News

Pope makes Lourdes pilgrimage

The ailing 84-year-old pontiff, who will celebrate an open-air Mass for an expected 300,000 people on Sunday, was met at the airport on Saturday by French President Jacques Chirac.

Although the waters of Lourdes are said to bring miraculous healings, the Vatican denied the pope was seeking a cure for his Parkinson’s Disease, The Associated Press reported.

The trip to the small town in the French Pyrenees, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to St. Bernadette in 1858, is John Paul’s second this year after a June visit to Switzerland

France ends split with Sharon on Jews

France on Thursday patched up a dispute over Jewish emigration to Israel, acknowledging in terse but polite terms a conciliatory speech by Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister.

“We have seen the statements by the Israeli prime minister paying tribute to France for its determined action in fighting anti-Semitism, action which he said was of exemplary value,” said Hervé Ladsous, the spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry.

Health reforms approved in France

Changes include a new charge of one euro (about 65p) for seeing a doctor, an increase in the welfare levy payable by pensioners, and spending cuts.

The moves are a key part of President Jacques Chirac’s attempt to trim the budget deficit, which has exceeded EU limits for three years in a row.

The health care system is facing a 13bn-euro deficit (£8.5bn) this year.

Earlier this year an official report said the standard of care provided by French doctors was among the best in the world. But it said the system was “badly regulated and badly governed”.

It said French general practitioners prescribe drugs worth a total of about 260,000 euros each year.

Armstrong makes history

Tom Bonnen claimed the glamour leg on the streets of Paris, while Robbie McEwen took the green points jersey.

But the day belonged to Armstrong, who bettered the five Tour wins of cycling greats Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.

Andreas Kloden clinched second place on the podium, ahead of Italian Ivan Basso and German compatriot Jan Ullrich.

Armstrong’s victory was never in doubt on what was a largely processional last stage.

Armstrong all but guarantees record sixth Tour de France crown

Lance Armstrong capped his most dominant Tour de France with another crushing win in the final time trial Saturday, all but guaranteeing he will march into history as the first six-time winner of the 101-year-old race.

Pedalling furiously toward a victory that he didn’t even need to secure his sixth crown, Armstrong overpowered his rivals yet again, quickly building a gaping lead which he carried past cheering crowds to the finish line in Besancon.

The Texan, riding a high-tech aerodynamic bike, with the bright yellow leader’s jersey on his shoulders, was one minute and one second faster that second-placed Jan Ullrich, the 1997 champion and five-time runner-up.

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French actor, singer Serge Reggiani dies at 82

PARIS, July 23 (AFP) – The French singer and actor Serge Reggiani died overnight of a heart atack at the age of 82, his agent said Friday.

Born in Italy in 1922, Reggiani came to France with his parents at the age of eight, and after acting school was discovered by Jean Cocteau who gave him a role in his wartime theatrical production of “Les parents terribles.”

He moved into film with Marcel Carne’s 1946 “Les portes de la nuit,” and won his laurels with his interpretation of a hoodlum in love with Simone Signoret in Jacques Becker’s “Casque d’Or.” Over the next half century he appeared in some 80 films.

In 1965 he started a second career as a singer, with the help of Signoret and her husband Yves Montand.

French singer Sacha Distel dies

Distel, best known for a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, started out in music as a professional jazz guitarist at the age of 16.

He went on to become a household name across the world during a career which peaked with his cover version of Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.

He died on Thursday in Rayol-Canadel in the region of Var, the AFP news agency reported.

Distel scored his first hit with Scoubidou in 1958 and went on to record more than 200 songs.

He worked alongside some of the music greats including Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett and Quincy Jones.

France shakes up tradition to rescue wine sales

Facing increasing competition from New World wines, French wine-makers have been struggling to survive as their share of world sales has plummeted.

Following crisis talks between vintners and the agriculture minister, Hervé Gaymard, yesterday, the French government announced a raft of new measures to help rescue the nation’s beleaguered wine industry.

The government also said it would double funds to promote French wine abroad and would permit new forms of wine-making technology used in wine production elsewhere but banned in France, such as the use of wood chips to add flavour.

Armstrong Wins Tour de France Stage 17, Extends Lead

July 22 (Bloomberg) — Lance Armstrong won the 17th stage of the Tour de France, his third straight success, to extend his lead with three days left in cycling’s biggest event.

Armstrong, seeking a record sixth victory in the 101-year- old race, edged Andreas Kloden, Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso in a sprint finish. He clocked 6 hours, 11 minutes and 52 seconds for the 204.5-kilometer (128-mile) trip over five mountains, an average speed of 33 kilometers per hour.

The Texan crossed the finish-line one second ahead of Ullrich and Basso and, with a 20-second win bonus, stretched his overall lead to 4 minutes and nine seconds over second-place Basso. Kloden is more than five minutes off the lead, with 1997 winner Ullrich eight minutes behind Armstrong.

Armstrong says Wednesday is key day in Tour de France

FOR THE FIRST TIME: The Tour de France, in its 91st edition, features an individual time trial that will move up the winding face of the famous L’Alpe d’Huez. Cyclists will battle the clock while climbing 3,707 feet. There will be no teammates to pull them along.