Francois Hollande

* Socialist text criticised Merkel * Party removes words from the text * Prime minister steps in, stresses Paris-Berlin links By Sybille de La Hamaide PARIS, April 27 (Reuters) - France's ruling Socialist party will remove strongly worded criticism of...

BEIJING-- The rabbit and the rat are finally coming home. Two bronze heads that were looted from Beijing’s old Summer Palace in 1860 are to be returned to China this year by a French billionaire who acquired them from Christie’s auction...

* Socialists call Merkel "self-centred" and "intransigent" * Hollande's office does not dispute document's message * National Assembly speaker says "confrontation" possible By Elizabeth Pineau PARIS, April 26 (Reuters) - France's ruling Socialist...

PARIS, April 26 (Reuters) - An overwhelming majority of French people believe President Francois Hollande's government will fail to reduce record high unemployment this year, a poll showed on Friday. The government is clinging to the Socialist leader's...

PARIS (Reuters) - More people were out of job in France in March than at any other time in the past, data on Thursday showed, a bleak record that cast new doubt on government promises to reverse the unemployment trend by year-end. The new 3.225 million...

* A quarter of young French people are jobless * Most jobs for the young are on temporary contracts * Employers avoid adding to legally-protected permanent staff * Young feel older workers are hogging the best jobs By Catherine Bremer PARIS, April 25...

* France becomes 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage * Victory comes at a price for Socialist president Hollande * Conservatives appeal to France's top court (Adds appeal, parliament incident, opposition quote) By Nicholas Vinocur PARIS, April...

* Lawmakers' objections may stymie chances of swift passage * Asset disclosure would mark radical change in France * Hollande speeds up transparency law after bank scandal By Catherine Bremer PARIS, April 24 (Reuters) - France unveiled draft...

FLORANGE, France (Reuters) - Steelworkers here cheered Francois Hollande in early 2012 when, as a presidential candidate, he vowed to protect them from a plan to close two blast furnaces. Now they've they erected a marble tombstone engraved with the...

PARIS (AP) — France legalized gay marriage on Tuesday after a wrenching national debate that exposed deep conservatism in the nation's heartland and triggered huge demonstrations that tapped into intense discontent with the Socialist government....

* Loss of French voice mirrors economic decline * Hollande avoids being flag-bearer for the south * Weakened rapport with Germany not good for Berlin By Luke Baker and Mark John BRUSSELS/PARIS, April 24 (Reuters) - A few hours after midnight one...

TOP STORIES ----------- PROVIDENCE - The wife of the dead Boston Marathon bombing suspect is assisting authorities and in absolute shock that her husband and brother-in-law were accused of the deadly blasts, her lawyer said on Tuesday. - - - -...