Nicolas Sarkozy

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy told magistrates that accusations of illicit Libyan funding for his 2007 election campaign were a web of lies that had made his life "hell" and lost him a re-election bid in 2012, Le Figaro newspaper said.

 Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been charged with corruption for allegedly accepting funding from late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi towards his 2007 election campaign, has denounced the lack of "physical evidence" against him, in his court statement published by French media on Thursday, AFP reported.

Nicolas Sarkozy's interrogation was renewed today as part of an investigation into suspicions about financing his presidential campaign in 2007 from Libya during Muammar Gaddafi's reign, the France press and Reuters reported.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president of France, was taken into police custody on Tuesday morning in connection with a probe into the financing of his successful 2007 presidential run, according to a person close to the investigation.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in police custody on March 20 morning, where he was to be questioned as part of an investigation into suspected irregularities over his election campaign financing, an official in the French judiciary said.

Singer-songwriter and France's former first lady Carla Bruni will launch the world tour for her latest album, "French Touch," at the Pallas Theater in Athens, with two shows on October 23 and 24. Bruni's sixth album is a collection of covers, including jazz, pop and rock, sung in English and produced by legendary Canadian producer, composer and musician David Foster.

Europe needs to prepare for more attacks by Islamic fundamentalists and new types of attacks, warns the chair of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, Francois Heisbourg, who is visiting Athens at the invitation of local think tank Network for Reform in Greece and Europe, Ekathimerini writes.

Europe needs to prepare for more attacks by Islamic fundamentalists and new types of attacks, warns the chair of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, Francois Heisbourg, who is visiting Athens at the invitation of local think tank Network for Reform in Greece and Europe.

In addition to being the first female German chancellor, the first to have grown up in the former East Germany, the youngest German chancellor since the Second World War, Angela Merkel is also the first born after World War Two.

French President Emmanuel Macron's popularity rating slumped a further 14 points in August to hit 40 percent, following a sharp 10-point drop the previous month, according to a poll released yesterday.