The outcome of the French presidential elections this weekend marked the end of the Merkozy era and a possibly a pivotal point in Europe’s political and economic landscape.

[credit provider=”Wikimedia Commons” url=”http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nicolas_Sarkozy,_2010.jpg”] It’s official — The Sarkozy era is over.With that in mind, we thought it would be a good time to take a look back at some of the highs and lows of Nicolas’ time in office.

[credit provider=”Marc Piasecki/Getty Images”] UPDATE: French media has declared Holland the winner of the French Presidential election.The final tally is about 52-48%.

[credit provider=”Youtube/actupolitique”] In case you failed to tune in to Wednesday’s facts-and-figures-filled, mud-slinging shouting match that was the French presidential debate, Le Monde and Le Parisien discuss it in great detail. But if you want to know who won, the jury’s still sort of out, although most agree it probably won’t change […]

[credit provider=”AP”] It’s the moment of truth. Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande will battle it out in the final debate on Wednesday night (8 pm GMT, 3 pm EST) before the second round of French presidential elections on Sunday. Polls still show socialist candidate Hollande with a small lead over […]

The leader of the far-right Front National, Marine Le Pen, has announced she will abstain in the run-off vote to decide France’s presidential election.

[credit provider=”Flickr/Andrea Guerra”] The ground is shifting in Europe’s debt crisis. The edifice of economic austerity built under the guidance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is starting to wobble.There’s a new buzz in Brussels about pumping hundreds of billions into a Marshall Plan-inspired fund to get Europeans back to work, […]

French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s re-election campaign could be falling apart as two French magazines have reported damning allegations about his relationship to former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi. 

[credit provider=”AP”] The Guardian have a nice exclusive today, revealing some details from Edward Jay Epstein’s new book on last year’s Dominique Strauss Kahn scandal “Three Days In May“.However, we still have our doubts. While the headline reads “DSK: New York sex scandal orchestrated by political opponents”, the article the […]

[credit provider=”Wikimedia Commons/European People’s Party/NdFrayssinet”] French President Nicolas Sarkozy has ruled out any election pact between his party and the far-right National Front of Marine Le Pen, but insisted that its voters should not be demonized.Although both Sarkozy and his Socialist Party François Hollande received more votes than Le Pen […]

[credit provider=”Wikipedia” url=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Knout.gif”] Financial media and analysts in the last few days have begun to espouse the idea that German-led austerity in Europe is finally facing some backlash amid the collapse of the Dutch ruling government and mounting support for Socialist French presidential candidate Francois Hollande.While these developments constitute important […]

[credit provider=”AP”] Does it really matter who wins the French presidential election between socialist François Hollande and incumbent president Nicolas Sarkozy?What about the race in the US between President Obama and Mitt Romney? Let’s discuss those questions one at at time.

Check this out. Although it may appear that Sarkozy got a close 2nd place in the first round of the French election, InTrade isn’t so kind.

[credit provider=”Getty Images News / Pool”] Rachida Dati, the glamorous yet controversial UMP politician and key Sarkozy ally, is now trending worldwide on Twitter after apparently sucking up to Marine Le Pen’s FN supporters.Speaking to France2, Dati said that Le Pen’s far right party had defied “the media and the […]

The first round of the French elections is today.

[credit provider=”AP Images” url=”http://www.apimages.com/OneUp.aspx?st=k&kw=francois%20hollande&showact=results&sort=creationdatelower%3Areversealphabetical&intv=None&sh=10&kwstyle=and&adte=1334842607&pagez=60&cfasstyle=AND&rids=3402271ff4384d61b37fdceac9a7d373&dbm=PThirtyDay&page=1&xslt=1&mediatype=Photo”] PARIS (AP) — Voting began Sunday in France in President Nicolas Sarkozy’s uncertain bid for re-election, with polls showing that many French are dissatisfied with his response to concerns about the economy and jobs.The voting will winnow down a list of 10 candidates from across the […]

[credit provider=”Patrick Aventurier/Getty Images” url=”http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/french-president-nicolas-sarkozy-speaks-during-the-ump-news-photo/139320283″] French presidential elections have entered their final day of campaigning ahead of Sunday’s vote. The presidential elections generally take place over two rounds and latest polls show that President Sarkozy is catching up with the Socialist Party’s candidate Francois Hollande. With neither likely to get an […]

[credit provider=”(Photo by Franck Prevel/Getty Images) “] The French premium over Germany rose yesterday to a three-month high. rumours of a rating downgrade proved wide of the mark, but it reflects the market’s anxiety about the outlook for France going forward.As we have argued, the challenges of the euro zone […]

[credit provider=”AP”] If the first quarter was about absorption of the ECB’s LTRO, the second quarter will be about politics. This weekend’s first round of the French presidential election kicks of the quarter that will include:* Greek national elections, where polls warn that the current coalition government may not be […]

[credit provider=”AP Images” url=”http://www.apimages.com/OneUp.aspx?st=k&kw=merkel%20sarkozy&showact=results&sort=creationdatelower%3Areversealphabetical&intv=None&sh=10&kwstyle=and&adte=1318606099&pagez=60&cfasstyle=AND&rids=f668d8ffeb984c8b893d8c7754f3ee56&dbm=PY2011&page=1&xslt=1&mediatype=Photo”] Perhaps 100,000 people swarmed over the Place de la Concorde in Paris on Sunday, one week before the first round of elections, to hear French President Nicolas Sarkozy beg for his job, and politicians were listening warily … in Germany.He’d already shocked them on March 11 […]

Nicolas Sarkozy was out on the campaign trail at the weekend, shaking hands with some of the 100,000 people gathered in Paris to see him, Le Figaro reports.

[credit provider=”Wikimedia Commons” url=”http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nicolas_Sarkozy,_2010.jpg”] As Nicolas Sarkozy’s re-election situation looks more and more dire, he’s doing what all desperate candidates do: start blasting various rigid institutions.For example, he’s blasting the ECB for not doing more to promote growth.

[credit provider=”Wikimedia Commons” url=”http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nicolas_Sarkozy,_2010.jpg”] As goes the French economy, so goes the reelection chances of French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Although Sarkozy leads in round one, polls show that lead is shrinking at a pace that suggests he will not carry round one. More importantly, Sarkozy is trailing again by double […]

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will just not make things easy for himself. He was caught in another embarrassing political gaffe after his claims that he had visited Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant after the earthquake and tsunami last year were proved false, The Telegraph reports.

[credit provider=”AP”] She was supposed to be a star of the French elections, but as the campaign enters its final countdown to the first-round vote on April 22, Angela Merkel has been noticeably absent from the political maneuvers west of the Rhine.The German chancellor had announced she’d campaign in France […]

In a new interview with Obsession, the magazine of French newspaper Le Nouvel Observateur, Carla Bruni speaks out on fame and what life is like being married to the French president.

[credit provider=”AP/Jacques Brinon”] There may be another obstacle to Socialist Francois Hollande becoming President of France, and this time.Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a fiery leftist with a vehemently anti-capitalist agenda (he plans to cap earnings at €360,000 ($480,000) and impose a 100% tax on anything more) has gained four percentage points in […]

French police arrested at least 17 people in early morning raids Friday in several cities, including Toulouse, France 24 reports.

[credit provider=”AP/Eric Cabanis, Pool”] As we predicted before, Nicolas Sarkozy’s dignified conduct after the terrible shootings in Southern France last week may be just what his flagging election campaign needed.Le Figaro publishes a poll from OpinonWay Fiducial today that says Sarkozy has topped 28% in the first round voting for […]

Al Jazeera, the only confirmed recipient of Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah’s videos of his crimes, is still debating whether to air the videos according to the Qatar-based TV station.

[credit provider=”AP/Eric Cabanis, Pool”] The gunman responsible for seven deaths, including that of four people outside a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, was only finally brought down and killed by French police a few hours ago, but President Nicolas Sarkozy is already back on the campaign trail, using the shooting […]

[credit provider=”AP/Eric Cabanis, Pool”] While the French presidential candidates’ campaigns may have been put on hold because of the shootings at a Jewish school earlier this week, the constantly-evolving series of events has analysts and politicians alike calculating who is likely to get the most political mileage out of the […]

The French presidential elections are upon us again — here’s what you need to know.

[credit provider=”rmc.fr”] France, tangled up in a presidential election with major implications for the Eurozone, has gotten used to watching President Nicholas Sarkozy getting clobbered in a historic fashion by socialist François Hollande.But on Tuesday, the country woke up to the news—quelle horreur—that their presumed and possibly written-off loser was […]

[credit provider=”AP/Michel Euler, Pool”] This post originally appeared in Global Post.Incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy blames the European Union for overloading France with immigrants. Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande complains it’s stifling growth. The hard left blasts Europe for undermining workers’ rights, while the far right sees a European “dictatorship” menacing French sovereignty.

[credit provider=”AP”] Nicolas Sarkozy may finally have a sliver of good news. The French presidential incumbent, who has been trailing Socialist Francois Hollande in the presidential polls from the start, is finally marginally ahead in first-round voting intentions, according to a new poll. Sarkozy now leads Hollande by 28.5 per […]

[credit provider=”Wikimedia Commons” url=”http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marine_le_pen.jpg”] Despite worries to the contrary, National Front leader Marine Le Pen has collected 500 signatures from elected officials, the BBC reports — meaning that she will be running in the upcoming French election, scheduled for 22 April.That could be bad news for incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, who […]

[credit provider=”AP”] The first round of presidential elections in France are already beginning to generate significant chatter, with Socialist candidate Francois Hollande poised to oust incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.Analysts have feared that Hollande’s proposals could be radical—for example, he supports a 75 per cent tax on the highest French earners—however in […]

Nicolas Sarkozy allegedly received €50 million ($65.8 million) in illegal campaign contributions from Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi when he first ran for president of France in 2007, documents and letters leaked to investigative website Mediapart reveals.

[credit provider=”AP”] A French police woman made an official complaint on Thursday after harassment at the Elysee Palace, Connexion reports.The problem? Young Louis Sarkozy, the 15-year-old son from the French president’s second marriage, was pelting her with tomatoes.

[credit provider=”AP Images” url=”http://www.apimages.com/OneUp.aspx?st=k&kw=sarkozy&showact=results&sort=creationdatelower%3Areversealphabetical&intv=None&sh=10&kwstyle=and&adte=1326470585&pagez=60&cfasstyle=AND&rids=86ddd3ab3d984998b14960994b76368c&dbm=PThirtyDay&page=1&xslt=1&mediatype=Photo”] Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president and upcoming election hopeful, has announced a dramatic threat to pull out of the visa-free Schengen zone.”In the coming 12 months, [if] there is no serious progress towards this [reforming Schengen], France would then suspend its participation in the Schengen accords […]

[credit provider=”AP/Remy de la Mauviniere”] French President Nicolas Sarkozy may have the support of European leaders, but he isn’t as popular with European citizens, a new poll has found.BVA Opinion conducted an online poll for 20 Minutes, a French newspaper in France, Spain, Germany, the UK, and Italy, and found […]

[credit provider=”rmc.fr”] French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday he would quit politics if he loses his re-election bid, Reuters reports. But he promised to fight with everything he had to ensure that didn’t happen. “I will fight with all my strength to win your confidence, to protect and lead you […]

Pro-euthanasia activists in France have launched a shock campaign showing three presidential candidates on their deathbeds to promote assisted suicide for terminally ill patients, The Local reports.

[credit provider=”Mario Tama / Getty”] French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in a conciliatory mood while being interviewed on the France 2’s  show ‘Des Paroles et des Actes (‘Words and Deeds’), even owning up to numerous mistakes he has made in the past, The Telegraph reports.In the spirit of mea culpa, […]

[credit provider=”AP Images” url=”http://www.apimages.com/OneUp.aspx?st=k&kw=sarkozy&showact=results&sort=creationdatelower%3Areversealphabetical&intv=None&sh=10&kwstyle=and&adte=1326470585&pagez=60&cfasstyle=AND&rids=7092ba69a05d49cca6badbb009fcdc9f&dbm=PThirtyDay&page=1&xslt=1&mediatype=Photo”] FRENCH PRESIDENT NICOLAS Sarkozy has said there are too many immigrants in France and that he will halve the number of arrivals to the country if he is re-elected next month.Speaking during a televised debate last night, Sarkozy said that integration is failing and that France […]

[credit provider=”AP”] French politicians Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande may not have much in common when it comes to how they think the country should be run, but they may have one unassailable connection: a common ancestor.Sarkozy and Hollande, both of who are running for president in May, are descended […]

[credit provider=”AP”] Veit Medick at Der Spiegel has a great scoop today on a secret agreement between the conservative governments of Germany, Italy, the UK and Spain to not support Francois Hollande, the Socialist candidate in this year’s coming French election.Unsurprisingly, German chancellor Angela Merkel is said to have been […]

[credit provider=”commons.wikimedia.org” url=”http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Front_National_2010-05-01_n03.jpg”] You know it’s an election year in France when the far-right presidential candidate starts talking about meat and Muslims.Marie Le Pen, leader of the National Front, recently alleged that French President Nicholas Sarkozy had bowed to “Islamic radicals,” in particular about how Muslims butcher animals for consumption.

This post originally appeared in GlobalPost.

[credit provider=”Getty Images/Kevork Djansezian”] The French bill that would have criminalized the denial of the Armenian genocide has hit a roadblock. France’s highest legal authority ruled that the bill was unconstitutional, Reuters reports.The decision by France’s Constitutional Council invalidates the bill, which it said was against the principles of freedom […]

[credit provider=”AP”] Francois Hollande, the French presidential candidate for the Socialist Party, appears to have set out his tax plans in a prime time interview on French TV, the BBC reports:“Above 1m euros [£847,000; $1.3m], the tax rate should be 75% because it’s not possible to have that level of […]

[credit provider=”Getty Images News / Pool”] Rachida Dati, once the star of Nicolas Sarkozy’s multi-ethnic UMP government, returned to the French President’s side to campaign last night, the BBC reports.Of course, that the Muslim woman is brought back to campaign in the ethnically diverse city of Lille is seems a […]

[credit provider=”@nicolassarkozy” url=”https://twitter.com/#!/nicolassarkozy”] Just last week, I published an article on digital side of the French presidential elections. At the time, French President Nicolas Sarkozy didn’t have an official Twitter account. After announcing his intention to run for reelection on February 12th, he and his social media team got their act together. […]

[credit provider=”Mario Tama / Getty”] And the next French President will be…the Socialist Party’s candidate François Hollande. A month ago, any prediction uttered with such certainty would have sounded imprudent, if not foolish. Uncertainty prevailed.Four candidates dominated the competition, and no one would have dared to predict which two will […]

[credit provider=”AP”] The Eurozone debt crisis has frayed a lot of nerves, particularly among Greek politicians, whose country is on the verge of bankruptcy, and German politicians, who no longer trust Greek politicians—they’d misrepresented deficits and debt in order to accede to the Eurozone, and had continued to do so […]

[credit provider=”AP”] Sparring partners David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy have put aside their differences and announced new deals to improve civil nuclear energy co-operation and defence at a summit in Paris.The pair announced their plans to push ahead with a pilot-less “fighter drone” program between the two countries, according to […]

[credit provider=”AP Images” url=”http://www.apimages.com/OneUp.aspx?st=k&kw=sarkozy&showact=results&sort=creationdatelower%3Areversealphabetical&intv=None&sh=10&kwstyle=and&adte=1326470585&pagez=60&cfasstyle=AND&rids=7092ba69a05d49cca6badbb009fcdc9f&dbm=PThirtyDay&page=1&xslt=1&mediatype=Photo”] This post originally appeared at TheJournal.ieNicolas Sarkozy has used Twitter to confirm that he plans to run for re-election as president of France in April.

[credit provider=”@nicolassarkozy” url=”https://twitter.com/#!/nicolassarkozy”] Ahead of today’s upcoming announcement that, yes, he will be running for president again, Nicolas Sarkozy has taken a bold PR move — and joined Twitter.The account appears to be verified, though after the Wendi Deng incident we know this is not always reliable.

[credit provider=”commons.wikimedia.org” url=”http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MARINELEPEN.jpg”] Centrist presidential candidate Francois Bayrou has called on France’s mainstream political parties to help ensure that the far-right’s Marine Le Pen is eligible to be on the electoral ballot, France 24 reports.She is still about 140 mayoral signatures short of being allowed to declare her candidacy.

[credit provider=”AP”] Nicolas Sarkozy looks set to finally announce his candidacy for a second term as French President on Wednesday, sources have told the Telegraph.Sarkozy has 10 weeks to get campaigning, though recent polls suggesting the French right winger faces a tough fight if he wants to stay in the […]

[credit provider=”Sean Gallup / Getty”] In recent months, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been using the urgency posed by the euro zone’s debt crisis to reshape Europe’s economies, largely to conform with a particular quirk of German economists: disdain for government debt.For now, Merkel appears to be getting her way. […]

There is much talk today about a Greek election in the wake of the parliament approval of the latest austerity measures and PSI. There is concern that the election will result in ascension of Samaras, the head of the New Democracy Party, as prime minister.

A plan for a statue of French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy in the Parisian suburb of Nogent-sur-Marne has caused a stink, the Guardian reports.

At last, European leaders have revealed their top-secret plan for solving the euro’s crisis. And it is – drum roll – a version of the “Tobin tax,” a levy on financial transactions first suggested in 1972 by the Nobel laureate economist James Tobin.

[credit provider=”AP”] Francois Hollande, the leader of France’s Socialist Party, is looking more and more likely to triumph over UMP leader Nicolas Sarkozy in the Presidential election on 22 April.Recent polls from CSA (via WSJ) suggest that Hollande would win 30% of the votes in April, while Sarkozy would win […]

[credit provider=”AP Images” url=”http://www.apimages.com/OneUp.aspx?st=k&kw=sarkozy&showact=results&sort=creationdatelower%3Areversealphabetical&intv=None&sh=10&kwstyle=and&adte=1326470585&pagez=60&cfasstyle=AND&rids=86ddd3ab3d984998b14960994b76368c&dbm=PThirtyDay&page=1&xslt=1&mediatype=Photo”] Another day, another blow for Nicolas Sarkoy’s 2012 re-election campaign.Today, Eric Woerth — once Sarkozy’s budget minister and treasurer of his UMP party — was charged with peddling influence, AFP reports.

[credit provider=”AP”] Following the German-French council of ministers in Paris on Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy gave a joint press conference about the crisis in Greece, among other topics.They agreed on everything. They urged the Greek government and all political parties to implement structural reforms and meet […]

[credit provider=”Business Insider with AP”] Carlyle Group Managing Director Olivier Sarkozy just closed on his Upper East Side townhouse for $8.9 million. And yes, he’s related to French President Nicolas Sarkozy—they’re half brothers. [via Bloomberg]Sarkozy reportedly bought the house in 2005 for $6.5 million and originally listed the townhouse for $10.5 […]

[credit provider=”AP Images”] As the French presidential elections draw closer, the Sarkozy-bashing continues to intensify.A new book released by Socialist Member of Parliament (MP) Rene Dosiere details Sarkozy’s astonishingly extravagant lifestyle at a time when he has urged greater restraint in transparency in government spending, The Daily Mail reports.

[credit provider=”AP/Remy de la Mauviniere”] It looks like Angela Merkel’s campaign to get Nicolas Sarkozy re-elected has officially begun.”I support Nicolas Sarkozy across the line as we belong to friendly (political) parties,” Merkel said in an summit in Paris on Monday, the Telegraph reports.

[credit provider=”Julien M. Hekimian / Getty”] Claude Gueant, the French interior minister and a key Sarkozy ally, has caused controversy after telling students “all civilisations are not of equal value”.The speech was made on Saturday, and a copy of the comments were obtained by AFP. Amongst the comments made by […]

[credit provider=”AP/Philippe Wojazer/Pool”] Desperate times call for desperate measures.French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been accused of bussing in ‘workers’ to show his popularity when he visited a busy social housing building site on Thursday to talk about affordable housing, Europe 1 reports.

[credit provider=”Getty / Adam Berry”] Nicolas Sarkozy allegedly spent $51,000 of taxpayers’ money to send a military jet to “repatriate his son from Ukraine”, The Telegraph reports.The poor boy, Pierre Sarkozy, had fallen victim to food poisoning.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is a man most people love to hate. 

While French presidential hopeful Francois Hollande may be leading in the polls, it seems not everyone is ready to jump on the bandwagon.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the far right party National Front, has complained that she will not be able to collect the 500 signatures of elected officials required to participate in the upcoming French presidential election, RFI reports.

An informal summit of EU leaders in Brussels today ended without a bang and without much progress.

[credit provider=”AP”] Looks like there is at least one person who would like to see French President Nicolas Sarkozy get re-elected.Unfortunately, she’s not French.

[credit provider=”Mario Tama / Getty”] Last night Nicolas Sarkozy made some big claims in a nationally broadcast appearence on French TV.We’ve mentioned already his plans for new, German-like employment standards, and his announcement for something approaching a French financial transactions tax (see why that’s probably not a great idea here […]

There is massive theoretical as well as actual real life evidence that financial transaction taxes will backfire, but that never stops politicians hell-bent on plowing ahead with “it’s different this time” horrendous ideas. Via Google Translate from Les Echos, please consider Sarkozy’s stock exchange tax as of August 1

There’s an election coming up in France, and given President Sarkozy’s leading role in helping save the Eurozone, it matters to the entire world.

AP

[credit provider=”en.wikipedia.org” url=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Socialist_rally_Zenith_2007_05_29_n3.jpg”] French presidential hopeful Francois Hollande made a grand speech to a 20,000-strong crowd on Sunday, who were impressed when Hollande seemingly quoted a Shakespearean passage as he promised to restore egalitarian idealism to France. “And I will quote Shakespeare, who recalls this universal law,” the Socialist candidate said, […]

[credit provider=”AP Images” url=”http://www.apimages.com/OneUp.aspx?st=k&kw=sarkozy&showact=results&sort=creationdatelower%3Areversealphabetical&intv=None&sh=10&kwstyle=and&adte=1326470585&pagez=60&cfasstyle=AND&rids=86ddd3ab3d984998b14960994b76368c&dbm=PThirtyDay&page=1&xslt=1&mediatype=Photo”] In an uncharistically humble moment, French President Nicolas Sarkozy seems to have admitted to journalists it was possible he would lose the upcoming elections, France 24 reports.”For the first time in my life I am faced with the possibility that my career is coming to an end,” […]

[credit provider=”Julien M. Hekimian / Getty”] Der Spiegel has a fascinating interview with Alain Minc, an advisor to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.It’s a great read. Minc seems to be a great orator — check this response on Sarkozy’s relationship with Angela Merkel:

[credit provider=”Getty Images/Kevork Djansezian”] In a historic move, the French Senate has passed a bill making it illegal to deny that the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in 1915 Turkey was genocide, the AP reports.Saskya Vandoorne, a CNN reporter in Paris, tweets that the final vote stood at […]

[credit provider=”AP”] Francois Hollande, the Socialist party candidate (and favourite to win) in this year’s upcoming French election, has one big enemy.And no, it’s not incumbent President Sarkozy.

President Nicolas Sarkozy suspended French combat training operations in Afghanistan on Friday after four French soldiers were killed and more than a dozen wounded by a renegade Afghan soldier who opened fire on his unarmed trainers, The Washington Post reports.

[credit provider=”Wikimedia Commons” url=”http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marine_le_pen.jpg”] French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s struggle to avoid a shock first round exit in the April presidential elections just got a lot harder.A new poll on Thursday of voting intentions showed far-right candidate Marine Le Pen had risen to 21 per cent, just two points adrift of […]

As a refresher course in French politics, presidential elections are a two-stage process.

[credit provider=”AP Images” url=”http://www.apimages.com/OneUp.aspx?st=k&kw=sarkozy&showact=results&sort=creationdatelower%3Areversealphabetical&intv=None&sh=10&kwstyle=and&adte=1326470585&pagez=60&cfasstyle=AND&rids=86ddd3ab3d984998b14960994b76368c&dbm=PThirtyDay&page=1&xslt=1&mediatype=Photo”] The fallout from today’s ratings downgrades remains to be seen, with markets little moved.If anything, the move by Standard & Poor’s to cut France’s credit rating one-notch to AA+ brings a cacophonous chorus of market participants to a halt.

In an apparent shift to the right in French immigration policy, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government deported a record number of illegal migrants last year, according to Reuters.

[credit provider=”Wikipedia”] A reopened French investigation into what set off the 1994 Rwandan genocide has exonerated incumbent Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Tutsi allies after Paris had initially accused him of triggering the massacre of 800,000 people in a little over three months, Reuters reported.A team of French investigators […]

[credit provider=”S. Buckley/Shutterstock” url=”http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-842284p1.html”] Good morning. Here’s what you need to know. Overnight trading in Asia started the week mixed, with the Shanghai SE Composite gaining 2.9% as the Nikkei declined by 1.2%. European markets are modestly lower, as U.S. futures point to a flat or slightly negative open. Swiss […]

[credit provider=”AP/Remy de la Mauviniere”] The first “Merkozy” meeting of the year began at 11 AM (5 EST) in Berlin.The leaders of France and Germany are expected to discuss the sinking euro, implementation of last month’s fiscal tax and France’s push for a financial transaction tax.

[credit provider=”AP/Remy de la Mauviniere”] Yes, its true — France may decide to go ahead a financial transactions tax, even if Germany doesn’t.Henri Guaino, a special adviser to Sarkozy, told the BFMTV news channel about the government’s plans yesterday (via The Local):

[credit provider=”MsAnthea via Flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/anthea/281700306/sizes/m/in/photostream/”] As the 600th birthday of Joan of Arc approaches, France’s main political players are attempting to claim her as their own.Sadly, according to Reuters, the French patron saint is the subject of a dispute among the country’s right wing parties.

[credit provider=”Mario Tama / Getty”] French Socialist candidate Francois Hollande has angered President Nicolas Sarkozy (and his admirers) with an off the cuff insult in front of a room of journalists.Le Parisian reported the remarks, which were made informally (translation via Google):

[credit provider=”vissago / Flickr” url=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/vissago/4104758617/”] The UK’s largest pub chain, JD Wetherspoons is reportedly serving a specially brewed beer in celebration of Prime Minister David Cameron rejecting French Nicolas Sarkozy’s EU treaty plans.Eat Out magazine reports that “Veto Ale,” which is made from entirely British ingredients, is now available in […]