“The Sunday Times reported yesterday that just two anonymous postings on the social media site Twitter were behind the extensively reported story that Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni might be having marital problems. The slender sourcing didn’t stop the paper devoting 1,600 words to the story.” [Link]

Elsa Pataky appears at Paris Fashion Week

“From next month seriously overweight flyers will be asked to pay for two seats, or not be allowed on board for ‘safety reasons’, the airline announced yesterday. ‘People who arrive at the check-in desk and are deemed too large to fit into a single seat will be asked to pay for and use a second seat,’ said Monique Matze, an Air France spokesman.” Link

“France, which regards itself as the cradle of human rights, is moving to impose legal restrictions on Muslim women who wear Afghan-style burqas or other full-face veils. The restrictions, likely to apply to many public places, come in response to resentment in France and other European countries over the growing visibility of Muslims — immigrants or locally born — on a continent with ancient Christian roots.” Link

“France qualified for its fourth consecutive World Cup when officials missed an obvious hand ball by Thierry Henry that led to William Gallas’ overtime goal in a 1-1 tie against Ireland on Wednesday night. With help from Swedish referee Martin Hansson, who failed to call the hand ball, France avoided a penalty-kicks shootout and won the home-and-home, total-goals playoff 2-1.” Link