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French Trial

NPR's Sarah Chayes reports from Paris that a high-profile French corruption trial was thrown into disarray today when a key defendant refused to testify. The defendant -- former oil executive Alfred Sirvan -- once boasted he had enough compromising information about former government officials "to blow the republic sky high." But when he appeared in court, he refused to answer any questions. Sirven's lawyers said he will talk -- but only after all related investigations into the corruption scandal are completed. Among the Sirven's co-defendants is former French foreign minister Roland Dumas.

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