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.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy insisted yesterday that he will not be the candidate of a small elite against the people, in the first major rally of his re-election bid.

SECOND helpings were the call of the day yesterday in Tipperary at the launch of the Totally Tipperary Food Festival.

A French police official said a man carrying a knife was arrested today trying to enter the grounds of the presidential palace.

THE ex-wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy has wed a public relations executive in a chic ceremony that the French media poked fun at yesterday.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has admitted to feeling dejected and humiliated by the Irish rugby team’s defeat at the hands of Les Bleus at the weekend.

French President Jacques Chirac will address the nation on Sunday evening in a speech in which he is likely to announce he will not stand for re-election next month.

Youths set schools ablaze and torched cars as scattered arson attacks persisted across France early today, and the government said it would propose extending the country’s state of emergency by three months.

Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg was awarded France’s Legion d’Honneur today.