Doctors given a green light by a European court to end the life support for a comatose French man sought help from prosecutors amid an escalating conflict between the man’s family members.

France’s wine-making region Champagne and a part of Burgundy have been granted world heritage status by the United Nations, boosting tourism and the economy.

With quiet moments of memory or military pomp, leaders and citizens across Europe marked 70 years since the Nazi defeat and the end of a war that ravaged the continent. However, the East-West alliance that vanquished Hitler is deeply divided today.

Said Kouachi, one of the gunmen who attacked the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, has been quietly buried, officials say.

The dead brothers believed to have massacred 12 people in Paris were poverty-stricken orphans set on the path to terrorism by a radical preacher.

French anti-terrorism police converged on an area northeast of Paris after two brothers suspected of being behind an attack on a satirical newspaper were spotted at a gasoline station in the region.

One suspect sought in the deadly shooting at a French satirical paper has turned himself in, as police hunt for two heavily armed men with possible links to al-Qaida.

The youngest of the three suspects in the terror attack on a French satirical magazine in which 12 people died has handed himself in to police, according to reports.

Police were last night searching for two brothers from the Paris region and a man from the northeastern city of Reims, over yesterday’s shooting at satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo, a police official and government source said.

An anti-terror raid is reportedly underway in the city of Reims in France after police identified three suspects in the French terror attack.

CHAMPAGNE. The word needs little explanation to any adult and is almost guaranteed to conjure up a memory or two.

German sprinter Andre Greipel believes he answered his critics after extending the country’s Tour de France sprint supremacy with victory on stage six yesterday from Arras to Reims.

The route of the 2014 Tour de France, which begins in Britain, includes five mountain finishes and just one individual time-trial, organisers announced this morning.

An explosion at a residential building and subsequent partial collapse of the edifice has left at least two people dead and injured nine others in the Champagne area of France, officials have said.

The desecration of dozens of graves of Germans killed in the First World War and buried in a French cemetery clouded a historic meeting by the leaders of the two nations, who urged Europeans to set aside economic worries and deepen their union.

Around 40 graves of Germans killed in World War I have been vandalised in France ahead of a meeting between French and German leaders.

IF the Almighty had sent down the injunction to be fruitful and to multiply to what is commonly called the Bible, his word could not have been more adequately fulfilled.

THE battle for the race leader’s yellow jersey will take place today as Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck face into today’s 52-kilometre time-trial from Bordeaux to Pauillac.

Mark Cavendish was able to look over his shoulder as he sprinted to yet another sensational victory on stage 18 of the Tour de France in Bordeaux today.

Alessandro Petacchi won the fourth road stage of the Tour de France into Reims today.

Fabian Cancellara reclaimed the race leader's yellow jersey as the Tour de France endured another bumpy ride today.

A YOUNG Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) student who invented a potentially life-saving medical device has won a top European innovation award.

A French restaurant was celebrating its elevation to the aristocracy of the country’s cuisine with the award of its third Michelin star today.

Ryanair and Wizz Air are among airlines interested in the possibility of turning an airfield in the Champagne region into a hub for low-cost carriers serving Paris, a spokeswoman for Vatry airport said tonight.

HORSE Sport Ireland’s performance manager for ponies and children on horses, Ian Fearon, yesterday said Ireland should target next year’s inaugural pony and junior nations cup series.

The TGV high-speed train began commercial service between Paris and Strasbourg today, nearly halving travel time between the two cities to 2 hours 20 minutes and linking the TGV network with Germany.

JEAN Baudrillard, a French philosopher and social theorist known for his provocative commentaries on consumerism, excess and what he claimed was the disappearance of reality, has died.

The Fourniret case has sparked calls to bring down the police and legal barriers between EU countries, says Ann Cahill.

A Swiss airliner on a trans-Atlantic flight and a plane belonging to the Dutch company KLM came close to colliding over France, Swiss International Air Lines said today.

Two airliners narrowly missed colliding over France today, officials said.

RYANAIR is scrapping nine routes where seat-sells are less than 80% of capacity and reallocating aircraft to new ones.

THE mother of a murdered Irishman yesterday said the family had been robbed of justice after the accused killed himself at a French hospital.

Ryanair Holdings PLC said it is offering one-way tickets at Stg35 pence (49c), excluding taxes and charges, for flights between London Stansted airport and several European destinations.

THOUSANDS of air passengers are expected to be affected by the latest strike by French air traffic controllers today.

Ever-expanding Irish budget carrier Ryanair announced today it would be operating five new routes from London, starting at the end of April.

ERIK ZABEL bounced back from the disappointment of Monday's defeat on home soil to claim the Tour de France yellow jersey today.

Erik Zabel bounced back from the disappointment of yesterday’s defeat on home soil to claim the Tour de France yellow jersey today.

Tour de France classifications.

The draw for the last 16 of the French Cup has provided the few remaining lower and non-league sides with some mouth-wateringly plum ties as they bid for a historic spot in the quarter-finals.