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Thousands of people have gathered at the Place de la Republique in central Paris for a vigil after a deadly attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Many held up placards saying “Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie), referring to a hashtag that is trending on Twitter in solidarity with the victims.
Piles of pens – symbolizing freedom of expression – and candles have been laid across the square.
Tens of thousands of people have also joined rallies in other cities across France.
A major manhunt has been launched in Paris for three gunmen who shot dead 12 people at the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Eight journalists, including the magazine’s editor, and two policemen were among the dead.
Protests over the killings are being held in cities across France. It is the country’s deadliest attack in decades.
President Francois Hollande called it a “cowardly murder” and declared a day of national mourning on Thursday, January 8.
Charlie Hebdo‘s website, which went offline during the attack, is displaying the single image of “Je suis Charlie” on a black banner. Other major newspapers are displaying similar banners.
The latest tweet on Charlie Hebdo‘s account was a cartoon of the Islamic State militant group leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
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Serge Lazarevic, the last French hostage to be held by Islamist militants, has been freed after three years, President Francois Hollande has announced.
Serge Lazarevic was kidnapped in Mali in November 2011 along with fellow Frenchman Philippe Verdon.
Militants from the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group killed Philippe Verdon in 2013 in retaliation for France’s intervention in Mali.
President Francois Hollande said there were no more French hostages waiting to be freed.
Serge Lazarevic, he said, was in “relatively good health” despite the conditions of his captivity and was on his way to the neighboring country of Niger from where he would return to France.
AQIM kidnapped a number of Western hostages before the French military deployed its forces against the group in January 2013.
There were at one point at least 14 French nationals being held by Islamists in West Africa.
“There are no more French hostages in any country in the world,” Francois Hollande said.
He thanked the authorities in Niger and Mali, who had “worked towards this happy outcome”.
There have been no details about how the release of Serge Lazarevic was secured.
The French government has repeatedly denied paying ransoms for hostages.
During his captivity, Serge Lazarevic, 50, appeared in several AQIM videos.
There was concern for his father’s health in November after he was filmed pleading for his release.
Serge Lazarevic looked frail in the video and was filmed alongside a second hostage, Dutchman Sjaak Rijke.
It is not clear where the two men were held or whether they were held together.
Sjaak Rijke was kidnapped in November 2011, while visiting the city of Timbuktu as a tourist. There has been no news from him since the video.
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Five members of French President Francois Hollande’s staff have been reassigned as police investigate photos taken of the president with actress Julie Gayet inside the Elysee Palace.
The photos in Voici magazine show Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet sitting on a terrace in the grounds of the presidential palace.
Their alleged love affair made worldwide headlines in January.
Police believe the photos may have been taken by a member of Francois Hollande’s staff last month on a mobile phone.
Voici magazine described the photos of Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet – published earlier this month – as a “tender moment… behind the walls of the Elysee”, where she spends “several nights a week”.
Newspaper reports say some of the staff who have been transferred as police investigate the security breach were appointed by Francois Hollande’s predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Photos in January of Francois Hollande in a scooter helmet visiting Julie Gayet in a Paris apartment set off a media frenzy as the president was at the time in a relationship with Valerie Trierweiler.
In March, a French court ordered Closer magazine to pay Julie Gayet 15,000 euros ($19,000) over a breach of privacy for revealing the affair.
Valerie Trierweiler, a journalist, published a bestselling memoir soon afterwards detailing their relationship, in which she depicted Francois Hollande as a self-centered champagne socialist with no time for the poor.
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French actress Julie Gayet has been pictured entering and leaving the back entrance of the Elysee palace, VSD magazine has reported.
VSD, a weekly gossip magazine, published pictures it said proved that President Francois Hollande spends “almost every night” with Julie Gayet at the French presidential palace.
Julie Gayet, 42, also spent several days this summer with Francois Hollande in La Lanterne – the same Versailles retreat where Valerie Trierweiler, the president’s spurned ex-girlfriend, was sent to recover from a nervous breakdown after revelations over the affair.
President François Hollande, 60, suffered one of the darkest days of his flailing presidency on November 7 after a midterm television bid to persuade the French he can turn the tide was widely panned, and his turbulent private life hit the headlines once again.
Francois Hollande’s affair with Julie Gayet was first revealed in January 2014
Although almost eight million French people tuned into Francois Hollande’s television interview on November 6, precisely halfway through his five-year mandate, the general press consensus was that he had flounced perhaps his “last chance” to win back the French.
Hours after Francois Hollande went onto national television to ask the media to respect his private life following a string of damaging revelations, pictures of a blue Ford Galaxy said to contain Julie Gayet leaving the Elysee hit the news-stands.
In recent months, there have been several reports that Francois Hollande’s relationship with Julie Gayet – a staunch Socialist supporter – was over.
VSD insisted that the relationship was very much back on track and that she sleeps “almost every night at the Elysee”.
“There is no longer any possible doubt: François Hollande and Julie Gayet are still in love,” it wrote.
According to VSD, Julie Gayet arrives almost every evening “around 6.30 PM and leaves the following morning at 8.30 AM”, spending most weekends in the Elysee “making sure she doesn’t stand in front of any windows”.
Francois Hollande’s affair with Julie Gayet was first revealed in January 2014, when Closer magazine published sensational pictures of the president arriving on the back of a moped for secret trysts a stone’s throw from the Elysee, using a helmet as camouflage.
It emerged yesterday, however, that former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who Francois Hollande succeeded at the Elysee in 2012, was aware of the affair two months before it reached the public – sparking speculation he might have been tipped off by an Elysee mole.
In a televised interview, French President Francois Hollande has promised not seek a second term in 2017 if he fails to cut unemployment.
Francois Hollande acknowledged he had made mistakes since taking office in 2012 but vowed to go “to the end” to reform the economy.
On November 6, a new poll put Francois Hollande’s approval rating at 12%.
Unemployment in France is currently at 11% and economic growth has all but ground to a halt.
With Francois Hollande’s popularity at an all-time low, the far-right Front National led by Marine Le Pen has been making steady gains.
“I’ve got a thick skin. For two-and-a-half years I’ve been hanging on,” the president said.
French President Francois Hollande has promised not seek a second term in 2017 if he fails to cut unemployment (photo TF1)
“I have made mistakes. Who hasn’t?”
Referring to his failed promise to “invert the trend” of unemployment, Francois Hollande said: “Do you think I can say to the French people, <<I didn’t manage it for five years, but I promise I’ll do it in the next five?>> It doesn’t work like that.
“If I don’t manage it before the end of my term, do you think I will go before the French people in 2017? The French people would be unyielding and they would be right.”
However, Francois Hollande vowed to go “to the end to reform France… to make it stronger in the two and a half years I have left”.
He also promised that from next year there would be no additional tax “on anyone”.
President Francois Hollande was questioned in the live TV program by journalists and members of the public.
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France has launched its first air strikes against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Iraq, the office of President Francois Hollande says.
A statement said planes had attacked an ISIS depot in north-east Iraq, and there would be more raids in the coming days.
The US has carried out more than 170 air strikes against the jihadist group in Iraq since mid-August.
ISIS remains in control of dozens of cities and towns in Iraq and Syria, where it has declared a caliphate.
Friday’s air strike comes a day after President Francois Hollande said he had agreed to an Iraqi request for air support, but it would only target IS in Iraq and not in neighboring Syria.
Francois Hollande also insisted that he would not send ground troops.
France has launched its first air strikes against ISIS militants in Iraq
France had already been carrying out reconnaissance flights over Iraq and providing weapons to Kurdish fighters in the north.
Francois Hollande’s office said Rafale planes had carried out the attack and “the objective was hit and completely destroyed”.
It did not give details on the type of material at the depot, or its exact location.
However, Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi military, said four French air strikes had hit the town of Zumar, killing dozens of militants, AP news agency reported.
On September 15, France – which opposed the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq – hosted an international conference on the crisis.
It saw 26 countries pledge their commitment to supporting the new Iraqi government in its fight against ISIS “by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance”.
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Nicolas Sarkozy has announced his return to French politics.
On his Facebook page, the former French president said he would seek the leadership of the opposition UMP party, widely seen as a first step towards a presidential bid in 2017.
Nicolas Sarkozy, 59, wrote: “I am a candidate to be president of my political family.”
The statement ends months of speculation about the intentions of Nicolas Sarkozy, who vowed to give up politics after he failed to be re-elected as president in 2012.
The UMP party elections are due to be held in November.
“After a lengthy period of reflection, I have decided to offer the French people a new political choice,” Nicolas Sarkozy wrote.
Nicolas Sarkozy has announced his return to French politics (photo Facebook)
He said he could not “remain a spectator given the situation in which France finds itself, given the destruction of political debate and the persistence of the derisory splits within the opposition”.
Nicolas Sarkozy has many supporters who believe his energy are essential to pull France out of its current difficulties.
However, Nicolas Sarkozy remains a divisive figure. He was defeated by Francois Hollande in the 2012 election, becoming the first French president not to be re-elected for a second term since 1981.
Meanwhile, opinion polls suggest President Francois Hollande has now become the most unpopular French president in modern times.
Although Nicolas Sarkozy has kept a low profile since leaving office, he has faced a series of legal investigations that involve him in some capacity.
In July, he was placed under formal investigation on suspicion of seeking to influence judges who were looking into his affairs.
Other inquiries include one into Nicolas Sarkozy’s links with former Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi and another into illegal campaign funding in 2012. He denies any wrongdoing.
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President Francois Hollande has condemned an accusation by his former partner Valerie Trierweiler that he hates the poor as a “lie that hurts me”.
Francois Hollande said he did not want anyone to think he made fun of social hardship.
France’s former First Lady Valerie Trierweiler wrote in a book about the couple’s break-up that he saw the poor as “toothless ones”.
Valerie Trierweiler was the president’s partner for nine years until a magazine revealed his affair with actress Julie Gayet.
In her memoir, Thank You For This Moment, which was published last week and has already become a best-seller in France, Valerie Trierweiler paints the Socialist president as a callous man who dislikes the poor.
Despite his image as a “man of the left” who disliked the rich, Valerie Trierweiler said Francois Hollande secretly despised the poor and talked about “the toothless ones” in private.
Francois Hollande has condemned an accusation by his former partner Valerie Trierweiler that he hates the poor as a lie
The very public row with Valerie Trierweiler comes after several difficult weeks for Francois Hollande, who has seen his popularity fall to the lowest for a French president in more than 50 years.
Francois Hollande’s Socialist government, which is struggling with high unemployment levels and stagnant economic growth, faces a vote of confidence next week.
Finance Minister Michel Sapin cut France’s growth forecast this year to 0.4% and announced on Wednesday that the government would be unable to bring its finances in line with EU rules until 2017.
Last month, PM Manuel Valls replaced his cabinet after left-wing ministers objected publicly to the government’s austerity measures.
Francois Hollande said he had never been on the side of the powerful and “felt this attack on the poor, the dispossessed, as if it were a blow delivered against my entire life”.
“I [have] met people suffering the worst kinds of hardships,” Francois Hollande told the magazine.
“They had trouble caring for their teeth. That’s the sign of the worst kind of misery.”
A partial transcript of the interview went online on September 10 but the full version will be published in the magazine on September 11.
Francois Hollande spoke of his modest background and of his two grandfathers, one of whom was a tailor, the other a teacher.
The president acknowledged that things were uncomfortable for him at the moment but the French people wanted results from him and were not interested in his emotional state.
Valerie Trierweiler has revealed in her newly released tell-all book that she swallowed sleeping pills after confronting President Francois Hollande over his affair with actress Julie Gayet.
France’s former first lady’s account of their break-up has been revealed in excerpts of a book published by Paris Match magazine.
Photos of Francois Hollande’s liaison with Julie Gayet appeared in January 2014.
Valerie Trierweiler, 49, describes how she snapped after hearing about the affair and wanted to escape.
Francois Hollande’s break-up with Valerie Trierweiler captivated France for weeks at the start of 2014 and such was the secrecy surrounding her book that it was printed in Germany.
Until now Valerie Trierweiler has said little about how their relationship ended and the contents of her book, Thank You For This Moment.
Even President Francois Hollande only found out about it on September 2.
Valerie Trierweiler has revealed she swallowed sleeping pills after confronting Francois Hollande over his affair with Julie Gayet (photo AFP)
“The Julie Gayet story is the top headline on the morning bulletins,” Valerie Trierweiler’s account in Paris Match begins.
“I crack up. I can’t listen to that. I rush into the bathroom. I grab the little plastic bag which has sleeping pills in. Francois has followed me, he tries to snatch the bag. I run into the bedroom.
“He snatches the bag which tears. Some pills spill on the ground. I reach out to pick some up, I swallow what I can. I want to sleep, I don’t want to live through the coming hours. I want to escape, I lose consciousness.”
After pictures were published by Closer magazine of Francois Hollande arriving at a flat for meetings with Julie Gayet, Valerie Trierweiler was admitted to hospital in Paris where she spent a week.
At the time, French media quoted a friend of Valerie Trierweiler saying that she had taken “one pill too many” but denying she had tried to commit suicide.
Valerie Trierweiler then continued her recuperation at the presidential residence at Versailles before the couple formally separated.
Julie Gayet, 42, successfully sued Closer magazine in March for breaching her privacy.
Before beginning a relationship with Valerie Trierweiler, Francois Hollande had four children with Segolene Royal, a former Socialist presidential candidate who joined the French government this year and is now environment minister.
In one extract in Paris Match – the magazine that journalist Valerie Trierweiler worked for before and during her time as first lady – she describes how Francois Hollande initially admitted only that the affair had gone on for more than a month. Eventually, Valerie Trierweiler discovered it had lasted an entire year.
Valerie Trierweiler also takes a swipe at Francois Hollande’s Socialist credentials, claiming that while he has created an image of disliking the rich, “in reality the president doesn’t like the poor”.
“He, the man of the left, talks about <<the toothless ones>> in private, very proud of his humorous streak.”
The hashtag “SansDents” fast became a top-trending French-language topic on Twitter on September 3 just behind “Trierweiler”.
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France’s former First Lady Valerie Trierweiler is set to release a tell-all book about her tumultuous relationship with President Francois Hollande, AFP reported.
Valerie Trierweiler, a 49-year-old journalist, was dumped unceremoniously by Francois Hollande in January 2014 after Closer magazine revealed his affair with actress Julie Gayet, and has since remained broadly silent about an event she once said had felt like falling “from a skyscraper”. Sh had all along been secretly writing a book about her years-long relationship with the Socialist leader, which comes out tomorrow and does not “spare” Francois Hollande, according to parliamentary channel LCP which broke the news.
“Everything I write is true,” Valerie Trierweiler writes on the cover of the book, called Thank You For This Moment and unveiled in Paris-Match, a glossy magazine for which she used to be a political reporter and still contributes to.
“At the Elysee [presidential palace], I sometimes felt as if I was on a story. And I have suffered too much from lies to tell lies myself.”
The 320-page book “is a cry of love as well as a slow descent into hell, a plunge into the intimacy of a couple. Two people and nothing more: Valerie and Francois,” Paris-Match writes.
The Elysee said it was “not aware” of the book’s publication.
“So by definition we have not read this book,” a source close to Francois Hollande told AFP.
Valerie Trierweiler is set to release a tell-all book about her tumultuous relationship with President Francois Hollande (photo Getty Images)
Valerie Trierweiler met Francois Hollande in the mid-2000s while he was in a relationship with Segolene Royal – herself a former presidential candidate – and the pair began a secret liaison.
Francois Hollande subsequently left Segolene Royal, the mother of his four children, for Valerie Trierweiler who became the de facto first lady of France after he was elected in 2012, despite the fact the pair were not married.
News of Francois Hollande’s affair with 42-year-old Julie Gayet caused shock waves in France in January, and Valerie Trierweiler was hospitalized for a week after Closer magazine published pictures of the president arriving for secret trysts with the actress at a borrowed flat.
Francois Hollande then announced their relationship was over in an 18-word statement that was devoid of regret or remorse for the woman he had described as “the love of my life” in 2010.
“Eighteen words is almost one word for each month we spent together since he was elected,” Valerie Trierweiler told Le Parisien daily in January, describing herself as “more disappointed than hurt”.
According to Paris-Match, this is the first time that a former first lady “really tells the story of nine years of a relationship eroded by jealousy and power … A story of love … and despair”. The weekly – which publishes extracts of the book in an issue that comes out on September 3 in Paris and on September 4 in the rest of France – describes Valerie Trierweiler as a “passionate lover, possessive, mad about this man whom she admires, who makes her laugh and delightfully destabilizes her”.
The book could also prove an embarrassment for President Francois Hollande, whose approval ratings are at a record low.
However, the memoir will not be the first by a former first lady.
Nicolas Sarkozy’s ex-wife Cecilia Attias, who was a key adviser in his successful 2007 campaign but divorced him soon after, also published an autobiography last year, which sold tens of thousands of copies.
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Julie Gayet has won a privacy case over a photo published by Closer magazine during its coverage of her alleged affair with President Francois Hollande.
The photo shows actress Julie Gayet sitting inside her car, which under French law is considered to be a private space.
The alleged affair made international headlines after it was revealed by the magazine in January this year.
Closer magazine has already paid damages to the actress for publishing the report.
Julie Gayet has won a privacy case over a photo published by Closer magazine during its coverage of her alleged affair with President Francois Hollande (photo AFP/Getty Images)
On September 2, a court in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre handed photographer Laurent Viers a suspended fine of 1,000 euros ($1,300) for taking the photo of the actress sitting at the wheel of the car.
The fine only needs to be paid if the defendant re-offends.
Closer magazine published the picture with the caption: “It’s in her white Citroen that Julie Gayet meets the president.”
The director general of Closer magazine’s publisher, Carmine Perna, and its editor in chief, Laurence Pieau, both received suspended fines of 3,000 euros.
Laurence Pieau had earlier contested the ruling saying that “for me, a car is not a private space”.
However, Julie Gayet’s lawyer described it as an “important ruling”, saying that it was the first time officials from the magazine had been sentenced.
In March, Closer magazine was ordered to pay Julie Gayet 15,000 euros for breach of privacy over the publication of images purporting to show her and Francois Hollande arriving at a Paris flat.
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France’s President Francois Hollande has named a new cabinet under Prime Minister Manuel Valls, dropping ministers who rebelled against austerity cuts.
The first government of Manuel Valls, who was appointed less than five months ago, fell on Monday after a row with Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg.
Arnaud Montebourg resigned along with two other ministers from the left.
He will be replaced by Emmanuel Macron, a former Rothschild banker and ex-presidential economic adviser.
President Francois Hollande is seeking a coherent line on economic policy after recent criticism from the left wing of his Socialist Party.
Many see it as his last chance to make a successful presidency, after his recent poll ratings sunk to 17%.
For the first time, a woman – Najat Vallaud-Belkacem – will be put in charge of education, replacing Benoit Hamon who also lost his job.
President Francois Hollande has named a new cabinet under PM Manuel Valls (photo Reuters)
Najat Vallaud-Belkacem was minister for women’s rights in the last cabinet.
Meanwhile, Fleur Pellerin has been made minister for culture, replacing Aurelie Filippetti who is also out of the government.
Key ministers in the previous cabinet, like Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Finance Minister Michel Sapin, retain their posts.
Francois Hollande’s former partner and the mother of his four children, Segolene Royal, will retain her post as environment and energy minister.
The president said earlier that the new cabinet should “cohere to the directions of the prime minister”, who is on the party’s right wing.
PM Manuel Valls said he would hold a parliamentary vote of confidence in September or October, speaking in a TV interview after the new ministers were named.
“And you will see, the majority will be there. There can be no other way. If the majority isn’t there on that occasion, it would be finished. We couldn’t finish our work,” he told France 2 TV.
Manuel Valls also defended the choice of a former banker for new economy minister, saying: “So what? Can one not in this country be an entrepreneur? One can’t be a banker?”
Arnaud Montebourg quit after publicly urging the government to end austerity policies and focus on growth.
France is struggling with high unemployment and low growth, and Francois Hollande’s popularity is the lowest for a president in more than 50 years.
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France’s Prime Minister Manuel Valls has submitted the government’s resignation to President Francois Hollande and has been asked to form a new cabinet.
The French government was badly shaken on Sunday by criticism over its handling of the economy by economy minister Arnaud Montebourg.
Moments after Manuel Valls’s resignation President Francois Hollande issued a statement.
Francois Hollande asked Manuel Valls to set up a new cabinet “consistent with the direction [Francois Hollande] has set for the country”.
The prime minister had accused Arnaud Montebourg of “crossing a yellow line” after the economy minister had attacked austerity measures which he said were strangling France’s growth.
France’s Prime Minister Manuel Valls has submitted the government’s resignation to President Francois Hollande and has been asked to form a new cabinet
Arnaud Montebourg told a meeting of Socialists in eastern France that the time had come to put up a “just and sane resistance” to the “excessive obsessions of Germany’s conservatives”.
On Saturday, Arnaud Montebourg told Le Monde newspaper that Germany was trapped in an austerity policy that it imposed across Europe”.
He was backed up by education minister Benoit Hamon and appeared to have the support of culture minister Aurelie Filippetti, too.
Benoit Hamon called on Sunday for a revival in demand and for an end to German Chancellor Angela Merkel setting Europe’s direction: “You can’t sell anything to the French if they don’t have enough income.”
Manuel Valls became prime minister in March after a poor performance by President Francois Hollande’s Socialist party in local elections.
Earlier this month, the French government admitted it would be impossible to reach a previous growth forecast of 1%. Germany saw its economy shrink by 0.2% between April and June.
Arnaud Montebourg told French radio shortly before Manuel Valls announced the government’s resignation that he had no regrets about his remarks, “first of all because there’s no anger”.
There was no debate about authority, Arnaud Montebourg told Europe 1 radio, but a “debate about economic direction”.
French President Francois Hollande and German President Joachim Gauck will commemorate the 100th anniversary of Germany’s declaration of war on France on August 3, 1914.
Francois Hollande and Joachim Gauck will make a joint tribute in Alsace to soldiers killed during World War One.
They will also lay the first stone for a memorial at Vieil Armand cemetery.
French President Francois Hollande and German President Joachim Gauck will commemorate the 100th anniversary of Germany’s declaration of war on France on August 3, 1914
On Monday events will be held in Belgium to mark Britain’s declaration of war on Germany.
Some 30,000 men were killed in the mountains around Vieil Armand, known in German as Hartmannswillerkopf.
The cemetery there contains the remains of 12,000 unidentified soldiers.
Francois Hollande and Joachim Gauck will pay tribute to the sacrifice those men made and celebrate the importance of the modern Franco-German relationship in Europe.
They will lay the foundation stone for a Great War memorial and exhibition centre on the site, which is due to open its doors to the public in 2017.
Francois Hollande and Joachim Gauck will meet again on Monday in the Belgian city of Liege, where heads of state from across Europe will mark the escalation of the war after Germany invaded Belgium.
Al passengers and crew members on board of Air Algerie flight AH5017 died after the aircraft crashed in Mali, says the French President, Francois Hollande.
Francois Hollande said one flight data recorder had been recovered, after French troops reached the crash site near Mali’s border with Burkina Faso.
Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane early on Thursday after pilots reported severe storms.
The 116 passengers on the Air Algerie flight included 51 French citizens.
The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 had been chartered from Spanish airline, Swiftair. It was flying from Burkina Faso’s capital, Ougadougou, to Algiers.
There are no survivors from the Air Algerie AH5017 passenger jet that crashed in Mali
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told French radio network RTL that “the aircraft was destroyed at the moment it crashed”.
“We think the aircraft crashed for reasons linked to the weather conditions, although no theory can be excluded at this point,” he said.
A team of 100 French soldiers, with 30 vehicles, had travelled to the crash site on Friday, a French defense ministry official said.
The team was part of a force that was deployed to Mali last year to combat an insurgency backed by al-Qaeda.
“French soldiers who are on the ground have started the first investigations,” Francois Hollande said on Friday.
“Sadly there are no survivors.”
Contact with Flight AH 5017 was lost about 50 minutes after take-off from Ouagadougou early on Thursday morning, Air Algerie said.
The pilot had contacted Niger’s control tower in Niamey at around 01:30 GMT to change course because of a sandstorm, officials say.
Burkina Faso authorities said the passenger list comprised 27 people from Burkina Faso, 51 French, eight Lebanese, six Algerians, two from Luxembourg, five Canadians, four Germans, one Cameroonian, one Belgian, one Egyptian, one Ukrainian, one Swiss, one Nigerian and one Malian.
The six crew members are Spanish, according to the Spanish pilots’ union.
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The four French journalists released from captivity in Syria have been speaking about their ordeal at the hands of suspected Islamist rebels.
Didier Francois said the four men were chained to each other and kept in basements without natural light.
His colleague Nicolas Henin added that they were “not always well treated”.
Nicolas Henin and Didier Francois, along with Edouard Elias and Pierre Torres, were greeted by their families and President Francois Hollande on arrival in France.
They had been found by Turkish soldiers on the Syrian border late on Friday.
The jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has been accused of kidnapping them.
Television footage after their reappearance showed the men looking unkempt, with beards and long hair, but in good health.
Nicolas Henin and Didier Francois, along with Edouard Elias and Pierre Torres, were greeted by their families and President Francois Hollande on arrival in France
Didier Francois, 53, said he was “very happy to be free… to see the sky, to be able to walk and to be able to speak freely”.
“We spent six whole months in basements without seeing daylight, and for two-and-a-half months we were chained to each other,” he told his own radio station, Europe 1.
“It was a long haul, but we never lost hope,” Didier Francois added.
“From time to time, we got snatches of information, we knew that the world was mobilized.”
The journalists were found blindfolded and handcuffed in a no-man’s land in Turkey’s border province of Sanliurfa and were taken by Turkish soldiers to a police station in the nearby town of Akcakale.
The men went missing in two separate incidents last June.
Didier Francois, a veteran war correspondent, and Edouard Elias, a photographer, were abducted in early June on their way to Aleppo.
Nicolas Henin, who was working for Le Point magazine, and Pierre Torres, reporting for French-German television channel Arte, were taken later that month near Raqqa.
Negotiations with their kidnappers had been going on for several weeks but it is not known if anything was offered to them in return for freeing the men.
Welcoming them at Villacoublay air base, south of Paris, President Francois Hollande called it a “day of great joy” both for the four journalists and for France.
“France is proud that these compatriots serve the freedom of the press and France is proud to have been able to secure their liberty,” he said.
Francois Hollande also denied that France had paid a ransom.
Syria has become one of the most dangerous places for journalists.
More than 60 journalists have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad three years ago.
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Segolene Royal, President Francois Hollande’s ex-partner and the mother of his four children, has joined France’s new government in a major reshuffle by the ruling Socialists.
Segolene Royal, 60, will serve as environment minister in the cabinet of new Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
Manuel Valls was appointed prime minister after the Socialists suffered a humiliating defeat at local elections.
The Finance Minister, Pierre Moscovici, has left the government, with his job now split between two ministers.
Michel Sapin takes charge of finance while Arnaud Montebourg will be in charge of industry and economy.
Segolene Royal is President Francois Hollande’s ex-partner and the mother of his four children
Laurent Fabius and Jean-Yves Le Drian keep their positions as foreign affairs and defense ministers in the new cabinet, which replaces that led by Jean-Marc Ayrault.
President Francois Hollande, 59, is one of the most unpopular French leaders in decades, having failed to restore the economy.
It is open to question how many of the key new appointments were the choice of Manuel Valls alone. Michel Sapin is a long-time close friend of Francois Hollande.
Michel Sapin’s first task will be to persuade the EU that France is on track after the country again missed its deficit target.
While Manuel Valls is on the right of his party, the new economy minister is most definitely to the left, having previously accused the EU of damaging growth with its demands for cuts.
It is said that Francois Hollande’s most recent official partner, Valerie Trierweiler, had opposed Segolene Royal’s appointment to any position in the government.
Francosi Hollande and Valerie Trierweiler officially split up in January after it emerged he had been having an affair with actress Julie Gayet.
Le Monde ran the headline The revenge of Segolene Royal on its web edition and one French blogger wrote on Twitter: “Sego [Segolene] nominated, break with Trierweiler complete.”
The return of Segolene Royal to government follows a long period when she was out of the political spotlight.
Segolene Royal was the Socialist candidate in the 2007 presidential election, but lost to Nicolas Sarkozy.
Manuel Valls served in the previous cabinet as interior minister, where he became one of few government figures popular among the wider French public.
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Francois Hollande’s socialists have suffered big losses in France’s municipal elections, according to early results.
The opposition UMP claims victory and the far right National Front (FN) celebrates further gains.
UMP leader Jean-Francois Cope hailed what he called a “blue wave” of support for his centre-right party.
Marine Le Pen’s FN was heading for victory in up to seven towns, early results indicated.
The Socialists have been hit by growing discontent over the economy.
Francois Hollande’s socialists have suffered big losses in France’s municipal elections
Turnout in Sunday’s second-round vote was low, which was bad news for President Francois Hollande’s Socialists as it was their supporters who were not voting
The National Front was on course for victory in the southern towns of Beziers and Frejus and in Villers-Cotterets north-east of Paris.
The centre-right UMP appears poised to capture a number of key cities, including Saint-Etienne, Reims and Roubaix.
A reshuffle – and quite likely a replacement for PM Jean-Marc Ayrault – could be announced as early as Monday.
In Paris, which has had a Socialist mayor since 2001, exit polls indicated Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo was set to defeat UMP candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet.
It was seen as a consolation for the governing party on a night of setbacks.
Voters were choosing councilors and mayors in more than 36,000 municipalities. FN candidates had won through to the second round in some 200 places.
The FN is widely expected to do well in the European Parliament elections in May – and opinion polls suggest the Eurosceptic party is on course to come top.
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Closer magazine has been ordered by a French court to pay actress Julie Gayet 15,000 euros ($20,000) over a breach of privacy for revealing her affair with President Francois Hollande.
Closer published photographs of Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet arriving separately at an apartment in January.
The payout was far lower than the 50,000 euros Julie Gayet had sought.
The Paris court ordered the magazine to publish the ruling on the front page of its next edition.
Closer caused a political storm in France on January 10 when it published images purporting to show Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet arriving at a Paris flat for alleged trysts.
Although he refused to comment on the allegations, Francois Hollande announced that he had “put an end” to his “shared life” with long-term partner Valerie Trierweiler shortly afterwards.
Closer magazine has been ordered to pay Julie Gayet 15,000 euros over a breach of privacy for revealing her affair with President Francois Hollande
During court hearings, Julie Gayet’s lawyer said she had been “hunted” by journalists.
“She was assaulted by swarms of photographers… it was like the hunt of a wild animal,” he said.
Closer‘s lawyer maintained that the magazine was justified in publishing the photographs, saying they were in the public interest because they raised questions about Francois Hollande’s “duty of transparency”.
Julie Gayet has also filed two criminal complaints: one for a breach of privacy over photographs taken of her inside a car and another accusing paparazzi of “endangering others” while chasing her.
The mother of two, who has acted in more than 70 films over a 20-year career, has kept a low profile since the scandal broke.
During a rare public appearance in New York earlier this month Julie Gayet fended off questions about her relationship with President Francois Hollande, saying: “My private life is my private life.”
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On Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande has been honored at a lavish White House state dinner, the first since 2011.
State dinner menu:
First course: American Osetra Caviar, Fingerling Potato Veloute, Quail Eggs, Crisped Chive Potatoes
French President Francois Hollande has been honored at a lavish White House state dinner
Second course: White House’s Winter Garden Salad
Main course: Rib Eye Beef, Blue Cheese, Charred Shallots, Oyster Mushrooms, Braised Chard
Dessert: Hawaiian Chocolate-Malted Ganache, Vanilla Ice Cream and Tangerines
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France’s President Francois Hollande has been honored at a lavish White House state dinner, the first since 2011.
At the party, Francois Hollande and President Barack Obama toasted the nations’ centuries-old friendship.
They have suggested the bad feelings over US spying and French opposition to the Iraq War have been soothed.
Among the guests at Tuesday’s state dinner were diplomats and dignitaries from both governments, as well as leaders in the media and business.
Hollywood luminaries in attendance included Bradley Cooper, Mindy Kaling, Stephen Colbert, Julie Louis-Dreyfus and director JJ Abrams.
The roughly 300 guests dined on caviar, quail eggs and rib-eye steak, later listening to a performance from singer Mary J. Blige.
After being welcomed to the White House by Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, Francois Hollande was seated between the couple at the dinner table in a heated tent on the South Lawn.
The move was seen as a tactful way to handle the fact that Francois Hollande arrived alone after an ugly, widely publicized split from long-time partner Valerie Trierweiler following reports he had an affair with an actress.
The highlights of the evening were toasts given by the two presidents.
Francois Hollande has been honored at a lavish White House state dinner
With a glass of white wine in his hand, Barack Obama opened by quoting French writer Alexis de Tocqueville’s impressions of 19th Century America, recalling to humorous effect his bafflement with American cuisine and his underwhelming impression of the White House.
“We Americans have grown to love all things French – the films, the food, the wine,” Barack Obama continued.
“But most of all, we love our French friends because we have stood together for our freedom for more than 200 years.
“Vive la France, God bless America, and long live the alliance between our great nations.”
Speaking first in English, Francois Hollande acknowledged the sacrifice of the US soldiers who fought in France during World War Two and said that France felt America’s pain at the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Continuing in French, Francois Hollande praised French-US diplomatic and military co-operation in the Middle East and Africa, and said the two countries would work jointly for economic growth and to combat climate change.
Francois Hollande said relations between the two countries had reached “an exceptional level of closeness and confidence” because they shared the “universal values” of freedom, democracy and respect for the law.
“We love Americans, although we don’t always say so and you love the French, but you are sometimes too shy to say so,” Francois Hollande said.
At a news conference after bilateral talks earlier on Tuesday, Francois Hollande said he and Barack Obama had resolved their issues over digital eavesdropping by the National Security Agency (NSA).
“Mutual trust has been restored,” he said.
Barack Obama also announced he had accepted Francois Hollande’s invitation to go to France in June to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy during World War Two.
Today, Francois Hollande will travel to San Francisco and meet chiefs of Silicon Valley giants including Facebook, Twitter and Google.
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President Barack Obama has welcomed France’s President Francois Hollande to the White House for a day of meetings culminating in a state dinner.
Francois Hollande was greeted by a military honor guard and blaring brass band on the south lawn.
Barack Obama and Francois Hollande are expected to discuss issues ranging from trade to Iran’s nuclear program.
The visit sets the seal on a new era in US-French relations, which sank to a low a decade ago over the Iraq war.
“More nations must step up and meet the responsibilities of leadership, and that’s what the United States and France are doing together,” Barack Obama said with Francois Hollande by his side at the White House.
Francois Hollande highlighted the historic ties between the two nations, saying: “Each of our countries knows what it owes to each other – its freedom.”
Francois Hollande was greeted by a military honor guard and blaring brass band on the south lawn of White House
Among the French leader’s engagements on Tuesday are: a press conference at midday with Barack Obama followed by lunch with Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry.
The main event will be a black-tie dinner held in Francois Hollande’s honor on Tuesday night in a big white tent on the White House lawn.
Invitees will dine on American caviar, quail eggs and rib-eye steak, while dancing to the music of singer Mary J. Blige.
During his time in the US, Francois Hollande will also travel to San Francisco and meet chiefs of Silicon Valley giants including Facebook, Twitter and Google.
Francois Hollande’s long-time partner Valerie Trierweiler did not travel with him, after the breakdown in their relationship following reports he had an affair with an actress.
Following Francois Hollande’s arrival on Monday afternoon, he and Barack Obama flew to Monticello in the state of Virginia. They visited the home of Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of the US, an envoy to France and the third US president.
They toured Thomas Jefferson’s home, stopping by his study, the kitchen and the quarters of slaves who helped build and run the estate.
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France’s former first lady Valerie Trierweiler has said that hearing news of President Francois Hollande’s affair with actress Julie Gayet was like falling from a skyscraper.
Valerie Trierweiler said in an interview with Paris Match she had refused to believe reports of the affair until she saw it in gossip magazine Closer, which printed photos.
Francois Hollande said on Saturday he had “put an end” to his “shared life” with Valerie Trierweiler, his unmarried partner.
Opposition politicians have accused him of callousness and egotism.
Francois Hollande, 59, has neither confirmed nor denied the report in Closer on January 10 that he was having an affair with actress Julie Gayet, 41.
Valerie Trierweiler, 48, was admitted to hospital shortly after news of the report and had been living at a presidential retreat in Versailles since her release.
Hours after Francois Hollande announced he had left Valerie Trierweiler, her presidential Twitter account was shut down, while her page on the French presidential website was no longer active on Monday.
Speaking to Paris Match, the French magazine for which she works as a journalist, Valerie Trierweiler said: “When I found out, it was like I’d fallen from a skyscraper.”
Valerie Trierweiler has said that hearing news of Francois Hollande’s affair was like falling from a skyscraper
“Clearly I had heard the rumors but you heard [rumors] about everyone. I hear them about myself too, all of the time. I paid no attention to them.”
Valerie Trierweiler, who has been divorced twice, said she was not “undergoing a period of crisis”.
“It’s not the first break-up in my life,” she said.
“This one was violent because of the media attention.”
Telling the magazine she had no regrets, Valerie Trierweiler said she planned to take up her previous life, “enriched by a new experience”.
Valerie Trierweiler moved in with Francois Hollande after his official separation from Segolene Royal, the unmarried mother of his four children, in 2007. Valerie Trierweiler has three children of her own by her last husband.
Speaking separately to another French weekly, Le Parisien Magazine, Valerie Trierweiler said she and Francois Hollande had exchanged text messages after his announcement of their break-up because of his concern for her health.
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, a leading figure in France’s main centre-right party the UMP, has predicted that women voters will not quickly forget the dry manner in which the president announced their separation.
“I felt like I was reading a sacking letter rather than a break-up one,” the candidate for mayor of Paris said.
Julie Gayet has been keeping a very low profile, AFP news agency notes, although friends have been quoted in the media as saying she has no intention of trying to become the next first lady.
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France’s President Francois Hollande has confirmed his separation from Valerie Trierweiler.
Francois Hollande told the French news agency AFP that their “shared life” had ended.
Earlier, his office at the Elysee Palace denied split reports.
Two weeks ago Closer magazine published photos which appeared to show Francois Hollande had been having an affair with actress Julie Gayet.
Valerie Trierweiler spent a week in hospital after the revelations.
Francois Hollande, who has never denied having an affair with Julie Gayet, has admitted to a “difficult moment” in his relationship with Valerie Trierweiler.
At the time, he promised to clarify the situation before his official visit to Washington on February 11.
Francois Hollande has confirmed his separation from Valerie Trierweiler
Francois Hollande told AFP he was speaking in a personal capacity and not as the head of state.
“I am making it known that I have put an end to my shared life with Valerie Trierweiler,” the president said.
On Thursday, Valerie Trierweiler sacked her lawyer for saying she was seeking to end her relationship with Francois Hollande “with the greatest possible dignity”.
Valerie Trierweiler, who has continued to work as a journalist for the glossy magazine Paris-Match, is travelling to India on Sunday in support of the work of the French charity Action Against Hunger.
Since she left hospital, Valerie Trierweiler has been staying at an official residence, La Lanterne, near Versailles.
“He [Francois Hollande] has consulted her and brought her up to date, she accepts the situation as a fait accompli, but she is leaving it to him to take the initiative,” a member of Valerie Trierweiler’s entourage told the newspaper Le Parisien.
Valerie Trierweiler and Francois Hollande have never married.
The Elysee Palace has contradicted media reports that President Francois Hollande would officially announce his separation from his partner, Valerie Trierweiler, on Saturday.
The president’s office said “false rumors” had been circulating in the French media.
Two weeks ago Closer magazine published photos apparently showing Francois Hollande’s affair with actress Julie Gayet.
Valerie Trierweiler spent a week in hospital after the revelations.
Francois Hollande, who has never denied having an affair with Julie Gayet, has admitted to a “difficult moment” in his relationship with Valerie Trierweiler.
On Thursday, Valerie Trierweiler sacked her lawyer for saying she was seeking to end her relationship with Francois Hollande “with the greatest possible dignity”.
The Elysee Palace has contradicted media reports that President Francois Hollande would officially announce his separation from Valerie Trierweiler
Sources close to Francois Hollande told French media the presidency would make an official announcement on Saturday.
Valerie Trierweiler, who has continued to work as a journalist for the glossy magazine Paris-Match, is travelling to India on Sunday in support of the work of the French charity Action Against Hunger.
Since she left hospital, Valerie Trierweiler has been staying at an official residence, La Lanterne, near Versailles.
“He [Francois Hollande] has consulted her and brought her up to date, she accepts the situation as a fait accompli, but she is leaving it to him to take the initiative,” a member of Valerie Trierweiler’s entourage told the newspaper Le Parisien.
Valerie Trierweiler and Francois Hollande have never married. She announced their relationship six months after he left his previous partner, one-time French presidential candidate Segolene Royal, with whom he has four children.
For her part, Julie Gayet has announced she is suing Closer magazine, which published the original reports, for breach of privacy.
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