Lyon, Auxerre and Bastia qualify for the UEFA Cup via the Inter Toto Cup Reuters Paris- France became the first country in soccer history to have 10 teams taking part in European cup competition when Lyon, Auxerre and Bastia qualified for the UEFA Cup first round via the Inter Toto Cup. Lyon ousted compatriots Montpellier 4-2 on aggregate while Auxerre overcame Germany's Duisburg 2-0 and Bastia had to play extra time to beat Swede's Halmstadt. Nine out of the French first division's 18 teams, plus

Fureya Koral was a member of a gifted and artistic family and was a fine example of the Turkish modern woman. Koral: "There [in a Swiss workshop] I took some clay in my hands. What familiarity there was. I have been kneading clay now for some 40 years. I am so attached to it... The influence of Anatolia on Koral's ceramic works shows in the motifs and the deep and vivid colors she used. Turkish Daily News Istanbul - A pasha's granddaughter, a member of a family full of distinguished writers and

Desperate: 'North sees better ties with US as exit from economic ruin,' Seoul Deputy Foreign Minister LeeBy Moon Ihlwan / Reuters Seoul- Dire economic straits will stop Pyongyang from abandoning overtures to the West despite its anger at Washington's decision to grant asylum to two North Korean defectors, political analysts said. North Korea on Wednesday demanded that Washington hand over its ambassador to Egypt and his brother, whom it said defected to the United States to avoid punishment for

Uphill tasks: The French and Scottish champs need four-goal wins at home to progress to the expanded Euro Champions' League Reuters London- French champions Paris St. Germain and big-spending Glasgow Rangers face the nightmarish prospect today of missing out on a cash bonanza from the lucrative European Champions' League. Both clubs go into preliminary round, second-leg games needing to overturn 3-0 deficits to reach the expanded Champions' League. PSG, one of the continent's most successful sides in

Reuters Nagoya, Japan- The World RoboCup opened in this Japanese city and soccer may never be the same again. Instead of Ronaldo, Shearer and Zola displaying their skills, there were robots, some as tall as 1.2 metres (four feet), scurrying around mini-soccer fields trying to put the ball in the net. The event, officially known as the "First Robot World Cup Initiative", was the highlight of the 15th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, an annual meeting where scientists

Turkish Daily News Istanbul -- Turkey's first woman ceramist, Fureya Koral, has died at the age of 87. She was being treated at the Osmanoglu Clinic for heart and respiratory problems when she died on Monday afternoon. Funeral services will be held at Dolmabahce Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Mosque after noon prayers, and the burial will take place on Buyukada, in her family cemetery. Born June 2, 1910, on Buyukada, Koral was the granddaughter of Sakir Pasa and the niece of author Halikarnas Balikcisi,

Reuters Paris- Algerian newspapers said on Tuesday around 100 people had been killed in an orgy of massacres across the country and in a bomb attack in the capital. Most of the dead had their throats cut and were killed during the night of Sunday-Monday. The influential Al Khabar newspaper said seven people died in a bomb attack in El Biar in the Algerian capital on Monday, with dozens wounded. Tribune newspaper put the toll at four dead and about 60 wounded. Security forces gave an initial toll of

Athletics world records continue to tumble as Kipketer betters his own 800-meter mark and Barmasai claims a new 3,000-meter steeplechase record Reuters Cologne, Germany- Dane Wilson Kipketer and Kenyan Bernard Barmasai wrote the latest chapter in a fabulous summer story of world records by setting new marks for the 800 and the 3,000 meters steeplechase at the Cologne Grand Prix. Kipketer's time of 1:41.11 and Barmasai's 7:55.72 meant seven world records have now fallen in just 11 days -- three in

Another defection: A uniformed North Korean soldier crosses the western coastal area of the heavily fortified border to into South Korea Reuters Seoul- North Korea's ambassador to Egypt is seeking to defect to a Western country, as the highest ranked diplomat to betray his famine-stricken country, Seoul officials said on Monday. They said Ambassador Jang Seung-gil had left Egypt and was under protection in a third country, which they declined to identify. In Cairo, North Korean Embassy officials

Clashes: Army helicopters are pounding hills around Hammam Melouane to destroy rebels' reinforced hideouts Reuters Paris- Suspected Muslim rebels killed nine civilians and kidnapped six south of Algiers at the weekend while troops attacked a nearby guerrilla stronghold, Algerian newspapers said on Monday. Tribune newspaper said "a vast offensive of combined forces is taking place in the Hammam Melouane region, in Blida province" against Muslim guerrillas. The province, some 50 km (30 miles)

Reuters Paris- French state-owned Aerospatiale said on Monday it had signed an agreement with Norway's Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace to jointly develop a new anti-ship missile. The linkup with Aerospatiale is aimed at boosting international sales opportunities for the missile, Aerospatiale said in a statement. Negotiations have been underway for the past 18 months, with several international missile companies to cooperate in the international venture, it said. The accord follows an agreement

Confident: 'My juices start flowing when it comes to Grand Slam time,' says world No. 1 Reuters New York- With a summer hardcourt season that produced a different winner every week, it would appear that the 1997 U.S. Open tennis championship is going to be a wide-open affair. But appearances can be very misleading, especially when Pete Sampras gets within sniffing distance of a Grand Slam title. "My juices start flowing when it comes to Grand Slam time," Sampras said. Given his track record

'Seven hundred PKK militants are stationed along the cease fire line with the PUK and they are sharing the same barracks and logistic support' The United States is trying to convince the KDP to allow Talabani to transit the KDP territories, instead of Iran, when travelling abroadBy Saadet Oruc / Turkish Daily News Ankara - Northern Iraqi sources close to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) claimed on Sunday that cooperation between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Workers' Party

Reuters Paris- Suspected Muslim rebels killed 38 civilians in two Algerian villages and aboard a train in the latest attacks reported by the Algerian press on Sunday. The toll brings to more than 100 the number of Algerians killed in the past three days, with at least 21 young women also being kidnapped. Algeria's main Arabic-language newspaper Al Khabar said an armed group cut the throats of 20 people at the end of the week in Faid El Batma, near Djelfa, capital of the province of the same name some

The Longchamps mass on Sunday was the climax of the pontiff's visit to the 12th World Youth Days beingheld in the French capital Reuters Paris- Pope John Paul wound up a four-day visit to Paris with a Sunday open-air mass at Longchamps race course on the city's western edge which Roman Catholic Church officials said attracted around 650,000 people. On Saturday, the 77-year-old pontiff, seeking to defuse one of the controversies surrounding his visit, lamented a Catholic massacre of up to 70,000 French

Some Protestants had objected that the vast on Sunday ceremony fell onanniversary of the St. Bartholomew'sDay massacre of up to 70,000 French Huguenots by Catholic forces during wars of religion Reuters Paris- Pope John Paul said mass on Sunday for over a million pilgrims at a Paris racecourse after seeking to defuse criticisms that it fell on the anniversary of a 1572 massacre of French Protestants by Roman Catholics. The flag-waving crowd at the Longchamp racecourse and surrounding woods on the

Turkish Daily News Istanbul - What could be more awe-inspiring than Turkish and European classical music set against a backdrop of ancient Anatolian cities, castles, forests and Ottoman architecture? Starting August 24, the 4th Bilkent International Anatolia Festival takes off for a month's tour of our country's most atmospheric spots including Bolu, Bursa, Avanos and Ephesus for "World Peace Day". Known as the first mobile music festival in the world of art, the the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra

'Air pollution rises as high as God,' is the sarcastic headline of Le Canard Enchain‚, the satirical French newspaper. For the Parisians, the talk of town consists of three Ps: Pope, pilgrims and pollutionBy Nazlan Ertan / Turkish Daily News The air is heavy with hymns and ozone pollution. The authorities claim to have halved fares on buses and the local trains, but the effect seems diminished, at least to a layman's eye, when private buses carrying pilgrims from all over the world are making their

A cascade of the slim minarets piercing the Istanbul skyline crosses the mind when most people think of Turkey, or the terrible Turks from the days of the Janissaries and the Crusades, or when in 1453 the Byzantine capital Constantinople became the Ottoman Istanbul, with the magnificent 6th century St. Sophia Church converted into a mosque (and the Ottoman architects never got out of its conceptual construct). Apart from the famed Topkapi and Dolmabahce Palaces with their unmatched treasures and other

At the beatification ceremony in Notre Dame Cathedral, pope calls on mankind not to accept poverty and misery as something unavoidable Reuters Paris- Pope John Paul, ignoring controversy surrounding his visit to France, on Friday beatified a pioneering French charity activist in a solemn ceremony at Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral. The 77-year-old Pontiff extolled Frederic Ozanam's fight for the poor amid 19th-century social upheavals as an example for hundreds of thousands of young Roman Catholic pilgrims