan migrant suspected of plotting an attack on the capital, a police source said. 
 
&quot;Every candidate city faces the question of terrorism,&quot; Hollande said in Friday&#39;s edition of Le Parisien.&nbsp;&quot;No country is immune.&quot; 
 
Hollande arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday to promote France&#39;s bid on the eve of the opening ceremony for the 2016 games in the Brazilian city, just weeks after two deadly attacks by Islamic State loyalists in the cities of Nice and Rouen. 
 
Hollande&#39;s Conservative opponents have been stinging in their criticism of the president&#39;s security track record, calling him soft on suspected militants. More than 200 people have been killed in attacks in France since January 2015. 
 
&quot;Indeed the threat is there, but our country is ready to face up to it. And who knows what the world will look like in 2024,&quot; Hollande said.&nbsp;France has not hosted the summer Olympics since 1924 and narrowly missed out on holding the 2012 games to London. 
 
Traffic police in northern Paris on Friday detained an Afghan migrant a day after security services circulated his photo on suspicion he may be preparing an attack. 
 
The city of Lille said on Friday it was cancelling the annual Lille Braderie, or flea market, because of security risks. The market dates back to the 12th century and organisers claim it is one of the largest such events in Europe. 
 
Special security has been arranged for more than 50 such events and summer festivals this year. 
 
(Reuters)

Summer festivals were cancelled in the past because France could not meet security standards

The militant attacks that have convulsed France in the past 18 months should not weaken France's bid to host the 2024 Olympics, President Francois Hollande said. He has warned previously of a long "war" against Islamist militants both at home and abroad, while Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said more attacks on French soil are inevitable. Several summer festivals have been cancelled because they cannot meet security standards, and on Friday police in Paris arrested an Afghan migrant suspected of plotting an attack on the capital, a police source said. "Every candidate city faces the question of terrorism," Hollande said in Friday's edition of Le Parisien. "No country is immune." Hollande arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday to promote France's bid on the eve of the opening ceremony for the 2016 games in the Brazilian city, just weeks after two deadly attacks by Islamic State loyalists in the cities of Nice and Rouen. Hollande's Conservative opponents have been stinging in their criticism of the president's security track record, calling him soft on suspected militants. More than 200 people have been killed in attacks in France since January 2015. "Indeed the threat is there, but our country is ready to face up to it. And who knows what the world will look like in 2024," Hollande said. France has not hosted the summer Olympics since 1924 and narrowly missed out on holding the 2012 games to London. Traffic police in northern Paris on Friday detained an Afghan migrant a day after security services circulated his photo on suspicion he may be preparing an attack. The city of Lille said on Friday it was cancelling the annual Lille Braderie, or flea market, because of security risks. The market dates back to the 12th century and organisers claim it is one of the largest such events in Europe. Special security has been arranged for more than 50 such events and summer festivals this year. (Reuters)

President Hollande: Militant threat will not affect 2024 French Olympic bid

UN&nbsp;Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Argentina and other large&nbsp;nations&nbsp;to&nbsp;ratify&nbsp;the&nbsp;Paris&nbsp;climate&nbsp;accord&nbsp;at a Buenos Aires conference on Monday, and Argentina&#39;s foreign minister said she hoped the country would do so by the end of the year. 
 
In December 2015, some 195 countries reached an agreement in&nbsp;Paris&nbsp;that obligates states to take concrete measures to curb emissions that contribute to&nbsp;climate&nbsp;change. But the pact will not go into force&nbsp;until it is ratified by 55 countries representing 55 per cent of global greenhouse emissions. 
 
As of now, only 22 countries have done so, many of them small, vulnerable island&nbsp;nations&nbsp;that account for a negligible percentage of emissions. 
 
Ban urged China and the&nbsp;United States, the world&#39;s top two greenhouse gas emitters, to&nbsp;ratify the deal, and also pushed Argentina, Latin America&#39;s third&nbsp;largest economy, to do the same. 
 
&quot;When we add up the two countries&nbsp;greenhouse gas emissions, it comes to almost 40 per cent&quot; of global emissions, Ban said of the&nbsp;United States and China. 
 
&quot;So 55 per cent may not be difficult to achieve, and I urge Argentina to&nbsp;ratify&nbsp;as soon as possible.&quot; 
 
In response, Argentina&#39;s foreign minister, Susana Malcorra, who is running to replace Ban as UN&nbsp;secretary-general, said the&nbsp;accord&nbsp;has already been approved by one chamber of Congress and she hopes Argentina will have it ratified by the next major UN&nbsp;climate&nbsp;summit in December. 
 
At the event in Buenos Aires, Ban also thanked Argentina for a recent commitment to take in 3,000 refugees from various war-torn locations. 
 
&quot;This kind of solidarity, sign of humanity, should be emulated by many people around the world,&quot; Ban said. 
 
(Reuters) 
&nbsp;

Paris accord that obligates states to take concrete measures to curb emissions will not go in force unless ratified by 55 nations

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Argentina and other large nations to ratify the Paris climate accord at a Buenos Aires conference on Monday, and Argentina's foreign minister said she hoped the country would do so by the end of the year. In December 2015, some 195 countries reached an agreement in Paris that obligates states to take concrete measures to curb emissions that contribute to climate change. But the pact will not go into force until it is ratified by 55 countries representing 55 per cent of global greenhouse emissions. As of now, only 22 countries have done so, many of them small, vulnerable island nations that account for a negligible percentage of emissions. Ban urged China and the United States, the world's top two greenhouse gas emitters, to ratify the deal, and also pushed Argentina, Latin America's third largest economy, to do the same. "When we add up the two countries greenhouse gas emissions, it comes to almost 40 per cent" of global emissions, Ban said of the United States and China. "So 55 per cent may not be difficult to achieve, and I urge Argentina to ratify as soon as possible." In response, Argentina's foreign minister, Susana Malcorra, who is running to replace Ban as UN secretary-general, said the accord has already been approved by one chamber of Congress and she hopes Argentina will have it ratified by the next major UN climate summit in December. At the event in Buenos Aires, Ban also thanked Argentina for a recent commitment to take in 3,000 refugees from various war-torn locations. "This kind of solidarity, sign of humanity, should be emulated by many people around the world," Ban said. (Reuters)

UN chief presses large nations to ratify Paris climate accord at earliest

The French economy is headed for a small rebound in the third quarter after zero growth in the previous three months, the Bank of France said today. 
 
Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 0.3 per cent in the current quarter, the central bank said, basing its estimates on a monthly survey of business leaders. 
 
&quot;This rebound concerns most sectors,&quot; the Bank said in a statement, adding however that the automobile industry was an exception, suffering from a slowdown in production. 
 
The services sector was expanding but at a slower pace than previously, it said. 
 
France&#39;s Insee statistics bureau last month said the French economy failed to grow at all in the second quarter, dashing government hopes for a small expansion. 
 
The finance ministry called the flat figure &quot;disappointing&quot;, given that Insee had predicted 0.3 percent growth and the Bank of France 0.2 percent. 
 
According to Insee, 1.1 per cent growth for the full year 2016 is already in the bag, even if the third and fourth quarters turn out to show no growth. 
 
This would, however, fall far short of forecasts by the French government, which last month stood by its 1.5 percent growth estimate for the year. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Gross domestic product is expected to grow by 0.3 per cent in the current quarter, the central bank said?

The French economy is headed for a small rebound in the third quarter after zero growth in the previous three months, the Bank of France said today. Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 0.3 per cent in the current quarter, the central bank said, basing its estimates on a monthly survey of business leaders. "This rebound concerns most sectors," the Bank said in a statement, adding however that the automobile industry was an exception, suffering from a slowdown in production. The services sector was expanding but at a slower pace than previously, it said. France's Insee statistics bureau last month said the French economy failed to grow at all in the second quarter, dashing government hopes for a small expansion. The finance ministry called the flat figure "disappointing", given that Insee had predicted 0.3 percent growth and the Bank of France 0.2 percent. According to Insee, 1.1 per cent growth for the full year 2016 is already in the bag, even if the third and fourth quarters turn out to show no growth. This would, however, fall far short of forecasts by the French government, which last month stood by its 1.5 percent growth estimate for the year. (AFP)

France headed for small rebound in third quarter?

Hosts France enjoyed an uplifting start to Euro 2016 as Dimitri Payet&#39;s superb last-gasp strike bailed out Les Bleus in a 2-1 victory over a stubborn Romania side at the Stade de France on a peaceful night in the capital on Friday. 
 
Starting the month-long tournament amid strikes to protest against a labour law and terror fears seven months after Islamic attacks on Paris killed 130, the national team lightened the mood thanks to Payet&#39;s 20-metre drive into the top corner. 
 
Didier Deschamps&#39; team seemed to be heading for a gloomy draw but a moment of magic from talismanic West Ham United player Payet left the home fans celebrating a memorable win on a serene Paris evening to get the finals off to a fine start. 
 
There were no incidents reported in and around the stadium, where there was a heavy security presence, or at the fan zone, where some 90,000 people were expected to watch the Group A game on giant screens near the Eiffel tower. 
 
French president Francois Hollande, who last November was rushed away from the stadium with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after suicide bombers detonated devices near the arena, was seen shaking hands with fans on his way out on Friday. 
 
Security was tight at the Stade de France and fans had been urged to arrive early to have time to go through a double security perimeter with two successive security checks under the watchful eyes of armed police with bulletproof vests. 
 
There were only cheers inside the stadium, however, as Payet wrapped up the three points following Olivier Giroud&#39;s headed opening goal for the hosts just before the hour that was cancelled out by Bogdan Stancu&#39;s penalty eight minutes later. 
 
A kitsch opening ceremony, featuring about 100 can-can dancers, a techno cover of Edith Piaf&#39;s &#39;La Vie En Rose&#39; and aerobatics by the Patrouille de France jets, launched the event. 
 
France had not played a competitive game in two years and Romania, who had only conceded twice in the qualifying campaign, were a stern reminder that Les Bleus need to be on their toes if they are to win a first title since their Euro 2000 triumph. 
 
&quot;Had we won by two or three goals that might have misled us slightly whereas the fact we won late in the day, that shows there are going to be no easy matches,&quot; man-of-the-match Payet told reporters. 
 
France, who top the group ahead of Saturday&#39;s clash between Albania and Switzerland, got off to a nervous start, looking a pale shadow of the team who breezed past their recent opponents. 
 
Captain Hugo Lloris had to make a point-blank save early on and France failed to manage a shot on target in the first half. 
 
After 57 minutes Giroud silenced his critics when he headed home from Payet&#39;s cross after Romania keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu completely missed the ball as he jumped with the France striker. 
 
Eight minutes later, however, Stancu coolly converted a penalty after Patrice Evra&#39;s clumsy foul on Nicolae Stanciu. 
 
However, the impressive Payet, who had been behind almost every France opportunity, was on hand to save the day. 
 
Collecting the ball from N&#39;Golo Kante, Payet cut inside and struck a vicious drive into the top corner, sending the crowd into raptures. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s quite easy in football when you can bang it into the top corner. It solves quite a lot of problems,&quot; said Deschamps. 
 
&quot;The opening match of a competition is bit like playing in a cup final so we were maybe just a little bit timid in the opening 25 minutes... we put four attacking players on the pitch to try to grind out the victory.&quot; 
 
France next take on Albania in Marseille on Wednesday after Romania play Switzerland in Paris. 
 
On Saturday England take on Russia in Group B amid fears of trouble between their fans in Marseille, where there was a stand-off between supporters on Friday, 18 years after England followers caused chaos in the Port city at the World Cup.

The hosts downed a stubborn Romanian side 2-1

Hosts France enjoyed an uplifting start to Euro 2016 as Dimitri Payet's superb last-gasp strike bailed out Les Bleus in a 2-1 victory over a stubborn Romania side at the Stade de France on a peaceful night in the capital on Friday. Starting the month-long tournament amid strikes to protest against a labour law and terror fears seven months after Islamic attacks on Paris killed 130, the national team lightened the mood thanks to Payet's 20-metre drive into the top corner. Didier Deschamps' team seemed to be heading for a gloomy draw but a moment of magic from talismanic West Ham United player Payet left the home fans celebrating a memorable win on a serene Paris evening to get the finals off to a fine start. There were no incidents reported in and around the stadium, where there was a heavy security presence, or at the fan zone, where some 90,000 people were expected to watch the Group A game on giant screens near the Eiffel tower. French president Francois Hollande, who last November was rushed away from the stadium with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after suicide bombers detonated devices near the arena, was seen shaking hands with fans on his way out on Friday. Security was tight at the Stade de France and fans had been urged to arrive early to have time to go through a double security perimeter with two successive security checks under the watchful eyes of armed police with bulletproof vests. There were only cheers inside the stadium, however, as Payet wrapped up the three points following Olivier Giroud's headed opening goal for the hosts just before the hour that was cancelled out by Bogdan Stancu's penalty eight minutes later. A kitsch opening ceremony, featuring about 100 can-can dancers, a techno cover of Edith Piaf's 'La Vie En Rose' and aerobatics by the Patrouille de France jets, launched the event. France had not played a competitive game in two years and Romania, who had only conceded twice in the qualifying campaign, were a stern reminder that Les Bleus need to be on their toes if they are to win a first title since their Euro 2000 triumph. "Had we won by two or three goals that might have misled us slightly whereas the fact we won late in the day, that shows there are going to be no easy matches," man-of-the-match Payet told reporters. France, who top the group ahead of Saturday's clash between Albania and Switzerland, got off to a nervous start, looking a pale shadow of the team who breezed past their recent opponents. Captain Hugo Lloris had to make a point-blank save early on and France failed to manage a shot on target in the first half. After 57 minutes Giroud silenced his critics when he headed home from Payet's cross after Romania keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu completely missed the ball as he jumped with the France striker. Eight minutes later, however, Stancu coolly converted a penalty after Patrice Evra's clumsy foul on Nicolae Stanciu. However, the impressive Payet, who had been behind almost every France opportunity, was on hand to save the day. Collecting the ball from N'Golo Kante, Payet cut inside and struck a vicious drive into the top corner, sending the crowd into raptures. "It's quite easy in football when you can bang it into the top corner. It solves quite a lot of problems," said Deschamps. "The opening match of a competition is bit like playing in a cup final so we were maybe just a little bit timid in the opening 25 minutes... we put four attacking players on the pitch to try to grind out the victory." France next take on Albania in Marseille on Wednesday after Romania play Switzerland in Paris. On Saturday England take on Russia in Group B amid fears of trouble between their fans in Marseille, where there was a stand-off between supporters on Friday, 18 years after England followers caused chaos in the Port city at the World Cup.

France start Euro 2016 party with win over Romania

UEFA began disciplinary proceedings today against Portugal, Hungary and Belgium for incidents in their Euro 2016 matches the previous day. 
 
Portugal is charged with allowing a pitch invasion, Hungary for allowing crowd disturbances and other offences and Belgium for its fans setting off fireworks and throwing objects. 
 
A fan ran on to the pitch in Portugal&#39;s 0-0 draw with Austria at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Saturday and posed for a selfie with Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. 
 
In Marseille, Hungarian fans clashed with stewards in the Stade Velodrome as they tried to climb a fence to join up with another group of Hungarians before the 1-1 draw with Iceland. 
 
Hungary is also accused of allowing its fans to set off fireworks and throwing objects. 
 
The punishment in that case will be announced on Tuesday. 
 
Belgium also faces charges that its supporters threw fireworks and other objects during the 3-0 win against the Republic of Ireland in Bordeaux. 
 
UEFA said it was yet to decide a date for its disciplinary committee to meet on the cases of Belgium and Portugal. 
(AFP)

A fan ran on to the pitch after Portugal's 0-0 draw with Austria in Paris and posed for a selfie with Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo

UEFA began disciplinary proceedings today against Portugal, Hungary and Belgium for incidents in their Euro 2016 matches the previous day. Portugal is charged with allowing a pitch invasion, Hungary for allowing crowd disturbances and other offences and Belgium for its fans setting off fireworks and throwing objects. A fan ran on to the pitch in Portugal's 0-0 draw with Austria at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Saturday and posed for a selfie with Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. In Marseille, Hungarian fans clashed with stewards in the Stade Velodrome as they tried to climb a fence to join up with another group of Hungarians before the 1-1 draw with Iceland. Hungary is also accused of allowing its fans to set off fireworks and throwing objects. The punishment in that case will be announced on Tuesday. Belgium also faces charges that its supporters threw fireworks and other objects during the 3-0 win against the Republic of Ireland in Bordeaux. UEFA said it was yet to decide a date for its disciplinary committee to meet on the cases of Belgium and Portugal. (AFP)

UEFA opens disciplinary probes against Portugal, Hungary and Belgium

Around six assailants sprayed teargas on Chinese tourists outside a hotel near Paris&#39;s Charles de Gaulle airport today and made off with their luggage, police and rescue services said. 
 
Two tourists and an interpreter were slightly injured and taken to the&nbsp;hospital, rescue workers said. The attack occurred around 8:00 am (0600 GMT) as the tourists were loading their luggage onto a tour bus, police told AFP. 
 
&quot;Several bags and personal effects were taken,&quot; a police official said, adding that the thieves fled the scene and &quot;several passengers were in shock&quot;. 
 
Rescue workers said there were 27 Chinese tourists on a tour run by an Italian company and that the coach driver was Italian. 
 
China has the world&#39;s second-largest economy, and its burgeoning and increasingly solvent middle class is travelling abroad in numbers greater than ever before. 
 
But in many countries, particularly France, their reputation for carrying large amounts of cash has made them a target for thieves. 
 
French authorities tightened security around Chinese tourist groups in 2013 after Beijing expressed concern about the increasing number of incidents. 
 
In September last year, a Chinese tourist guide was robbed of 25,000 Euros ($28,300) in cash and his new Rolex watch after he had prevented two of his group from being robbed themselves outside a hotel in a Paris suburb. 
 
(AFP)

Rescue workers said there were 27 Chinese tourists on a tour run by an Italian company and that the coach driver was Italian

Around six assailants sprayed teargas on Chinese tourists outside a hotel near Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport today and made off with their luggage, police and rescue services said. Two tourists and an interpreter were slightly injured and taken to the hospital, rescue workers said. The attack occurred around 8:00 am (0600 GMT) as the tourists were loading their luggage onto a tour bus, police told AFP. "Several bags and personal effects were taken," a police official said, adding that the thieves fled the scene and "several passengers were in shock". Rescue workers said there were 27 Chinese tourists on a tour run by an Italian company and that the coach driver was Italian. China has the world's second-largest economy, and its burgeoning and increasingly solvent middle class is travelling abroad in numbers greater than ever before. But in many countries, particularly France, their reputation for carrying large amounts of cash has made them a target for thieves. French authorities tightened security around Chinese tourist groups in 2013 after Beijing expressed concern about the increasing number of incidents. In September last year, a Chinese tourist guide was robbed of 25,000 Euros ($28,300) in cash and his new Rolex watch after he had prevented two of his group from being robbed themselves outside a hotel in a Paris suburb. (AFP)

Assailants spray teargas to rob Chinese tourists in Paris

Air France had to scrap 139 long and medium-haul flights today at its Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy, near Paris, on the third day of a strike by&nbsp;flight crew, airport sources said.&nbsp; 
 
The weeklong stoppage began on Tuesday and today saw Paris&#39; other main airport Orly cancel 20 per cent of the carrier&#39;s flights with further medium-haul cancellations likely later in the day, the sources said. Roissy was maintaining more than nine out of ten long-haul and three-quarters of medium-haul flights. 
 
Management said in a statement the carrier would maintain 80 per cent of Saturday flights, the same figure forecast across today. Unions representing around half of the strikers called the stoppage after marathon talks failed to reach a breakthrough on renewing a collective labour accord on rules, pay and promotions that expire&nbsp;in October. 
 
Management want to limit the extension of the agreement to 17 months, whereas unions want between three and five years. The new CEO of the Air France-KLM group, Jean-Marc Janaillac, told daily Le Figaro on Thursday that the strike was &quot;regrettable and aggressive&quot;, coming at the height of the holiday travel period. Unions retorted that management was being &quot;obstinate&quot; in insisting on a shorter accord timeframe. 
 
Air France flights operated by low-cost airlines HOP! and Transavia, as well as KLM and Delta codeshares, were not affected by a stoppage which affected some 30,000 passengers on Thursday. The pilots&#39; last strike, which grounded around 20 per cent of flights on June 11-14 right at the start of Euro 2016, hit France as it was gripped by social unrest over the Socialist government&#39;s labour reforms. Air France estimated that the stoppage cost it some 40 million euros ($45 million). 
 
(AFP)

The weeklong stoppage began on Tuesday and today saw Paris' other main airport Orly cancel 20 per cent of the carrier's flights

Air France had to scrap 139 long and medium-haul flights today at its Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy, near Paris, on the third day of a strike by flight crew, airport sources said. The weeklong stoppage began on Tuesday and today saw Paris' other main airport Orly cancel 20 per cent of the carrier's flights with further medium-haul cancellations likely later in the day, the sources said. Roissy was maintaining more than nine out of ten long-haul and three-quarters of medium-haul flights. Management said in a statement the carrier would maintain 80 per cent of Saturday flights, the same figure forecast across today. Unions representing around half of the strikers called the stoppage after marathon talks failed to reach a breakthrough on renewing a collective labour accord on rules, pay and promotions that expire in October. Management want to limit the extension of the agreement to 17 months, whereas unions want between three and five years. The new CEO of the Air France-KLM group, Jean-Marc Janaillac, told daily Le Figaro on Thursday that the strike was "regrettable and aggressive", coming at the height of the holiday travel period. Unions retorted that management was being "obstinate" in insisting on a shorter accord timeframe. Air France flights operated by low-cost airlines HOP! and Transavia, as well as KLM and Delta codeshares, were not affected by a stoppage which affected some 30,000 passengers on Thursday. The pilots' last strike, which grounded around 20 per cent of flights on June 11-14 right at the start of Euro 2016, hit France as it was gripped by social unrest over the Socialist government's labour reforms. Air France estimated that the stoppage cost it some 40 million euros ($45 million). (AFP)

Air France strike hits 140 Paris hub flights

Evidence gathered in an investigation into the crash of EgyptAir flight 804 in May shows the plane likely broke up midair after a fire near or inside the cockpit that quickly overwhelmed the crew, according to Egyptian officials involved in the inquiry, the New York Times reported.

But officials could not determine whether the fire thought to have caused the crash had been set off by a mechanical malfunction or by a malicious act, the report said.

The findings are based on information from the Airbus A320&rsquo;s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder along with an analysis of the condition and distribution of recovered debris, including human remains, according to forensic and aviation officials in Cairo, the report said.

The officials spoke this week on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly, the New York Times said.

The Airbus A320 from Paris to Cairo plunged into the eastern Mediterranean on May 19 and all 66 people on board were killed. 
 
(Reuters)

It could not be determined whether the fire was caused by a mechanical malfunction or a malicious act, the report said

Evidence gathered in an investigation into the crash of EgyptAir flight 804 in May shows the plane likely broke up midair after a fire near or inside the cockpit that quickly overwhelmed the crew, according to Egyptian officials involved in the inquiry, the New York Times reported. But officials could not determine whether the fire thought to have caused the crash had been set off by a mechanical malfunction or by a malicious act, the report said. The findings are based on information from the Airbus A320’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder along with an analysis of the condition and distribution of recovered debris, including human remains, according to forensic and aviation officials in Cairo, the report said. The officials spoke this week on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly, the New York Times said. The Airbus A320 from Paris to Cairo plunged into the eastern Mediterranean on May 19 and all 66 people on board were killed. (Reuters)

EgyptAir flight 804 broke up midair after fire: New York Times

Links between the Nice truck attacker and &quot;terrorist networks&quot;, including the Islamic State group which has claimed the killings, &quot;have not yet been established by the investigation&quot;, France&#39;s interior minister said today.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We cannot exclude that an unbalanced and very violent individual&quot; has been &quot;through a rapid radicalisation, committed to this absolutely despicable crime,&quot; which killed 84 people, Bernard Cazeneuve told Frances RTL radio. 
 
Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian, rammed a 19-tonne truck into a crowd leaving a fireworks display in the seaside city of Nice on Thursday night, killing 84 people and injuring about 300. 
 
The Islamic State group said one of its &quot;soldiers&quot; carried out the attack in response to its calls to target countries from the US-led coalition engaged in airstrikes against the group. 
 
The attack was the third major terror strike on France in 18 months, and Cazeneuve hit out at opposition politicians who have fiercely criticised the government for not doing enough to stop the bloodshed. 
 
Former president and main opposition leader Nicolas Sarkozy said Sunday that &quot;everything that should have been done the past 18 months was not done&quot;. 
 
Cazeneuve described the politicians as &quot;shameful&quot;. 
 
&quot;Certain members of the political class have not respected the mourning period. Arguments broke out right away which personally saddens and shocks me,&quot; he said. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp;

IS said its "soldier" carried out the attack in response to target countries from US-led coalition engaged in airstrikes against the group

Links between the Nice truck attacker and "terrorist networks", including the Islamic State group which has claimed the killings, "have not yet been established by the investigation", France's interior minister said today. "We cannot exclude that an unbalanced and very violent individual" has been "through a rapid radicalisation, committed to this absolutely despicable crime," which killed 84 people, Bernard Cazeneuve told Frances RTL radio. Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian, rammed a 19-tonne truck into a crowd leaving a fireworks display in the seaside city of Nice on Thursday night, killing 84 people and injuring about 300. The Islamic State group said one of its "soldiers" carried out the attack in response to its calls to target countries from the US-led coalition engaged in airstrikes against the group. The attack was the third major terror strike on France in 18 months, and Cazeneuve hit out at opposition politicians who have fiercely criticised the government for not doing enough to stop the bloodshed. Former president and main opposition leader Nicolas Sarkozy said Sunday that "everything that should have been done the past 18 months was not done". Cazeneuve described the politicians as "shameful". "Certain members of the political class have not respected the mourning period. Arguments broke out right away which personally saddens and shocks me," he said. (AFP)

Links between Nice attacker, IS not yet established: French interior minister

At least 84 are dead, including more than 10 children, after a truck slammed into a crowd late Thursday night in the southern French city of Nice.&nbsp; 
 
About 30 000 were out celebrating France&rsquo;s Bastille Day, their day of liberty. Many families stayed up late to watch the fireworks. Eyewitnesses say the truck was driving at full speed towards the crowds, zigzagging to ensure the driver hit as many people as possible. Parents were seen frantically throwing their children out of harm&rsquo;s way. 
 
The driver, a 31-year-old Frenchman of Tunisian descent, was shot dead by police at the scene. He has been identified by local media as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel. Guns and a grenade were found inside the truck but are reported to be fakes. 
 
According to Tunisian security sources, the attacker Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was married and had three children. He visited Tunisia frequently, the last time eight months ago. 
 
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been in trouble with the police in the past for petty crime, but he was not on the watch list of radicalised young men. 
 
A photograph showed the front of the truck riddled with bullet holes and badly damaged, with burst tyres. 
 
A lone doll lay abandoned on the promenade where families celebrated the holiday just hours earlier. 
 
Robert Holloway, an AFP reporter who witnessed the white truck driving at speed into the crowd, described scenes of &quot;absolute chaos&quot;. 
 
&quot;We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around. I had to protect my face from flying debris,&quot; Holloway said. 
 
On Twitter, people mobilised fast, with citizens offering safe refuge under the hashtag #PortesOuvertesNice (Nice Open Doors). 
 
An account called SOS Nice was set up where desperate pleas for news of missing loved ones went out with pictures of a young girl with braces or a teenager pulling a funny face among those posted. 
 
Some were quickly tracked down, according to relieved tweets. 
 
French President Francois Hollande said 50 injured were in a critical condition &quot;between life and death&rdquo; and many of the victims were foreigners. Two American citizens, a Ukrainian, a Russian and a Swiss woman are among the dead. 
 
Hollande has announced that he will extend the state of emergency for another three months. It has been in place since November&#39;s Paris attacks carried out by Islamic State militants&nbsp;in which 130 died.&nbsp; 
 
&#39;Horrific terrorist attack&#39; 
 
The attack is the third major strike against France in less than 18 months and prosecutors said anti-terrorist investigators will handle the probe. 
 
The Islamic State group has repeatedly singled out France as a prime target for its military actions against the group in Iraq and Syria, and hundreds of jihadists have left France to go and fight in its ranks. 
 
Luc Belmont, a taxi driver in Nice, said &ldquo;the people of Nice are enraged at what has happened and heartbroken too.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
But Belmont believes the blame lies with the authorities. &ldquo;You reap what you sow. These people are getting radicalised in our own jails. We need to stop it there, we have not been dealing with this problem.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
The French police are still dealing with a scene of a mass murder that extends over two kilometres. Before there can be tributes to the victims, they have to fully investigate and clear the crime scene. 
 
World leaders expressed their sadness and their solidarity with France. 
 
US President Barack Obama condemned &quot;in the strongest terms&quot; what he said appeared to be &quot;a horrific terrorist attack in Nice&rdquo; 
 
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote &ldquo;India shares the pain &amp; stands firmly with our French sisters &amp; brothers in this hour of immense sadness.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
While, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she was &quot;shocked and saddened by the horrifying attack in Nice&quot; 
 
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has declared three days of national mourning, starting from Saturday. 
 
&#39;He crushed a lot of people&#39; 
 
The Mediterranean city of Nice, with its pebble beaches and clear blue water, has been a magnet for sun-seekers and the jet-set since the 19th century. 
 
A witness named Nader told BFM television he had seen the whole attack from start to finish&nbsp;and had initially thought the driver had &quot;lost control&quot;. 
 
&quot;I was in the street. He stopped just in front of me after he (crushed) a lot of people. I saw a guy in the street, we were trying to speak to the driver to get him to stop.&quot; 
 
&quot;He looked nervous. There was a girl under the car, he smashed her. The guy next to me pulled her out,&quot; he said in broken English. 
 
Nadr said he saw the driver pull out a gun and start shooting at police. 
 
&quot;They killed him and his head was out the window.&quot; 
 
The Promenade des Anglais was sealed off, crawling with police and ambulances as authorities from the local Alpes-Maritimes prefecture urged residents to stay indoors. 
 
Over the past week, France had been breathing a sigh of relief after successfully hosting the month-long Euro 2016 football championship&nbsp;which passed off without incident despite fears of attacks. 
 
The tournament brought an all-too-brief burst of joy to a gloomy France, bogged down after the two attacks in 2015, violent anti-government protests, strikes and floods. 
 
European Council president Donald Tusk said: &quot;It&#39;s a sad day for France, for Europe, for all of us.&quot; 
 
&quot;The subjects of the attack were people celebrating liberty, equality and fraternity.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from AFP)

Driver shot dead. Authorities find identity papers belonging to a 31-year-old French-Tunisian citizen in the truck

At least 84 are dead, including more than 10 children, after a truck slammed into a crowd late Thursday night in the southern French city of Nice. About 30 000 were out celebrating France’s Bastille Day, their day of liberty. Many families stayed up late to watch the fireworks. Eyewitnesses say the truck was driving at full speed towards the crowds, zigzagging to ensure the driver hit as many people as possible. Parents were seen frantically throwing their children out of harm’s way. The driver, a 31-year-old Frenchman of Tunisian descent, was shot dead by police at the scene. He has been identified by local media as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel. Guns and a grenade were found inside the truck but are reported to be fakes. According to Tunisian security sources, the attacker Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was married and had three children. He visited Tunisia frequently, the last time eight months ago. Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been in trouble with the police in the past for petty crime, but he was not on the watch list of radicalised young men. A photograph showed the front of the truck riddled with bullet holes and badly damaged, with burst tyres. A lone doll lay abandoned on the promenade where families celebrated the holiday just hours earlier. Robert Holloway, an AFP reporter who witnessed the white truck driving at speed into the crowd, described scenes of "absolute chaos". "We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around. I had to protect my face from flying debris," Holloway said. On Twitter, people mobilised fast, with citizens offering safe refuge under the hashtag #PortesOuvertesNice (Nice Open Doors). An account called SOS Nice was set up where desperate pleas for news of missing loved ones went out with pictures of a young girl with braces or a teenager pulling a funny face among those posted. Some were quickly tracked down, according to relieved tweets. French President Francois Hollande said 50 injured were in a critical condition "between life and death” and many of the victims were foreigners. Two American citizens, a Ukrainian, a Russian and a Swiss woman are among the dead. Hollande has announced that he will extend the state of emergency for another three months. It has been in place since November's Paris attacks carried out by Islamic State militants in which 130 died. 'Horrific terrorist attack' The attack is the third major strike against France in less than 18 months and prosecutors said anti-terrorist investigators will handle the probe. The Islamic State group has repeatedly singled out France as a prime target for its military actions against the group in Iraq and Syria, and hundreds of jihadists have left France to go and fight in its ranks. Luc Belmont, a taxi driver in Nice, said “the people of Nice are enraged at what has happened and heartbroken too.” But Belmont believes the blame lies with the authorities. “You reap what you sow. These people are getting radicalised in our own jails. We need to stop it there, we have not been dealing with this problem.” The French police are still dealing with a scene of a mass murder that extends over two kilometres. Before there can be tributes to the victims, they have to fully investigate and clear the crime scene. World leaders expressed their sadness and their solidarity with France. US President Barack Obama condemned "in the strongest terms" what he said appeared to be "a horrific terrorist attack in Nice” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote “India shares the pain & stands firmly with our French sisters & brothers in this hour of immense sadness.” While, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she was "shocked and saddened by the horrifying attack in Nice" French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has declared three days of national mourning, starting from Saturday. 'He crushed a lot of people' The Mediterranean city of Nice, with its pebble beaches and clear blue water, has been a magnet for sun-seekers and the jet-set since the 19th century. A witness named Nader told BFM television he had seen the whole attack from start to finish and had initially thought the driver had "lost control". "I was in the street. He stopped just in front of me after he (crushed) a lot of people. I saw a guy in the street, we were trying to speak to the driver to get him to stop." "He looked nervous. There was a girl under the car, he smashed her. The guy next to me pulled her out," he said in broken English. Nadr said he saw the driver pull out a gun and start shooting at police. "They killed him and his head was out the window." The Promenade des Anglais was sealed off, crawling with police and ambulances as authorities from the local Alpes-Maritimes prefecture urged residents to stay indoors. Over the past week, France had been breathing a sigh of relief after successfully hosting the month-long Euro 2016 football championship which passed off without incident despite fears of attacks. The tournament brought an all-too-brief burst of joy to a gloomy France, bogged down after the two attacks in 2015, violent anti-government protests, strikes and floods. European Council president Donald Tusk said: "It's a sad day for France, for Europe, for all of us." "The subjects of the attack were people celebrating liberty, equality and fraternity." (WION with inputs from AFP)

At least 84 dead in Nice, France after 19-tonne truck ploughs two kilometres through Bastille Day crowd

The city&#39;s transport authority RATP says that while stairs make most Metro stations off limits to the disabled, the situation is better with buses and commuter trains. 
 
&quot;All of the buses in Paris are accessible, meaning 70 per cent of their stops are accessible for people in a wheelchair,&quot; Marie Christine Raoult, RATP&#39;s accessibility specialist, told AFP. 
 
Invisible 
 
Many businesses are not adapted for wheelchair users in a city where steps abound, notably at entrances, and Paris&#39;s many old historic buildings pose daunting architectural challenges to efforts to render them accessible. 
 
Birambeau&#39;s own family was forced to move to an apartment building with a lift when he was a child. And the accessibility issue prevented him from attending the same school as his brother. 
 
&quot;I was the only one in a wheelchair,&quot; he said. &quot;At the time, people weren&#39;t used to handicapped people. We were invisible in a way.&quot; 
 
Since the 1970s, people like Birambeau have become more &quot;visible&quot; and the government has taken note. 
 
In February 2005, it passed a law guaranteeing rights for the disabled, who today make up nearly one-fifth of France&#39;s 65 million residents. 
 
The new legislation was hailed as a turning point, notably for the two to three percent disabled who are wheelchair-bound, about 400,000 people. 
 
And while the situation has improved, with specially adapted public toilets, handicapped parking places and an official, multilingual website listing parks, theatres, cinemas, stores, swimming pools and other accessible city facilities, progress has been slow. 
 
The 2005 law led to requirements for businesses to make their premises more accessible, said Paris-based disability lawyer Alexandra Grevin. 
 
Firms were given 10 years, until 2015, to submit their accessibility plans, he said, and then another three years to implement them, installing ramps and other physical adaptations. 
 
A vicious cycle 
 
Yet still, &quot;nine out of 10 shops are not accessible,&quot; said Charlotte de Vilmorin, founder of Wheeliz, a Paris-based organisation that helps people find adapted vehicles around France. 
 
&quot;Paris is one of the most difficult places to live in a wheelchair,&quot; said the 26-year-old, who has been in one all her life. 
 
While many want to make their shops more accessible, she said, the stringent requirements for access ramps, handle bars and other details are not easy to meet during an economic slump. 
 
&quot;Wheelchair users just can&#39;t go out, so people do not see wheelchair users. Because they do not see them, they do not see the need for accessibility,&quot; she said. 
 
Sometimes, &quot;when I call a shop to ask if it is accessible they don&#39;t know, because they don&#39;t even know what accessible means.&quot; 
 
Both Vilmorin and Birambeau are clearly filling a niche as their businesses thrive. 
 
Launched in May 2015, Wheeliz now has 2,700 subscribers and in January it won a 50,000 euro ($56,000) social innovation prize from the European Commission. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s a universal need , to be able to go wherever you want,&quot; Vilmorin said. 
 
(AFP)

The French government guaranteed rights for the differently-abled by passing a law in 2005, but accessibility remains a distant dream

The city's transport authority RATP says that while stairs make most Metro stations off limits to the disabled, the situation is better with buses and commuter trains. "All of the buses in Paris are accessible, meaning 70 per cent of their stops are accessible for people in a wheelchair," Marie Christine Raoult, RATP's accessibility specialist, told AFP. Invisible Many businesses are not adapted for wheelchair users in a city where steps abound, notably at entrances, and Paris's many old historic buildings pose daunting architectural challenges to efforts to render them accessible. Birambeau's own family was forced to move to an apartment building with a lift when he was a child. And the accessibility issue prevented him from attending the same school as his brother. "I was the only one in a wheelchair," he said. "At the time, people weren't used to handicapped people. We were invisible in a way." Since the 1970s, people like Birambeau have become more "visible" and the government has taken note. In February 2005, it passed a law guaranteeing rights for the disabled, who today make up nearly one-fifth of France's 65 million residents. The new legislation was hailed as a turning point, notably for the two to three percent disabled who are wheelchair-bound, about 400,000 people. And while the situation has improved, with specially adapted public toilets, handicapped parking places and an official, multilingual website listing parks, theatres, cinemas, stores, swimming pools and other accessible city facilities, progress has been slow. The 2005 law led to requirements for businesses to make their premises more accessible, said Paris-based disability lawyer Alexandra Grevin. Firms were given 10 years, until 2015, to submit their accessibility plans, he said, and then another three years to implement them, installing ramps and other physical adaptations. A vicious cycle Yet still, "nine out of 10 shops are not accessible," said Charlotte de Vilmorin, founder of Wheeliz, a Paris-based organisation that helps people find adapted vehicles around France. "Paris is one of the most difficult places to live in a wheelchair," said the 26-year-old, who has been in one all her life. While many want to make their shops more accessible, she said, the stringent requirements for access ramps, handle bars and other details are not easy to meet during an economic slump. "Wheelchair users just can't go out, so people do not see wheelchair users. Because they do not see them, they do not see the need for accessibility," she said. Sometimes, "when I call a shop to ask if it is accessible they don't know, because they don't even know what accessible means." Both Vilmorin and Birambeau are clearly filling a niche as their businesses thrive. Launched in May 2015, Wheeliz now has 2,700 subscribers and in January it won a 50,000 euro ($56,000) social innovation prize from the European Commission. "It's a universal need , to be able to go wherever you want," Vilmorin said. (AFP)

Paris: An obstacle course for wheelchair users?

The damaged black box flight recorders of an EgyptAir plane that crashed into the Mediterranean last month are to be sent to France for repairs, the Egyptian investigative committee said on Thursday. 
 
It said the memory units were damaged from the two recorders recovered from the seabed almost a month after the crash of the Airbus A320. 
 
Investigators hope the recorders will reveal the cause of the May 19 crash of flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo, in which 66 people were killed. 
 
&quot;The memory units of the two flights recorders were damaged,&quot; the investigative committee said in a statement. 
 
It said members of the panel would travel to France next week &quot;with the electronic circuits of the two black boxes to have them repaired in laboratories of the (French air safety agency) BEA and to eliminate salt deposits&quot;. 
 
The repaired units would be returned to Cairo for analysis in Egypt&#39;s aviation ministry laboratories, the committee said. 
 
It also said that French forensic doctors would join their Egyptian counterparts to take part in the recovery operations of body remains at the site of the crash, in which 30 Egyptian passengers and 15 French nationals were among the dead. 
 
The investigative committee began examining the black boxes last Saturday in the presence of representatives from France and the United States, where the engine was made. 
 
The data on the boxes are being unloaded, before they are fully analysed in a procedure that is expected to last several weeks. 
Investigators have said it is too early to determine what caused the plane to crash, although a terror attack has not been ruled out. 
 
France&#39;s aviation safety agency has said the aircraft transmitted automated messages indicating smoke in the cabin and a fault in the flight control unit minutes before it disappeared. 
 
Egyptian investigators have confirmed the aircraft had made a 90-degree left turn followed by a 360-degree turn to the right before hitting the sea. 
 
The crash came after the bombing of a Russian airliner over Egypt&#39;s restive Sinai Peninsula last October that killed all 224 people on board. 
 
(AFP)

French forensic doctors will join the Egyptian investigation agency in revealing the cause of the May 19 crash that killed 86 people

The damaged black box flight recorders of an EgyptAir plane that crashed into the Mediterranean last month are to be sent to France for repairs, the Egyptian investigative committee said on Thursday. It said the memory units were damaged from the two recorders recovered from the seabed almost a month after the crash of the Airbus A320. Investigators hope the recorders will reveal the cause of the May 19 crash of flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo, in which 66 people were killed. "The memory units of the two flights recorders were damaged," the investigative committee said in a statement. It said members of the panel would travel to France next week "with the electronic circuits of the two black boxes to have them repaired in laboratories of the (French air safety agency) BEA and to eliminate salt deposits". The repaired units would be returned to Cairo for analysis in Egypt's aviation ministry laboratories, the committee said. It also said that French forensic doctors would join their Egyptian counterparts to take part in the recovery operations of body remains at the site of the crash, in which 30 Egyptian passengers and 15 French nationals were among the dead. The investigative committee began examining the black boxes last Saturday in the presence of representatives from France and the United States, where the engine was made. The data on the boxes are being unloaded, before they are fully analysed in a procedure that is expected to last several weeks. Investigators have said it is too early to determine what caused the plane to crash, although a terror attack has not been ruled out. France's aviation safety agency has said the aircraft transmitted automated messages indicating smoke in the cabin and a fault in the flight control unit minutes before it disappeared. Egyptian investigators have confirmed the aircraft had made a 90-degree left turn followed by a 360-degree turn to the right before hitting the sea. The crash came after the bombing of a Russian airliner over Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula last October that killed all 224 people on board. (AFP)

Egypt fails to retrieve data from black boxes of crashed EgyptAir plane, flight recorders to be sent to Paris

Two men linked to a jihadist who killed a French police officer and his partner were charged and detained by an anti-terror court on Saturday. 
 
Saad Rajraji, 27, and Charaf-Din Aberouz, 29, were charged with having links to a terrorist group, but were not found to have any connection to the IS-inspired murder of the police couple carried out by Larossi Abballa last Monday. 
 
The two men had been convicted along with Abballa in September 2013 as part of a network to send jihadists to Pakistan, judicial sources close to the investigation said. 
 
A third man arrested in the case was released without charge. 
 
Abballa, a convicted radical who had been under surveillance, murdered the police officer and his partner outside their home and then was killed himself in a police raid. 
 
Before he was killed, Abballa posted a live Facebook video of himself in which he admitted the murders and urged fellow jihadists to carry out more bloodshed. 
 
Monday`s assault in a small town northwest of Paris was the first deadly strike in France since the coordinated attacks in the capital by an Islamic State cell in November, which killed 130 people. 
(AFP)

The men were charged with having links to a terrorist group, but they had no connection to the murder of the French couple

Two men linked to a jihadist who killed a French police officer and his partner were charged and detained by an anti-terror court on Saturday. Saad Rajraji, 27, and Charaf-Din Aberouz, 29, were charged with having links to a terrorist group, but were not found to have any connection to the IS-inspired murder of the police couple carried out by Larossi Abballa last Monday. The two men had been convicted along with Abballa in September 2013 as part of a network to send jihadists to Pakistan, judicial sources close to the investigation said. A third man arrested in the case was released without charge. Abballa, a convicted radical who had been under surveillance, murdered the police officer and his partner outside their home and then was killed himself in a police raid. Before he was killed, Abballa posted a live Facebook video of himself in which he admitted the murders and urged fellow jihadists to carry out more bloodshed. Monday`s assault in a small town northwest of Paris was the first deadly strike in France since the coordinated attacks in the capital by an Islamic State cell in November, which killed 130 people. (AFP)

2 linked to French police killer charged

Delving into the history of a family art business she once shunned, French celebrity journalist Anne&nbsp;Sinclair&nbsp;is returning to public life by reconnecting with her roots.

She was France&#39;s star television interviewer in the 1980s and 1990s. But her gilded life was upended five years ago when her husband, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was arrested in New York on charges, since dropped, of sexual harassment of a hotel maid.

While U.S. prosecutors investigated the case that forced the Socialist politician to resign as managing director of the International Monetary Fund and abandon plans to run for president in France,&nbsp;Sinclair&nbsp;stood by her man in public - before divorcing him after their return to Paris.

She used some of their &quot;sad, enforced stay&quot; in New York to research a book on her grandfather, Paul Rosenberg, one of Europe&#39;s greatest 20th century art merchants, who was the exclusive dealer of Picasso, Braque and Matisse.

&quot;When I was growing up, my family told me a lot about him but I wanted to be on my own and make my career outside of the art family,&quot;&nbsp;Sinclair, 67, now editorial director of the French edition of the Huffington Post online newspaper, told Reuters in an interview.

More than 60 masterpieces that went through Rosenberg&#39;s galleries in Paris and New York - some looted by the Nazis and recovered after World War Two - will go on display for the first time together in the Belgian city of Liege in September.

The exhibition of works from public and private collections, including a couple of&nbsp;Sinclair&#39;s personal heirlooms, will tell the story of &quot;21 rue La Boetie&quot;, the address of Rosenberg&#39;s pre-war Paris gallery. It was raided by the Nazis in 1940 and handed to their French collaborators, who turned it into an anti-Semitic propaganda centre.

&quot;A gallery that was a temple of art became a temple of horror,&quot;&nbsp;Sinclair&nbsp;said.

The Pompidou Centre and the Picasso Museum in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Vienna&#39;s Albertinum, all former customers of Rosenberg, who died in 1959, and of his son Alexandre, who ran the gallery after his death until 1987, are lending works for the show.

Sinclair&nbsp;said her grandfather took big commercial risks to promote the work of his proteges Picasso, Braque, Matisse and Leger before their avant garde styles were widely acclaimed. He sold works by Impressionist masters to pay for their canvases, but only sold his first Picasso as late as 1925.

&quot;He had to sell a lot of other paintings to buy the modern art he believed in,&quot;&nbsp;Sinclair&nbsp;said. Rosenberg built friendships with his artists, documented in many letters preserved in family archives. Picasso became a neighbour and close friend.

When the Jewish merchant and his family fled Paris in 1940, during the phoney war before Germany invaded France, Matisse visited him in a rented house near Bordeaux for long conversations about beauty, nature and art as the drums of war beat ever closer.

After the family emigrated to the United States a few weeks later, French informers helped the German embassy locate and remove paintings Rosenberg had hidden at the house and in a bank vault in the nearby town of Libourne.

Sinclair&nbsp;said Rosenberg, a private man who eschewed the social life of his wealthy clients and had left-wing political sympathies, was painfully aware that he was a merchant with an eye for art, but not a creator himself.

Nowadays, Rosenberg might be categorised as belonging to the &quot;caviar left&quot;,&nbsp;Sinclair&nbsp;said, citing a label often applied by critics to herself and Strauss-Kahn because of their lifestyle.

&quot;That&#39;s typically French... If you are rich, you have to be on the right,&quot; she said. &quot;I was accused a lot of being from the &#39;caviar left&#39; because I&#39;m a bourgeoise. I earned my living by my work with comfort, and it&#39;s always an accusation.&quot; 
(Reuters)

Sinclair's grandfather, Paul Rosenberg, was one of the greatest art merchants in Europe and exclusive dealer of Picasso,Braque and Matisse

Delving into the history of a family art business she once shunned, French celebrity journalist Anne Sinclair is returning to public life by reconnecting with her roots. She was France's star television interviewer in the 1980s and 1990s. But her gilded life was upended five years ago when her husband, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was arrested in New York on charges, since dropped, of sexual harassment of a hotel maid. While U.S. prosecutors investigated the case that forced the Socialist politician to resign as managing director of the International Monetary Fund and abandon plans to run for president in France, Sinclair stood by her man in public - before divorcing him after their return to Paris. She used some of their "sad, enforced stay" in New York to research a book on her grandfather, Paul Rosenberg, one of Europe's greatest 20th century art merchants, who was the exclusive dealer of Picasso, Braque and Matisse. "When I was growing up, my family told me a lot about him but I wanted to be on my own and make my career outside of the art family," Sinclair, 67, now editorial director of the French edition of the Huffington Post online newspaper, told Reuters in an interview. More than 60 masterpieces that went through Rosenberg's galleries in Paris and New York - some looted by the Nazis and recovered after World War Two - will go on display for the first time together in the Belgian city of Liege in September. The exhibition of works from public and private collections, including a couple of Sinclair's personal heirlooms, will tell the story of "21 rue La Boetie", the address of Rosenberg's pre-war Paris gallery. It was raided by the Nazis in 1940 and handed to their French collaborators, who turned it into an anti-Semitic propaganda centre. "A gallery that was a temple of art became a temple of horror," Sinclair said. The Pompidou Centre and the Picasso Museum in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Vienna's Albertinum, all former customers of Rosenberg, who died in 1959, and of his son Alexandre, who ran the gallery after his death until 1987, are lending works for the show. Sinclair said her grandfather took big commercial risks to promote the work of his proteges Picasso, Braque, Matisse and Leger before their avant garde styles were widely acclaimed. He sold works by Impressionist masters to pay for their canvases, but only sold his first Picasso as late as 1925. "He had to sell a lot of other paintings to buy the modern art he believed in," Sinclair said. Rosenberg built friendships with his artists, documented in many letters preserved in family archives. Picasso became a neighbour and close friend. When the Jewish merchant and his family fled Paris in 1940, during the phoney war before Germany invaded France, Matisse visited him in a rented house near Bordeaux for long conversations about beauty, nature and art as the drums of war beat ever closer. After the family emigrated to the United States a few weeks later, French informers helped the German embassy locate and remove paintings Rosenberg had hidden at the house and in a bank vault in the nearby town of Libourne. Sinclair said Rosenberg, a private man who eschewed the social life of his wealthy clients and had left-wing political sympathies, was painfully aware that he was a merchant with an eye for art, but not a creator himself. Nowadays, Rosenberg might be categorised as belonging to the "caviar left", Sinclair said, citing a label often applied by critics to herself and Strauss-Kahn because of their lifestyle. "That's typically French... If you are rich, you have to be on the right," she said. "I was accused a lot of being from the 'caviar left' because I'm a bourgeoise. I earned my living by my work with comfort, and it's always an accusation." (Reuters)

France's Sinclair mines family art history for comeback

They call him the &quot;Picasso of patisserie,&quot; the man who has made his melt-in-the-mouth macarons an international object of desire. 
 
Pierre Herme, who the &quot;World&#39;s 50 Best Restaurants&quot; classification crowned best pastry chef Monday, has elevated the simple but delicate French specialty into an artform. 
 
But the larger than life creator, the fourth generation of a family of master bakers from the Alsace region of eastern France, started out not liking macarons at all. 
 
&quot;I found them too sweet,&quot; Herme -- who dreamed of being a cake maker since he was nine -- told AFP. 
 
That&#39;s why he dedicated himself to making the soft little meringue-like biscuits made of almond flour, egg whites and sugar, a great deal more exciting. 
 
&quot;What prompted me to work on macarons was that before there were just coffee, chocolate and vanilla flavours,&quot; he added. &quot;So it gave me great latitude for creativity.&quot; 
 
Astonishing inventiveness quickly became Herme&#39;s trademark. 
 
He married unlikely ingredients and fillings such as olive oil and vanilla, or wild rose hip, fig and foie gras to exquisite effect, insisting that sugar should be used as a &quot;seasoning and not a principal ingredient.&quot; 
 
Instead, his famous laboratory near Parc Monceau in central Paris works on the intensity of taste, turning out such classics as the &quot;Ispahan&quot; -- made with raspberries, lychee and rosewater -- and the &quot;Mogador,&quot; a sublime combination of passion fruit and milk chocolate. 
 
- &#39;Dior of desserts&#39; - 
Despite his mother&#39;s protestations, Herme apprenticed himself to the great Parisian patissier Gaston Lenotre at the age 14 before leaving to join the rival house Fauchon a few years later. 
 
Having spent the 1980s developing his art -- during which time he also worked for Laduree, famous for its pastel-coloured macarons -- he went out on his own in 1997. 
 
The following year, he opened his first shop in Japan, and soon his creations were becoming objects of conspicuous consumption, often given as presents in beautifully designed boxes. 
 
Herme insisted constant experimentation is the root of his success. 
 
He begins each new creation with a drawing and by writing out the recipe, often inspired by &quot;something I have tasted, something I have read or maybe an image,&quot; he told AFP. 
 
He then calls in his team of patisserie chefs who work in his laboratory, which is housed in the 19th-century Parisian mansion where he has his office. 
 
But not all of his ideas are successful. 
 
&quot;For example, we worked on a pear and chestnut macaron. But after three attempts, we had to admit that we were never going to make one that had both the true taste of pear and of chestnut at the same time,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;So I decided to make a chestnut one and a pear one and sell them together.&quot; 
 
Herme, 54, who keeps all the notes from his experiments in his archive, is also a longtime collaborator with artists and perfumiers, including Jean-Michel Duriez, the &quot;nose&quot; of the Rochas brand of perfume. 
 
The French artist Nicolas Buffe has decorated his new chocolate boxes with drawings in his &quot;fairytale Manga&quot; style. 
 
Although Herme long ago expanded into tarts, cakes, chocolates and jams, the core of his business remains macarons, which cost 2.10 euros ($2.36) each in his Paris boutiques. 
 
&quot;I consider the creation of pastries as an Art with a capital &#39;A&#39;... just like music, painting or sculpture,&quot; Herme proclaims on his website. 
 
And the &quot;Dior of desserts&quot; also rejoices in the revival of high-end patisserie in France, which he has to some degree inspired. 
 
&quot;There are more and more talented patissiers out there opening shops and doing great things in hotels and restaurants. The profession is very much alive and there are lots of people eager to learn, which is wonderful,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;Twenty years ago when you said that you wanted to be a patissier, people would say, &#39;Really?&#39;&quot; Herme added. 
 
&quot;From the age of nine I wanted to be a patissier. My mother tried to talk me out of it, but it didn&#39;t work.&quot;

One wouldn't have guessed but Pierre Herme, the fourth generation of a family of master bakers, started out not liking macarons

They call him the "Picasso of patisserie," the man who has made his melt-in-the-mouth macarons an international object of desire. Pierre Herme, who the "World's 50 Best Restaurants" classification crowned best pastry chef Monday, has elevated the simple but delicate French specialty into an artform. But the larger than life creator, the fourth generation of a family of master bakers from the Alsace region of eastern France, started out not liking macarons at all. "I found them too sweet," Herme -- who dreamed of being a cake maker since he was nine -- told AFP. That's why he dedicated himself to making the soft little meringue-like biscuits made of almond flour, egg whites and sugar, a great deal more exciting. "What prompted me to work on macarons was that before there were just coffee, chocolate and vanilla flavours," he added. "So it gave me great latitude for creativity." Astonishing inventiveness quickly became Herme's trademark. He married unlikely ingredients and fillings such as olive oil and vanilla, or wild rose hip, fig and foie gras to exquisite effect, insisting that sugar should be used as a "seasoning and not a principal ingredient." Instead, his famous laboratory near Parc Monceau in central Paris works on the intensity of taste, turning out such classics as the "Ispahan" -- made with raspberries, lychee and rosewater -- and the "Mogador," a sublime combination of passion fruit and milk chocolate. - 'Dior of desserts' - Despite his mother's protestations, Herme apprenticed himself to the great Parisian patissier Gaston Lenotre at the age 14 before leaving to join the rival house Fauchon a few years later. Having spent the 1980s developing his art -- during which time he also worked for Laduree, famous for its pastel-coloured macarons -- he went out on his own in 1997. The following year, he opened his first shop in Japan, and soon his creations were becoming objects of conspicuous consumption, often given as presents in beautifully designed boxes. Herme insisted constant experimentation is the root of his success. He begins each new creation with a drawing and by writing out the recipe, often inspired by "something I have tasted, something I have read or maybe an image," he told AFP. He then calls in his team of patisserie chefs who work in his laboratory, which is housed in the 19th-century Parisian mansion where he has his office. But not all of his ideas are successful. "For example, we worked on a pear and chestnut macaron. But after three attempts, we had to admit that we were never going to make one that had both the true taste of pear and of chestnut at the same time," he said. "So I decided to make a chestnut one and a pear one and sell them together." Herme, 54, who keeps all the notes from his experiments in his archive, is also a longtime collaborator with artists and perfumiers, including Jean-Michel Duriez, the "nose" of the Rochas brand of perfume. The French artist Nicolas Buffe has decorated his new chocolate boxes with drawings in his "fairytale Manga" style. Although Herme long ago expanded into tarts, cakes, chocolates and jams, the core of his business remains macarons, which cost 2.10 euros ($2.36) each in his Paris boutiques. "I consider the creation of pastries as an Art with a capital 'A'... just like music, painting or sculpture," Herme proclaims on his website. And the "Dior of desserts" also rejoices in the revival of high-end patisserie in France, which he has to some degree inspired. "There are more and more talented patissiers out there opening shops and doing great things in hotels and restaurants. The profession is very much alive and there are lots of people eager to learn, which is wonderful," he said. "Twenty years ago when you said that you wanted to be a patissier, people would say, 'Really?'" Herme added. "From the age of nine I wanted to be a patissier. My mother tried to talk me out of it, but it didn't work."

Picasso of Patisserie: This man is the world's best pastry maker

President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger called on Tuesday for France to strengthen military operations against West African Islamist militants, including Boko Haram, after its fighters carried out a deadly attack on a Nigerien town. 
 
France currently has some 3,500 troops spread across five countries - Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso - in the region as part of a two-year-old operation to hunt down jihadists. 
 
Paris also assists West African states in the fight against the Nigeria-based Boko Haram with intelligence, logistics and training, but does not have combat troops directly involved. 
 
&quot;We want ... a strengthening of this operation across the Sahel, including to address the threats we are facing today with Boko Haram,&quot; Issoufou told reporters after a meeting with French President Fran?ois Hollande in Paris. 
 
Hollande said earlier, during the same press conference, that France would back the multinational force - that includes Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin - in its fight against Boko Haram, without giving further details. 
 
Boko Haram killed 26 Nigerien soldiers when it stormed and seized the southeastern town of Bosso on June 3. The attack, one of the deadliest by Boko Haram in Niger, spurred neighbouring Chad to send in 2,000 troops to prepare a counter-attack. 
 
&quot;We hope France will continue to support us in terms of intelligence and operational capacities to deal with this extremely dangerous threat,&quot; Issoufou said in Paris. 
 
France said in April it would increase the number of its troops in Ivory Coast to counter growing jihadist threats in the region, and could deploy them further afield if needed. 
 
But the French military, also involved in the US-led coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, has been overstretched since last year&#39;s IS attacks on Paris that led authorities to deploy around 10,000 troops in France.

Paris assists West Africa in the fight against Boko Haram with intelligence, logistics and training, but no combat troops directly involved

President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger called on Tuesday for France to strengthen military operations against West African Islamist militants, including Boko Haram, after its fighters carried out a deadly attack on a Nigerien town. France currently has some 3,500 troops spread across five countries - Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso - in the region as part of a two-year-old operation to hunt down jihadists. Paris also assists West African states in the fight against the Nigeria-based Boko Haram with intelligence, logistics and training, but does not have combat troops directly involved. "We want ... a strengthening of this operation across the Sahel, including to address the threats we are facing today with Boko Haram," Issoufou told reporters after a meeting with French President Fran?ois Hollande in Paris. Hollande said earlier, during the same press conference, that France would back the multinational force - that includes Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin - in its fight against Boko Haram, without giving further details. Boko Haram killed 26 Nigerien soldiers when it stormed and seized the southeastern town of Bosso on June 3. The attack, one of the deadliest by Boko Haram in Niger, spurred neighbouring Chad to send in 2,000 troops to prepare a counter-attack. "We hope France will continue to support us in terms of intelligence and operational capacities to deal with this extremely dangerous threat," Issoufou said in Paris. France said in April it would increase the number of its troops in Ivory Coast to counter growing jihadist threats in the region, and could deploy them further afield if needed. But the French military, also involved in the US-led coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, has been overstretched since last year's IS attacks on Paris that led authorities to deploy around 10,000 troops in France.

Niger President asks France to boost operations against Islamist militants

A convicted radical who killed a French police couple in an IS-inspired stabbing was carrying a &quot;hit list&quot; of VIPs and urged followers to turn Euro 2016 into a &quot;graveyard&quot;, officials said. 
 
Monday&#39;s assault in the Paris suburb of Magnanville was the first deadly strike in France since the coordinated attacks in the capital by an Islamic State cell in November, which killed 130 people. 
 
The killings also took place barely 36 hours after the massacre at a gay club in Orlando by an IS-inspired gunman, and French President Francois Hollande spoke by telephone with his US counterpart Barack Obama to discuss the terror threat. 
 
&quot;Both leaders reaffirmed their shared commitment to degrading and destroying ISIL and standing against the broader scourge of terrorism,&quot; the White House said in a statement on Tuesday, using another name for the group. 
 
In a separate incident in France on Tuesday, a man with known psychiatric problems stabbed a teenage girl in the western city of Rennes, saying he heard voices telling him to make a &quot;sacrifice&quot; for Ramadan. 
 
The 32-year-old man was sent to a psychiatric hospital after stabbing the girl twice in the wrist and once in the abdomen, leaving her in serious condition, prosecutor Nicolas Jacquet told AFP. 
 
In Monday night&#39;s assault, Larossi Abballa, who was under surveillance after serving time for links to jihadist networks, stabbed 42-year-old police commander Jean-Baptiste Salvaing outside his home. 
 
He took Salvaing&#39;s 36-year-old partner Jessica Schneider and the couple&#39;s three-year-old son hostage in the house and killed the woman by slitting her throat. 
 
Before he was killed in a police raid, Abballa posted a live Facebook video of himself with the child in which he admitted the murders and urged fellow jihadists to carry out more bloodshed. 
 
He referenced Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, an IS spokesman who had called in an audio message for attacks on Europe and the United States during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. 
 
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Abballa, a 25-year-old from the nearby suburb of Mantes-la-Jolie, told police negotiators before his death that he had sworn loyalty to IS three weeks earlier. 
 
The jihadist group claimed the attack in a statement issued by the Amaq news agency, a regular conduit for IS announcements. 
 
Three suspects held 
 
Molins said police had found a hit list at the scene naming police and VIPS including journalists and rappers to be targeted. 
 
They also found three knives, one of them covered in blood. 
 
Three associates of Abballa have been arrested over the attack, Molins said, one of them among a group convicted alongside him in 2013 over their involvement in a network recruiting jihadists for Pakistan. 
 
Monday&#39;s stabbings come with France on high alert during the Euro tournament, with up to 90,000 police and security guards deployed to ensure the safety of local and visiting fans. 
 
In his Facebook video, which was seen by AFP, Abballa called on supporters to attack police, journalists, public figures, prison guards and rappers and to &quot;turn the Euro into a graveyard&quot;. 
 
The video was later removed from the social network, with Facebook adding in a statement: &quot;We are working closely with the French authorities as they deal with this terrible crime&quot;. 
 
&quot;A new horror threshold has been breached,&quot; Prime Minister Manuel Valls told parliament, which observed a minute&#39;s silence for the victims of both the Orlando and the Magnanville attacks. Hollande was set to visit the interior ministry for a further minute&#39;s silence on Wednesday. 
 
A further minute&#39;s silence was planned at France&#39;s interior ministry on Wednesday. 
 
&#39;Paying a heavy price&#39; 
 
The couple&#39;s deaths are the first police fatalities in a jihadist attack since January 2015 when gunmen attacked the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper, a Jewish supermarket and the police, killing 17 people including three officers. 
 
Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Monday&#39;s killings showed the gravity of the threat to security forces &quot;who are paying a heavy price to ensure the safety of the French&quot;. 
 
Police unions announced they had secured the right for officers to remain armed while off duty, which has until now only been allowed under the state of emergency declared after November&#39;s Paris attacks. 
(AFP)

Larossi Abballa posted a live Facebook video, before he was killed in a police raid, urging fellow jihadists to carry out more bloodshed

A convicted radical who killed a French police couple in an IS-inspired stabbing was carrying a "hit list" of VIPs and urged followers to turn Euro 2016 into a "graveyard", officials said. Monday's assault in the Paris suburb of Magnanville was the first deadly strike in France since the coordinated attacks in the capital by an Islamic State cell in November, which killed 130 people. The killings also took place barely 36 hours after the massacre at a gay club in Orlando by an IS-inspired gunman, and French President Francois Hollande spoke by telephone with his US counterpart Barack Obama to discuss the terror threat. "Both leaders reaffirmed their shared commitment to degrading and destroying ISIL and standing against the broader scourge of terrorism," the White House said in a statement on Tuesday, using another name for the group. In a separate incident in France on Tuesday, a man with known psychiatric problems stabbed a teenage girl in the western city of Rennes, saying he heard voices telling him to make a "sacrifice" for Ramadan. The 32-year-old man was sent to a psychiatric hospital after stabbing the girl twice in the wrist and once in the abdomen, leaving her in serious condition, prosecutor Nicolas Jacquet told AFP. In Monday night's assault, Larossi Abballa, who was under surveillance after serving time for links to jihadist networks, stabbed 42-year-old police commander Jean-Baptiste Salvaing outside his home. He took Salvaing's 36-year-old partner Jessica Schneider and the couple's three-year-old son hostage in the house and killed the woman by slitting her throat. Before he was killed in a police raid, Abballa posted a live Facebook video of himself with the child in which he admitted the murders and urged fellow jihadists to carry out more bloodshed. He referenced Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, an IS spokesman who had called in an audio message for attacks on Europe and the United States during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Abballa, a 25-year-old from the nearby suburb of Mantes-la-Jolie, told police negotiators before his death that he had sworn loyalty to IS three weeks earlier. The jihadist group claimed the attack in a statement issued by the Amaq news agency, a regular conduit for IS announcements. Three suspects held Molins said police had found a hit list at the scene naming police and VIPS including journalists and rappers to be targeted. They also found three knives, one of them covered in blood. Three associates of Abballa have been arrested over the attack, Molins said, one of them among a group convicted alongside him in 2013 over their involvement in a network recruiting jihadists for Pakistan. Monday's stabbings come with France on high alert during the Euro tournament, with up to 90,000 police and security guards deployed to ensure the safety of local and visiting fans. In his Facebook video, which was seen by AFP, Abballa called on supporters to attack police, journalists, public figures, prison guards and rappers and to "turn the Euro into a graveyard". The video was later removed from the social network, with Facebook adding in a statement: "We are working closely with the French authorities as they deal with this terrible crime". "A new horror threshold has been breached," Prime Minister Manuel Valls told parliament, which observed a minute's silence for the victims of both the Orlando and the Magnanville attacks. Hollande was set to visit the interior ministry for a further minute's silence on Wednesday. A further minute's silence was planned at France's interior ministry on Wednesday. 'Paying a heavy price' The couple's deaths are the first police fatalities in a jihadist attack since January 2015 when gunmen attacked the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper, a Jewish supermarket and the police, killing 17 people including three officers. Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Monday's killings showed the gravity of the threat to security forces "who are paying a heavy price to ensure the safety of the French". Police unions announced they had secured the right for officers to remain armed while off duty, which has until now only been allowed under the state of emergency declared after November's Paris attacks. (AFP)

IS-inspired radical in French cop stabbing had a 'hit list'

India has agreed to work towards joining the Paris Agreement on climate change this year, India and the United States said on Tuesday, pushing the international fight to curb global warming ahead.

President Barack Obama welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra&nbsp;Modi&nbsp;to the White House for their seventh meeting since&nbsp;Modi&nbsp;took office in 2014, underscoring the warm relationship between the leaders and the world&#39;s two largest democracies.&nbsp;

&quot;We discussed how we can, as quickly as possible, bring the Paris Agreement into force,&quot; Obama said. Climate change is a legacy issue for the US president who leaves office in January.India&#39;s potential entrance into the agreement this year would help accelerate its enactment, perhaps years ahead of schedule. India is the world&rsquo;s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China and the United States.

Obama and&nbsp;Modi&nbsp;agreed to work together on an &quot;ambitious&quot; amendment to an international pact known as the Montreal Protocol to reduce hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs),&nbsp;a&nbsp;potent greenhouse gas.

The two countries said India would take steps to join the Paris agreement this year.

&quot;India and the United States recognise the urgency of climate change and share the goal of enabling entry into force of the Paris Agreement as early as possible,&quot; the joint statement said.

&quot;The United States reaffirms its commitment to join the agreement as soon as possible this year. India similarly has begun its processes to work toward this shared objective.&quot;

The agreement, forged in 2015, will take effect when at least 55 countries representing 55 per cent of global emissions ratify it. By late last month 17 small countries had ratified it, according to the United Nations, and many others including the United States and China have pledged to do so in 2016.

Environmental groups had hoped&nbsp;Modi&nbsp;would say that India was ready to ratify the agreement during his Washington trip.

&ldquo;With India now on board, a growing chorus&nbsp;of countries are seeking to bring the Paris Agreement into full effect as soon as possible,&quot;&nbsp;said Andrew Steer, president of the World Resources Institute.&nbsp;

Environmental groups had hoped?Modi?would say that India was ready to ratify the agreement during his Washington trip

India has agreed to work towards joining the Paris Agreement on climate change this year, India and the United States said on Tuesday, pushing the international fight to curb global warming ahead. President Barack Obama welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House for their seventh meeting since Modi took office in 2014, underscoring the warm relationship between the leaders and the world's two largest democracies. "We discussed how we can, as quickly as possible, bring the Paris Agreement into force," Obama said. Climate change is a legacy issue for the US president who leaves office in January.India's potential entrance into the agreement this year would help accelerate its enactment, perhaps years ahead of schedule. India is the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China and the United States. Obama and Modi agreed to work together on an "ambitious" amendment to an international pact known as the Montreal Protocol to reduce hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a potent greenhouse gas. The two countries said India would take steps to join the Paris agreement this year. "India and the United States recognise the urgency of climate change and share the goal of enabling entry into force of the Paris Agreement as early as possible," the joint statement said. "The United States reaffirms its commitment to join the agreement as soon as possible this year. India similarly has begun its processes to work toward this shared objective." The agreement, forged in 2015, will take effect when at least 55 countries representing 55 per cent of global emissions ratify it. By late last month 17 small countries had ratified it, according to the United Nations, and many others including the United States and China have pledged to do so in 2016. Environmental groups had hoped Modi would say that India was ready to ratify the agreement during his Washington trip. “With India now on board, a growing chorus of countries are seeking to bring the Paris Agreement into full effect as soon as possible," said Andrew Steer, president of the World Resources Institute.

In boost to Paris climate pact, India says it aims to join this year

When Moroccan-born former boxer Mohamed Idrissi orders a young man out of his gym for smoking, the respect is tangible.

The youngster stubs out his cigarette and leaves, head bowed. Inside the gym, the muted thud of leather gloves striking punchbags resumes. &nbsp;

Idrissi&#39;s influence goes beyond his job as a coach at the Brussels Boxing Academy, near the Molenbeek district of the Belgian capital where Islamist militants, several of them of Moroccan origin, planned last year&#39;s deadly Paris attacks.

He also has an informal role mentoring youths facing what Reuters interviews with local officials, social workers and residents of Molenbeek suggest is a growing feeling of alienation and increasingly tense relations with police.

Building trust in communities such as Molenbeek is seen by police as vital for gathering intelligence and countering the threat of Islamic State, and respected local figures like Idrissi have a part to play.

&quot;Boxing is a philosophy which I tell them to apply in life,&quot; Idrissi said of his young boxers at the gym in a primary school in central Brussels, across an industrial-era canal from the halal shops, tea parlours and mosques of Molenbeek.

&quot;I tell them: &#39;You have to fight to be Belgian&#39;,&quot; said the 34-year-old, who deserted from the Moroccan military police a decade ago while taking part in a boxing competition.

Since the Nov. 13 bloodshed in Paris, security has been tightened in Molenbeek, a district described by its own mayor as a &quot;breeding ground&quot; for violence, and many Muslims say they feel stigmatised.

Idrissi is angered by frequent police checks of people with Moroccan roots which he sees as racial profiling although police deny this. But he bites his tongue in the presence of young men to avoid repeating &quot;the kind of comments we warn parents can feed into their radicalisation.&quot;

Some parents, he says, have turned to him to talk their sons out of plans to join Islamist militants in Syria. Police also visited the gym this year as part of a programme to improve their image with youngsters.

At least five men who trained there have travelled to Syria. One, Ayoub Bazarouj, was detained in December on suspicion of having links to the Paris attacks, in which 130 people were killed. He was released in January without charge.

Another, Ahmed Dahmani, was arrested in Turkey last year on suspicion of scouting out sites for the militant strikes. Police released a photograph of Dahmani at the gym, holding his fists up as if ready to throw a punch at the camera. Belgium asked for his extradition from Turkey earlier this year.

Idrissi declined comment when asked about his interaction with police over some of his young charges going to Syria.

&nbsp;

&quot;LATENT ISLAMOPHOBIA&quot;

A failure to stop the militant cell behind the Paris attacks from carrying out more bombings -- 32 people were killed in bombings on the Brussels metro and at the city&#39;s international airport on March 22 -- has highlighted the police lack of knowledge of Molenbeek and their few ties with its residents.

The police are also hard pressed to overcome the fear of IS that discourages possible informants. One resident, Hawa Keita, has received death threats since informing on the network that enticed her son to Syria and says: &quot;We live in fear.&quot;

Having eyes on the ground is vital for plugging the intelligence gaps, many officers say.

&quot;It&#39;s not enough to bug phones: you need to know what you are listening for,&quot; Andre Jacob, a former head of Belgium&#39;s State Security agency, the Surete de l&#39;Etat.

As in similar communities across Europe, Belgian police are struggling to build bridges with young Muslims at the same time as they hunt for militants. They have carried out dozens of raids and arrests in Belgium in recent months.

The Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities (UNIA), an advocacy group which also works with police on rights issues, says the number of calls to its hot lines complaining about alleged abuse by police has jumped since the Paris attacks.

Its director, Patrick Charlier, witnessed what he called latent Islamophobia in workshops his organisation conducted with police before the Paris attacks. Such sentiment, he suggests, is now out in the open.

&quot;We all of a sudden had a number of cases (of complaints against police),&quot; Charlier said, but declined to give figures, saying it was too soon to assess.

Residents in Molenbeek are angered by some of the comments made about the Muslim population in Belgium, including the interior minister&#39;s suggestion that many Muslims danced in celebration after the Brussels bombings.

&quot;Being rejected, relegated to trash schools, it&#39;s not surprising it ends in bombs,&quot; said 48-year-old Milodi Rahma. &quot;We are doubly victimised: victims of IS and of Islamophobia.&quot;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

&quot;US AND THEM&quot;

Belgium has announced a 39-million-euro ($44 million) plan to improve police coordination in Brussels, including boosting staff in Molenbeek for the first time in two decades. The district now has an eight-person unit, whose task is to prevent radicalistion.

But tight budgets means police can end up wearing two hats.

&quot;One day they&#39;re taking part in a big violent raid and the next they&#39;re supposed to go out and chat,&quot; said Vincent Gilles, who heads the Belgian police union. &quot;A community policeman needs to be seen ... as a partner, not an enemy.&quot;

The suspicion cuts both ways in Molenbeek, where the IS cell spent months planning the Paris carnage and where one suspect, Salah Abdeslam, hid with what many officers believe was the blessing of the community.

&quot;You can&#39;t tell me no one knew where he was,&quot; said Kris Vanstraeten, a police inspector in the area.

When police did find him, some youths hurled glass bottles and insults at them.

Molenbeek mayor Fran?oise Schepmans, who made her comment about the district of 95,000 being a nest of violence two days after the Paris attacks, says the police have a difficult role and relations are as good as they can be.

&quot;It&#39;s there to handle security, not to babysit,&quot; she said.

But she says too few police know the areas where they operate. Of 50 federal officers sent to work in Molenbeek after the March bombings, none was even from the capital.

&quot;Sometimes we have young policemen who arrive and say &#39;Uh-oh, where am I?&#39;,&quot; said local police spokesman Johan Berckmans.

Acknowledging that breaking down barriers was difficult, he said: &quot;It&#39;s always a question of &#39;us and them&#39;.&quot;

The failure to stop the Paris attacks highlighted police's lack of knowledge of Molenbeek, a Belgian district where Islamist militants planned attacks, and their alienation from its residents.

When Moroccan-born former boxer Mohamed Idrissi orders a young man out of his gym for smoking, the respect is tangible. The youngster stubs out his cigarette and leaves, head bowed. Inside the gym, the muted thud of leather gloves striking punchbags resumes. Idrissi's influence goes beyond his job as a coach at the Brussels Boxing Academy, near the Molenbeek district of the Belgian capital where Islamist militants, several of them of Moroccan origin, planned last year's deadly Paris attacks. He also has an informal role mentoring youths facing what Reuters interviews with local officials, social workers and residents of Molenbeek suggest is a growing feeling of alienation and increasingly tense relations with police. Building trust in communities such as Molenbeek is seen by police as vital for gathering intelligence and countering the threat of Islamic State, and respected local figures like Idrissi have a part to play. "Boxing is a philosophy which I tell them to apply in life," Idrissi said of his young boxers at the gym in a primary school in central Brussels, across an industrial-era canal from the halal shops, tea parlours and mosques of Molenbeek. "I tell them: 'You have to fight to be Belgian'," said the 34-year-old, who deserted from the Moroccan military police a decade ago while taking part in a boxing competition. Since the Nov. 13 bloodshed in Paris, security has been tightened in Molenbeek, a district described by its own mayor as a "breeding ground" for violence, and many Muslims say they feel stigmatised. Idrissi is angered by frequent police checks of people with Moroccan roots which he sees as racial profiling although police deny this. But he bites his tongue in the presence of young men to avoid repeating "the kind of comments we warn parents can feed into their radicalisation." Some parents, he says, have turned to him to talk their sons out of plans to join Islamist militants in Syria. Police also visited the gym this year as part of a programme to improve their image with youngsters. At least five men who trained there have travelled to Syria. One, Ayoub Bazarouj, was detained in December on suspicion of having links to the Paris attacks, in which 130 people were killed. He was released in January without charge. Another, Ahmed Dahmani, was arrested in Turkey last year on suspicion of scouting out sites for the militant strikes. Police released a photograph of Dahmani at the gym, holding his fists up as if ready to throw a punch at the camera. Belgium asked for his extradition from Turkey earlier this year. Idrissi declined comment when asked about his interaction with police over some of his young charges going to Syria. "LATENT ISLAMOPHOBIA" A failure to stop the militant cell behind the Paris attacks from carrying out more bombings -- 32 people were killed in bombings on the Brussels metro and at the city's international airport on March 22 -- has highlighted the police lack of knowledge of Molenbeek and their few ties with its residents. The police are also hard pressed to overcome the fear of IS that discourages possible informants. One resident, Hawa Keita, has received death threats since informing on the network that enticed her son to Syria and says: "We live in fear." Having eyes on the ground is vital for plugging the intelligence gaps, many officers say. "It's not enough to bug phones: you need to know what you are listening for," Andre Jacob, a former head of Belgium's State Security agency, the Surete de l'Etat. As in similar communities across Europe, Belgian police are struggling to build bridges with young Muslims at the same time as they hunt for militants. They have carried out dozens of raids and arrests in Belgium in recent months. The Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities (UNIA), an advocacy group which also works with police on rights issues, says the number of calls to its hot lines complaining about alleged abuse by police has jumped since the Paris attacks. Its director, Patrick Charlier, witnessed what he called latent Islamophobia in workshops his organisation conducted with police before the Paris attacks. Such sentiment, he suggests, is now out in the open. "We all of a sudden had a number of cases (of complaints against police)," Charlier said, but declined to give figures, saying it was too soon to assess. Residents in Molenbeek are angered by some of the comments made about the Muslim population in Belgium, including the interior minister's suggestion that many Muslims danced in celebration after the Brussels bombings. "Being rejected, relegated to trash schools, it's not surprising it ends in bombs," said 48-year-old Milodi Rahma. "We are doubly victimised: victims of IS and of Islamophobia." "US AND THEM" Belgium has announced a 39-million-euro ($44 million) plan to improve police coordination in Brussels, including boosting staff in Molenbeek for the first time in two decades. The district now has an eight-person unit, whose task is to prevent radicalistion. But tight budgets means police can end up wearing two hats. "One day they're taking part in a big violent raid and the next they're supposed to go out and chat," said Vincent Gilles, who heads the Belgian police union. "A community policeman needs to be seen ... as a partner, not an enemy." The suspicion cuts both ways in Molenbeek, where the IS cell spent months planning the Paris carnage and where one suspect, Salah Abdeslam, hid with what many officers believe was the blessing of the community. "You can't tell me no one knew where he was," said Kris Vanstraeten, a police inspector in the area. When police did find him, some youths hurled glass bottles and insults at them. Molenbeek mayor Fran?oise Schepmans, who made her comment about the district of 95,000 being a nest of violence two days after the Paris attacks, says the police have a difficult role and relations are as good as they can be. "It's there to handle security, not to babysit," she said. But she says too few police know the areas where they operate. Of 50 federal officers sent to work in Molenbeek after the March bombings, none was even from the capital. "Sometimes we have young policemen who arrive and say 'Uh-oh, where am I?'," said local police spokesman Johan Berckmans. Acknowledging that breaking down barriers was difficult, he said: "It's always a question of 'us and them'."

Alienation grows in Brussels district that bred Paris attackers

Fans spent more time looking at the murky Parisian sky than watching&nbsp;tennis on Tuesday as French Open organisers were accused of &quot;not caring about the players&quot; after the event was disrupted by more rain following the previous day&#39;s washout.

Czech seventh seed Thomas Berdych summed up everyone&#39;s frustration on a day when nine hours of play was lost by tweeting: &quot;Hey @AustralianOpen can you send us one roof here to Paris?! You have 3 down there.&quot;

The inability to play under cover, with Roland Garros being the only one of the four grand slam venues that does not have a court with a retractable roof, certainly proved costly for Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep -- fourth-round losers in the only two matches that were completed on day 10.

With the fixture list piling up, the women in top seed Serena Williams&#39; half of the draw would now need to play on four successive days to win the title if the final takes place on Saturday as scheduled -- though more rain is forecast.

World number one Novak Djokovic and the men in his half of the draw, including Berdych, can also forget about enjoying the traditional rest days between each round as they would have to play on four of the next five days to contest Sunday&#39;s final.

Radwanska, the world number two, and 2014 runner-up Halep --who both started their last-16 matches on Sunday -- were forced to play in misty rain on Tuesday as organisers made a desperate attempt to clear the huge backlog.

&quot;No one cares about the players in my opinion,&quot; sixth seed Halep said after she was beaten 7-6(0) 6-3 by Australian Sam Stosur in a battle of former finalists.

&quot;It was impossible to play. To play&nbsp;tennis&nbsp;matches during the rain is a bit too much. I was close to getting injured with my back... but no one cares.&quot;

Radwanska had been leading Bulgaria&#39;s Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2 3-0 when rain halted play on Sunday.

When the match resumed more than 40 hours later, the Polish second seed suffered a monumental meltdown as she lost 10 successive games in a 2-6 6-3 6-3 defeat by an opponent ranked 100 places below her.

&quot;I&#39;m just so surprised and angry that we have to play in the rain. I mean, it&#39;s not a $10,000 tournament. It&#39;s a grand slam,&quot; said Radwanska, the highest seed to exit the tournament.

&quot;How can you allow players to play in the rain? I cannot play in that condition. They really don&#39;t care what we think.&quot;

Ernests Gulbis and David Goffin did get on court for their fourth round showdown but took matters into their own hands by marching back into the locker room even before organisers had a chance to make a call.

It was a decision that Halep welcomed. &quot;Good. Well done to them,&quot; the Romanian said as she gave them a thumbs-up.

While matches at the three other majors -- Wimbledon (grass), Australian and U.S. Opens (both hardcourts) -- are halted at the first sight of any raindrops, the brittle claycourt surface at Roland Garros means competitors are often told to play on in drizzle.

Roger Federer did just that in the 2009 men&#39;s final when he beat Robin Soderling to win his solitary French Open trophy.

Unsurprisingly, Pironkova did not think Tuesday&#39;s conditions were unplayable, though she acknowledged they were far from ideal.

&quot;Well, it&#39;s happened before, of course. We have played in all sorts of conditions,&quot; said the Bulgarian, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2010.

&quot;Usually if the court is not fit for play, like if it&#39;s slippery, they would cancel the match right away. But today the court was still hanging in, it was okay. We could have played, and so we did.&quot;

Radwanska and Halep&#39;s exit meant that at least five of the top eight women&#39;s seeds failed to make their allotted quarter-final spots.

Only two of 10 scheduled matches were completed as the claycourt major suffered its sixth day of showers, with Djokovic -- leading Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6 6-4 4-1 -- one of 16 players still stranded in the fourth round.

Rain has caused havoc at the clay courts leaving players and spectators unhappy

Fans spent more time looking at the murky Parisian sky than watching tennis on Tuesday as French Open organisers were accused of "not caring about the players" after the event was disrupted by more rain following the previous day's washout. Czech seventh seed Thomas Berdych summed up everyone's frustration on a day when nine hours of play was lost by tweeting: "Hey @AustralianOpen can you send us one roof here to Paris?! You have 3 down there." The inability to play under cover, with Roland Garros being the only one of the four grand slam venues that does not have a court with a retractable roof, certainly proved costly for Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep -- fourth-round losers in the only two matches that were completed on day 10. With the fixture list piling up, the women in top seed Serena Williams' half of the draw would now need to play on four successive days to win the title if the final takes place on Saturday as scheduled -- though more rain is forecast. World number one Novak Djokovic and the men in his half of the draw, including Berdych, can also forget about enjoying the traditional rest days between each round as they would have to play on four of the next five days to contest Sunday's final. Radwanska, the world number two, and 2014 runner-up Halep --who both started their last-16 matches on Sunday -- were forced to play in misty rain on Tuesday as organisers made a desperate attempt to clear the huge backlog. "No one cares about the players in my opinion," sixth seed Halep said after she was beaten 7-6(0) 6-3 by Australian Sam Stosur in a battle of former finalists. "It was impossible to play. To play tennis matches during the rain is a bit too much. I was close to getting injured with my back... but no one cares." Radwanska had been leading Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2 3-0 when rain halted play on Sunday. When the match resumed more than 40 hours later, the Polish second seed suffered a monumental meltdown as she lost 10 successive games in a 2-6 6-3 6-3 defeat by an opponent ranked 100 places below her. "I'm just so surprised and angry that we have to play in the rain. I mean, it's not a $10,000 tournament. It's a grand slam," said Radwanska, the highest seed to exit the tournament. "How can you allow players to play in the rain? I cannot play in that condition. They really don't care what we think." Ernests Gulbis and David Goffin did get on court for their fourth round showdown but took matters into their own hands by marching back into the locker room even before organisers had a chance to make a call. It was a decision that Halep welcomed. "Good. Well done to them," the Romanian said as she gave them a thumbs-up. While matches at the three other majors -- Wimbledon (grass), Australian and U.S. Opens (both hardcourts) -- are halted at the first sight of any raindrops, the brittle claycourt surface at Roland Garros means competitors are often told to play on in drizzle. Roger Federer did just that in the 2009 men's final when he beat Robin Soderling to win his solitary French Open trophy. Unsurprisingly, Pironkova did not think Tuesday's conditions were unplayable, though she acknowledged they were far from ideal. "Well, it's happened before, of course. We have played in all sorts of conditions," said the Bulgarian, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2010. "Usually if the court is not fit for play, like if it's slippery, they would cancel the match right away. But today the court was still hanging in, it was okay. We could have played, and so we did." Radwanska and Halep's exit meant that at least five of the top eight women's seeds failed to make their allotted quarter-final spots. Only two of 10 scheduled matches were completed as the claycourt major suffered its sixth day of showers, with Djokovic -- leading Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6 6-4 4-1 -- one of 16 players still stranded in the fourth round.

French Open organizers under fire for growing backlog

Sam Stosur powered into the French Open quarter-finals on Tuesday with a straight sets win against Simona Halep, adapting better to damp and heavy conditions that her higher-ranked Romanian opponent called unsafe.

In a match between two former Roland Garros finalists that spanned three days, which was often punctuated by drizzle and twice suspended due to rain, the 21st-seeded Australian overcame a slow start to beat Halep 7-6(0) 6-3.

In her fourth Roland Garros quarter-final, Stosur will face 102nd-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova after the Bulgarian&#39;s shock three-set win over world number two Agnieszka Radwanska, who also criticised Tuesday&#39;s playing conditions.

Organisers lost a whole day&#39;s play on Monday, the tournament&#39;s first washout since 2000.

Stosur&#39;s win was her first against Halep in their last five encounters and marked a sharp turnaround from their previous clash in April, also on clay, in the Madrid Open semi-final, which the Romanian won 6-2 6-0.

&quot;Madrid was not a good night for me, and ...obviously you get this opportunity to play her again in a big match,&quot; Stosur told a news conference.

&quot;Heavy, wet conditions like this don&#39;t typically help me too much, but I think today I was able to use them better (than Halep).&quot;

Halep agreed.

&quot;It was impossible to play, in my opinion,&quot; she told reporters while praising her opponent. &quot;I don&#39;t care that I lost the match today, but I was close to injuring my back... I didn&#39;t feel safe on court.&quot;

The first rain stoppage in the match was late on Sunday with Halep leading 5-3, the Romanian&#39;s steady pummelling of Stosur&#39;s weaker backhand side having paid off in the seventh game when she took the Australian&#39;s serve on her third break point.

But Stosur, who lost the 2010 final in Paris to Italy&#39;s Francesca Schiavone, was much the sharper when the players resumed on Tuesday.

She consistently served around 20 km/h (12 mph) faster than her opponent and peppered the lines on both sides of the court with forehand groundstrokes that gradually wore down Halep&#39;s defences.

Stosur broke back in the 10th game before, after two service holds, blitzing the tiebreak 7-0.

Stosur then broke again at the start of the second set and led 3-2 until play was suspended again when steady drizzle turned heavier, dropping just one further game to close out the match as Halep continued to struggle in the rain-sodden conditions.

Samantha Stosur defeated number six seed Simona Halep to book her berth in the last eight

Sam Stosur powered into the French Open quarter-finals on Tuesday with a straight sets win against Simona Halep, adapting better to damp and heavy conditions that her higher-ranked Romanian opponent called unsafe. In a match between two former Roland Garros finalists that spanned three days, which was often punctuated by drizzle and twice suspended due to rain, the 21st-seeded Australian overcame a slow start to beat Halep 7-6(0) 6-3. In her fourth Roland Garros quarter-final, Stosur will face 102nd-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova after the Bulgarian's shock three-set win over world number two Agnieszka Radwanska, who also criticised Tuesday's playing conditions. Organisers lost a whole day's play on Monday, the tournament's first washout since 2000. Stosur's win was her first against Halep in their last five encounters and marked a sharp turnaround from their previous clash in April, also on clay, in the Madrid Open semi-final, which the Romanian won 6-2 6-0. "Madrid was not a good night for me, and ...obviously you get this opportunity to play her again in a big match," Stosur told a news conference. "Heavy, wet conditions like this don't typically help me too much, but I think today I was able to use them better (than Halep)." Halep agreed. "It was impossible to play, in my opinion," she told reporters while praising her opponent. "I don't care that I lost the match today, but I was close to injuring my back... I didn't feel safe on court." The first rain stoppage in the match was late on Sunday with Halep leading 5-3, the Romanian's steady pummelling of Stosur's weaker backhand side having paid off in the seventh game when she took the Australian's serve on her third break point. But Stosur, who lost the 2010 final in Paris to Italy's Francesca Schiavone, was much the sharper when the players resumed on Tuesday. She consistently served around 20 km/h (12 mph) faster than her opponent and peppered the lines on both sides of the court with forehand groundstrokes that gradually wore down Halep's defences. Stosur broke back in the 10th game before, after two service holds, blitzing the tiebreak 7-0. Stosur then broke again at the start of the second set and led 3-2 until play was suspended again when steady drizzle turned heavier, dropping just one further game to close out the match as Halep continued to struggle in the rain-sodden conditions.

Stosur overpowers Halep to make French quarters

Fans were left wet and miserable at a soggy Roland Garros on Tuesday -- but not as drenched or depressed as Agnieszka Radwanska, after the world number two&#39;s French Open hopes fizzled out following a monumental meltdown against Tsvetana Pironkova.

Leading her Bulgarian rival 6-2 3-0 when rain halted play on Sunday, Radwanska appeared to have one foot in the quarter-finals.

However, when the fourth-round tussle resumed more than 40 hours later following Monday&#39;s washout, the Polish second seed seemed all at sea as the players were forced to play through misty rain.

She lost 10 games in a row as she fell to a 2-6 6-3 6-3 defeat by an opponent ranked 100 places below her.

&quot;I&#39;m just so surprised and angry that we have to play in the rain,&quot; Radwanska told reporters.

&quot;I mean, it&#39;s not a $10,000 tournament. It&#39;s a grand slam. How can you allow players to play in the rain? I cannot play in that conditions.&quot;

While Radwanska became the highest-ranked player to exit this year&#39;s French Open tournament, her defeat also meant that at least five of the top eight women&#39;s seeds failed to make their allotted quarter-final spots.

Radwanska, playing with a full-sleeved white top over her sleeveless pink dress, struggled to handle the heavy conditions and the sodden balls on Court Suzanne Lenglen and lost six games in a row to surrender the second set with a forehand error.

A further two hour 45 minute rain disruption failed to improve Radwanska&#39;s mood or her fortunes as she fell 4-0 behind in the third set.

The 27-year-old, who called on the trainer to get treatment on her right hand midway through the decider, eventually halted Pironkova&#39;s run by breaking the Bulgarian in the fifth game.

But Radwanska could not avoid the embarrassment of being beaten by a player ranked outside the top 100 for the first time in more than seven years when she netted a forehand on Pironkova&#39;s second match point.

&quot;I had hand surgery few years ago and I couldn&#39;t really play&nbsp;in that conditions. End of story,&quot; a fuming Radwanska said.&nbsp;&quot;For me, playing with those balls in that kind of court is pretty much impossible.&quot;

A match that lasted just two hours and 12 minutes on court finally finished at 4.18 pm local time on Monday, almost 46 hours after it had started on Sunday.

&quot;It was very difficult with all the rain as we were waiting almost two days to finish the match,&quot; a beaming Pironkova said after becoming the first Bulgarian woman to reach the quarter-finals since Sesil Karantantcheva in 2005.

&quot;But I can&#39;t complain.&quot;

World number two Agnieszka Radwanska suffered a shock defeat at the hands of 102-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova

Fans were left wet and miserable at a soggy Roland Garros on Tuesday -- but not as drenched or depressed as Agnieszka Radwanska, after the world number two's French Open hopes fizzled out following a monumental meltdown against Tsvetana Pironkova. Leading her Bulgarian rival 6-2 3-0 when rain halted play on Sunday, Radwanska appeared to have one foot in the quarter-finals. However, when the fourth-round tussle resumed more than 40 hours later following Monday's washout, the Polish second seed seemed all at sea as the players were forced to play through misty rain. She lost 10 games in a row as she fell to a 2-6 6-3 6-3 defeat by an opponent ranked 100 places below her. "I'm just so surprised and angry that we have to play in the rain," Radwanska told reporters. "I mean, it's not a $10,000 tournament. It's a grand slam. How can you allow players to play in the rain? I cannot play in that conditions." While Radwanska became the highest-ranked player to exit this year's French Open tournament, her defeat also meant that at least five of the top eight women's seeds failed to make their allotted quarter-final spots. Radwanska, playing with a full-sleeved white top over her sleeveless pink dress, struggled to handle the heavy conditions and the sodden balls on Court Suzanne Lenglen and lost six games in a row to surrender the second set with a forehand error. A further two hour 45 minute rain disruption failed to improve Radwanska's mood or her fortunes as she fell 4-0 behind in the third set. The 27-year-old, who called on the trainer to get treatment on her right hand midway through the decider, eventually halted Pironkova's run by breaking the Bulgarian in the fifth game. But Radwanska could not avoid the embarrassment of being beaten by a player ranked outside the top 100 for the first time in more than seven years when she netted a forehand on Pironkova's second match point. "I had hand surgery few years ago and I couldn't really play in that conditions. End of story," a fuming Radwanska said. "For me, playing with those balls in that kind of court is pretty much impossible." A match that lasted just two hours and 12 minutes on court finally finished at 4.18 pm local time on Monday, almost 46 hours after it had started on Sunday. "It was very difficult with all the rain as we were waiting almost two days to finish the match," a beaming Pironkova said after becoming the first Bulgarian woman to reach the quarter-finals since Sesil Karantantcheva in 2005. "But I can't complain."

Radwanska crashes out of French Open

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