PARIS — Francois Hollande said he wanted to make Berlin his first stop as president of France, but he warned that the Franco-German partnership was going to have to change and that Europe’s key word from now on was “growth.” Read full article > >

Read more from the original source:
France’s Hollande aims anti-austerity message directly at Germany

LONDON — Voters in France and Greece redrew Europe’s political map Sunday in a powerful backlash against the German-led cure for the region’s debt crisis: painful austerity. In France, voters swept Francois Hollande into the nation’s highest office, ejecting President Nicolas Sarkozy and bringing the Socialists back to the Elysee Palace for the first time in 17 years. Along with Germany’s Angela Merkel, the blunt-talking Sarkozy was a chief architect of Europe’s push to restore confidence in the euro through tough fiscal discipline. In contrast, Hollande vowed to focus on economic growth, arguing that the singular emphasis on spending cuts has weighted down Europe with recessions and soaring unemployment. Read full article > >

See the original post:
French, Greek voters say no to austerity

In an address to his supporters in Tulle, France, François Hollande said that the French people voted for “change.”

Read more from the original source:
The Lede Blog: Updates on Voting in France, Greece, Germany, Serbia and Armenia

François Hollande became the first Socialist president of France since 1995, but his victory over Nicolas Sarkozy will also be seen as a challenge to the policy of austerity in the euro zone.

Read the original post:
Hollande Defeats Sarkozy in France

PARIS — Francois Hollande, a moderate Socialist with an easy smile, was elected president of France on Sunday, exit polls showed, narrowly defeating the incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy, a conservative whose five-year term was undermined by Europe’s economic crisis and his combative personality. Read full article > >

Read the original post:
Francois Hollande wins French presidential vote over Sarkozy, exit polls show

The rise of the Socialist François Hollande, who is slightly favored to win the French presidency on Sunday, is still a surprise to many in the country.

Read more here:
In Race to French Presidency, Hollande Sets His Own Pace

Along with French elections, and with a rising tide of anti-austerity sentiment across Europe, Greece’s vote is expected to have a clear impact on the future of the euro.

Read more:
Greeks Expected to Make Old Guard Pay for Turmoil

Here’s one thing I learned during a nine-day drink-and-dine tour of Cognac and several other towns in western France: Never, ever text a photo of your sumptuous lunch to your wife when she’s alone back home, working and taking care of your 8-year-old son. Read full article > >

Visit link:
France’s cognac country: So much to drink in

I’m clinging to a cable attached to a rock face. The trail ahead — actually, more of a three-foot-wide platform cut into the rock — mirrors the zig and zag of the canyon wall. I’m not a fan of heights, nor is my traveling companion, who has reluctantly agreed to hike this far into France’s Gorges du Verdon, or Verdon Gorge. Read full article > >

See original here:
In France’s Verdon Gorge — and maybe in too deep

A scientist at the prestigious Cern laboratory is jailed for five years in France for plotting terrorist attacks.

View post:
France jails physicist for terror

PARIS — France wound up a long and rancorous presidential campaign Friday with opinion polls predicting victory for Francois Hollande, the Socialist candidate who promises economic stimulus measures to soften the austerity cutbacks imposed by President Nicolas Sarkozy during the European debt crisis. Read full article > >

More here:
French presidential campaign ends with Sarkozy trailing

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and his Socialist challenger, François Hollande, clashed on Wednesday night in their only televised debate before Sunday’s election.

More here:
France Approaches the End of a Presidential Campaign With a Bitter Debate

Unemployment rose to 10.9 percent in April, the 11th monthly increase in row, and is likely to add to tension ahead of national elections in Greece and France on Sunday.

Read the original post:
Unemployment at Record High in Euro Zone

A tornado has reportedly torn through a region of the southern region of France

Link:
VIDEO: Tornado filmed in southern France

The leader of France’s resurgent, anti-immigrant far right, Marine Le Pen, is refusing to endorse either candidate in the country’s presidential runoff and said Tuesday she will cast a blank protest ballot.

Visit link:
France’s Le Pen Won’t Endorse Anyone for President