The failure of the Irish authorities to charge Ian Bailey with murder does not mean that he is innocent of the crime, according to the judge presiding over the trial of Mr Bailey in France.

French actor Gerard Depardieu will not turn up at a Paris court to face charges of drink-driving, his lawyer said today.

Nicolas Sarkozy was questioned by magistrates trying to establish whether he received illegal campaign funds from France’s richest woman when he ran for president in 2007.

More than 5,000 people marched through Paris yesterday to protest a tough immigration bill that critics say will favour only skilled immigrants.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto attended a Geneva court to answer questions on allegations she had used Swiss banks to launder millions of dollars in kickbacks, the investigating magistrate said today.

NEW technology allowing video conference-style international link-ups for court cases is being incorporated into Cork’s Washington Street Courthouse, which will be back in business by the end of January 2005. It is five-and-a-half years since the doors of the historic building closed for renovations.

IT is 2004, and the first President George Bush Snr is in a Belgian court for alleged war crimes committed during the 1991 Gulf War. Back in Washington, his son worries he may be next.

ROBERT and Grace Mugabe swept out of Paris yesterday afternoon after a high profile summit and shopping trip which defied calls from the EU for the couple to be banned.