German and French leaders underlined the importance of co-operation as they marked the centenary of the WWI battle, writes Sylvie Corbett.

Get a taste of some of the interesting and quirky happenings in Europe from our Europe correspondent, Ann Cahill.

CALLING the bluff of Greek’s European partners, and retorting with an immediate referendum demonstrated Napoleonic verve by prime minister Alexis Tsipras, writes Gerard Howlin. 

A former mayor of Tours has been found dead in a suspected suicide just as he was to go on trial over suspected kickbacks involving Chinese group weddings in the picturesque Loire Valley city.

Gay novelist Edmund White lived in the French capital in the 1980s, but in his new memoir he recounts that local customs were a shock to him, says Richard Fitzpatrick.

We all know about the French President Francois Hollande.

Under pressure French president François Hollande has faced the media over accusations that he is having an affair but he coolly side-stepped giving any details on his personal life.

French President François Hollande has threatened legal action over a magazine report saying he is having a secret affair with an actress, the latest breach in the French media’s practice of turning a blind eye to presidential love affairs.

French President Francois Hollande has threatened legal action over a magazine report saying he is having a secret affair with an actress, the latest breach in the French media’s practice of turning a blind eye to presidential love affairs.

The French and Germans are divided in their attitudes toward their leaders and their economic futures, writes Frederick Kempe

French parliament approved a law allowing same-sex couples to marry and to adopt children, a flagship reform pledge by president François Hollande which sparked often violent street protests and a rise in homophobic attacks.

The UK will pay its final respects to Margaret Thatcher today as friends and foes continue to row over her legacy.

ONE of the most memorable assessments of Margaret Thatcher was delivered by French president François Mitterrand when he declared: “She has the eyes of Stalin and the voice of Marilyn Monroe.”

Whether they loved her or loathed her, virtually all the world leaders she ever met stood in awe of Margaret Thatcher.

MAY

The Nobel Peace Prize came with a warning — take care EU, if you want to survive.

Master of political intrigue Charles Haughey believed the tables had been turned on him in the 1980s and suspected the air corps was being used to spy on his activities.

French President François Hollande named a government dominated by moderate left-wingers yesterday after Socialist Party boss Martine Aubry, overlooked for the post of prime minister, said she no longer wanted to be part of the new cabinet.

Francois Hollande has become president of France following a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in central Paris.

Winning came easy but François Hollande now has to learn to govern, writes Michael Mainville

In a whirlwind first day after winning the French presidency, Socialist François Hollande already has a to-do list that includes an invite to the White House, visits to the G8 and Nato summits, and a Second World War ceremony with his defeated rival.

In a whirlwind first day after winning the French presidency, Socialist Francois Hollande already has a to-do list that includes an invite to the White House, visits to the G8 and Nato summits and a Second World War ceremony with his defeated rival.

France woke to a new era today after electing Socialist Francois Hollande as president, a leftist pledging to buck Europe’s austerity trend and Nato’s timetable for Afghanistan.

France handed the presidency to leftist Francois Hollande, a champion of government stimulus programmes who says the state should protect the downtrodden - a victory that could deal a death blow to the drive for austerity that has been the hallmark of Europe in recent years.

Socialist Francois Hollande defeated conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy today to become France’s next president, heralding a change in how Europe tackles its debt crisis and how France flexes its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a last-ditch appeal to far-right voters after failing to land a knockout blow in a heated televised debate with Socialist rival François Hollande before Sunday’s presidential run-off.

Francois Hollande, a mild-mannered French Socialist who wants to take better care of the jobless and the poor, is heading to a presidential run-off election against tough-on-immigration Nicolas Sarkozy in a vote that could alter Europe’s political and economic landscape.

France’s Socialists and sympathisers are choosing their nominee for next year’s presidential election – an expected showdown with embattled conservative president Nicolas Sarkozy.

THE visit of President McAleese and Queen Elizabeth II to the Garden of Remembrance and the Irish National War Memorial Gardens at Islandbridge was hugely symbolic in our nation’s journey of reconciliation.

French voters have shrugged at politicians’ infidelities for decades but now some wonder if their tolerance has allowed criminal acts by one of the country’s best-known public figures to go unpunished.

IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn was the front runner in the latest opinion polls to win next year’s presidential election in France and replace Nicolas Sarkozy.

The Secret life of France

FRENCH president Nicolas Sarkozy’s ratings have hit an all-time low, dragged down by scandals over his ministers, discontent over pension reform and a disastrous World Cup for the French soccer team.

Greece blamed the rest of Europe for not helping its crippling financial crisis today.

GERMAN and French leaders stood side by side at the World War I remembrance ceremony in Paris for the first time yesterday as events were held around the globe to honour the millions of dead.

TWO-THIRDS of French people do not want culture minister Frederic Mitterrand to resign for having written about paying young male prostitutes for sex in Thailand, an opinion poll showed yesterday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was recovering in the hospital today, a day after he collapsed while jogging in hot weather, his office said.

The French Socialist Party said today that the architect of France’s 35-hour work week has won the party’s leadership in an extremely tight race – an outcome quickly challenged by supporters of her rival.

A closely fought race between two women to become the new leader of France’s Socialist Party has ended in a dead heat, a senior party official said early today.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern will address the joint US Houses of Congress on April 30, becoming the sixth Irish leader to do so.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was briefly admitted to hospital in secret in October for treatment of an abscess in his throat, the authors of a new book said today.

FRANCE’S best-known mercenary Bob Denard, who had a hand in numerous African wars and coups d’etat over 30 years, has died at the age of 78.

FRENCH president, Nicolas Sarkozy, disappointed thousands of prisoners yesterday by refusing to sanction a traditional Bastille Day pardon.