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After weeks of teasing French voters, Nicolas Sarkozy fired the starting gun yesterday evening. He will, as expected, be a candidate for his job. The rest of the field is still unsettled. Marine Le Pen is having trouble securing the 500 signatures from elected officials. But we assume that, one way or another, her name will be on the ballot, along with the Socialist François Hollande, the Green Eva Joly, centrist François Bayrou, left socialist Jean-Luc Melenchon, Dominique de Villepin, and one or two representatives of the more exotic fauna of French political life. Le Pen fille is doing even...

On a crisp, cold day last month, Inaya, an unemployed former Ikea manager, waited with about 100 people in a large, dingy hall at Credit Municipal de Paris to pawn a Gucci bag and some jewelry. Out of work for two years, Inaya, 35, sporting a tweed jacket and dark pants, was tapping the broker for cash for the first time as her unemployment benefits dwindled. "The structure of the French welfare state is such that you don't see acute poverty, but the model has reached its limit," said Philippe Chalmin, a professor at Universite Paris Dauphine. "It's clear France...

KEY SARKOZY ALLY: 'For Us, All Civilisations Are Not Of Equal Value' Adam Taylor Febuary 6, 2012Claude 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 Gueant, who is in charge of France's immigration policies, included: "Contrary to what the left's relativist ideology says, for us all civilisations are not of equal value." "Those which defend humanity seem to us to be more advanced than...

In the other election of 2012, the one more imminent, there are only two words worth remembering. The first is leadership. The second is change. The rest, as the French say, is du blah-blah. If the French decide leadership is more important in a time of crisis they will grit their teeth and re-elect Nicolas Sarkozy. If they want change from a president never close to their hearts, they will — as Samuel Johnson said of second marriages — embrace hope over experience and elect the Socialist candidate, François Hollande. On the face of it, Hollande, slimmed-down and cultivated in...

The Socialist Party candidate for the presidency of France, François Hollande, formally opened his campaign on Sunday with a passionate speech calling for change, equality and justice. “We are here, dear friends, to change the destiny of our country,” Mr. Hollande told an estimated 20,000 party supporters and officials in Le Bourget, just outside Paris, in a speech lasting nearly 90 minutes. Mr. Hollande, who calls himself “a normal man,” is ahead in the polls with three months to go before the first round of voting on April 22. But his lead over the incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy, has been slipping...

     As President Nicolas Sarkozy contemplates his race for re-election, with the first round of voting 100 days away, he is confronted with an economy reeling from the euro crisis and nearly zero growth. France has just lost its AAA credit rating and must cut government spending. The unemployment rate is 9.9 percent, a 12-year high, and rising. The loss of the treasured AAA rating, while expected, was a blow to France’s status in Europe, making it seem less like a power than a problem. The downgrade makes it harder for France to pretend to be Germany’s equal in leading...

   With just 100 days to go before presidential elections, the populist, anti-euro message of Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Front, appears to be gaining resonance here. That message coincides with a mounting anxiety over the costs to France of Europe’s scramble to rescue the single currency amid an ever-darkening outlook for economic growth. In opinion polls published this week, Ms. Le Pen, the expected candidate of the far right, trailed President Nicolas Sarkozy by only the slimmest of margins, a development that the candidate on Friday hailed as evidence of a growing distrust among the French...

What kind of country would France be if it abandoned its 35-hour work week (it actually kills jobs), set up an affirmative action program for its Muslim immigrants (featuring a zero-tolerance framework for their assimilation), and scaled back its ambitions for Europe as a global political force to more attainable goals?    Answer: An imaginary one. There are no signs of it happening. Roughly 100 days before voting in an elimination round April 22, and then in a final ballot on May 6, the French presidential election campaign so far involves back and forth on possible variations in French comfort...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has cut his Socialist rival's lead to the smallest margin so far in the run up to an April and May presidential election, a poll showed Sunday. However, the poll showed that Socialist candidate Francois Hollande would still comfortably beat Sarkozy in a run-off. The president has been capitalizing on his central role in Europe's struggle to contain its debt crisis, and gained ground even after announcing plans for an unpopular sales tax hike and after Hollande's campaign took a more aggressive tone. In the first round of the two-stage vote, on April 22, Hollande would...

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Sunday rejected talk of a euro crisis and said Rome was open to the idea of a tax on financial transactions championed by France—but only if the measure was part of an EU-wide effort. "The euro is not in crisis, the currency has solidly maintained its exchange rate with the dollar," Monti said on RAI 3 public television, adding that Italy's "banking system is not under threat". "The problem we are facing is that some EU countries have a public debt crisis," he said. "Our crisis is a systemic crisis." Monti, a former European...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has cut his Socialist rival's lead to the smallest margin so far in the run up to an April and May presidential election, a poll showed on Sunday. However, the poll showed that Socialist candidate François Hollande would still comfortably beat Sarkozy in a run-off. The president has been capitalizing on his central role in Europe's struggle to contain its debt crisis, and gained ground even after announcing plans for an unpopular sales tax hike and after Hollande's campaign took a more aggressive tone. In the first round of the two-stage vote, on April 22, Hollande...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Saturday that the country's future hung in the balance in 2012 amid the eurozone debt crisis but said ratings agencies would not decide French policy. "France's destiny could once again be tipped" in 2012, Sarkozy said in a televised New Year's address. "Emerging from the crisis, building a new model for growth, giving birth to a new Europe -- these are some of the challenges that await us." "This crisis... probably the most serious since World War II, this crisis is not over," Sarkozy said. "Yet there are reasons for hope... We must, we...

President Shimon Peres challenged presidents Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy Sunday to back up their vows not let Iran go nuclear. “I want to see actual results,” the Israeli president said. Speaking at the opening session of the annual Israel Business Conference, President Peres declared to a CNN reporter, "Iran is the center of all corruption. They kill, threaten, and poison….They are a significant threat to the entire world, not just to Israel. .....

The deal signed by the eurozone countries still faces huge hurdles, because of simmering tensions between the member states – and growing disenchantment within their own borders. A startling poll last night showed that only a third of French people believed that their country should stay in the euro indefinitely. The situation in Germany was scarcely better with support for staying in the single currency long-term standing at just 41 per cent. The figures were revealed in a ComRes survey for CNN last night. It shows how the leaders pressing for closer integration are dangerously out of touch with their...

David Cameron is at the centre of a furious row with Nicolas Sarkozy after Paris tried to isolate the prime minister at the EU summit by suggesting that Britain is seeking to exempt the City of London from all European regulations. In a move dismissed by officials in Brussels as an attempt to set Britain up as the fall guy, senior French figures said Cameron wanted an opt out from EU financial services regulation. The French were said to have found themselves isolated in their attempt to limit an agreement on tough fiscal rules for the single currency just to...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Thursday that there would be "no second chance" if a crucial European Union summit failed to reach a deal to save the euro. "Never has Europe been so necessary and never has it been in so much danger... Never has the risk of Europe's explosion been so great," Sarkozy said with only hours to go before the EU summit in Brussels. "If we don't have an agreement on Friday, we will not have a second chance," Sarkozy told a meeting of European conservative parties in the French port of Marseille. As EU leaders geared...

Mr President, To overcome the current crisis, all necessary measures to stabilize the euro area as a whole will have to be taken. We are confident that we will succeed. We are convinced that we need to reinforce the architecture of Economic and Monetary Union going beyond the indispensable measures which are urgently needed to cope with immediate crisis resolution. Those steps need to be taken now without further delay. We consider this as a matter of necessity, credibility and confidence in the future of Economic and Monetary Union. The current crisis has uncovered the deficiencies in the construction of...

PARIS: Saying that he wanted to tell the truth to the French people, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday night that Europe could be "swept away" by the euro crisis if it does not change. He said that Europe would "have to make crucial choices in the next few weeks," and that France and Germany together were supporting a new treaty to tighten fiscal discipline and promote economic convergence in the eurozone. The European Union needs "an overhaul," Sarkozy said, to remain relevant and competitive, but he was vague about the details of what needs to be done. "If Europe does...

The euro-zone crisis and the streak of European and global summits over the past month boosted the poll ratings of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who appeared to gain some of the ground he had lost to Socialist challenger Francois Hollande five months ahead of the presidential election next May, when he's expected to seek a second mandate, a poll showed. If the first round of presidential elections had been held Sunday, Sarkozy would have garnered 29% of the votes, trailing Hollande by only 1 percentage point, a LH2-Yahoo! poll published late Sunday showed. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen came third...

Republican businessman, beau of "Modern Family" star entering raceRepublican businessman Nick Loeb will have a little star power at his side when he announces he's running for U.S. Senate in Miami Beach Thursday afternoon. Loeb is expected to be joined by TV star girlfriend Sofia Vergara when he makes the announcement at a 2 p.m. press conference at the Sagamore Hotel. The Emmy-nominated "Modern Family" star is in town to be with her beau and attend the 5th anniversary celebration of the non-profit group BeLive at the Ritz Carlton on South Beach Thursday night. Loeb, 36, is the son of...

"Can you clarify your end of the “hot mic” conversation with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, as it involved Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu?" asked MSNBC's Chuck Todd yesterday about Obama's embarassing moment last week. "With respect to the “hot mic” in France, I’m not going to comment on conversations that I have with individual leaders," said Obama, "But what I will say is this: The primary conversation I had with President Sarkozy in that meeting revolved around my significant disappointment that France had voted in favor of the Palestinians joining UNESCO, knowing full well that under our laws,

The slurs against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu voiced by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US President Barack Obama after last week's G20 summit were revealing as well as repugnant. Thinking no one other than Obama could hear him, Sarkozy attacked Netanyahu, saying, "I can't stand to see him anymore, he's a liar." Obama responded by whining, "You're fed up with him, but me, I have to deal with him every day." These statements are interesting both for what they say about the two presidents' characters and for what they say about the way that Israel is perceived by the West...

The slurs against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu voiced by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US President Barack Obama after last week's G-20 summit were revealing as well as repugnant. Thinking no one other than Obama could hear him, Sarkozy attacked Netanyahu saying, "I can't stand to see him anymore, he's a liar." Obama responded by whining, "You're fed up with him, but me, I have to deal with him every day." These statements are interesting both for what they say about the two presidents' characters and for what they say about the way that Israel is perceived by the West...

Welcome to the High School of Catty Leaders, where the barbs at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu count as first-rate global gossip -- and so much more. AP Nov. 4, 2011: This image from French TV shows the TV interview with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, and U.S. President Barack Obama, in Cannes, France, during a national TV broadcast. For one thing, the exchange, inadvertently heard by reporters at the G-20 summit, stayed secret for several days because the reporters agreed it should. How’s that for brave and independent journalism? Quislings with press passes is more like it. Yet the...

Unbeknownst to Presidents Nikolas Sarkozy of France and Barack Obama of the United States, an open microphone picked up part of their private conversation last Thursday after a G20 meeting. Luckily, the two men said nothing of consequence. [guote] The conversation then drifted to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, at which time Sarkozy declared: "I cannot stand him. He is a liar." According to the report, Obama replied: "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!" The remark was naturally meant to be said in confidence, but the two leaders' microphones were accidently left...

JERUSALEM — The president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, told President Obama that he could no longer bear Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, and went on to call Mr. Netanyahu a “liar” in a private conversation overheard by several French journalists last week at the Group of 20 summit meeting in Cannes. “You are fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you,” Mr. Obama replied, according to reports that flooded the main Israeli news sites on Tuesday. The Israeli prime minister’s office refused to comment. An Israeli official, speaking on the...

White House spokesman Jay Carney allowed that he had no comment “on the specific conversation.” Not so Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. “We are deeply disappointed and saddened by this decidedly un-presidential exchange between Presidents Sarkozy and Obama,” says Mr. Foxman. “What is sad is that we now have to worry to what extent these private views inform foreign-policy decisions of the U.S. and France — two singularly important players in the peace process."

Though Netanyahu has recently allowed new settlement construction, it mostly has been in neighborhoods that Palestinian leders have already conceded will be part of Israel in a final settlement. This week he told his cabinet that West Bank outposts declared illegal by the Israeli Supreme Court would be uprooted. In other words, Netanyahu has been an occasionally difficult but ultimately cooperative partner. He can be accused of moving too slowly and offering too little, but not of failing to heed American initiatives. And Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas? For five of the six months of the Israeli settlement moratorium he refused...

According to a Monday report in the French website “Arret sur Images,” Sarkozy told Obama, “I cannot stand him [Netanyahu]. He is a liar.” Rather than exercising diplomacy, however, Obama hopped on the bash-wagon, reportedly telling Sarkozy: “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!”

President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were caught on a live microphone criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while at the G-20 meeting last week. According to a report in a French newspaper picked up by the Israeli press, Sarkozy told Obama: "I cannot stand [Netanyahu]. He is a liar." Obama is said to have replied: "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!" The report is hardly surprising as neither world leader has a particularly good relationship with Netanyahu. Obama has faced criticism domestically for not being a strong enough supporter...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy branded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "a liar" in a private conversation with President Barack Obama that was accidentally broadcast to journalists during last week's G20 summit in Cannes. "I cannot bear Netanyahu, he's a liar," Sarkozy told Obama, unaware that the microphones in their meeting room had been switched on, enabling reporters in a separate location to listen in to a simultaneous translation. "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you," Obama replied, according to the French interpreter. The technical gaffe is likely to cause great...

Microphones accidently left on after G20 meeting pick up private conversation between US, French presidents. Sarkozy admits he 'can't stand' Israeli premier. Obama: You're fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day!

The conversation then drifted to Netanyahu, at which time Sarkozy declared: "I cannot stand him. He is a liar." According to the report, Obama replied: "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!" The remark was naturally meant to be said in confidence, but the two leaders' microphones were accidently left on, making the would-be private comment embarrassingly public. The communication faux pas went unnoticed for several minutes, during which the conversation between the two heads of state – which quickly reverted to other matters – was all but open to members the press,...

Ynet News reports audio caught from an open mic conversation between Sarkozy and Obama at the G20: Microphones accidently left on after G20 meeting pick up private conversation between US, French presidents. Sarkozy admits he ‘can’t stand’ Israeli premier. Obama: You’re fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day! Here’s more: The conversation apparently began with President Obama criticizing Sarkozy for not having warned him that France would be voting in favor of the Palestinian membership bid in UNESCO despite Washington’s strong objection to the move. The conversation then drifted to Netanyahu, at which time Sarkozy...

It's as if they think it's 1991 -- or even 1961. Drudge is currently linking to a "trash talk" story at Ynetnews.com about how, with a microphone still on, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "is a liar." U.S. President Barack Obama's response, also audible, was: "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!" That's not necessarily the most disgraceful aspect of the story. What follows after the jump, which explains why the story is just coming out now, is at least as reprehensible:

Microphones accidently left on after G20 meeting pick up private conversation between US, French presidents. Sarkozy admits he 'can't stand' Israeli premier. Obama: You're fed up with him? I have to deal with him every day! French President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly told US President Barack Obama that he could not "stand" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that he thinks the Israeli premier "is a liar." According to a Monday report in the French website "Arret sur Images," after facing reporters for a G20 press conference on Thursday, the two presidents retired to a private room, to further discuss the matters...

<p>“Obama insults Sarkozy,” blared headline on French websites, taking umbrage at Mr. Obama’s wayward remark at the G-20 summit about the physical appearance of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.</p> <p>Mr. Obama thought he was making a joke about Mr. Sarkozy, host of the summit, when he congratulated him and wife Carla on the birth of their daughter. Instead, Mr. Obama caused a minor international incident.</p>

Cannes: In a bid to break the tension ahead of the G20 summit, US President Barack Obama in a lighter vein told a notoriously looks-sensitive Nicolas Sarkozy that France's "First Baby" was lucky to inherit her former supermodel mother Carla Bruni's looks. Obama, who has two daughters, congratulated Sarkozy on the birth of Giulia Bruni-Sarkozy at a joint press conference they held prior to the G-20 summit where world leaders will brainstorm how to solve the worsening Eurozone crisis. "I want to mention that this is our first meeting since the arrival of the newest Sarkozy, and I want to...

The glamorous and easy-going Riviera resort of Cannes turns into a fortified camp this week as French police prepare for the arrival of world leaders for a G20 summit set to be hijacked by fears that a euro zone crisis relief plan is unraveling. Thousands of police have been deployed along the Mediterranean coast to stop protestors traveling the 30 km down from Nice, where they are being kept at arm's length, and sparking clashes.. Police have sealed off Cannes' mythical waterfront drag, set up a second security perimeter around the old town and told 'Cannois' locals aged over 12...

The decision by Greece to hold a referendum on the eurozone rescue deal was a bombshell for President Nicolas Sarkozy that not only upended final preparations for the Group of 20 meeting in Cannes but also threatened to damage his re-election strategy. Mr Sarkozy had worked long and hard to secure the rescue deal, finally agreed in Brussels in the dead of night less than a week ago, to smooth the way to the summit of the world’s leading economic powers in Cannes starting on Thursday.  The plan was for the G20 to reinforce the eurozone plan and allow Mr...

French growth will shrink to only one per cent of gross domestic product next year, requiring a new round of austerity measures to hit the centre-right government’s targets for bringing down rising debt levels, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday night.    In a television broadcast to the nation following the eurozone agreement on the sovereign debt crisis, Mr Sarkozy said France had to “spend less and work more” in order to achieve long-term economic stability.   He said he would also work with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on convergence between the French and German economies in areas such as...

  The world has been anxiously waiting for a glimpse of France's First Baby Bonjour Giulia, the newborn daughter of President Nicolas Sarkozy and his actress wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. However, Carla Bruni didn't really show her baby's face to the world as she left the maternity clinic, today. Bruni left the Paris maternity clinic, Clinique de la Muette today, tightly holding her bundle of joy, and was helped into the black SUV by two guards. However, the proud father was not to be seen in the vicinity. Apparently, Nicolas Sarkozy paid an afternoon visit at the maternity clinic, Oct. 21, two...

David Cameron clashed repeatedly with Nicolas Sarkozy today after the French President tried to exclude Britain and non-eurozone countries from a critical Brussels summit to rescue European banks. During two hours of bitter exchanges during a meeting of all 27 EU leaders before a crisis summit of the eurozone’s 17 members on Wednesday, President Sarkozy fought hard to get the Prime Minister barred from talks that would finalise a 100billion euros cash injection into banks. ”We’re sick of you criticising us and telling us what to do. You say you hate the euro, you didn’t want to join and now...

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has confirmed the name of her daughter as Giulia. In a message on her website, she wrote: "I am deeply touched by the many messages of congratulations that I have received since the birth of our daughter Giulia. "On this happy occasion, my husband joins me in expressing our warmest thanks to all those of you who sent us these tokens of your kindness." Earlier her husband Nicolas Sarkozy spoke of his "very profound joy" at the birth of his daughter, as his "father of the nation" appeal is expected to give him a much needed poll boost....

First Lady of France Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has stayed among the best dressed ladies over the years. French President Nicolas Sarkozy's supermodel wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy gave birth to a daughter on Wednesday, a source in the first lady's inner circle confirmed. "For the moment we don't know the little girl's name," the source said, as the world's media gathered near the La Muette clinic in Paris and Sarkozy returned from talks on the future of the eurozone. Sarkozy arrived at the clinic shortly before 11.00 pm, just over three hours after the birth. The girl is the French first couple's first baby...

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was tonight said to have given birth to a baby girl, according to impeccably placed sources at an exclusive Paris clinic. President Nicolas Sarkozy, 56, spent half-an-hour with his 43-year-old wife shortly after she delivered their first child together. But both insisted that the happy event should remain a ‘private matter’, with no official announcement from the Elysee Palace.

Carla Bruni keeps publicly asserting how discreet she wants to be about her baby, due any day now. But will she and her husband really be able to resist using their child in what is already an incredible political soap opera? Carla Bruni, French first lady, multimillionaire supermodel-turned-folk- singer, has found her pregnancy at 43 pretty boring. "Quite frankly, I can't stand it any more. I spend most of my time either sitting down or lying down. I can't drink or smoke any more. I'm in a hurry to get it over with." She thinks the public is pretty bored...

This is a grumpy French presidential campaign, with only a few voters passionate about their choices. It could be called the election of “désamour,” one of those nearly untranslatable words, meaning a falling out of love, a disenchantment mixed with disillusion. Opinion polls currently show that the incumbent president, Nicolas Sarkozy, would lose to either of the two remaining Socialist Party candidates, François Hollande and Martine Aubry, who will face each other in a runoff primary vote on Sunday. But there is not much excitement around either of them, especially with the putative favorite, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, out of the race...

François Hollande, a centrist, took the lead in the first round of the Socialist primary this weekend, beginning the battle to see who will oppose President Nicolas Sarkozy in the general election next year. But by Monday, even Mr. Hollande, the front-runner, was forced to acknowledge an unexpectedly strong showing by an anti-globalization candidate, revealing a deep vein of public disquiet over the ongoing European economic crisis and ever-deeper austerity cuts pushed by the Sarkozy government. The surprise was the third-place finish by Arnaud Montebourg — a flamboyant younger legislator who has called for partial re-nationalization of France’s banks, rigorous...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Turkey to recognize the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as a genocide in remarks Friday that drew sharp criticism from Ankara. “Turkey, which is a great country, would honor itself by revisiting its history like other countries in the world have done,” Sarkozy said during his visit to the Armenian capital, Yerevan. The killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire has been the main barrier to the ex-Soviet republic’s reconciliation with Turkey. Armenians have long fought to persuade other governments to call the killings a genocide. Turkish leaders have...