President "Bling Bling" has been replaced by "Mr. Normal." Francois Hollande has won France's presidential runoff, beating Nicolas Sarkozy. “François Hollande is the president of the republic, he must be respected,” Sarkozy said in a concession speech. “I want to wish him good luck in the midst of these tests.” Sarkozy then presumably jumped into a Bentley convertible waiting for him with his wife Carla Bruni and their daughter before screaming "Au revoir, suckers!" more ›

The death of prominent French scholar Richard Descoings in the Michelangelo hotel Tuesday doesn't, on first blush, appear to be foul play, but that doesn't mean it hasn't gotten a bit of intrigue in the latest news cycle. The NYPD says the initial autopsy requires further study and is awaiting a toxicology report, so of course the Post today has gone and added a homosexual twist to the sad story. Oh la la! more ›

A 53-year-old French academic was discovered dead in a midtown hotel room yesterday, naked in bed, with his cellphone lying on a landing four floors beneath his seventh-floor room. Because of the phone, police are treating the death of Richard Descoings, the director of France’s Sciences-Po institute (a school attended by France's last three presidents), as suspicious. more ›

You know how former IMF head (and horrible hotel guest) Dominique Strauss-Kahn was being investigated for his involvement in a prostitution ring in France? Well, now prosecutors have charged him with "aggravated pimping." Is that like Kramer wearing the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat? more ›

While the McDonald's dining experience in America increasingly resembles a stint at Sing Sing, French lovers of "McDo" will be able to order a burger with a baguette for a bun in April. Who cares how many cows are in one patty if they're all united under a single square of crusty bread? more ›

Former IMF head and the Sofitel's most infamous guest Dominique Strauss-Kahn is under investigation by authorities in his native country for his involvement in a prostitution ring. BBC News reports that authorities have summoned him for questioning next week, and he can be detained for as long as 48 hours. more ›

Foie gras, what can't you put it in? Despite the fury the fatty liver often incites, foodies love the stuff. And since we've seen the doughnuts, we really shouldn't be surprised it is popping up in sushi. Everybody, say hello to the latest French import to our shores, SushiShop. more ›

Those who dislike graffiti and Gauls, this one's for you. Lawmakers here and in Boston this month are happily tossing around a 25-year-old French graffiti artist named Maxime Bezat (aka "RASK") after he allegedly tagged up train cars in both cities. "He’s not leaving the country any time soon," a source crowed to the News yesterday. more ›

Was Dominique Strauss-Kahn framed by Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party? Journalist Edward Jay Epstein sure seems to think so, and lays out several "mysteries" in the New York Review Of Books surrounding the downfall of the man who many believed would be the next president of France. more ›

"Oh, sh*t! JUSTICE is here?" Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky and his entourage leapt over the ottomans and coffee tables in the makeshift lounge set up for talent at the Creators Project on Saturday. The French duo, who were to appear for a DJ set to promote their upcoming album, Audio, Video, Disco, had moments before been sitting quietly in the far corner of the room speaking to the endless parade of media. Now they were engulfed in one-finger salutes and raised glasses for a impromptu photo-op. "Yeah, son! Motherf*cking JUSTICE! Motherf*cking A$AP Rocky! That's right!" more ›

Nothing sticks to Dominique Strauss-Kahn! French prosecutors have decided to end its sex assault investigation on the French Socialist politician and former head of the International Monetary Fund "for lack of sufficient proof." more ›

Former head of the IMF and potential president of France Dominique Strauss-Kahn conducted his first interview since his arrest on May 14 for allegedly sexually assaulting a hotel maid at the Sofitel. "What happened was more than an inappropriate reaction. It was an error," he said. "I regret it infinitely." more ›

Dominique Strauss-Kahn might be back in France, far away from his Big Apple arrest-turned-Law & Order: SVU episode sex assault allegations, but that just means he has to face the French woman who accuses him of trying to rape her in 2002. Now, a French newspaper claims that Strauss-Kahn has admitted to trying to come on to the young woman. more ›

Six months after being fired from from Christian Dior over anti-Semitic remarks he made to fellow Parisian cafe patrons, John Galliano was found guilty of "'public insults' based on origin, religion, race or ethnicity after two incidents in February 2011 and last year." more ›

Earlier today a judge officially dismissed the sexual assault charges against former IMF leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn. A motion filed by his accuser's attorney, Kenneth Thompson, to appoint a special prosecutor was denied, and then appealed, but the appeals court later agreed with the initial judge in that it "had no legal basis," the Times reports. more ›

As Dominique Strauss-Kahn prepares to appear in court today for the expected dismissal of criminal sexual assault charges against him, yesterday's meeting between prosecutors and his accuser Nafissatou Diallo was reportedly a curt one. "Nafi, we're going to dismiss the case. You have lied to us repeatedly. We can't win," assistant district attorney Joan Illuzi-Orbon apparently said, according to Diallo's attorney Kenneth Thompson. The meeting "lasted no more than 30 seconds," Thompson tells the Times. more ›

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. has officially filed papers requesting the dismissal of sexual assault charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The Times reports that the filing came after a brief meeting between prosecutors and attorney Kenneth Thompson, who represents Strauss-Kahn's accuser and former hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo. In a statement near the Manhattan Supreme Court, Thompson told reporters that "District Attorney Cyrus Vance has denied the right of a woman to get justice in a rape case," the Post reports. more ›

Attorneys for Dominique-Strauss Kahn's accuser have released the medical report completed at the hospital hours after Nafissatou Diallo alleged that Strauss-Kahn sexually assaulted her in his Sofitel suite on May 14. According to Reuters, the report curtly sums up what Diallo has been alleging all along: "Cause of the injuries: assault. Rape." more ›

Sacre bleu! Is this the start of an unseemly new trend? French actor Gerard Depardieu hopped on the "drunkenly peeing on a plane in public" bandwagon last night, allegedly relieving himself on the carpet of a City Jet flight from Paris to Dublin. more ›

As the criminal sexual assault charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn remain in limbo until his next court hearing on August 23, his accuser, Nafissatou Diallo filed a civil suit against Strauss-Kahn on Monday detailing the alleged "violent, sadistic attack." Perhaps the most important part of the lawsuit is where she filed it: in the Bronx. "There isn't a worse forum in the United States for Dominique Strauss-Kahn than the Bronx," an ex-prosecutor tells the Daily News, describing what some in the bar believe to the the "Bronx effect—a long-held notion that Bronx jurors are more generous to plaintiffs than those in other boroughs." more ›

As Dominique Strauss-Kahn's accuser Nafissatou Diallo wages her media campaign to press the Manhattan DA's office to prosecute the former IMF head for sexual assault, an ex-lover of Strauss-Kahn's tells Swiss magazine L'illustré that Diallo's attorneys contacted her and asked her if Strauss-Kahn was ever violent, or if he forced her to have an abortion. "The questions were truly salacious, surgical. He proposed that I meet his client. I refused," the woman identified as Marie-Victorine M. told the magazine. "What is violence? A man who pushes you against a wall and who hugs you, is that violent?" she asks, "For me, this is not violent…neither physically nor verbally." more ›

Dominique Strauss-Kahn won't have to show up in court until August 23, as the hearing scheduled for August 3 has been postponed by the DA's office. That August 3rd hearing was postponed from July 18 as both legal teams continued to investigate the sexual assault allegations leveled against the former IMF head by Nafissatou Diallo. "We understand the district attorney is continuing to investigate," Strauss-Kahn's lawyers said in a statement, "We are confident that when the investigation is completed Mr. Vance will move to dismiss all charges." City Room reports that Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. would soon issue a statement explaining the delay. more ›

As French people continue to question the American justice system, American media and our apparently prudish attitude about men in power and their relationships with women, why don't we see what's making them uncomfortable? According to the NY Times, apparently it's not so fun when you see a billionaire set to lead a European aerospace group in a YouTube video "posing and cuddling with his young, supermodel girlfriend." more ›

In interviews with authorities the mother of the French woman who is accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault has admitted that she had sex with Strauss-Kahn in 2000, saying he "took me with the vulgarity of a soldier." Anne Mansouret, mother to journalist Tristane Banon who is charging that Strauss-Kahn attempted to rape her in 2002, had a bureaucratic position with Strauss-Kahn at the time of their consensual sex. According to L'Express, Mansouret believes that "in DSK, the sexual need triggers a process of domination." These revelations may help explain why Banon's initial complaints about the incident were silenced 8 years ago, and why Strauss-Kahn was free to continue build upon his presidential aspirations. more ›

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has missed his Socialist party's filing deadline to run in October's presidential primary—not that he can't get around this if he wanted, but other Socialist candidates are now preparing themselves for a race that will likely not include the man who is charged with sexual assault by a hotel maid. Before his arrest, he was seen as a "strong favorite" to unseat Nicolas Sarkozy. Now, a recent poll showed that 65% of respondents in France opposed Strauss-Kahn's candidacy, while 74% didn't think he'll run at all. more ›

As Dominique Strauss-Kahn cools his heels in the Big Apple and his lawyers try to get his sexual assault charges completely dropped, French prosecutors are starting an inquiry into allegations that he tried to rape a French journalist in 2003. An unnamed Paris official told the NY Times the investigation "might take time in order to try to reach the truth." Translation: We don't want to look stupid like the Manhattan DA's office. more ›

Finally, NY Times op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd is weighing in on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, which has turned from the authorities believing they had a strong sexual assault case against the leading international politician to revelations that the accuser has been lying a lot. She begins, "So what’s the moral of this Manhattan immorality tale? That the French are always right, even when their hauteur is irritating? They were right about Iraq and America’s rush to war. And they may be right about Dominique Strauss-Kahn and America’s rush to judgment." more ›