A day after splitting up with France’s president, Valerie Trierweiler launched a new stage in her life with a charity visit to India.

Valerie Trierweiler, the ex-partner of French President Francois Hollande, flew to India yesterdayon a charity mission, despite Saturday’s announcement that the couple have split.

French president Francois Hollande has ended his relationship with his companion of seven years, Valerie Trierweiler, according to a French news agency.

AN illicit love affair is so quintessentially French that revelations of President François Hollande’s clandestine meetings with Julie Gayet have been greeted by the French with a shrug.

President François Hollande’s partner emerged from a week’s stay in hospital as the French leader faced calls to clear up his personal life after his affair with an actress was made public.

FRANÇOIS Hollande’s sexual adventures are a private matter, with no bearing on his public role — French public opinion confirms.

French President François Hollande faced fresh scrutiny over his affair with an actress as the magazine that broke the story published claims he started seeing her before his 2012 election.

Embattled French President Francois Hollande is to face the media today for the first time since news of his alleged affair with a actress became public.

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.

A feud involving the French president’s live-in girlfriend, his former partner and his eldest son may have tarnished the new leader’s carefully cultivated image as Mr Normal – credited with helping him win the spring election among a populace weary of his flashy predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

In a French election subplot, prominent Socialist Segolene Royal – the mother of Francois Hollande’s four children and the runner-up to Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential vote – lost her race in western France and her bid to become Parliament speaker.

Hopes that the euro crisis — as well as austerity measures imposed on countries such as Ireland — might ease have been raised by the outcome of the Greek and French elections.

With a single tweet, France’s first lady has managed to take a swipe at her husband’s ex, put herself publicly at odds with the president, and thrown a spanner in the works of his Socialist party.

Humble beginnings and a good work ethic will help the new first lady hold her own in French circles, writes Elaine Ganley

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

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 presidential front-runner François Hollande headed into the last round of his battle with Nicolas Sarkozy with both of the candidates threatened by the shadow of scandal.

President Nicolas Sarkozy pulled ahead of his Socialist rival for the first time in France’s election race yesterday, according to a poll held after the right-winger took a strident anti-EU turn.

Francois Hollande was formally installed today as the Socialist Party candidate in presidential elections six months away, and he vowed to re-enchant the French after five years of conservative leadership under President Nicolas Sarkozy.

FRENCH Socialist lawmaker Francois Hollande was crowned favourite for next year’s presidential election yesterday, winning the left’s primary to choose a challenger for Nicolas Sarkozy.

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

CLEARED of sex assault charges, Dominique Strauss- Kahn could be back in France within days but may not get a hero’s welcome, if sober newspaper editorials and cautious statements by his Socialist allies are anything to go by.

Allegations of sexual assault in a New York hotel have torn France’s presidential race asunder and savaged the reputation of the suave and self-assured Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

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.

A BID by the son of French president Nicolas Sarkozy for a plum job overseeing the country’s premier business district has sparked a huge row and accusations of nepotism.

A bid by the son of French president Nicolas Sarkozy for a plum job overseeing the country’s premier business district has sparked a huge row and accusations of nepotism.

A new wave of nationwide strikes by French workers demanding President Nicolas Sarkozy do more to fight the economic crisis hit the country today.

A funeral for a murdered union activist turned into a demonstration by around 3,000 mourners on Guadeloupe, who demanded better treatment of the Caribbean island from France’s government.

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.

DEFEATED French presidential candidate Ségolène Royal said yesterday her partner, Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande, had moved out of their home.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, aiming to push through his reform-driven renaissance of the country, looked set to win a powerful majority as the French voted in today’s run-off elections for parliament. The only question was the size of the victory – large or massive.

Socialists and other losers in France’s first round of parliamentary elections sought to limit the damage today by chasing alliances and rallying voters.

FRENCH conservatives looked set to sweep parliamentary elections yesterday, and hand President Nicolas Sarkozy the strong mandate he had sought for the wide-ranging reforms he says are needed to revive the economy.

People could be forgiven for believing the centuries-old feud between Britain and France was about to be ended by the son of a Hungarian ad salesman who officially takes over as President of France today.

Fresh off a whirlwind yachting break, French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy returned to work with a meeting due today with Tony Blair.

Attackers torched nearly 200 cars overnight across France, police said today, the fourth night of unrest after the presidential election victory of conservative Nicolas Sarkozy.

France’s post-election violence continued for a second night, leaving cars burned and store windows smashed in several cities and prompting the defeated Socialists to call for calm.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair took to the internet to congratulate Nicolas Sarkozy on winning France’s presidential election.

France’s president-in-waiting is beginning the task of forming his government today, after voters swept him to power.

FRANCE’S next president, Nicolas Sarkozy, will have to wait until after the parliamentary elections in six weeks’ time before he knows if he can introduce the changes he has promised the country.

“Nicolas!” tens of thousands chanted, kissing and waving French flags and blue balloons to ring in victory for conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, elected president of France after a hotly contested campaign.

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.