A mother who lost a son in the Air NZ Airbus crash off France is saddened to see blame being meted out to the people involved.

Air NZ has hit out at an aviation safety specialist's interpretation of what went on before an Airbus A320 crashed into the Mediterranean off France in 2008.

Air New Zealand crew encouraged the pilots of an Airbus 320 to carry out tests minutes before the plane crashed off the coast of France, a specialist said.

Experts for French prosecutors probing the crash of an Air NZ jet in 2008 agree with air safety investigations which blame human error.

All seven people aboard an Airbus A320 test flight died when it crashed in 2008. Air NZ said it could not confirm a report that an announcement would be made tonight regarding the crash.

Paul Smith is music mad. Rock'n'roll is at the core of each one of his collections.

Even the more outlandish pieces at Raf Simons only served to make the traditional seem even more covetable in the end.

Despite a predominance of coats, the Dior Homme collection was practically weightless and no garment was without a quirk of design.

The latest menswear fashions, as seen on the runway in Paris.

The latest menswear fashions, as seen on the runway in Paris.

At Louis Vuitton today, the show notes suggested a virtual reality traveller.

Are French women superior at raising children? Dita De Boni delves into the debate started by feminist Elisabeth Badinter.

Rarely can a country have greeted its own national team's humiliation in the World Cup with such grim satisfaction.

Attention to detail is the all-important ingredient in the business of making champagne, says Francois Hautekeur.

France's most prestigious newspaper is up for grabs.

Geoff Cumming cruises the waterways of France and has a cliched but perfect experience.

Images of the writer and aviation pioneer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - probably taken just before his death - have surfaced in France.