World leaders rushed to congratulate France’s president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy tonight, hoping he would help boost international efforts to address issues from climate change and Middle East peace to salvaging the EU’s beleaguered constitution.

Ronan Mullen YOU might have thought the ability to drink alcohol and shake hands was essential for the smooth running of the EU, but you’d be wrong.

THE United States must close Guantanamo prison, where its treatment of some 500 terrorism suspects encourages hatred toward the West and bolsters Muslim membership of the al Qaida network, a new report concludes.