The most recent encounter was last weekend when Sarkozy was on a private visit to London to mark his reconciliation with his wife, Cecilia. Officially, he laid a wreath at Charles de Gaulle's statue in Covent Garden and met only Home Secretary John Reid. In fact, as one of Sarkozy's aides confirmed yesterday, France's most ruthlessly ambitious politician also met Blair. The aide, Gerard Longuet, said that comments made by Blair during their meeting had 'inspired' a keynote speech by Sarkozy to his Union Pour Un Mouvement Populaire.

Longuet said the men had discussed the euro and Blair allegedly said: 'We're not in Euroland and have better growth and less unemployment than you. How can you expect my voters to agree [with the French approach to Europe]?' The aide added: 'Nicolas was struck by the argument. He remains impressed by Mr Blair's forthrightness. '

Despite the high-profile Sarkozy has achieved through tough comments on law and order, he is seen by many in his own party as undecided on crucial economic issues and hesitant to take a stand on France's complex relationship with its public sector trade unions. But at Agen last Thursday, his first rally since meeting Blair, he launched a powerful attack on the European Central Bank and called for workers' overtime to be made tax-free, which would in effect dismantle the 35-hour week and expose him to a revolt from the powerful unions.

The revelation of the close relationship between the Prime Minister and Sarkozy comes at a difficult time in the minister's campaign to succeed Chirac. Though the socialist party will not choose its candidate until November, the popular Segolene Royal - who has also expressed admiration for Blair - is neck-and-neck with Sarkozy in opinion polls. While needing to carve out a clear campaign in the face of competition from Royal, Sarkozy needs to distance himself from the unpopular incumbent government of which he is part.

Last week, when Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin caused uproar in the National Assembly by insulting François Hollande, leader of the Socialist party, Sarkozy had stay uncharacteristically silent. The issue that led to the furore was the delays to the Airbus A380 project and allegations of insider dealing in the Franco-German EADS partnership. The EADS debacle is expected to dominate French politics this week, but Sarkozy has opted to travel to French Guyana on a mission to stamp out illegal gold mining.

Leaving the country is no way to win an election in the long run, but for his previous unofficial meeting with Blair, according to French sources, Sarkozy spent a weekend in Florence. The two men first met in 2002 after Sarkozy had reached an agreement with then Home Secretary David Blunkett over the closure of the Sangatte immigrants' centre.

In spring 2004, when he was finance minister, Sarkozy made his first request for a head-to-head with Blair. The Elysee Palace was not keen, but it is believed that Peter Mandelson intervened and a meeting was arranged for 25 May. Last October they met privately at a hotel in London, after the Elysee had asked Downing Street to turn down a request for an official encounter.

Most tellingly, Sarkozy's campaign team - 'The Firm' - has drawn direct inspiration from the Blairite spin tradition. According to Le Monde journalist Philippe Ridet, 'La Firme Nicolas' is a crack team of thirtysomething workaholic men, with the latest mobile phones, Ralph Lauren suits and an image-building obsession that stops at nothing: 'It's a political style we have never seen in France before.'

Chen's son-in-law has been arrested for insider trading, only one of several scandals close to the president that have fired public anger over the president, whose second and final term does not end until 2008.

The protest comes with lawmakers set to vote Tuesday on whether to go ahead with a national referendum to decide Chen's political future -- an unprecedented move on this island of 23 million people.

Analysts expect Chen to survive the move in parliament but many fear the crisis could lead to months of political turmoil.

His wife has been accused of accepting department store vouchers in exchange for political favours, while a top presidential aide has also been indicted for corruption.

But in a nationally televised address last week, Chen insisted his wife was innocent and categorically refused to quit.

In a bid to shore up his support, he met hundreds of his supporters at his southern birthplace of Kuantien Township on Sunday -- and said the opposition campaign to oust him was "a comeback by the remnants of the old forces."

That appeared to be a reference to the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party, which favours close ties with mainland China and held unbroken power here from 1949 until Chen's election in 2000.

"For Taiwan's sovereignty, consolidation of Taiwan's democracy, economic development and justice, I would like to bear the cross. I would like to dedicate my life," he said.

Taiwan split from China in 1949 after a civil war between the communists and nationalist KMT forces. China still considers the island part of its territory and threatens to invade if it formally declares independence.

Parliament on Wednesday began debating a motion to recall the president, two years before his term ends. If two-thirds of MPs vote for it on Tuesday, a national referendum will be held on Chen's fate.

When both sets of fans began throwing bottles and tables from pubs and bars police, some of them on horseback, created a barrier to separate the two groups.

English troublemakers were restrained with plastic handcuffs and led away.

"The action of the police prevented the situation getting worse," said police spokesman Uwe Schmid.

A total of 380 people were arrested, including 300 England fans. Most were released but were banned from entering the centre of the city until Monday morning.

England were playing Ecuador in a last 16 match in the city at 1500 GMT on Sunday.

The Stuttgart police had indicated they would take a tough approach with fans who became abusive or violent after drinking. Police spokesmen said the city had not experienced any problems with fans from other countries.

An estimated 70,000 English fans are believed to be in Stuttgart.

England's once infamous supporters were praised by police for their behaviour in their country's first two matches, in Frankfurt and Nuremberg.

But there were scuffles in Cologne following England's 2-2 draw with Sweden in their final first-round match on Wednesday, although most of the 137 rowdy fans detained there were German.

Iran is currently locked in a standoff with the international community over its nuclear program, facing the threat of sanctions if it does not accept a US-backed offer and halt sensitive nuclear work.

Vaziri-Hamaneh warned about impact any sanctions on Iran would have in the oil market, saying the price of crude, currently around 70 dollars a barrel, risked going up to 100 dollars.

"The world needs energy and understands the affect of oil sanctions against Iran on the market and no-one will make such an unreasonable decision," he added.

The West fears Iran, which is OPEC's number two oil exporter, is secretly trying to build nuclear weapons, a charge denied by Tehran which insists its atomic program is purely for electricity-generation.

Heavily subsidised

Petrol imports are an expensive problem for the Iranian government because it heavily subsidies its domestic petrol prices.

A litre of regular petrol in Iran currently costs just 800 rials (9 cents; 5p).

This problem has intensified for Tehran due to an upsurge in petrol demand caused by a big rise in car ownership, and increased petrol consumption to Iran's neighbours, where prices are far higher.

Iran's oil minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said the decision to start rationing petrol was preferable to rising prices.

The country's ongoing nuclear row with the West centres on Iran's attempts to build its first nuclear power station.

While Tehran insists its ambitious are solely power generation, the US and Europe fear Iran wishes to develop nuclear weapons.

The debate resurfaced after Louis Vuitton opened a new store last fall on the Champs-Elysees - an airy, 21,500-square-foot temple to handbags and high fashion - with the intention of opening Sundays. Vuitton says 70 of its 300 employees were hired for that purpose and willing to work, and the shop had permission from the top local official.

But two groups filed a lawsuit - the National Clothing Federation, known by its French initials FNH, and the French Christian labor union, or CFTC.

Charles Melcer, president of the FNH, argues that France's consumer spending would not increase by even one euro if stores were open Sunday. At the heart of his fears is that only big chains have enough staffing to stay open, which would force France's cherished neighborhood shops out of business.

"We in France don't want that," Melcer said.

Vuitton, meanwhile, argued that it met the complex criteria for opening Sundays, which include being in a touristy area and having a cultural, recreational or sports dimension. The company pointed to the store's bookstore and art gallery, which was open to all, not just shoppers.

But in late May, Paris' administrative court ordered the shop to close Sundays. Vuitton said it would appeal, and in a statement, called the decision "totally incomprehensible." Officials declined further comment because of the appeal.

Throughout Europe, laws differ vastly. In Sweden, most shops stay open Sundays. Poland's stores are open, but the Roman Catholic church has been fighting to force shopping malls and supermarkets to close. The church is leading a similar battle in Croatia.

In Germany, during the World Cup, retailers are being allowed to open Sunday, though the 1949 constitution mandates Sundays as a day of rest from work and "for the promotion of spiritual purposes." Retailers and politicians are watching the World Cup experiment to see if might be expanded down the road.

In France, where most people no longer go to church, exceptions are the rule. Under the Champs-Elysees' regulations, Quiksilver can sell T-shirts because it also sells surfboards and other sports gear, but Gap cannot. Virgin Megastore, which waged its own battle years ago, can open because it has a cultural dimension. But Vuitton - which opened its first Champs-Elysees store in 1914 - cannot.

The closed shops leave foreign tourists perplexed, said Dominique Rodet, an official with a committee that represents shops on the avenue. About 80 percent of the 500,000 people strolling on the avenue every Sunday are foreigners, she said.

"For Paris' image, and on an economic level, it's very harmful," she said.

Outside Paris, an outlet mall called Usines Center has been waging a battle similar to Vuitton's.

For 20 years, the mall with 140 shops and 600 employees has been open Sundays - illegally. Usines Center points out that other outlet malls around Paris did win clearance from authorities because they classified as being near tourist areas such as Charles de Gaulle airport and Disneyland Paris. Never mind that Usines Center is just a few miles from the Chateau of Versailles.

Officials "know the law is old and stupid, and at the same time they don't want to change it, because of Catholic tradition and social issues," said Jean-Patrick Grumberg, president of Usines Center's association of shop owners.

Demand from the public is there: Grumberg says Usines Center gets at least 35 percent of its annual revenues of 92 million euros ($116 million) on Sundays.

On the mall's behalf, the Ipsos polling agency conducted a survey in April that found 75 percent of people in Paris and the suburbs favored Sunday shop openings, and only 24 percent were opposed.

Meanwhile, the FNH and two other groups have waged a battle against Usines Center's clothing shops. While a 2005 court decision allowed them to stay open, an appeals court in Versailles overturned that decision June 14, ordering them to close.

Since then, the mall's shops are staying open Sunday on a technicality as they await formal notification of the court decision.

If need be, Grumberg say they will take advantage of another loophole - shops can open Sundays if the owners and their immediate families are the only ones who work. Which means, he says, that 80 other mall employees could lose their jobs.

Sundin, who spoke over the telephone from the scene, said the device was taken to be detonated in a safe area. She could not confirm whether it was a genuine bomb.

The man, in his late 20s, was taken to hospital and would be questioned by police, she added.

Police had arrived at the scene before noon Sunday, after members of the public reported seeing the man, police spokesman Stefan Larsson said.

Residents evacuated

About 30 officers surrounded the man and police cleared a 400-meter (440-yard) radius around him. Some 100 residents were evacuated from nearby buildings.

Sundin, who briefly approached and talked to the man herself, said he told police he had managed to escape from an apartment building after being held captive there for three days.

He wore a black box fastened around the waist, with wires sticking out, she said, adding that he looked frightened and was sweating profusely.

"It looked real to me," Sundin said.

A subsequent police search of an apartment there uncovered material which police would investigate further, she said.

Sundin said the man was born in 1977 in Norway but must have been living in Sweden for a while because he was speaking Swedish. Police were searching for the kidnappers, she said.

Swedish broadcaster channel TV 4 showed live footage of the man, seated on the ground by a parking lot and leaning against a pole, dressed in a green shirt and gray pants. The video showed police bringing him a glass of water

"He behaved in a weird way and just sat there crying," witness Jasser Mohammed Ali, who works at a nearby shop, earlier told Swedish news agency TT.

Later Sunday, police said they searched several apartment buildings across Stockholm and arrested one man suspected of "endangering public safety," and that they were still pursuing a second suspect in the case.