Pope Benedict XVI blesses the faithfull as he arrives in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican

PARIS (AFP) — Facing a freefall in the number of churchgoers despite its deep Christian heritage, France is set to welcome Pope Benedict XVI on his first visit to bond with the Catholic church’s “eldest daughter.”

The German pope arrives in Paris on Friday for talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy and to deliver a keynote address before flying to the southwest town of Lourdes, one of the world’s most visited Catholic sites.

France is home to an estimated 35 million baptised Catholics, although polls show the French have lost much of their sense of belonging to the church over recent decades.

While Catholicism remains by far the country’s number one religion, 51 percent of the French consider themselves Catholic, down from 80 percent in the early 1990s, according to a survey published last year.

Of those, only 10 percent attend mass regularly, the survey in Le Monde des Religions magazine showed.

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7-time Tour Winner Prepares For Comeback

Lance Armstrong toasts his final Tour de France with Johan Bruyneel in 2005. (Alessandro Trovati/Associated Press)

Cycling legend Lance Armstrong reportedly will come out of retirement to compete in five road races, including the 2009 Tour de France.

VeloNews reported Monday that Armstrong will race in the Amgen Tour of California, Paris Nice Cycling Race, Tour de Georgia, Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and the storied Tour de France, which he won a record seven consecutive times from 1999-2005.

Armstrong, who turns 37 on Sept. 18, retired on July 24, 2005.

Anonymous sources told the popular cycling journal that Armstrong will join Team Astana, reuniting him with former U.S. Postal Service/Discovery Channel team director Johan Bruyneel.

“I don’t know where the rumours come from,” Bruyneel told Cyclingnews.com.

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By Jonathan Amos

The UK alone has invested more than half-a-billion pounds in the LHC

The most brilliant minds should be directed to solving Earth’s greatest challenges, such as climate change, says Sir David King.

The former UK chief scientist will use his presidential address at the BA Science Festival to call for a gear-change among innovative thinkers.

He will suggest that less time and money is spent on endeavours such as space exploration and particle physics.

He says population growth and poverty in Africa also demand attention.

“The challenges of the 21st Century are qualitatively different from anything that we’ve had to face up to before,” he told reporters before the opening of the festival, which is being held this year in Liverpool.

“This requires a re-think of priorities in science and technology and a redrawing of our society’s inner attitudes towards science and technology.”

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A magazine photo spread of Taliban fighters posing in the uniforms of 10 French soldiers killed last month has sparked an angry response.
PARIS — A French magazine published photos on Thursday of Taliban fighters with trophies taken from French soldiers killed last month in Afghanistan, setting off a new round of pained debate about France’s presence there.

President Nicolas Sarkozy and his ministers have said again and again since 10 French soldiers were killed in an ambush on Aug. 18 that France would not falter in its determination to fight the “medieval” and “barbaric” Taliban.

But the pledges ring hollow in the ears of many French people who are suddenly being served blanket coverage of a faraway conflict involving about 2,600 French soldiers that had previously been confined to the inside pages of newspapers.

The weekly magazine Paris Match rekindled emotions with its spread of photos of Taliban fighters displaying French army guns, uniforms, helmets, a walkie-talkie and a wristwatch they said were taken from dead soldiers during the Aug. 18 ambush.

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