A MAN in a crowd grabbed French president Nicolas Sarkozy by the shoulder and nearly knocked him to the ground before being tackled by security officers and detained.

French President Jacques Chirac today appealed to the United States to speed up its response to Arab nations’ demands for changes to a UN resolution on ending the Middle East crisis.

Solemn commemoration services and street parties drew huge crowds today as Europe celebrated the 60th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat and the end of the continent’s most devastating war.