European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said yesterday that EU member states are right to ditch specific recommendations on economic reforms from the European Commission, because of their tediousness.

European Central Bank policymaker Christian Noyer said over the weekend that it seemed that the risk of deflation had been avoided in the eurozone, even if inflation remained too low.

The European Central Bank cannot solve the eurozone crisis, Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann told economists yesterday, pressing the bloc’s governments to get their economies in shape and tighten their fiscal rules.

The US federal budget cuts are an inappropriate measure that will weigh on potential growth, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said yesterday, urging Washington to present credible fiscal plans.

German powerhouse Andre Greipel won his first stage of this year’s Tour de France, coming home ahead of Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) after yesterday’s 176-kilometre run from Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier.

Mark Cavendish claimed his 24th Tour de France stage victory on the seafront in Marseille yesterday.

This is Cian Healy’s seventh season knocking around the Leinster dressing-room and the Ireland prop can’t remember the province’s squad being stronger or deeper than it is now.

A French court says it will decide tomorrow whether to order an injunction halting further publication of topless photos of Kate Middleton.

In recent days two young women have received an enormous amount of exposure in magazines and newspapers, though for very different reasons and in very diverse sets of circumstances.

Independent Newspapers has launched an investigation into the decision to publish topless photographs of Kate Middleton in the Irish Daily Star.

A boardroom row is on the cards after Independent News and Media warned it would not be happy to see the Irish Daily Star shut down.

Mark Ronson has married Josephine De La Baume.

A bank worker stole information on 24,000 HSBC Swiss account holders around the world, leaving some facing the threat of legal action by tax inspectors in their home countries.

YET another Munster invasion of France beckons this weekend and with it, no doubt, another clutch of ‘planes, trains and automobiles’ tales from their legion of resourceful travelling fans.

The Brangelina clan began settling into a villa in the south of France today as a report claiming the couple’s twins had been born was denied.

IN my travels over the last three weeks I’ve come across a number of talking-points in this World Cup, not least the outstanding performances by a number of the lesser-known teams.

AH, IT’S tough being an All Black. Nearly two weeks they had to endure on the beach-front Sofitel Palm Beach hotel, getting ready for their World Cup opener against Italy in Marseille, before being whisked off 200 miles north by TGV to the old city of Lyon, and the luxury Mercure Perrache, where Portugal and another big win awaited.

THE TEXTS and e-mails are landing thick and fast. They demand to know why the Irish team has so under-performed. Is there trouble in the camp? Are the players over trained? Has Eddie O’Sullivan picked the wrong teams? Has he grown stale in the job and what were the IRFU thinking when they extended his contract by four years just before the World Cup?

THEY’RE a different bunch, these All-Blacks, a different bunch also their supporters, different to us anyway.

Author J.K. Rowling has declined to seek damages from a French teenager who translated the latest Harry Potter novel and posted it online.

The French publishers of the Harry Potter series today said they are not seeking damages from a 16-year-old who allegedly posted an unauthorised translation of the final book in the series online.

French police detained a 16-year-old who posted an unauthorised translation of the latest Harry Potter book online, a French newspaper reported today.

It hardly takes a lot of effort to convince someone to go on a holiday in the south of France.

FRANCE'S Constitutional Council yesterday signed off on a contested employment law that has sparked massive protests, leaving President Jacques Chirac with the tough decision of what to do next.

French students and unions are vowing to press ahead with a one-day strike and more protests tomorrow unless the government withdraws a new youth labour law that has sparked violent demonstrations and shut down universities.

FRENCH students vowed yesterday to step up their protests against a new youth work contract after mass marches and a general strike planned for tomorrow if the government does not withdraw the law.

England had to reshuffle their pack last night after suffering an injury blow ahead of the World Cup warm-up clash with France on Saturday.

Leicester hooker Dorian West will captain England in their World Cup warm-up clash against France in Marseille on Saturday.