SUMMIT NOTEBOOK: Sarkozy left in the dark

TORONTO -- Was it a nefarious Canadian plot that left French President Nicolas Sarkozy standing silently at a microphone in the dark?

At the end of two back-to-back summits hosted by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the French leader ignored protocol, which dictates that meeting hosts get to hold their press conference before other leaders.

But when he took to the stage in a small tented room at a summit site, Sarkozy's microphone didn't work and the lights were turned off.

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World leaders slam North Korea, Iran

The leaders of the world's eight top industrial democracies on Saturday condemned the alleged sinking by North Korea of a South Korean warship and called on Iran to halt its suspect nuclear program and do more to respect human rights.

The countries -- the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia -- also called current restrictions on the flow of goods to Gaza "unsustainable." And they sketched out a five-year exit strategy on Afghanistan.

But the joint statement by the so-called Group of Eight powers did not go as far as some nations, including the United States and Japan, wanted.

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy to press China's Hu Jintao on sanctions for Iran

PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy is heading to Beijing Wednesday with hopes of getting Chinese backing for further sanctions against Iran — but President Hu Jintao may have different ideas.

The leaders, whose countries hold two of the five permanent U.N. Security Council seats, are due to discuss Iran, among other issues, at the start of Sarkozy's three-day state visit to China.

Three permanent council members — France, Britain and the U.S. — have been pressing for a fourth round of U.N. penalties on Iran for its refusal to halt a key part of its nuclear program that could be used to make weapons. Iran says it only wants the technology for producing nuclear power.

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France gears up _ slowly _ for more Sunday opening

PARIS -- France is taking a leisurely August attitude to a new law that shakes up the country's traditional devotion to Sunday rest.
Starting Sunday, more stores have the legal right to open, a step taken by the government in hopes of boosting employment and soaking up added tourist dollars.
But it's a complicated measure, full of unresolved details that need to be worked out by employers and workers, many of whom are gone for France's sacrosanct, monthlong August holiday break. And in reality, many shops that wanted to get around century-old rules and sell their wares on Sunday have already found ways to do so.
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