France will be making a sound investment by taking a stake in Alstom, its chief executive said yesterday, adding, however, that the government would be buying in too late to have a say in the use of proceeds from its tie-up with General Electric.

CHINESE authorities came under fire yesterday after the worst subway accident in 42 years raised fresh fears that the world’s second biggest economy was sacrificing safety in the rush to develop.

Two early birdies today gave Martin Kaymer hope that he could still win a second Alstom French Open title in three years this weekend.

Bubba Watson made an early exit from the Alstom French Open in Paris today, but not before lashing out at the lack of crowd control.

IRISH technology companies are missing out on lucrative opportunities in the transportation sector across western Europe, EU experts in sustainable technology claimed at the European Green Energy Conference in Dublin.

Former European number one Robert Karlsson pulled out of the Alstom French Open with a wrist injury this morning and will not play again until The Open at St Andrews in two weeks.

It was the turn of Welshman Rhys Davies to be put under the microscope by Colin Montgomerie today – but it was the Ryder Cup captain who made the better start to the Alstom French Open at Le Golf National near Paris.

LEE WESTWOOD was involved in a hospital drama in Paris yesterday, but still hopes to play the Alstom French Open today.

GOLF’s Irish Open could be poised for a return to Killarney Golf Club, it is understood. Negotiations between mobile phone company and Open sponsors 3, the European Tour and four potential venues for next year’s Open are underway with a new date around the August bank holiday weekend on the table.

Ireland’s Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) has awarded the infrastructure maintenance contract for Dublin’s light rail system, LUAS, to Alstom after a competitive tender, the company announced today.

A former health and safety officer found in possession of images featuring "graphic sexual abuse of very young children" has been given a suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

ALSTOM, the world’s third-biggest maker of power plants, has won a €275m order to build a generation facility for the ESB.

FRANCE’S TGV train smashed the world rail-speed record yesterday, providing an important image boost for the country’s industry in an increasingly competitive world market.

The first major power station development in the UK for nearly five years was given the green light by British Gas owner Centrica today.

CHAD CAMPBELL admitted that he did not believe his final round of 71 would be good enough to win the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in California.

French President Jacques Chirac will today launch an intensive week of meetings with Asian leaders aimed at promoting French companies and cementing Europe-Asia ties.

The European Union’s highest court ruled today that EU governments cannot override the bloc’s executive office in deciding whether state subsidies are illegal.

The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) has today entered into a five-year contract with a joint venture of Alstom Ireland and Dalkia for maintenance of LUAS infrastructure.

Prosecutors could bring criminal charges over the gangplank collapse which killed 15 people trying to board a flagship British cruise liner, it emerged tonight.

Sobbing family members bearing flowers went to a shipyard today to identify the bodies of 15 people who plunged to their deaths when a crowded gangway leading to the luxury liner Queen Mary 2 suddenly collapsed.

The European Commission today tentatively accepted the French government’s alternative plan to bail out heavy engineering giant Alstom – removing an immediate spectre of bankruptcy.

Share trading in Alstom, France’s prized but indebted maker of high speed trains and luxury cruise liners, was suspended indefinitely today after the EU blocked a multi-billion pound bailout plan.