Six Chinese oenology students were attacked in the early hours of Saturday in France's wine-producing region of Bordeaux, the interior ministry said, describing the violence as an act of xenophobia. The students, who had arrived in France only two months ago, were allegedly "violently attacked" by three local men who were visibly drunk and previously known to the police, a ministry statement said. Two of the alleged attackers have been detained and are now in police custody. A female student was seriously hurt in the face by a glass bottle which was thrown at her.

OTTAWA - The Canada-Europe trade talks may be stalled on a number of controversial topics, but in one area — wines and spirits — there's been plenty of cheer going around. Sources close to the trade negotiations in Brussels say the two sides have had a relatively easy time settling on rules governing wines and spirits, although European vintners likely still view wine producers in Ontario and British Columbia as receiving preferential treatment.

It would take more than four consecutive days to view every item in what just might be the world's largest wine-label collection. Toronto resident Alain Laliberte owns about 180,000 wine labels, carefully stored in 123 shoeboxes. He has contacted the Guinness World Records because he is confident that he has enough to break the current high of 16,349 labels.

President Francois Hollande has been accused of selling off France's national heritage with an auction of hundreds of bottles of fine wine from the cellars of his Elysee Palace. A total of 1,200 bottles, including some of the world's most prestigious labels, went under the hammer on Thursday evening in a sale that has become symbolic of the cash-strapped government's austerity drive.