United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon spokesman Neeraj Singh denied on Friday that the international forces had received any information on a letter French President Nicolas Sarkozy had sent to President Michel Suleiman hinting that France is reconsidering its participation in the international force.

He told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency that the international force was not informed of any possible French withdrawal.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday jointly urged Syria's embattled leader Bashar al-Assad to step down.

"We call on him to face the reality of the complete rejection of his regime by the Syrian people and to step aside in the best interests of Syria and the unity of its people," they said in a joint statement.

Coco Chanel: A fashion icon whose name has become shorthand for timeless French chic, a shrewd businesswoman who overcame a childhood of poverty to build a luxury supernova and ... a Nazi spy?

A new book by a Paris-based American historian suggests Chanel not only had a wartime affair with a German aristocrat and spy, but that she herself was also an agent of Germany's Abwehr military intelligence organization and a rabid anti-Semite.

European stocks sank Tuesday on news of a sharp slowdown in Eurozone powerhouse Germany, and before crisis talks on the economy between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In morning trade, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index of leading shares dived 2.29 percent to 5,884.61 points, the Paris CAC 40 dropped 1.47 percent to 3,191.41 points and London's FTSE 100 slid 0.77 percent to 5,309.4.

Oil prices retreated on Tuesday as the dollar strengthened, and traders digested downbeat European economic growth data and awaited news of any fresh plan to tackle the Eurozone debt crisis.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for delivery in September, fell 84 cents to $87.04 a barrel.

Used to the good life, France has lagged behind many other countries in using the marketing muscle of the Internet to spur interest in second-hand goods.

But today, belts are tightening as spending power declines and unemployment rises -- and more seems likely next week when President Nicolas Sarkozy unveils plans to narrow the country's budget deficit.

France advised its citizens in Syria Saturday to leave the country as security forces continue to clamp down on pro-democracy protests.

"We advise French citizens who are still in Syria to leave the country by commercial transport," the foreign ministry said in the travel advice section of its website.

World Bank chief Robert Zoellick on Saturday warned of a "new and more dangerous" time in the global economy, with little breathing space in most developed countries as a debt crisis hits Europe.

Zoellick said the Eurozone's sovereign debt issues were more troubling than the "medium and long-term" problems which saw the United States downgraded by Standard and Poor's last week, sending global markets into panic.

European stock markets were holding onto gains Friday after another rollercoaster ride as nervous investors tried to get ahead of the curve and a short-selling ban in Europe helped the under-fire banks.

France, Italy, Spain and Belgium banned short-selling in bank stocks after rumors about their financial health saw them suffer massive losses in recent days and then Germany upped the ante by calling for a Europe-wide bar.

Bank stocks recovered their poise Friday and helped European stock markets push higher as investors assessed the impact of a short-selling ban on financial shares in four eurozone countries.

The advance in Europe follows big gains on Wall Street Thursday, which helped support most markets in Asia.