Latest French people Stories

By Deborah Charles ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - Noble and generous, family members of September 11 victims overcame anger, rage and a thirst for vengeance before testifying for the defense on Wednesday in a trial that will determine if Zacarias Moussaoui will be executed. Moussaoui, an admitted al Qaeda member, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with the airliner hijackings. The 12-person jury is hearing evidence before deciding whether he should be sentenced to death...

By Deborah Charles ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - Defense lawyers trying to save Zacarias Moussaoui's life presented evidence on Monday that the September 11 conspirator was a schizophrenic who had an abusive father and an unsettled childhood. Witnesses were brought forward to try to blunt the impact of Moussaoui's recent testimony on the first day back in court since he announced that he had no remorse for the September 11 hijackings and said he wished Americans more pain. Moussaoui...

By Deborah Charles ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui said on Thursday he had no regrets for those who died in the hijacked plane attacks and told jurors in his death penalty trial he wished "there would be more pain." In comments that brought at least one relative of a victim to tears, Moussaoui mocked survivors of the attacks who had told the court of their pain and said he would like to see similar attacks against Americans every day. "I...

By Deborah Charles ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui said on Thursday he had no regrets for those who died in the hijacked plane attacks and told jurors in his death penalty trial he wished "there would be more pain." He expressed disgust with family members of victims who shared their grief in the courtroom "in order to get the death of someone else." "We wanted you to have pain in your country," Moussaoui said during 2-1/2 hours of testimony...

By Deborah Charles ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui said on Thursday that he no longer wanted to be executed as the death penalty was not in line with Islamic teaching, but doubted his testimony held any sway with the jurors considering his sentence. Moussaoui, 37, who pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy in connection with the September 11 attacks, pulled back from statements made several times over the past four years that indicated...

By Deborah Charles ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui on Thursday told a jury deliberating the death penalty that he had been badly represented by his court-appointed lawyers. Moussaoui, 37, who pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy in connection with the September 11 attacks, testified for the second time in the sentencing trial, even though his lawyers had not wanted him to take the stand. Moussaoui has refused to cooperate with those...

By Deborah CharlesALEXANDRIA, Virginia -- C. Lee Hanson was on the phone with his son -- a passenger on United Flight 175 on September 11 -- and heard him say "Oh my God!" just before watching his airplane crash into the World Trade Center.Hanson's testimony on Monday at the sentencing trial of September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui was one of several emotional stories told by survivors or family members of victims of the deadly hijackings.Hanson, 73, said he received two calls...

PARIS (Reuters) - France will replace a controversial youth job law with measures to help the most disadvantaged young people find work, President Jacques Chirac's office said on Monday. The announcement was made following a meeting with Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and other senior members of the ruling UMP party. Villepin was due to announce details of the new measures at a news conference shortly.

By Deborah Charles ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani described watching desperate people jump from the burning World Trade Center in emotional testimony to a jury that will determine if September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui should die. Jurors and spectators, including relatives of the September 11 victims, also watched a video of two planes hitting the trade center and then about five minutes of footage of people jumping from it. Many...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The cockpit voice recording from one of the airplanes hijacked on September 11 can be played for the jury in Zacarias Moussaoui's sentencing trial, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said the government could introduce into evidence the transcripts and cockpit recording from United Flight 93, which is believed to have been targeted at the Capitol in Washington but crashed into a Pennsylvania field. The tape was played in 2002...