Nicolas Sarkozy News

ONLY ONE YEAR INTO his presidency, FranA ois Hollande, France's bland, indecisive, but stubbornly doctrinaire socialist leader, is already setting records.

A gay couple embrace after the French parliament approved a law allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children French President Francois Hollande has signed a bill legalising gay marriage in France, after a right-wing challenge to the law was rejected by the country's Constitutional Council.

The court rejected the challenge but did clarify that the right of same-sex couples to adopt does not establish [France24 report] a "right to a child." French President Francois Hollande [official website, in French], a supporter of the legislation, is expected to sign the bill into law next week.

France's president is to sign into law a controversial bill that will make the country the eighth in Europe, and 14th globally, to legalise gay marriage.

The government is considering posting dedicated cultural attaches at South Africa's missions abroad, Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile said on Thursday.

After years of neglect, periodic riots, and unfulfilled promises from the state, Paris's low-income suburbs are finally doing for themselves what had long been promised to them - creating opportunities for economic development and social integration.

Playing the 2022 World Cup in the searing summer heat of Qatar is "not rational and reasonable," FIFA President Sepp Blatter said in a newspaper interview.

Taxes in France are levied in various forms. No one is spared from it, not even ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy who finally had to shift to neighboring country to avoid paying taxes.

France and Germany set the tone in the EU. But relations between Berlin and Paris have reached a low point, to the detriment of all of Europe.

President France Hollande's government launched consultations on Monday with trade union leaders and employers on an overhaul of France's pension system, a reform seen as vital to sorting out French public finances.

Mrs, Thatcher having passed away, a UMP - Union pour un Movement Populaire - councillor, JA©rA me Dubus, motioned at a Paris municipal meeting that a street or square in Paris should be named after her: Rue or Avenue or Boulevard, or Place Margaret Thatcher.

Partial results in France's municipal elections on Sunday showed President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative party headed toward defeat and losing control of key cities, a new setback for a leader beset by sinking support.

It was hailed as a giant step forward for racial integration in a country that has long been ill at ease with its growing immigrant classes.

The French government argues that universities like the Sorbonne in Paris need to compete internationally.

The headlines that greeted French President Francois Hollande as he celebrated his first year in office this week have painted a sober picture of a man -- and a country -- in deep trouble.

New Wave is partnering with the James Beard Foundation Greens to present a fabulous evening of film and food at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.

The French government finally unveiled its long-awaited livre blanc on defense and national security last week.

Nothing can be more toxic for a government than scandals combined with economic and financial depression.

TURKEY HOPES NUCLEAR PARTNER FRANCE WILL REVIEW 'GENOCIDE' STANCE Today's Zaman, Turkey May 6 2013 Ankara is expecting to see Paris weigh its stance on Armenian genocide claims rather more carefully amid improving trade ties, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yýldýz told reporters Monday in Ankara.

Nicolas Sarkozy was cheered in Tripoli on a recent visit. But the former French president could soon fall from grace if his alleged dark dealings with Gadaffi come to light.