In French election, a cowboy and a swan
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The top two candidates have captured the public's imagination, and are nearly tied in polls with two months to go.
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France's losing presidential candidate, Segolene Royal, is the spotlight again over the end of her relationship.
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Whether because of his public love life or his economic policies, French voters seem to be souring on their new president
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France goes to the polls for the second time in a just over a month on Sunday when it votes in parliamentary elections that are expected to seal President Nicolas Sarkozy's grip on power.
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French voters overseas cast the first ballots Saturday in a parliamentary election predicted to hand a resounding majority to President Nicolas Sarkozy and his ambitious reform programme.
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FranÃ§ois Bayrou is gaining ground in a presidential campaign dominated by a nurturing Socialist and a crime-busting conservative.
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President Nicolas Sarkozy is seeking to bolster his mandate for pervasive reforms to energize France's sluggish economy in legislative elections that opened Sunday.The vote is crucial to Sarkozy's reform program because the composition of his Cabinet and its ability to push through legislation is tied to the number of seats the mainstream right has in the 577-seat National Assembly.The balloting Sunday is the first round. In France's complex electoral calculus, only candidates who win a majority of votes Sunday land a seat immediately. In races with no majority winner, any hopeful who gets more than 12.5 percent will qualify for a decisive second round June 17. Read more
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Nicolas Sarkozy is the right wing's only hope for retaining power in next year's French presidential election. The problem is, the incumbent simply doesn't like him
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PARIS In a move that could change the face of French politics, Nicolas Sarkozy, the popular finance minister whose personal and ideological differences with President Jacques Chirac are well known, took over the helm of the governing center-right party on
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PARIS -- One French presidential contender wants you to chuckle at his expense with a website that shows a virtual version of the usually straight-laced candidate disco-dancing.
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Voting began in the first round of France's legislative election on Sunday with President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party expected to strengthen its hold on power.
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Voting began on Saturday in some overseas French territories in the final round of parliamentary elections expected to give conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy a big majority for his reform plans.
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France votes in the first round of  parliamentary elections on Sunday with President Nicolas  Sarkozy&#39;s party expected to strengthen its hold on power,  clearing the way for him to push ahead with reforms.
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Campaigning drew to a close Saturday for the second round of France&#39;s parliamentary election, which is expected to deliver an overwhelming majority for President Nicolas Sarkozy and his ambitious programme of reform.
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French voters are electing a new parliament, with President Sarkozy's UMP party expected to make gains.
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LE GRAND QUELEN, France  - Alain le Potier gazes across the wooded valley from his hilltop family farm in Brittany but, like many French farmers, his view is clouded by worries about the April-May presidential election.
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PARIS   Polls show a tight three-way contest in France's presidential race, with a centrist former education minister just a few points behind the two established candidates.Comment