BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) – Five years ago, Nicolas Sarkozy flew straight to Berlin after his inauguration and shocked his hosts with some blunt talk on planemaker Airbus, one of the most sensitive of Franco-German issues.

That first visit set the tone for the months that followed. German officials looked on in horror as the new French president reneged on budget pledges, announced plans for nuclear cooperation with Libya and claimed credit for influencing decisions by the European Central Bank.

PARIS (Reuters) – Incoming Socialist President Francois Hollande will appoint a German-speaker as prime minister and an experienced moderate as finance minister this week in a bid to send reassuring signals on his plans for relations with Berlin and cutting the deficit.

Jean-Marc Ayrault, widely tipped to be named premier, has strong contacts with the Berlin establishment that would make him a useful player behind the scenes as Hollande seeks to challenge Germany’s focus on austerity pledges.

PARIS (Reuters) – French president-elect Francois Hollande signaled to Germany on Thursday that he will not be deflected from his drive to change Europe’s focus from austerity to growth after Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected any economic stimulus on credit.

Hollande met Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker in Paris as he tries to rally European partners to support his push to change the focus of euro zone policy.

PARIS (Reuters) – Punk music pioneer Iggy Pop – famous for onstage mayhem like smearing his sinewy torso with olive oil and diving headfirst into crowds – is mellowing in old age with a solo album of crooning classic covers, half of them in French.

But at 65 years old it’s all part of pushing new boundaries, and making sure he’s not categorized as nothing but a punk icon.

PARIS, May 7 (Reuters) – Francois Hollande’s election as
French president was greeted by jitters on European markets and
a dour front in Berlin where ruling conservatives warned the
Socialist on Monday that Germans were not ready to pay for his
promises of an end to austerity.

With investors spooked by Greek voters’ rejection of parties
which slashed budgets to secure an EU/IMF bailout, festivities
in Paris after Hollande defeated centre-right incumbent Nicolas
Sarkozy on Sunday soon gave way to a grim sense of getting down
to the business of dealing with Europe’s deep economic crisis.

PARIS, May 7 (Reuters) – Francois Hollande faces a short
honeymoon after his election as France’s first left-wing
president in 17 years, with financial markets eager for clear
signals on his policies and how hard he plans to push back
against German-led austerity.

The moderate Socialist beat conservative Nicolas Sarkozy
with 51.7 percent of Sunday’s runoff vote after a bruising
campaign dominated by the same anger over economic crisis that
has felled 10 other European leaders since late 2009.

PARIS, May 7 (Reuters) – A victorious Francois Hollande
faces a short honeymoon after his election as France’s first
left-wing president in 17 years, with financial markets eager
for clear signals on his policies and how hard he plans to push
back against German-led austerity.

The moderate Socialist beat conservative Nicolas Sarkozy
with 51.7 percent of Sunday’s runoff vote after a bruising
campaign dominated by the same anger over economic crisis that
has felled 10 other European leaders since late 2009.

PARIS (Reuters) – Socialist Francois Hollande swept to victory in France’s presidential election on Sunday in a swing to the left at the heart of Europe that could start a pushback against German-led austerity.

Hollande was set to beat conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy by a decisive 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent margin, the TNS-Sofres polling agency said in a projection based on a partial vote count.

PARIS (Reuters) – Socialist Francois Hollande swept to victory in France’s presidential election on Sunday in a swing to the left at the heart of Europe that could start a pushback against German-led austerity.

Hollande was set to beat conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy by a decisive 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent margin, the TNS-Sofres polling agency said in a projection based on a partial vote count.

PARIS (Reuters) – Nicolas Sarkozy’s vigor at the podium, his man-of-the-people way of speaking and his impassioned promises of a break with a stagnant past in France swept him to the presidency in 2007.

Yet his popularity ratings slid so fast and so far, as many found him brash and too chummy with the rich once in power, that his frenetic re-election campaign and his promise to govern differently have fallen flat.