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 prosecutors have filed preliminary murder and terrorism charges against the brother of a gunman who killed Jewish schoolchildren and paratroopers in attacks that stunned the country.

France’s largest general strike in three years hobbled transportation, school, hospital and mail services as unions demanded that President Nicolas Sarkozy protects jobs and consumers during the global economic crisis.

French union members protested throughout the country today at the government's latest effort to encourage people to work more than the standard 35-hour week.

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.

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

“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.

Paris turned back the clock today for a grand fete to remember the tears, the joy and the euphoria that heralded the liberation of the French capital 60 years ago as it threw off the shackles of Nazi occupation.

The tears, the joy and the euphoria that ushered in the liberation of Paris 60 years ago today are on the agenda of a grandiose fete meant to help Parisians relive the day they threw off the shackles of Nazi occupation.

After winning a landslide victory in France, conservative President Jacques Chirac now faces the challenge of winning over the electorate that banded together to support him over his far-right opponent.

Tens of thousands of activists have marched through Paris, Rome and American cities in protests demanding Israel stop its offensive in the West Bank and expressing solidarity with the Palestinians.