French Walk Out Of United Nations

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Tuesday that Paris protests against the Beijing Olympic flame have undermined efforts by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to promote a solution in Tibet. Speaking at a press conference in Paris, the French foreign minister also said the international community had to consider "reinforcing" sanctions against Iran if it did not respond to concerns about its nuclear programme.

New York - At a United Nations Organisation Security council meeting, Russia's delegate, Gromyko, stalks out of the chamber in protest when the Council votes 9-2 to consider the Russian-Iranian dispute. Poland is the only member casting its vote with Russia.

French and Canadian Foreign ministers visit Afghanistan, where a total of about 70,000 foreign soldiers, most of them under NATO command, are still locked down battling the Taliban, the hardline Islamic militia, ousted from power more than six years ago. Canada's Maxime Bernier and France's Bernard Kouchner spoke about the gradual transfer of responsibility to the Afghan army.

Bernard Kouchner and Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited the German-Turkish record label "P.L.A.K. Music" in an area of Berlin with a large Turkish population, and recorded a song with young people from the neighbourhood. The recording session took place on the sidelines of a Franco-German summit which is focussing on European integration.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon toured Myanmar's disaster area on Thursday and met with Foreign Minister Nyan Win, on the first day of a visit aimed at pushing through a full emergency relief effort after Cyclone Nargis.

EU foreign ministers, meeting in Slovenia from Friday, are divided over whether to stage a symbolic boycott of the Beijing Olympics in protest against China's crackdown on Tibet. Images and soundbites from AFPTV.

Clashes between Pakistani authorities and lawyers protesting against the emergency rule have continued and dozens of lawyers have been arrested. The former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto has also flown to Islamabad to meet other opposition leaders.

China called on France Thursday to cooperate to bring troubled relations back on track as the two sides held high-level talks amid tensions over Tibet and the Paris Olympic torch protests. Former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin was part of a delegation to Beijing to calm anti-French sentiments. Images and soundbites from AFPTV.

Paris - The world's leading auto-manufacturing nations exhibit tomorrow's cars, today