New Delhi: The French government has bestowed the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters on Indian theatre personality Ebrahim Alkazi for his contribution to modern theatre and making it accessible to a wider audience. The 87-year-old was given the honour, the French embassy said in a statement. Alkazi has been supporting the visual arts through the Alkazi Foundation of the Arts. Alkazi, as head of the National School...
11:03 AM, Oct 01, 2012
Paris: In its boldest development in a generation, the Louvre Museum has a new wing dedicated to Islamic art, a nearly 100 million ($130 million) project that comes at a tense time between the West and the Muslim world. Louvre curators tout their new Islamic Art department, which took 11 years to build and opens to the public on Saturday, as a way to help bridge cultural divides. They say...
03:16 PM, Sep 27, 2012
Paris: A French magazine ridiculed the Prophet Mohammad on Wednesday by portraying him naked in cartoons, threatening to fuel the anger of Muslims around the world who are already incensed by a film depiction of him as a lecherous fool. The drawings in satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo risked exacerbating a crisis that has seen the storming of US and other Western embassies, the killing of the US ambassador to Libya...
09:08 PM, Sep 19, 2012
London: Prince William's office says its lawyers will go to court in France on Monday in a bid to stop further publication in that country of topless photos of William's wife Kate. St. James's Palace says lawyers will seek an injunction against Italian media group Mondadori, which publishes France's Closer and Italy's Chi gossip magazines. The palace also will seek damages from the publisher. Last week Closer published paparazzi snaps...
06:10 PM, Sep 16, 2012
London: A French magazine has reportedly published topless images of Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, who was holidaying with her husband Prince Williams in France. BBC reported that the images were blurry, but were clearly of the couple. Buckingham Palace has threatened legal action. The images come as an embarrassment to the Royal family after Prince Harry's nude images were leaked from a party in Las Vegas a few weeks...
05:25 PM, Sep 14, 2012
Saint-Denis: Franck Ribery scored a well-taken goal and helped create the other two as France beat Belarus 3-1 in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday. Midfielder Etienne Capoue and right back Christophe Jallet earned their first international goals as France followed up Friday's 1-0 win in Finland with an encouraging performance ahead of next month's crucial match away to European and World Cup champion Spain. After Anton Putilo pulled a...
01:51 AM, Sep 12, 2012
London: Italy were held to a disappointing 2-2 draw by Bulgaria as the rest of Europe's leading sides made winning starts in their first matches in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup on Friday. Showing little of the form that took the team to the European Championship final, the Italians were denied victory in their Group B opener when Georgi Milanov equalized for Bulgaria " ranked 89th in the world...
08:39 AM, Sep 08, 2012
Paris: A 46-year-old diplomatic bag, found on Mont Blanc in the French Alps last month, was handed over to India by France but the contents were not immediately known. The jute bag, stamped "Diplomatic mail" and "Ministry of External Affairs", was recovered by a mountain rescue worker on August 21 on Mont Blanc close to where an Air India plane flying from Mumbai to New York crashed in January 1966...
11:43 PM, Sep 03, 2012
Paris: French prosecutors opened a murder inquiry into the death of Yasser Arafat on Tuesday, his widow's lawyer said, after she and a TV investigation raised new questions about whether the Palestinian leader was poisoned. There have long been rumors in the Arab world that Arafat was poisoned, and a Swiss lab's recent finding of elevated levels of polonium-210, a rare and highly lethal radioactive substance, on Arafat's clothing has...
09:27 AM, Aug 29, 2012
New Delhi: Addressing questions raised over the process of selecting Rafale fighter planes, Government is going ahead with the procurement of 126 French combat aircraft and effort is being made to complete the deal within this financial year. Contract negotiations for the multi-billion dollar deal will resume soon, Government sources said. Questions had been raised over the process by an MP besides some other quarters but a committee of independent...
05:43 AM, Aug 27, 2012
New Delhi: Addressing questions raised over the process of selecting Rafale fighter planes, the government is going ahead with the procurement of 126 French combat aircraft and effort is being made to complete the deal within this financial year. Contract negotiations for the multi-billion dollar deal will resume soon, government sources said. Questions had been raised over the process by an MP besides some other quarters but a committee of...
12:40 PM, Aug 26, 2012
Lance Armstrong received a lifetime ban and disqualification of competitive results for doping violations stemming from his involvement in the United States Postal Service Pro-Cycling Team Doping Conspiracy. Here is what the USADA said in its statement released on Friday. USADA announced today that Lance Armstrong has chosen not to move forward with the independent arbitration process and as a result has received a lifetime period of ineligibility and disqualification...
11:04 AM, Aug 25, 2012
Colorado: The US Anti-Doping Agency stripped Lance Armstrong's seven Tour de France titles on Friday, erasing one of the most incredible achievements in sports after deciding he had used performance-enhancing drugs to do it. Armstrong, who retired a year ago, was also hit with a lifetime ban from cycling. An athlete who became a hero to thousands for overcoming cancer and for his foundation's fight against the disease is now...
10:11 PM, Aug 24, 2012
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief John Fahey has told Reuters that American cyclist Lance Armstrong's decision not to fight doping charges meant there was substance' to those allegations and that he should be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong on Thursday said he would no longer fight charges by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which quickly said it would strip him of his titles and ban him from...
04:16 PM, Aug 24, 2012
Austin, Texas: There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, "Enough is enough." For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt. The toll this...
12:20 PM, Aug 24, 2012
Lahore: A Frenchwoman flew from the Pakistani city of Lahore to Paris and back again after sleeping through the stop in the French capital because she had apparently taken sleeping pills, officials said on Wednesday. The woman, identified as Patrice Christine Ahmed, had boarded Pakistan International Airlines flight PIA-7333 to Paris via Milan at noon on Tuesday. She returned to Lahore on Wednesday after failing to get off in the...
10:32 PM, Aug 22, 2012
New Delhi: A senior Russian official has hinted that India could cancel the results of the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender and refloat it. A report in the The Hindu newspaper quoted Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Vyacheslav Dzirkaln as saying that India and France had failed to reach agreement on crucial issues including technology transfer and financial terms. Dzirkaln indicated that Russia would bid again if the tender was...
10:46 AM, Aug 22, 2012
London: France won its second consecutive Olympic gold medal in men's handball with a 22-21 win over Sweden on Sunday. After trailing 10-8 at halftime, Sweden tried to get back into the match as France missed several chances. Sweden player Johan Jakobsson scored on a penalty to make it 22-21 with one minute to go, but France held on for the win. The result gave Sweden its fourth Olympic silver...
09:41 PM, Aug 12, 2012
London: Julie Bresset of France won the mountain bike gold medal in her first Olympics, rolling through the English countryside and waving her country's flag as she finished. Bresset dominated the picturesque course at Hadleigh Farm on Saturday. She seized the early lead, then took advantage of a mistake by defending champion Sabine Spitz of Germany to build a massive lead. She cruised through last of six laps alone, soaking...
06:42 PM, Aug 11, 2012
21-year old Francesca Jones of Great Britain finished at a disappointing 24th place as she missed out on the final of the individual all-round event of Rhythmic gymnastics. Jones held the last spot, finishing with a total of 94.625 after 23.900 and 21.975 with the ribbon and clubs respectively. She was following on from Friday's hoop (24.200) and ball (24.550) routines. This was Jones' first Olympics which ended on a...
08:38 AM, Aug 11, 2012
