Two a penny

.Gilles Simon has become the second consecutive Frenchman to win the Bangkok Open title as he defeated Serb Viktor Troicki 7-5, 6-3 in the final.
Simon followed on from good friend and beaten Bangkok semi-finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 champion.
“I had a difficult match but I found a way to win.
It was Simon’s sixth career title. I really enjoyed myself today,” said world number 10 Simon, who is in the chase for one of the eight spots in November’s ATP World Tour Finals in London. “I had to fight for this win over Viktor.
“I’ve been feeling good and playing well all week,” said Simon, aged 24 and 6-2 in finals.”
The 23-year-old Troicki, ranked 32nd and now winless in two finals, said he was out-played in the 75-minute contest. But I’ve still had a good week.
“Gilles played great and never gave me many chance. Those are the kinds of wins that I need to build confidence.”
“My highlight was beating Tsonga in the semis, he’s a top-ten player.
Simon got a break back after losing his serve in the ninth game of the opening set before finishing with a second straight break of the Serb. Still, I’m very pleased to have reached the final,” said the fourth seed.
In the second set, the Frenchman lifted his game, taking the title on his second match point. . I’ve worked hard in the last few months, especially with my knee injury.
“It was prefect for me this week.”
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. It was tough to get ready for this event but I played really well

.French teen Alize Cornet has upset Australian 15th seed Samantha Stosur in Beijing to advance to the second round of the China Open. .
Cornet did not fold under the pressure, making just nine unforced errors throughout the match to Stosur’s 23 and sealing the victory 6-3 in the third.
The French teen broke Stosur in the 10th game to take the first set 6-4, but the 25-year-old Australian, ranked 15th in the world, battled back in the second to even the match at one set all.
The pair traded service breaks several times in the first set to bring it to a tie breaker, during which the Italian used her experience to best advantage, taking some of the pace off and forcing a forehand error to win the set.
In other first round action, Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, the 10th seed, fought back an early challenge from Chinese wild card entrant Han Xinyun to win in straight sets, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.
Third seed Venus Williams was due to take centre court for her first round match against Russia’s Vera Dushevina.
Pennetta, a US Open quarter-finalist, took charge of the match when she broke Han for a 3-2 lead in the second set and never looked back, closing out the match with an overhead smash.
Maria Sharapova, who won the Pan Pacific Open in Japan on Saturday, has a first round bye in Beijing.
Top seed Dinara Safina will face Italy’s Roberta Vinci in the first round, while second seed Serena Williams will take on Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.
The men’s main draw gets under way on Monday, with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick leading the charge. Jelena Jankovic, who was due to play in Beijing, withdrew from the final against Sharapova with an arm injury.
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.Fifth seed Gael Monfils and fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet have both overcome jetlag to bolt into the second round of the Malaysian Open.
Monfils, trying to back up the title he won last weekend in Metz, France before boarding a flight to Kuala Lumpur, dispatched Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2).
The unseeded Gasquet was relentless against Romanian Victor Crivoi 6-1, 6-2.
Gasquet said he had to fight through his fatigue after the flight from Europe.
The number 47 moved into a struggle for the quarter-finals when he plays in the second round against Joacham Johansson after the Swede upset eighth seed Lleyton Hewitt.
“I haven’t adapted to the time change, but I hope tonight I can sleep better. “I played a good match despite waking up at 2:00 am (local time). .
Monfils, 23, fired nine aces in his victory over Istomin, breaking three times while losing his own serve in equal measure.
The French seed, ranked 13th, improved to 29-13 on the season as he next faces Argentine Martin Vassello Arguello.
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.Swimmer Ian Thorpe has dropped a defamation case against a French newspaper that claimed he was a drug cheat.
Thorpe was suing the daily sports paper L’Equipe, its publisher, and journalist Damien Ressiot over an article published in March 2007.
The paper claimed Thorpe gave a urine sample in May 2006 which showed abnormal levels of testosterone and a luteinising hormone.
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and world swimming body FINA later found there was no evidence to support claims Thorpe had used performance enhancing drugs. .
– ABC/AAP

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The Clearstream trial that is now under way in the French courts has again shed light on France political rivalries, state secrets and the sometimes shadowy links between the French state and its captains of industry. In this latest affair, which some media pundits are calling Watergate &agrave la Fran&ccedilaise, former Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin is accused of falsely accusing President Nicolas Sarkozy of receiving kickbacks in connection with the 1991 sale of Taiwanese frigates when the two were political adversaries fighting for control of their party ahead of the 2007 presidential election.

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font-size:10. French politicians convicted of wrongdoing have in the past been treated with leniency, says a September 20 piece in The New York Times by Matthew Saltmarsh. But he may have little to fear.

Saltmarsh may have a point.

The Ben Barka affair: France and Morocco in troubled waters

Moroccan opposition leader Mehdi Ben Barka in 1959.

Of the many high-profile scandals that have plagued the French political elite in past decades, very few high officials have been severely sanctioned &ndash while their less-visible associates sometimes get a raw deal. His supporters never heard from him again.Moroccan opposition leader Mehdi Ben Barka, who sought exile in France after having been condemned to death in his home country, was kidnapped in Paris on October 29, 1965 by two French policemen. But as for determining any French complicity in the affair, the investigation fell short: the examining magistrates ran into resistance citing security issues and reasons of state.

The French-led investigation shed the spotlight on various Moroccan protagonists, in particular on a General Oufkir, a loyal servant of King Hassan II.

Finally, on June 7, 1967, one of the French officers who took part in the Ben Barka kidnapping was sentenced to six years in prison another member of the counter-intelligence services was sentenced to eight years.

Finally, on June 7, 1967, one of the French officers who took part in the Ben Barka kidnapping was sentenced to six years in prison another member of the counter-intelligence services was sentenced to eight years. To date, no member of the French government or top official has been investigated in the affair. Documents from French counter-intelligence and the US Central Intelligence Agency, as well as the testimony of a former member of the French secret service decommissioned in 2000, cited the involvement of both the prime minister and the French president offices, partially lifting the veil on the dubious links between the Moroccan royal family and the French state. In the process, Eva Joly, the judge in charge of the inquiry, uncovered a vast network of corruption, implicating politicians as well as the heads of major corporations.

The Elf scandal, a financial imbroglio

Roland Dumas and Judge Eva JolyA legal inquiry was launched in 1994 involving the alleged cash injections into a struggling textile branch of the Elf oil giant. Joly, however, focused on evidence of the clandestine financing of political parties in France and abroad and the hundreds of millions of euros that were paid as bribes and kickbacks to politicians, businessmen and intermediaries.

The ramifications of this network and its financial interlinks were extremely complex. The case against Strauss-Kahn was dismissed, but Dumas was sentenced to serve six months in prison as well as given a two-year suspended sentence.

Investigations were launched into the possible roles played by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a former minister of industry, and Roland Dumas (main photo above), former foreign affairs minister and president of France Constitutional council.

Taiwanese frigates &ndash and policy, murder, corruption

Renaud Van Ruymbeke was charged with investigating the Taiwanese frigate affair in 2001.

Meanwhile, Dumas&rsquo former mistress, Christine Deviers-Joncour, along with Elf CEO Loik le Floch-Prigent and the firm director-general, Alfred Sirven, were all handed heavy fines and served time in prison.4 billion.4 billion.

What follows is like something out of a James Bond film, involving secrets of state, diplomatic affairs, corruption and even murder &ndash 10 people involved with the frigate sale in one form or another disappeared mysteriously.

Judge Renaud Van Ruymbeke, charged with the investigation, managed to gather evidence against several key players in a web of corruption in Taiwan as well as China. But in France, all attempts to find out who received commissions from the sale were derailed for reasons of national security. All demands for the declassification of documents were in vain, as three successive economic ministers, Laurent Fabius, Francis Mer and Thierry Breton, were opposed to their release.

In 2006, former defence minister Alain Richard accused former President Fran&ccedilois Mitterand and his prime minister (1993-1995), Edouard Balladur, of involvement.

The case was dismissed in its entirety in 2008.

Angolagate: the ripe markets of a civil war

Charles Pasqua on his arrival at court in October 2008.Of all the legal and political scandals of recent years, that involving the sale of weapons to Angola &ndash still under judicial review &ndash holds a special significance.

During the 1990s, significant arms traffic was funnelled to Angola, a country in the grip of a bloody civil war. Some 40 people were accused of participation in a trafficking ring worth an estimated &euro790 million or to have taken bribes from those involved. Charles Pasqua, a former minister of the interior who was at the same time fending off accusations in connection with six other legal cases, and Jean-Charles Marchiani, a regional official, found themselves among the accused. The civil judges in the case have recommended a three-year suspended sentence for Pasqua and 18 months for Marchiani. A judgment will be rendered on October 27.

Angolagate – business – Clearstream – Dominique de Villepin – French politics – justice – Nicolas Sarkozy – scandal

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France ministry of foreign affairs stated Wednesday that it will not accept that the situation regarding Clotilde Reiss, a young French researcher who was arrested in Tehran amid a crackdown on streets protests following the disputed June 12 presidential poll, is analogous to that of Iranians detained in France for whom Tehran has demanded amnesty.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to appear on French television to give his reactions to demands made by his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that some form of prisoner exchange be discussed.

According to several sources, the Iranian detainees in question could include Ali Vakili Rad, sentenced in 1991 for the assassination of former Iranian PM Chapour Bakhtiar, and Majid Kakavand, arrested on the behest of the US, because he bought suspicious materials over the Internet &ndash and for whom the US has requested extradition. .

Asked about Iran request, foreign ministry deputy spokesperson Christine Fages said, You cannot compare Clothilde Reiss&rsquo situation with those to whom you are referring.

Clotilde Reiss trial – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – Nicolas Sarkozy

.The Renault team has been given a two-year suspended ban from the Formula One world championship after admitting to race-fixing.
The French car manufacturer, appearing before an FIA World Motor Sport Council hearing in Paris, had said it would not contest accusations the team ordered Brazilian Nelson Piquet to crash his car into a wall at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix so that Spanish team-mate Fernando Alonso might win.
The suspended ban will last until the end of the 2011 season.
“The ING Renault F1 team admitted that the team had conspired with its driver Nelson Piquet Jr to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, in breach of the International Sporting Code and F1 Sporting Regulations’” the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) said overnight.
“Renault F1′s breaches not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr himself.
“The World Motor Sport Council considers Renault F1′s breach relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity,” the statement added. .”
Former team boss Flavio Briatore was also banned from any further involvement in Formula One, including driver management.
“Mr Alonso was not in any way involved in Renault F1′s breach of the regulations,” the FIA said.
Double world champion Fernando Alonso was exonerated of any involvement at the hearing.
FIA president Max Mosley told reporters after the hearing that the team would remain in Formula One, but Renault F1 chairman Bernard Rey did not comment. Piquet Jr had been granted immunity by the FIA before the hearing.
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AFP – An Algerian jailed for life for links to a wave of bomb attacks on the Paris metro that killed eight people in 1995 appeared in a French court on Wednesday to appeal his conviction.

Rachid Ramda, sporting a trim beard and leaning on crutches for a sprained ankle, replied in Arabic when asked to confirm his identity at the hearing attended by families of people who died in the bombings.

He is fighting a 2007 ruling that concluded he acted for the militant Armed Islamic Group (GIA) in funding three attacks on metro stations in which 200 people were also injured. The others, on the Musee d’Orsay and Maison-Blanche metro stations, left dozens injured.

The most spectacular attack was on the Saint-Michel station in the heart of the capital that left eight people dead and 150 injured.

He’s a manipulator and we could well have done without a second trial that is going to plunge us all back into this drama, she said.

If he had something to say he would have said it in the first trial, Mireille Glorion, whose 24-year-old daughter Sandrine died in the Saint-Michel attack, said before the hearing began.

Ramda was extradited from Britain in December 2005 after a 10-year legal battle.

Ramda, who will turn 40 on September 29, denies any connection with the bombings, for which two other men — Boualem Bensaid and Ait Ali Belkacem — are serving life sentences. He had already been sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison by a separate French court on other charges related to the bombings.

In the latest appeal trial, his defence lawyers are expected to again argue that Algerian secret services manipulated events and set French investigators on false trails for domestic political reasons.

He was convicted in 2007 of channelling funds from London to the two perpetrators of the bomb plot, based on evidence that included a bank payment slip bearing his fingerprints.

Ramda’s lawyers have also said they will ask for testimony from Jean-Louis Debre, who was France’s defence minister at the time of the metro bombings. .

Investigators believe that in the early 1990s Ramda was a leading GIA operative in Europe, in regular touch with the group’s leader in Algeria Jamel Zeitouni who wished to punish France for its support of the Algiers government.

Investigators believe that in the early 1990s Ramda was a leading GIA operative in Europe, in regular touch with the group’s leader in Algeria Jamel Zeitouni who wished to punish France for its support of the Algiers government.

His supporters argued against his extradition to France on the grounds that he might be unlawfully sent back to Algeria to face the death penalty, which the French authorities denied.

He fled to Britain where he was kept under surveillance and was arrested in November 1995, but he evaded extradition for many years through a series of legal appeals.

His appeal trial is expected to last a month.

The delays were a source of friction between Britain and France, which accused the government in London of taking a soft line on Islamist terrorism.

France – justice – Paris

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REUTERS – A new French law means the Church of Scientology cannot be dissolved in France even if it is convicted of fraud, it has emerged during a trial of the organisation.

A prosecutor has recommended that a Paris court dissolve the church French branch, which has been charged with fraud after complaints by former members who say they gave huge sums to the church for spiritual classes and purification packs.

Whatever the ruling, under a legislative reform passed just before the start of the trial in May, it is no longer possible to punish a fraudulent organisation with dissolution.

The Church of Scientology French arm denies fraud. Georges Fenech, head of the unit, demanded on Monday that the legal power to dissolve an organisation be reinstated.

The legal snag was discovered by the Inter-ministerial Unit to Monitor and Fight Cults.

Prosecutors&rsquo unions and a lawyer representing alleged victims of the Church of Scientology, Olivier Morice, called for an inquiry into the legal change and an explanation from the Justice Ministry.

Faced with organisations of a sectarian nature, which present a real danger to public order and public health, the law must always have such a measure at its disposal, he said in a statement. .

Even if the law is changed again, it cannot be applied retroactively to the Scientology trial, which was held in May and June, with the ruling expected in late October.

The church said in a statement on Monday its prosecution was scandalous and had already seriously harmed the organisation.

He said he believed a ban was better than dissolution, since it meant an organisation could not continue its activities under a different name.

The trial, which began on May 25, centres on complaints made in the late 1990s.

Registered as a religion in the United States, with celebrity members such as actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Scientology enjoys no such legal protection in France.

Prosecutor Maud Coujard urged the court to return a guilty verdict, dissolve the organisation in France and fine it 4 million euros ($5. Scientology French headquarters, a bookshop and six leading French Scientology members are in the dock.

Scientology lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, has called the prosecutor recommendation a death sentence for the organisation in France.8 million).

France – legislation – Scientology

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French photographer Willy Ronis died on Saturday aged 99, according to Rapho, the photographic agency he had been under contract with in recent years.

Ronis, who was confined to a wheel chair, was weakened by the dialyses treatment he was regularly submitted to and old age, said Stephane Ledoux, the head of Eyedea Press, which owns both Rapho and Gamma.

But his mind stayed clear and sparkling till the end, Ledoux said. He was one of the best photographers of all time and offered us a unique perspective on France

photography – the arts
. His art was profoundly truthful and humanist