Paris - France on Tuesday joined the United States in calling for additional sanctions against Iran after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Monday that Teheran was continuing to expand its uranium enrichment programme.

"We have no other choice but to draw up another UN Security Council resolution on sanctions in the coming days and weeks," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevalier said.

Chevalier described as "very worrying" the fact that Iranian authorities had not replied to questions regarding matters that could be related to the development of nuclear weapons.

Paris - The day after Wall Street posted its worst loss since 2001, French shares were down only moderately on Tuesday, with bank stocks again leading the losers.

One hour after the opening of the Paris Bourse, shares in its benchmark CAC 40 were down 1.39 per cent, to stand at 4,111.06.

Belgian bank Dexia, which owns 500 million euros (709 million dollars) in unsecured bonds of the bankrupt US investment bank Lehman Brothers, led the way down, losing nearly 5 per cent of its value.

Paris - Caught up in the turmoil caused by the collapse of US investment bank Lehmann Brothers, the Paris Bourse lost nearly 5 per cent of its value by mid-afternoon on Monday, led downward by weak banking shares.

The big losers for the day were the banks Credit Agricole and Societe Generale, which were down 13.79 and 12.51 per cent, respectively.

For the year, Credit Agricole - France's largest retail banking group and the second largest in Europe - has lost more than 43 per cent of its value.

The shares of two other banks, Dexia and BNP Paribas, fell by 12.10 and 11.54 per cent, while insurance giant Axa lost 11.53 per cent of ts value.

Paris - Caught up in the turmoil caused by the collapse of US investment bank Lehmann Brothers, the Paris Bourse lost nearly 5 per cent of its value by mid-afternoon on Monday, led downward by weak banking shares.

The big losers for the day were the banks Credit Agricole and Societe Generale, which were down 13.79 and 12.51 per cent, respectively.

For the year, Credit Agricole - France's largest retail banking group and the second largest in Europe - has lost more than 43 per cent of its value.

The shares of two other banks, Dexia and BNP Paribas, fell by 12.10 and 11.54 per cent, while insurance giant Axa lost 11.53 per cent of its value.

Paris - Police believe that the "excessive speed" of a tourist riverboat led to the sinking of a private launch on the Seine river in the heart of Paris in which two people died, French media repor

Paris - The schedule of deliveries of the Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft to its customers will have to be revised for a fifth time, the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche reported on Sunday.

Citing an Airbus source close to the A380 programme, the newspaper said that only 10 A380 planes will be delivered this year, instead of the 12 announced previously.

In 2009, the discrepancy could be even greater, with only 15 aircraft delivered instead of the planned 21, the report said.