As newly-inaugurated French President Francois Hollande makes his way to Berlin for his first foreign visit, he is forced to turn back after his plane is hit by lightning.
In an election that has galvanised the French electorate, Socialist candidate François Hollande becomes president of France after defeating the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.
The German chancellor vows to work with France’s new socialist president-elect Francois Hollande but insists the fiscal compact that commits eurozone governments to austerity is non-negotiable.
Jon Snow
A tremendous air of excitement here in Paris. Even before getting here, it was clear that French society is profoundly different from our own. But it’s not just France that’s voting today, but Greece and Serbia.
Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, France’s two presidential candidates, both talk of change – but what they are actually engaged in, blogs Jonathan Rugman, is the business of preservation.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Francois Hollande clash repeatedly in their only television debate ahead of the election.
Jonathan Rugman asks whether this really is the end for Nicolas Sarkozy and what that could mean for France.
Francois Hollande beats Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round of the French election while the far-right National Front party takes its largest ever share of the vote.
Foreign Correspondent Jonathan Rugman blogs on François Hollande – the man hoping to topple President Sarkozy in the French elections.
Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Rugman blogs on the French presidential elections
Gary Gibbon
Syria is already being talked up as a central topic at the Anglo-French summit between David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday. Can the old duo revive their Libya double-act? To which the answer is: forget it.