Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni Meet Prince of Wales as They Visit Britain
THE TELEGRAPH: French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a symbolic visit to London today to mark the 70th anniversary of General Charles de Gaulle's radio broadcast urging his nation to resist the Nazi occupation of France.



The Prince of Wales greeted Mr Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni, as they arrived at Clarence House during a day of official engagements to commemorate the historic milestone.

The Prince and the president jointly laid a wreath at the statues of King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, in The Mall.

Charles and Mr Sarkozy went on to lay wreaths at the statue of General de Gaulle in Carlton Gardens while Ms Bruni looked on.
The Prince's wreath said: "In special memory of Franco-British solidarity 70 years ago."

On June 18, 1940, General de Gaulle appealed to his countrymen over the BBC airwaves. >>> | Friday, June 18, 2010

French Resistance Anniversary Marked in London
THE GUARDIAN: Carla Bruni and Samantha Cameron lead their husbands to lunch inside 10 Downing Street


To the gallery >>>

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy in Embarrassing Internet Film on Sex and Love
THE TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is facing embarrassment over an internet film featuring explicit comments she made about sex and love as a young model.

The 27-minute film, which has been posted on the video-sharing website YouTube, contains excerpts from interviews of the young Miss Bruni that juxtapose her risqué past with her demure present as the wife of the French president.

In one section, the Italian-born Miss Bruni produces from her handbag a book called Hot International Love and Sex Guides, which translates key phrases on all things erotic into seven languages.

“We need these kind of books because we’re travelling all around the world, we’re meeting new people and we want to know what to tell them in case we get into bed with them,” she tells interviewers on the Channel 4 show Eurotrash.

The then Miss Bruni, who was 28 when the show was broadcast in 1996, proceeds to offer four translations of “You get me very hot”, ending in the Italian “Mi eccite tanto”. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, May 24, 2010

MAIL ONLINE: Carla Bruni left 'shocked and dismayed' after reappearance of video showing her discussing sex in four languages >>> Peter Allen | Monday, May 24, 2010

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and the Born HIV Free Campaign


Please support:

The Global Fund: To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria >>>

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
 is an international financing institution that invests the world’s money to save lives. To date, it has committed US$ 19.3 billion in 144 countries to support large-scale prevention, treatment and care programs against the three diseases.

NB: 'Tuberculosis' and 'malaria' are not in the keywords/labels below because I have to use keywords/labels which are already in the bank. I have no more space left in the bank to add more. These two words are not in the bank; 'HIV' and 'Aids' are. So this should in no way be mis-read. I am not attaching more importance to one disease over the others. – Mark

Carla Gets Serious
THE TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy wore glasses for the first time at a public engagement in a bid to cultivate "a more serious image".

The French First Lady, who turns 43 this year, put the black designer frames on during her appearance as an anti-Aids ambassador at an event in Paris.

Dressed in a low cut, white T-shirt with a campaign slogan on it, the glasses transformed her image.

"Carla always tries to look as young as possible, but the glasses made it clear that she wanted a more serious image", a fashion observer close to Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy said.

She was supporting the Born HIV Free campaign, showing off a limited edition T-shirt, and a logo brooch designed by the jewellers Tiffany & Co.

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy said: "By 2015, let us end the transmission of HIV from mother to child. This is not a dream - we can do it. Life is too beautiful to end before birth." Carla Bruni-Sarkozy out in glasses for the first time >>> Peter Allen, in Paris | Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Cruel Is As Cruel Does
THE TELEGRAPH: An advertising campaign mocking the 5ft 5 ins stature of President Nicolas Sarkozy has caused a scandal in France.

The posters by car hire firm, Sixt, urge customers to rent a small Citroen C3 hatchback, with the slogan, "Be like Madame Bruni, take a small French model".

The height difference between the 5ft 10 ins tall French First Lady and her husband has long been a matter of some discussion.

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy, 43, is regularly photographed wearing flat soles to appear shorter beside him, while Mr Sarkozy, 55, wears footwear to make himself appear taller.

Fun is also frequently poked at the President for standing on a footstool behind podiums known as a "Sarkozy step" when making speeches.

The couple have sued two separate companies in the past for using their images in ad campaigns without permission. Car Advert Ridicules Nicolas Sarkozy's Height >>> | Tuesday, April 27, 2010

John Paulson's Donations to Carla Bruni Could Embarrass Nicolas Sarkozy
THE TELEGRAPH: French president Nicolas Sarkozy faced potential embarrassment on Friday after it emerged that the most generous donor to his wife's charitable foundation was John Paulson – the man whose hedge fund is at the heart of the US government's case against Goldman Sachs.

Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni. Photo: The Telegraph
The US investment bank is accused of defrauding investors by failing to say that Mr Paulson, a prominent hedge fund manager, bet against a Goldman sub-prime debt product that he helped design.

Mr Paulson correctly bet that the US housing bubble would burst, reaping a £10bn profit for his Paulson & Co hedge fund in 2007. The speculator banked a £2.4bn bonus that year in one of the largest payouts in the history of corporate America.

It transpires that Mr Paulson and his wife, Jenny, pledged to donate €500,000 (£435,000) to Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy's foundation "every year for three years". >>> Henry Samuel, in Paris | Friday, April 23, 2010

Carla Bruni Reins In the Heavies to Calm l’affaire Twitter
THE SUNDAY TIMES: After rumours of extramarital affairs, telephone taps and a plot to destabilise the French state, the latest episode in France’s presidential soap opera features efforts by Carla Bruni, the president’s wife, to rein in “the firm”.

A cluster of Nicolas Sarkozy’s closest advisers called themselves “the firm” years ago in a tribute to the ruthless lawyers of the John Grisham thriller. Like guard dogs, they have protected “Sarko”, always ready to rip his opponents to shreds.

Unleashed last week, however, one of these political pitbulls wreaked so much havoc that the nation was left wondering whether its master had lost his mind.

Just as gossip about marital discord in the Sarkozy household had dissipated, Pierre Charon, who handles sensitive matters for the president, managed to reignite “l’affaire Twitter” with claims of a plot emanating from abroad to discredit the French leader by spreading rumours about his love life over the internet.

The culprits would be rooted out, he promised, by a criminal investigation.

It was whispered that Dominique de Villepin, the former prime minister and Sarkozy’s chief rival, had played a role in disseminating gossip that the president was having an affair with Chantal Jouanno, his ecology minister, and that Bruni, the singer and former model, was in a relationship with another musician. All have denied any infidelity.

Charon announced that the domestic intelligence service was investigating the rumours, which first surfaced on Twitter, the internet social networking site, in February.

One of the culprits, he had earlier alleged, was Rachida Dati, a former justice minister and a fallen presidential favourite. Sarkozy abruptly cancelled her car and bodyguards and told aides that he did not want to see the Euro MP and Paris district mayor ever again.
She suffered further humiliation when she went to Geneva to address an expatriate meeting on behalf of the president’s centre-right UMP party. Instead of booking her into the five-star hotel she had requested, the party, citing a need to crack down on expenses, put her in a room at the airport overlooking a car park.

Dati was said to have been on the verge of tears when told by reception that the hotel was full and she would have to share her room with a parliamentary aide. “That’s what happens when you attack the firm,” Charon told a group of Sarkozy supporters last week.

Dati has threatened to sue him or anyone else who links her to the rumours and appealed on Wednesday for an audience with the president so she could persuade him of her innocence. She has long been at loggerheads with Charon and other members of “the firm” such as Brice Hortefeux, the interior minister, who is one of Sarkozy’s best friends.

The bad feeling dates back to before Sarkozy was president, when Dati told Cécilia, his second wife, about his affair with a journalist from Le Figaro newspaper. >>> Matthew Campbell in Paris | Sunday, April 11, 2010

Nicolas Sarkozy 'Ordered French MI5 to Find Out Who Was Behind Affair Rumours'
THE TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's attempt to defuse rumours she and her husband were having affairs has backfired after it emerged Nicolas Sarkozy ordered French counter-intelligence to find out who was behind the rumours.

The revelation came just three hours after the president's wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy went on air to deny there was any inquiry into speculation the couple's marriage was in trouble.

The first lady's radio interview was designed to counter claims that her husband believed the rumours of infidelity were part of an international conspiracy against France, but her damage limitation exercise backfired on one crucial point.

Press reports on Wednesday said that President Sarkozy ordered the DCRI, France's counterespionage service, to root out the source of unsubstantiated rumours that both he and his wife were having affairs. The reports said as part of the inquiry, Rachida Dati, the former justice minister, was bugged and subsequently declared persona non grata by the Elysée. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Thursday, April 08, 2010

Related:

Various articles on this story both in English and French >>>

Nicolas Sarkozy, a Modern Louis XVI?
THE GUARDIAN: The French president's techniques to uncover the source of rumours would not have been out of place in the ancien régime

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy sounded like an 18th-century first lady who lunches, when she appeared live on French national radio to laugh off rumours about infidelity at the Élysée Palace. "Non," she purred, there was nothing in the silly claims. She had not fallen for a hunky young pop singer called Benjamin Biolay and, "non", her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, was not being comforted by a young minister-come-karate champion called Chantal Jouanno. Moreover, there would be no possibility of revenge against the disloyal underlings accused of spreading the gossip – particularly former justice minister Rachida Dati who, Carla added ominously, remained "our friend".

So that was that all sorted then? Pas du tout! Forgetting all the grim allusions to affairs of state (or inter-ministerial "karaoke sessions" as one of Sarkozy's more entertaining wives once described them), what the latest scandal teaches us is that the court of the French head of state is as vindictive and cruel as it was in the days of Marie Antoinette and her husband Louis XVI.

Within hours of Bruni-Sarkozy's devastating reference to Dati, the former head of the DCRI, the Gallic version of MI5, appeared on another radio station to confirm that he had been ordered to find and punish the blabbermouth. This was not long after Dati, who is now an MEP, had been stripped of her chauffeur-driven car, three bodyguards and even governmental smart phone. >>> Nabila Ramdani | Friday, April 09, 2010

Nicolas Sarkozy in Marriage Rumour Bugging Claims
THE TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign to find out who started rumours alleging he and his wife were having affairs threatened to spiral into an affair of state, amid reports claiming that his former justice minister was bugged to see whether she instigated them.

Reports claim that Sarkozy's former justice minister was bugged to see whether she instigated the affair rumours. Photograph: The Telegraph
Mr Sarkozy said last month he did not have "half a minute" to spare on "idiotic" rumours over the state of his marriage after they appeared on Twitter and the blog on the website of a respected weekly newspaper.

But just when the buzz over the rumour that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy had an affair with the musician Benjamin Biolay while her husband sought solace in the arms of Chantal Jouanno, his ecology minister, began to fade, the presidents' aides launched a virulent counter-attack this week.

Pierre Charon, Mr Sarkozy's chief communication adviser, promised to wage a campaign of terror against rumour-mongers, apparently pointing the finger at the president's former justice minister, Rachida Dati, and suggesting there may be a concerted plot by foreign "financial" circles to discredit the president because he preaches regulating global capitalism. The name of Dominique de Villepin, Mr Sarkozy's arch-rival, was also thrown into the mix by other Elysée sources.

Yesterday, sources were claiming that French domestic intelligence had bugged the phone calls of Miss Dati, a fallen cabinet star and now the mayor of Paris' 7th arrondissement and an MEP, and surmised that she had either started or spread the rumours.

A government spokesman denied the bugging claims, but Mr Sarkozy's chief adviser yesterday said the president "does not want to see Rachida Dati anymore", apparently confirming he holds her at least in part responsible for the rumours. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Related / Liens en relation avec l’article:

LE FIGARO: Face aux rumeurs, Dati se dit «scandalisée» >>> Par figaro.fr le | Mercredi 07 Avril 2010

LE POINT: Rumeurs sur la vie privée du couple présidentiel : RÉACTION - Me Herzog, avocat de Sarkozy : "Je ne peux pas exclure que ce soit une machination" >>> Par Cyriel Martin | Mardi 06 Avril 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni attempts to calm storm over marriage rumours: The scandal surrounding rumours over the state of Nicolas Sarkozy's marriage last night threatened to spiral into an affair of state. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Wednesday, April 07, 2010

LE FIGARO: Rumeurs : pour Carla Sarkozy, «il n'y a pas de complot» : «Il n'y a pas de vengeance, ces rumeurs insignifiantes ne nous concernent en rien», assure la première dame, qui dément également l'existence d'une enquête sur l'origine des ragots. Une version contredite par le patron du renseignement intérieur. >>> Par Constance Jamet | Mercredi 07 Avril 2010

TIMES ONLINE: Nicolas Sarkozy pays for not letting rumour die: President Sarkozy’s attempts to quash rumours about problems in his marriage have backfired after his advisers spoke out about an international plot, blamed a glamorous former minister and ordered the state security service to investigate. >>> Charles Bremner, Paris | Thursday, April 08, 2010

Face aux rumeurs, Dati se dit «scandalisée»
Rachida Dati espère voir le président «très bientôt» Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: «Il faut que ça cesse», a martelé mercredi matin l'ex-garde des Sceaux, qui dément avoir propagé des on-dit sur le couple Sarkozy et réaffirme sa loyauté envers le chef de l'Etat.

Rachida Dati contre-attaque. Au cœur de la tourmente depuis que la presse cite son nom dans l'affaire des rumeurs sur la vie privée du couple Sarkozy, l'ex-garde des Sceaux a demandé mercredi matin sur RTL à ce que «ça cesse». «Les rumeurs, les calomnies, les ragots sur la vie personnelle et en général sont absolument inadmissibles et scandaleux. Je suis mise en cause indirectement et donc je trouve ça extrêmement scandaleux», s'est insurgée la députée européenne. >>> Par figaro.fr le | Mercredi 07 Avril 2010

Sarkozy Blames 'Anglo-Saxon Financiers' For Spreading Rumours About His Marriage As Dati Protests Her Innocence
MAIL ONLINE: French president Nicolas Sarkozy has accused British financiers of being part of a 'plot' to destabilise his country's economy by spreading rumours his marriage was in crisis.

The furious president is is said to believe that 'Anglo-Saxon financiers' may have started rumours that he and wife Carla Bruni were both having affairs.

The comments from his spokesman came as former justice minister Rachida Dati formally denied that she was behind the rumours.

In the latest dramatic twist to the Elysee Palace soap opera, the 44-year-old single mother ‘denied vehemently’ having said that the President and his wife were both having affairs.

Her comments came as a criminal inquiry was launched into the scandal, with those found guilty facing prison.

The president's spokesman Pierre Charon has ordered a 'campaign of terror' against those who started the rumours, which first appeared on Twitter then in newspapers across Europe.

The Elyseé Palace seems persuaded that the rumours originated in the Anglo-Saxon dominated financial markets as part of a conspiracy to initiate speculation against French debt.

'We shall find out if there has now been some kind of organised plot involving financial movements,' Mr Charon said in an interview with internet newspaper Rue 89.

'The fact that these rumours were spread in the newspapers in Britain, Germany and Switzerland makes us think of a conspiracy while France is preparing to take over the presidency of the G20 in 2011,' he said.

France's first couple were at the centre of media frenzy last month after false rumours erupted that Ms Bruni was having an affair with pop star Benjamin Biolay, six years her junior.

Mr Sarkozy was said to have sought comfort in the arms his attractive ecology minister Chantal Jouanno, a claim she has denied.

Those responsible for starting the rumours will be 'hunted down and punbished'[sic] and a criminal investigation had been launched by police and intelligence agencies, Mr Charon said.

He added: 'We are going to war on these ignominious reports. We want to take things as far as we can to make sure this will never happen again. We want those who tried to spread fear to feel fear themselves.'

France's left-wing Liberation [sic] newspaper described the language used as 'paranoid'.

French daily Sud-Ouest wrote: 'Can't Mr sarkozy see that it is precisely this kind of threatening language that makes people want to target him in the first place.'

And reporters at the Journal du Dimanche - which repeated the rumours in a blog on the paper's website - protested what they called the 'unprecedented bullying and inquisitorial' attitude of the Elysie. >>> Mail Foreign Service | Tuesday, April 06, 2010

LE POINT: Rumeurs sur la vie privée du couple présidentiel : RÉACTION - Me Herzog, avocat de Sarkozy : "Je ne peux pas exclure que ce soit une machination" >>> Par Cyriel Martin | Mardi 06 Avril 2010

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Rumeurs sur les Sarkozy: "Rachida Dati n'est pas impliquée" : FRANCE | Le rôle prêté à Rachida Dati dans la propagation de rumeurs autour de la vie privée du couple présidentiel est "impensable" et susceptible de relever de la diffamation, a déclaré l'avocat de l'ex-garde des Sceaux, Me Georges Kiejman. >>> AFP | Mardi 06 Avril 2010

Rumeurs sur la vie privée du couple présidentiel : RÉACTION - Me Herzog, avocat de Sarkozy : "Je ne peux pas exclure que ce soit une machination"
Me Thierry Herzog, l'avocat de Nicolas Sarkozy, laisse entendre que "quelqu'un" pourrait être "derrière" la propagation des rumeurs concernant la vie privée du couple présidentiel. Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: Les rumeurs ont atteint le Château. Deux mois après l'apparition de ragots sur la vie privée du couple présidentiel, c'est l'avocat du président de la République, Me Thierry Herzog, qui a pris la parole pour défendre son client. "Le simple fait que deux rumeurs croisées soient publiées dans le même temps, une concernant Mme Carla Bruni et l'autre concernant le président de la République, (...) permet de penser que ce n'est certainement pas neutre et que quelqu'un est derrière la propagation de ces rumeurs", a déclaré Me Herzog, lundi soir, sur RTL , insistant au passage sur le fait que les liaisons évoquées étaient "totalement infondées". 



Commentant la plainte contre X déposée par la société éditrice du Journal du Dimanche (groupe Lagardère) pour "introduction frauduleuse de données dans un système informatique", après la publication de ces rumeurs sur un blog hébergé par le site jdd.fr, l'avocat du président de la République a déclaré : "Cette plainte a donné lieu à une enquête, cette enquête est actuellement en cours, et elle a pour but de savoir si ceux qui ont fait paraître ces rumeurs sur ces blogs l'ont fait pour eux-mêmes ou étaient instrumentalisés, soit par des officines soit par des particuliers qui auraient souhaité ou qui souhaiteraient déstabiliser la vie du couple Sarkozy." >>> Par Cyriel Martin | Mardi 06 Avril 2010

Vie privée du couple présidentiel : COLÈRE - Rachida Dati : "Je proteste avec indignation"
Rachida Dati serait soupçonnée par l'Élysée d'avoir alimenté et même cautionné certaines rumeurs entourant le couple présidentiel. Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: Au soir du premier tour des régionales, Rachida Dati avait été la première à appeler l'UMP et l'exécutif à un "retour aux fondamentaux". C'est désormais la première à se défendre. Dans un communiqué diffusé dimanche soir, l'ancienne ministre de la Justice "proteste avec indignation contre les allégations de certains organes de presse lui prêtant une quelconque responsabilité dans la propagation de rumeurs absurdes et inadmissibles sur la vie privée du couple présidentiel". "Outre l'exercice de son droit de réponse", Rachida Dati "se réserve le droit d'agir en diffamation contre ceux qui reprendraient cette allégation dénuée de tout fondement et la reliant de surcroît à la suppression naturelle de sa protection policière, présentée comme une sanction", ajoute le communiqué.

La raison de la colère ? Plusieurs articles de presse ont fait état, ces derniers jours, d'une "disgrâce" de Rachida Dati auprès du président Nicolas Sarkozy après la publication mercredi par Le Canard Enchaîné d'une information révélée le 25 mars dernier par Le Point , selon laquelle elle s'est vu retirer après le 1er tour des régionales, le 14 mars, le bénéfice d'une Peugeot 607 et l'escorte de trois policiers restés à sa disposition depuis son départ du gouvernement. Le Journal du Dimanche affirme que l'ancienne porte-parole de la campagne présidentielle de Nicolas Sarkozy "est soupçonnée par l'Élysée d'avoir alimenté et même cautionné certaines rumeurs entourant le couple présidentiel". Le JDD va même plus loin, assurant "qu'une enquête des services de renseignement français (...) ciblerait notamment Rachida Dati dans la diffusion d'informations jugées malveillantes à l'Élysée"... >>> lepoint.fr | Lundi 05 Avril 2010

Carla Bruni Loses Out to Marion Cotillard in Woody Allen Film
THE TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has been beaten to the role of leading lady in Woody Allen's new film set in Paris.

Marion Cotillard, left, has beaten Carla Bruni to star in Woody Allen's new film. Photos: The Telegraph
Marion Cotillard, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of French singer Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose, has been chosen instead.

The French president's wife had been hoping to land the role after the director told her last year she would be a "natural" choice for one of his films.

However, last week Allen admitted: "Carla Bruni is not a woman who earns her living as an actress. She is a first lady.

"She could be taken away at any moment by other duties, like a political crisis or an important event. I have to take account of the risks that there could be, and hiring her is far from certain." >>> Peter Allen in Paris | Easter Sunday, April 04, 2010

The Obama-Sarkozy Love-in
MAIL ONLINE: Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama appeared inseparable as they went to extraordinary lengths last night to defuse speculation of a chilly relationship.

Mr Obama repeatedly referred to Mr Sarkozy by his first name during the French President's first Washington visit and spoke fondly of his trip to Paris last year.

'We respect one another and understand one another,' Mr Obama said. Obama and Sarkozy can't stop smiling at each other as they agree they are 'inseparable' in their thinking over Iran >>> Mail Foreign Service | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

US School Children Warm to Chic Carla Bruni
THE INDEPENDENT: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy turned up the heat on her first trip to Washington as France's first lady, visiting a school in a poor neighbourhood and lunching at Ben's Chili Bowl.

The ex-top model later met US first lady Michelle Obama for dinner with their husbands - behind firmly closed doors in the Obamas' private residence quarters in the White House, leaving the curious guessing about how the glamorous four got along and whether their children joined them.

The White House put such a clamp on the dinner details that not even the menu was released.

Youngsters at Washington's KIPP DC charter school were over the moon at their visitor and her entourage of bodyguards and serenaded her with Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy read them a book from the Madeline series about a girl living in France - in English, which the Italian-born French first lady speaks fluently. When eighth-graders asked her about her favourite museum she responded, to their delight: "If you come to Paris I'll bring you to the Louvre and I'll show you the Mona Lisa, and then we'll go to the restaurant."

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy, who took up a singing career after quitting the catwalk and is now active in foundations fighting illiteracy and Aids, had surprised pupils at Juilliard Music School with a visit the day before in New York. >>> Associated Press | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Washington: Première rencontre au sommet pour Sarkozy avec Obama à la Maison Blanche
LE TEMPS: WASHINGTON, Les présidents américain Barack Obama et français Nicolas Sarkozy se retrouvent mardi à Washington avec la volonté d'approfondir leur dialogue sur les grands dossiers internationaux et de tourner la page des malentendus qui ont parasité leurs premiers pas.

Attendu depuis de longs mois côté français, ce rendez-vous à la Maison Blanche vient réparer un oubli, puisque M. Sarkozy est le dernier grand dirigeant européen à y être reçu, bien après la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel ou le Premier ministre britannique Gordon Brown.

Les deux dirigeants devaient se retrouver mardi après-midi (19h30 GMT) pour un entretien de plus d'une heure dans le Bureau ovale, avant de donner ensemble une conférence de presse dans les jardins de la Maison Blanche.

Pour donner un retentissement particulier à cette rencontre, M. Obama et son épouse Michelle ont convié leur visiteur et son épouse Carla Bruni-Sarkozy à un dîner à quatre dans leurs appartements privés, avant le départ du couple présidentiel pour Paris. >>> AFP | Mardi 30 Mars 2010

Nicolas Sarkozy and Wife Carla Arrive in New York
THE TELEGRAPH: French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a splash even before he opened his mouth as he arrived with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy to give a no-holds-barred speech at Columbia University.

President Sarkozy and wife Carla arrive to address World Leaders Forum at Columbia University in New York. Photograph: The Telegraph
Amid blogger reports of strains in their marriage, Mr Sarkozy and his former supermodel wife made every effort to appear the happy couple, walking closely together and clasping hands as they mounted a staircase into an auditorium packed with students, faculty and other spectators.

The French first lady, elegant in a swept-up chignon and form-fitting black top with grey skirt, at times threatened to upstage her husband, who scolded his American hosts about health care and for not paying enough attention to the rest of the world.

However, Mr Sarkozy is in hot water at home. His poll ratings are at record lows of around 30 per cent and there are widening cracks in his conservative party.

In New York, though, he basked in the rapt attention of hundreds of Columbia students and even jettisoned a prepared speech. "Speeches kill off creativity," he said. "I'm going to speak from the heart."

"Welcome to the club of states who don't turn their back on the sick and the poor," Mr Sarkozy said, referring to the U.S. health care overhaul signed by President Barack Obama last week.

From the European perspective, he said, "when we look at the American debate on reforming health care, it's difficult to believe."

"The very fact that there should have been such a violent debate simply on the fact that the poorest of Americans should not be left out in the streets without a cent to look after them ... is something astonishing to us."

Then to hearty applause, he added: "If you come to France and something happens to you, you won't be asked for your credit card before you're rushed to the hospital." >>> | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy to Bury the Hatchet >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, March 29, 2010

LE FIGARO: Sarkozy appelle Obama
à «écouter l'Europe» >>> Par Alain Barluet | Lundi 29 Mars 2010

Nicolas Sarkozy's Father Releases Tell-all Book
THE TELEGRAPH: The father of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Pal Sarkozy, has said he will set the record of his life straight in a tell-all autobiography.

Pal Sarkozy unveils his book 'Tant De Vie'. Photo: The Telegraph
Mr Sarkozy, a self-confessed bon vivant and womanizer, wrote "Tant de Vie" - which translates as "So Much Life" - after his son advised him against filing lawsuits against his disparagers and instead to "answer later ... about all these unjust accusations."

Mr Sarkozy, 81, said the book is above all a family affair, adding: "This wasn't for the world, it was for my family."

"I wanted to talk to my children," and a book was "the simplest thing," he said in the interview, given on the sidelines of France's annual Book Fair.

A Hungarian immigrant who arrived in France in 1948 penniless, Pal Sarkozy concedes that he hid his past and failed to pass on his heritage to his five children - four sons and a daughter from two of his four wives - because "I wanted them to become French."

The book gives a rare look into the life of a president's father - the first modern-day French president with both parents still living.

But Mr Sarkozy questioned whether his son, Nicolas, should even want to make a second run for re-election in 2012. >>> | Sunday, March 28, 2010

Related / Lien en relation avec l’article:

PARIS MATCH: Pal Sarkozy, la mémoire du clan: Le père du président de la République publie ses souvenirs, l’itinéraire extraordinaire d’un jeune immigré arrivé en France à 20 ans. Sans papiers. >>> Interview Caroline Pigozzi, Paris Match | Samedi 27 Mars 2010

Carla Bruni Says She Hopes Nicolas Sarkozy Won't Run for a Second Term
"The balance, happiness and health of my man are serious subjects," Ms Bruni said in a magazine interview. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Carla Bruni, the wife of Nicolas Sarkozy, hopes that he will decide not to run in 2012 for a second term because she fears for his health under the pressure of the job, she said in an interview released today.

Ms Bruni, 42, also said that she despised media which this month published unsubstantiated rumours about the state of her marriage with the French President.

The singer-supermodel said that the "media-political world" was brutal towards Mr Sarkozy, 55. "The balance, happiness and health of my man are serious subjects. I am going through this moment of life with a lot of worry.

Asked if she wanted Mr Sarkozy to run for the next presidential election, in April 2012, she said: "As a wife, I don't really want him to. Perhaps I am afraid he will let his health go. Perhaps I wish to live what time we have left in some peace?"

Mr Sarkozy is gong through a stressful period in mid-term, especially since voters expressed their displeasure with his administration by routing his Union for a Popular Movement in national regional council elections this month. The cover of today's Le Point, a leading news magazine, was devoted to "The Tragedy of Sarkozy". His only sign of poor health so far came last summer when he fainted after jogging.

Interviewed by Madame Figaro magazine, Ms Bruni, who married the President in 2008, two months after meeting him, spoke of her loathing for newspapers that published internet gossip suggesting that both she and her husband were being unfaithful. "I despise so-called journalists who use blogs as a credible source. I despise rumours that come from an Internet blog signed 'Mickey Mouse' or 'Superman'," she added. Read on and comment >>> Charles Bremner, Paris | Thursday, March 25, 2010

GALA.fr: Son mari, sa bataille : Dans une interview au Figaro Magazine, Carla-Bruni Sarkozy fait un voeu pour 2012: pas de second mandat pour son mari. Parce que, travailler plus, c'est parfois vivre moins bien. >>> J.-F.T. | Jeudi 25 Mars 2010

Carla Bruni and Nicolas Sarkozy: L’affaire twitter
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Reports that the marriage of France’s first couple was in trouble sprang from just two postings on the social networking site

When Nicolas Sarkozy, the French leader, and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, hosted a state banquet for Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, at the Elysée Palace recently it was not only Carla’s figure-hugging dress that caught people’s attention.

After dinner, in an unusual departure from custom, the Sarkozys failed to show up for coffee in the drawing room with their guests. Something must have been wrong, one of those present later told a foreign diplomat: they must be having a row.

Spare a thought for “Sarko” and his première dame, a singer and former top model. Ever since they met at a dinner party, and married just over two years ago, the country has been wondering how long it will last. A president known for a roving eye, a willowy beauty renowned as a “man-eater” — to many it seemed destined to end in tears.

No wonder, then, that their body language, and everything else about them, is scrutinised so intensely: the merest detail is enough to set off the gossips. If Carla appears at the president’s side in heels, as she did for the Russian banquet, she must be signalling her displeasure by towering over the pint-sized Sarkozy. Mustn’t she?

In the grand old days of Versailles, it would take weeks for gossip to filter through the ramparts to the hungry masses outside. Today the internet is being used like a battering ram against the high palace walls.

In the age of Twitter, rumours flash around the world in a second and can end up in newspapers, regardless of whether they are true. It has prompted debate among lawyers about whether victims can pursue Twitterers, and if simply relaying a defamatory tweet should also be punishable under the law.

Even before the Medvedev dinner 12 days ago, rumours were flying in cyberspace. Carla was having an affair, it was said, with Benjamin Biolay, a 37-year-old singer, and had been on holiday with him to Thailand. A jealous Sarkozy had sent a jet to bring her home.

That was not all. Twitterers went on to say that the president was consoling himself in the arms of Chantal Jouanno, his junior ecology minister, a karate champion. By the time the British press got hold of the story last Wednesday, the French first couple were reported to be on the verge of rupture.

At a press conference with Gordon Brown, the prime minister, in London last Friday, Sarkozy was asked about the rumours. He glowered at the offending journalist: “I certainly don’t have time to deal with these wild imaginings, not even half a fraction of a second. I don’t even know why you use your speaking time to put such an idiotic question.”

For her part, Jouanno, who is married with three children — to whom she described her job as being minister “for the birds and the bees” — is threatening to sue any publication that refers to any affair between her and Sarkozy. Biolay has likewise threatened to sue.

So how did a few bits of internet gossip make global headlines? And what, if anything other than pure fantasy, is behind all the tweets? >>> Matthew Campbell in Paris | Sunday, March 14, 2010