Paris - Sister Emmanuelle, the unorthodox and popular Belgian-born French nun who spent her life aiding the poor, has died at age 99, French media reported on Monday.

According to the Association Soeur Emmanuelle, which she founded, she died in her sleep early Monday in a nursing home in the southern French town of Callian.

Sister Emmanuelle was born Madeleine Cinquin to a French father

and Belgian mother in Brussels, on November 16, 1908.

She earned a degree in philosophy at the Sorbonne, then took her vows in 1929 and became a nun.

Paris - The head of the French bank Caisse d'Epargne has resigned after taking responsibility for a trading loss of 600 million euros (811 million dollars), French media reported Monday.

Charles Milhaud, who had led the Caisse d'Epargne since 1999, resigned late Sunday after a special meeting of the bank's board of supervisors. Milhaud said he would ask for no severance payment.

In addition, his chief executive officer, Nicolas Merindol, and the board member in charge of finances and risks, Julien Carmona, also resigned their posts.

Washington - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is investigating possible abuse of power by its head, Dominique Strauss- Kahn, in connection with a sex liaison with an underling of Hungarian origins, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The 59-year-old French economist and socialist, married to French television journalist Anne Sinclair, was named last year as IMF director.

Washington - US President George W Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy Saturday said an emergency global summit on the finance crisis will be held in the United States, possibly before the end of November. 

The announcement was made at the US presidential retreat, Camp David, outside Washington, where European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also joined the meeting. 

Washington - US President George W Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy Saturday said an emergency global summit on the finance crisis will be held in the United States, possibly before the end of November. 

The announcement was made at the US presidential retreat, Camp David, outside Washington, where European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also joined the meeting.