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PARIS - France and Germany urged Iran on Monday to accept a U.N.-brokered proposal to enrich its nuclear fuel abroad rather than lose time by asking for a further round of talks. The comments from Germany's new Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner came in response to Iran's request for more negotiations, which added to doubts that a compromise could be found any time soon. "We are waiting for Iran to formally accept the agreement," Kouchner told a joint news conference... The International Atomic Energy Agency has drawn up plans for Iran to send potential nuclear...

France deports Muslims, launches national pride campaign in battle against Islamic fundamentalism

President Nicolas Sarkozy's son Jean has shot from a little-known "brat" to would-be national politician in just two years, a meteoric rise unlikely to be derailed by his climbdown in a nepotism row. The college student was forced Thursday to abandon a bid for the job managing France's top business district, the La Defense skyscraper park west of Paris, after it sparked a national outcry. In a steady, well-coached performance on prime-time television the president's 23-year-old son told millions of French viewers he would bow out of the race, but that his "passion" for politics was undented. "What is certain,...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is reportedly growing increasingly frustrated with the Obama administration. A Reuters analysis piece says Sarkozy is shifting his focus from the U.S. to other international allies. Didier Billion of the Institute of International & Strategic Relations says: “Sarkozy has clearly been thrown off course in his relations with America.” Another foreign affairs expert, Bruno Tertrais from the Foundation for Strategic Research, adds: "There is an annoyance about what the French see as naivety in the Obama administration."One major sticking point has been President Obama’s softer stance on Iran, while President Sarkozy prefers a more hawkish approach....

Barack Obama campaigned on restoring America’s standing with its allies, accusing the outgoing Bush administration of insulting and alienating our closest friends with his alleged unilateralism. How has Obama done as President? He has repeatedly insulted the British, insisting that there is no “special relationship” and demonstrating it by denying Gordon Brown the usual joint press conference on his visit to the US. Reuters reports that another close ally has taken the measure of Obama and started looking elsewhere for cooperation: French President Nicolas Sarkozy, initially dubbed Sarko the American for his pro-U.S. stance, is finding it much tougher to...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, initially dubbed Sarko the American for his pro-U.S. stance, is finding it much tougher to deal with Washington than he had anticipated and is recalibrating his policies accordingly. Stung by perceived snubs from U.S. President Barack Obama and encouraged by the growing importance of the G20, Sarkozy is increasingly reaching out to non-aligned states in an effort to extend France's international influence. He has forged especially close ties with Brazil, is seeking alliances in central Asia and is intensifying his activities in the Middle East, using multi-billion dollar military and civilian nuclear trade deals as his...

Tony Blair could be crowned first President of Europe at a special summit of EU leaders next month. Diplomatic sources say French President Nicolas Sarkozy is pushing for an extraordinary meeting in Brussels to install the former prime minister in the new £275,000-a-year post...

(AP) President Nicolas Sarkozy's 23-year-old son is angling for a key job overseeing billions of euros in commerce at France's top business district - a job critics say he does not deserve. Jean Sarkozy's conservative backers insisted Monday that he's qualified to chair EPAD, the quasi-governmental agency that manages the La Defense financial district on the western outskirts of Paris. The sprawling complex of skyscrapers houses the headquarters of some of Europe's biggest companies, such as oil giant Total and bank Societe Generale.

PARIS – President Nicolas Sarkozy's 23-year-old son is angling for a key job overseeing billions of euros in commerce at France's top business district — a job critics say he does not deserve. Jean Sarkozy's conservative backers insisted Monday that he's qualified to chair EPAD, the quasi-governmental agency that manages the La Defense financial district on the western outskirts of Paris. The sprawling complex of skyscrapers houses the headquarters of some of Europe's biggest companies, such as oil giant Total and bank Societe Generale. Sarkozy, a law school student at the Sorbonne, is the main candidate for the chairmanship. Socialist...

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy saves sex tourist minister Frédéric Mitterrand The influence of France’s first lady has halted the sacking of a minister – but for how long Matthew Campbell in Paris The reluctance of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, to sack a gay minister with a past as a “sex tourist” in Thailand will certainly please Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, his wife. She had suggested appointing Frédéric Mitterrand, a friend, as culture minister and the government’s support for him, despite his confession to having paid boys for sex, is partly a sign of Sarkozy’s eagerness not to offend his first lady. “She has...

The lovely Carla Bruni Sarkozy has left her husband to become Obama's mistress. The delightful Carla says: "I always wanted to sleep with a Nobel Prize Winner!"

ack Kelly recently had this now famous assertion that he says were told to him by two sources from Nicholas Sarkozy about President Obama.

Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy had a behind-the-scenes row with Barack Obama over last week's announcement about a secret uranium enrichment plant in Iran. The President is believed to have angered the European leaders by insisting on delaying a joint press conference until after he had chaired a meeting of the UN Security Council. Mr Obama is said to have been worried the announcement would undermine the impact of his session on nuclear non-proliferation. Details of the disagreement appeared to explain why Mr Brown and Mr Sarkozy, the French president, took a harder line on Iran than the American leader...

Jack Kelly tells Fox News that his sources say that French president Nicolas Sarkozy considers Barack Obama “incredibly naive and grossly egotistical,” which says something coming from France. Naivete can be cured if the afflicted is willing to learn, but Kelly also says that Sarkozy is convinced that “nothing can dent [Obama's] naivete,” a quality that we have learned the hard way during the health-care debate. Gateway Pundit has the video, which will reaffirm conservative evaluations of President Obama but little else:

"President Obama, I support the Americans' outstretched hand. But what did the international community gain from these offers of dialogue? Nothing." French President Nicolas Sarkozy Sept 24 When France chides you for appeasement, you know you're scraping bottom. Just how low we've sunk was demonstrated by the Obama administration's satisfaction when Russia's president said of Iran, after meeting President Obama at the United Nations, that "sanctions are seldom productive, but they are sometimes inevitable." You see? The Obama magic. Engagement works. Russia is on board. Except that, as The Post inconveniently pointed out, President Dmitry Medvedev said the same thing...

France has had ambitions ever since the mandate of Valery Giscard d’Estaing to play a role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Everyone in the Middle East wishes for Europe, and especially France, to play this role, as it is traditionally less biased towards Israel. But everyone is also aware that only the US administration is able to pressure Israel. Today, with the start of the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit New York and meet with his friend Benjamin Netanyahu. Despite the failure of US Envoy George Mitchell in his mission with the...

How dare the French president insult our Dear Leader. Obama is the most humble president ever. Sarkozy is just jealous of Obama's beautiful wife. Obama photo from whitehouse.gov - frontpage

From Greta’s interview with Jack Kelly…VIDEO LINK

That's Jack Kelly of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. If Kelly's sources are solid, then President Sarkozy views our president in much the same way as many of his opponents, naive and arrogant. That's of course the worst sort of a combination for any leader. I can't find video of the entire interview and that's too bad. That's because prior to this bombshell Kelly also said that Sarkozy pushed Obama to reveal Iran's secret nuclear site in his speech at the UN. He said that Obama didn't do it because he didn't want anything interfering with the resolution he wanted passed...

President Obama wants a unified front against Iran, and to that end he stood together with Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown in Pittsburgh on Friday morning to reveal the news about Tehran's secret facility to build bomb-grade fuel. But now we hear that the French and British leaders were quietly seething on stage, annoyed by America's handling of the announcement. "We are right to talk about the future," Mr. Sarkozy said, referring to the U.S. resolution on strengthening arms control treaties. "But the present comes before the future, and the present includes two major nuclear crises," i.e., Iran and North...

The above title speaks much more words then I could even put together. True leadership has been shown by none other then the President of France,Nicolas Sarkozy when he had to take a tough stand in regards to our own President Obama on the issue of Iran and the nukes. Just the recent testing today of a missle by Iran is a reminder of this clear and present danger. This one line has been garnering much deserved attention today. We spent a good bit of time on this on Friday. As my son questioned: “Is it a good thing when...

SHE may have snared her man 20-odd years ago, but Michelle Obama can still fall foul of the ­green-eyed monster. The First Lady certainly looked a little uncomfortable this week when husband Barack moved in for a smooch with Carla Bruni, the supermodel wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy. If every picture tells a story, this one seems to be saying “Hands off”.

Jules Crittenden comments on President Sarkozy's statement at the United Nations last week: "It's a sad state of affairs when a Frenchman mocks an American president and you have to go with the Frog." Here's what the man said: President Obama dreams of a world without weapons ... but right in front of us two countries are doing the exact opposite. Iran since 2005 has flouted five security council resolutions. North Korea has been defying council resolutions since 1993. I support the extended hand of the Americans, but what good has proposals for dialogue brought the international community? More uranium...

Facing down Iran, French president Nicolas Sarkozy stood shoulder to shoulder with President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Pittsburgh last week. Or so it might be said. The statements of all three were consistent as they denounced the Islamic Republic's construction of a secret nuclear facility. But in this stage show of solidarity, body language sent a different message. Obama and Brown really did stand side by side. Sarkozy stood apart, looking a little like he'd been asked to stand as best man at a stranger's wedding. Perhaps in his gut he thought this should have...

You know its bad when the French are tougher then the United States....what a change: Sarkozy: “We live in the real world, not the virtual world. And the real world expects us to take decisions.” “President Obama dreams of a world without weapons … but right in front of us two countries are doing the exact opposite. “Iran since 2005 has flouted five security council resolutions. North Korea has been defying council resolutions since 1993. “I support the extended hand of the Americans, but what good has proposals for dialogue brought the international community? More uranium enrichment and declarations by...

It's a sad day for America when you realize the French President has more brass than our Commander in Chief. Obama: “We must never stop until we see the day when nuclear arms have been banished from the face of the earth.” Sarkozy: “We live in the real world, not the virtual world. And the real world expects us to take decisions.”

Obama: “We must never stop until we see the day when nuclear arms have been banished from the face of the earth.” Sarkozy: “We live in the real world, not the virtual world. And the real world expects us to take decisions.”

One of my favorite features of the Newseum in Washington, DC is the daily display of newspaper front pages from around the world. Today, Canada’s National Post was a standout with Alex Spillius’ coverage of a clash between Presidents Obama and Sarkozy.

In what has been dubbed the trial of the decade, former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin of France will face charges of allegedly plotting to tarnish the name of his former rival and now the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. France's state prosecutors ordered Villepin, a protégé of former President Jacques Chirac and longstanding political rival of the incumbent French president, to stand trial in a four-year-old scandal known as the Clearstream affair. The scandal dating back to 2004, started when a list containing the name of businessmen, celebrities and politicians among them Sarkozy, leaked to the media. The document...

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned the Czech Republic that it will have to face "consequences" if it continues to delay final ratification of the Lisbon Treaty following a Yes vote in a referendum in Ireland next month. Speaking after a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday (17 September), Mr Sarkozy was careful to praise Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer as a "man of great quality" before taking a clear sideswipe at the country's president, Vaclav Klaus, who has indicated he will postpone as long as possible putting his signature under the treaty -...

PARIS (AFP) – The leaders of France and Germany called Friday for the United Nations to support a carbon tax on imports from countries who fail to back international efforts to fight global warming. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arguing that states that fail to back a deal at a climate summit in Copenhagen in December should be held accountable. "It would be unacceptable for the efforts of the most ambitious countries to be undermined by the carbon emissions released by lack of or insufficient action by other countries,"...

It sounds like a joke, but it’s all too real: you know American foreign policy is unraveling when France is the stern international voice of sanity on Iran and Israel. This report (h/t Jeffrey Goldberg) explains: French intelligence agencies are certain that Iran is hiding a nuclear weapons program, President Nicolas Sarkozy says.“We cannot let Iran acquire nuclear” weapons because it would also be a threat to Israel, Sarkozy said during a meeting at the Elysee presidential palace with lawmakers from his conservative UMP party on Tuesday. “It is a certainty to all of our secret services. Iran is working...

After Paris warned that new sanctions against Teheran remained an option despite the likelihood of negotiations with Iran, French President Nicolas Sarkozy maintained that the Islamic republic was still working on a nuclear weapons program.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced plans for a new carbon tax aimed at combating global warming. The tax will be introduced next year and will cover the use of oil, gas and coal, he said. The new tax will be 17 euros (£15) per tonne of emitted carbon dioxide (CO2). It will be phased in gradually. It will apply to households as well as enterprises, but not to the heavy industries and power firms included in the EU's emissions trading scheme. Most electricity in France - excluded from the new carbon tax - is nuclear generated. Mr Sarkozy said...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday unveiled a new carbon tax to help combat global warming, calling it a "fiscal revolution" and overriding strong public opposition to the plan. The new levy on oil, gas and coal consumption by households and businesses will come into effect next year, making France the biggest economy yet to impose a straight-up carbon tax. "It is time to create green taxation," Sarkozy said in an address in Culoz, a town near the French border with Switzerland. "This is a major fiscal shift, an important innovation," he said. "It is the first step of a...

PARIS — From elevator shoes to step-up boxes behind podiums, and even his own tippy-toes, Nicolas Sarkozy and his handlers have tried to compensate for his height — or lack thereof. Now, a factory worker's claim that she was chosen to stand near the French president during a photo shoot because she is short is making waves on the Internet — and rankling Sarkozy's office.

It's hard work looking like an imposing statesman when you're only 5ft 5in. Nicolas Sarkozy has resorted to standing on a box and even rising on to his tiptoes to disguise his height - or rather the lack of it. But for a televised speech at a major industrial plant, the French President and his aides were taking no chances. They found 20 of the site's shortest workers to stand behind Mr Sarkozy as he delivered the keynote address. They were bussed in from all over the Faurecia motor technology plant near Caen in Normandy after aides made sure none...

On the eve of the publication of a report on Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France have threatened tough new sanctions if Tehran does not show a willingness to negotiate on its nuclear program. At a news conference in Berlin on Thursday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Mrs. Merkel dangled the possibility of new penalties against Iran in the energy and financial sectors. “If there is no positive answer by September we will have to consider further measures,” she said, the Reuters news agency reported. The...

<p>Shortly after the Group of 20 summit concluded in London in April, Nicolas Sarkozy blurted out to a small group of advisers a question that weighed on him as he watched President Obama glad-hand his way through the gathering: "Est-il faible?" (Is he weak?) Sarkozy did not answer his own blunt query...</p>

France’s efforts to win the freedom of a young researcher who was arrested as she tried to leave Iran on July 1, and who was released on hundreds of thousands of dollars in bail over the weekend, have underscored Paris’s readiness to see Syria in a regional mediation role and bolstered hopes the woman will be found innocent and allowed to return home soon. Clotilde Reiss, 24, who had held a temporary lecturing job at a university in Isfahan, was released from Evin prison in Tehran on Sunday after France, using Syria as an intermediary, reached agreement with Tehran to...

Libya’s sudden decision to end its years in the international wilderness and embrace the West has abruptly transformed one of the world’s most isolated countries. Iason Athanasiadis reports from a nation in flux There is something of the pasha in Khalifa Mahdaoui, a descendant of one of Libya’s most influential tribes. It is not just the red fez perched on his head as he ambles in his suit and tie from his ground-floor office to the trellised porch outside, lights a menthol cigarette and takes a sip from the dainty cup of Turkish coffee delivered by an aide.The impression is...

An article in the Wall Street Journal dissects the moves made by President Sarkozy to mold the crumbling French health care system into one that resembles the U.S. healthcare model. While France struggles with a broken universal healthcare model, Democrats in the House and Senate want to reform US healthcare to look more like the moribund French version.The article contained a time line of budgetary actions since the inception of a universal health care system in France. Note the number of times taxes were raised and services curtailed - by studying the past, we can see the future of...

French Aircraft Carrier Sails Without Nukes The French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle with air wing on deck. By Hans M. Kristensen France no longer deploys nuclear weapons on its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle under normal circumstances but stores the weapons on land, according to French officials. President Nicolas Sarkozy declared in March 2008 that France “could and should be more transparent with respect to its nuclear arsenal than anyone ever has been.” But while the other nuclear powers declared long ago that their naval weapons were offloaded or scrapped after the Cold War ended, a similar announcement...

Only 367 women in France wear Islamic veils that cover their faces and bodies, a newspaper reported on Wednesday, undermining the position of politicians who are pushing for a ban on the garments. A panel of legislators is studying the issue of whether the number of women wearing such veils is on the rise and why. The panel is expected to say in coming months whether it backs a ban on the veils in public places, as advocated by some politicians. President Nicolas Sarkozy has stopped short of backing a ban, but has said the veils were "not welcome" in...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was discharged Monday from the hospital where he spent the night after collapsing while jogging. Doctors said his illness was due to heat and overwork and ordered the 54-year-old to rest but prescribed no further medical treatment, his office said. Sarkozy, dressed in a dark suit and tie, walked hand-in-hand with his wife, Carla, from Val de Grace military hospital to his car. He smiled and shook hands with white-clad medical personnel but declined any comment. Medical tests Monday on Sarkozy's heart showed no signs of irregular heartbeat and no long term consequences for the president's...

The 54-year-old president, a keen runner and cyclist once nicknamed "Speedy", was expected to be kept in the Val-de-Grace military hospital overnight and he stumbled and felt faint during his Sunday morning run with a team of bodyguards at La Lanterne, his weekend residence in Versailles. A witness walking in the gardens of the Sun King's palace leading to La Lanterne said he saw the President running with his guards. He looked "tired" and suddenly fell over. Mr Sarkozy's wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, 41, rushed to the scene on a scooter, the witness said. Two helicopters landed in the woods shortly...

PARIS – PARIS (AP) — France's health minister says French President Nicolas Sarkozy fainted while jogging Sunday at a presidential residence outside the capital and was hospitalized for medical tests. French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot says the vasovagal episode was "small" and she was sure Sarkozy was watching the final leg of the Tour de France cycling race. A vagal episode can be caused by strenuous exercise when it is very hot. It can lead to a temporary loss of consciousness but usually is not serious. It is named for the vagus nerve which slows down the heartbeat and reduces...

PARIS (AFP) – France's President Nicolas Sarkozy was taken to hospital on Sunday after falling ill while exercising, his office told AFP. The 54-year-old leader was seen immediately by a doctor and underwent medical tests after falling ill, a statement from the Elysee Palace said. Later, officials in his office said Sarkozy had been taken to hospital after suffering some kind of problem while exercising at La Lanterne, his weekend retreat near the Palace of Versailles outside Paris. He was thought to have been taken to the Val de Grace military hospital, a well-placed source said. A military helicopter was...

<p>French President Nicolas Sarkozy felt unwell while exercising Sunday and was undergoing medical tests, the Elysee Palace announced. Sarkozy "felt faint" Sunday while doing sports and his personal doctor immediately took charge of him, the two-sentence statement said. No other details were available.</p>