Nicolas Sarkozy

Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front (FN) did not win any region in the second round of the French elections on Dec. 13, while Nicolas Sarkozy's conservatives and their allies won seven constituencies and the Socialists five. 

France voted on Dec. 13 with the far-right National Front (FN) hoping to win control of a region for the first time, giving leader Marine Le Pen a launchpad for her presidential bid in 2017.

Polls opened Dec. 6 in France for a key regional vote that came three weeks after jihadist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead.

France's conservative party leader, Nicolas Sarkozy, on Dec. 2 ruled out making any alliance with Francois Hollande's ruling Socialists to stop the increasingly popular far right from winning regional councils in elections this month.

Main opposition New Democracy leader Vangelis Meimarakis opposed to the draft prepared on the refugee issue which criticizes Greece while attending the meeting of the European People’s Party group (EPP) which focus on migration and the formulation of a common asylum policy.

Mr. Meimarakis asked to remove the points where Greece is being criticized.

?You turn if you want to. The lady?s not for turning.?

I do not know in which context she said it, but this iconic sentence used in a speech delivered at the U.K. parliament belongs to late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. 

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi claims he is ‘a born seducer’ in a new biography.

In My Way: Berlusconi in His Own Words, by journalist Alan Friedman, the 79-year-old billionaire, renowned for his sex parties, has claimed that ‘more than a great seducer, I have been very often seduced’.

North African states willing to cooperate or "countries like Serbia and Bulgaria" could help address the migrant crisis by setting up detention centers on their territories, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said.

The US wiretapped two of France's economy ministers and spied on the country's largest companies, French media reported citing WikiLeaks documents, just days after it emerged the US had spied on three of the country's leaders.

President Barack Obama on June 24 moved to defuse tensions after revelations of US spying on three French presidents angered France, while WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange called for legal action over Washington's snooping and promised more disclosures to come.