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even the chance to shop in small department stores.
• There are also the mass spectacles. And the people who live here -- the generals and bureaucrats, teachers and scientists -- all know they have parts to play in them.
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• PARIS (AP) -- Francois Hollande became president of France after a ceremony Tuesday at the Elysee Palace in central Paris -- the country's first Socialist leader since Francois Mitterrand left office in 1995.
• Hollande, 57, was elected to a five-year term earlier this month after voters ousted incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy after only one term. Voters were disappointed over Sarkozy's handling of France's economy -- which has high unemployment and low growth -- and recoiled at his aggressive personality.
• Hollande plans to leave shortly on his first diplomatic foray -- to Berlin, where he is meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a critical meeting on austerity and growth in Europe.
• Arriving Tuesday morning at the 18th-century palace that is the traditional residence of French presidents, Hollande was greeted by Sarkozy on the Elysee's red-carpeted steps. Following a forty-minute private meeting with Sarkozy, Hollande was declared president after the head of the constitutional court read out the final results of the May 6 election.
• In his first presidential speech, Hollande promised to fight financial speculation and "open a new path" in Europe but acknowledged that he inherits huge government debt. He has pushed back against austerity measures championed by Germany amid Europe's debt crisis and wants government stimulus instead. Hollande also pledged to bring "dignity" to the presidential role -- something voters felt that Sarkozy did not always do.
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• BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqis are still being held illegally at a Baghdad prison that the government was supposed to have shut down in 2011 after allegations that detainees were tortured and abused there, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.

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