And more good news : Hollande will be President of France

It's a curiously paradoxical five-yearly tradition that the French-speaking parts of Switzerland and Belgium demonstrate their apartness from their larger neighbour by playing a crucial role in French presidential elections - the media in those regions are not bound by the embargo on exit polling, and are always the first to give an early (and invariably accurate) indication of the result. They've just done so, and are showing a lead for François Hollande of about 5-6%.

We'll know for sure when the polls close in a few hours.

UPDATE : Some real (leaked) results from France's overseas territories...

St. Pierre and Miquelon :

François Hollande 65%
Nicolas Sarkozy 35%

Martinique :

François Hollande 68.5%
Nicolas Sarkozy 31.5%

Guadeloupe :

François Hollande 72%
Nicolas Sarkozy 28%

French Guiana :

François Hollande 62%
Nicolas Sarkozy 38%

Saint-Martin :

François Hollande 51.5%
Nicolas Sarkozy 48.5%

Saint Barthélemy :

Nicolas Sarkozy 83%
François Hollande 17%

These are all better results than the previous socialist candidate Ségolène Royal managed in her 2007 defeat. There are also real results from French citizens in other countries, which show a very mixed picture. However, the report on the website of Belgian broadcaster RTBF points out that Hollande's narrow lead in Toronto represents the first time the left have ever won in that city. Perhaps unsurprisingly given Quebec's social democratic traditions, Hollande is much further ahead in Montreal.