May 15, 2012
The Falcon 7X aircraft was hit by lightning shortly after take-off Tuesday, and returned to the Villacoublay air base outside Paris as a precaution for inspection.
Hollande then left within hours on his first diplomatic foray to Berlin, following a postwar custom for new French leaders to reach out to their German counterparts to solidify European unity. He also named a moderate, Germany-friendly member of his Socialist party, Jean-Marc Ayrault, as his prime minster.
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