France

Australia has offered mining companies a "watershed" compromise on a controversial new tax which helped trigger last week's dramatic change of prime minister, a report said Wednesday.The watered-down proposal makes key concessions to the powerful mining...

The prototype of a pioneering Swiss bid to fly around the world on solar energy aims to take to the skies on Thursday in the first attempt at a night flight fuelled by the sun, the team said.The high-tech single-seater Solar Impulse aircraft, with the...

Six months after French journalists Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier were captured in Afghanistan, media outlets and local officials are marking the longest period of captivity of any French journalist since the 1980s.

The world's smallest known whale population has dwindled to about 30 individuals, only eight of them females, according to a study released Tuesday.The Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska once teemed with tens of thousands of North Pacific right whales.But...

A red-hot David Villa scored his fourth goal of the World Cup to fire European champions Spain past Iberian arch-rivals Portugal 1-0 on Tuesday and into quarter-final clash against Paraguay.The Barcelona striker pounced in the 63rd minute of an absorbing...

European champions Spain had the better of the opening 45 minutes of an absorbing World Cup round of 16 clash with Portugal on Tuesday, but the score remained locked at 0-0.It is a crucial meeting for both teams with a quarter-final in Johannesburg on...

Interactive graphic on Afghanistan where a total of 100 foreign soldiers fighting the Taliban have died in June, making it the deadliest month for NATO in nine years of conflict.

A trio of French businessmen won control of leading French news daily Le Monde on Monday despite government efforts to halt the takeover. Founded in 1944, Le Monde has struggled to stay afloat in the Internet age.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has confirmed plans to slash spending on ministerial perks as part of a drive to reduce government running costs at a time when austerity measures are being imposed across the country.

Kuwait parliament on Tuesday passed the 2010-2011 budget of state-owned Kuwait Airways Corp. (KAC) with a projected deficit of 180 million dollars.Revenues for the privatisation-bound airline are projected at 853 million dollars while expenditure is...