Paris- France will deploy aditional military equipment to Afghanistan as well as about 100 more soldiers to service it, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Monday ahead of a parliamentary debate of the country's presence in the country.

The materiel will include helicopters, drones, surveillance equipment and mortars, Fillon told a special session of Parliament, convened to debate and vote on the presence of French military forces in Afghanistan.

Paris - Both houses of the French Parliament will convene in special sessions Monday to debate and vote on the presence of French military forces in Afghanistan.

The vote comes amidst a controversy provoked by the death of 10 French soldiers on August 18 in a firefight with Taliban rebels east of the Afghan capital Kabul.

The publication of a "classified NATO report" in the Canadian daily Globe and Mail Saturday, alleging that the soldiers had been badly equipped, further heated the debate.

According to the putative report, the French soldiers ran out of ammunition after 90 minutes of fighting and had only one radio in their possession, which ceased functioning shortly after the fighting began.

New Delhi, Sept 20 : India and France are likely to sign a frame work agreement to start nuclear commerce between the two countries.

The agreement will be signed during Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh''s visit to Paris on September 30.

After his visit to the United States, Dr. Singh will leave for France to attend the India European Summit to Marseilles and hold a meeting with the French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Brussels - The French government has agreed to reimburse journalists who suffered additional expenses when a European Union- Ukraine summit was moved at the last minute from Evian to Paris, the International Press Association (API) in Brussels said Friday.

"The French foreign ministry has offered to reimburse all journalists on the production of receipts," API President Lorenzo Consoli told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The move follows numerous complaints from Brussels-based journalists who had been sent by their editors to cover the event.

Toulouse, France - Australian carrier QantasQantas has taken delivery of the first of the 20 Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft it has ordered, Airbus said Friday.

The aircraft was handed over to Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon at a ceremony at Airbus headquarters in the southern French city of Toulouse.

The world's largest commercial airliner, the A380 typically seats 525 passengers but can seat up to 850, depending on cabin configuration.

The Qantas A380 will have a more spacious cabin, with only 450 seats, 332 of them in Economy class, Airbus said in its statement.

Paris - Inspired by Wall Street's strong Thurs