France

On Sunday, France will hold the first round of its presidential election. Polls indicate the incumbent conservative, Nicolas Sarkozy, is in a close race with socialist Francois Hollande, and the economic ripples could spread across Europe and around the world.

A ratings agency in France evaluates how presidential candidates plan to tackle the country's dire youth employment problem.

France will try to borrow a lot more money today. But the low borrowing costs the country has seen every since the European Central Bank handed out a trillion dollars in emergency loans are no longer a sure thing -- that money may be running out.

Germany is ticking along, as the rest of Europe struggles. But it faces a shrinking population.

In France, land for development is at a premium, and vineyards are threatened, but Dutch winemaker Cornelius Kamerbeek saved one in the city of Nice.

Despite official denials, France is accused of being too ready to pay ransoms for hostages -- and so encouraging kidnappers to abduct its citizens.

New government funding means the next big theme park in Europe may be "Napoleonland." A commercial tribute to the 19th century French emperor could open in a small town outside Paris.

The word 'Mademoiselle' seems as French as the Eiffel Tower. But from now on, it will be banned from official government forms.

The two European nations are set to strike a deal that will pave the way for new nuclear power plants in the U.K. But why now?

At the European summit today, focus is not only on Greece's debt, but a French plan to charge banks a fee for each and every financial transaction.