French Foreign Minister Resigns
THE GUARDIAN: Michèle Alliot-Marie had faced criticism over links with former regime in Tunisia and has been replaced by defence minister

Beleaguered French foreign minister Michèle Alliot-Marie has resigned after weeks of criticism over her links with the former regime in Tunisia.

She was replaced by the defence minister, Alain Juppé, a former prime minister convicted in a corruption scandal six years ago, in an unplanned but widely predicted government reshuffle.

Alliot-Marie, 64, known as MAM, insisted in her resignation letter that she had "committed no fault". She is one of the longest-serving ministers in France, having held many important cabinet posts, including defence and justice. She had been at the foreign ministry for just three months.

As civil unrest spread through the Arab world, Alliot-Marie committed a series of gaffes leading to her downfall. In January, she offered the services of French security forces to quell the uprising in Tunisia, just three days before protesters forced dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali to flee. >>> Kim Willsher | Sunday, February 27, 2011

French Finance Minister 'Has Jewellery Airbrushed from Photo'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: France's finance minister, Christine Lagarde, had her pearl earrings, bracelet and ring airbrushed out of a local publication in an apparent attempt to look more austere in the wake of protests against reforms to make the French work longer.

Front cover of Nouvelles du 12, left, and the original photo, with pearls, right. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Mrs Lagarde appears on the front cover of Nouvelles du 12 – a local newsletter in Paris' 12th arrondissement where she is a councillor – smiling and standing in front of a viaduct in a red scarf but 'sans' jewellery.

However, it transpires that the cover is a Photoshop montage of a picture of her on a walkabout with journalists in which she is clearly adorned with bulky earrings and other jangly jewellery.

Jacques Kalifa, the editor of the local publication, said he had requested the photo from Mrs Lagarde's office for the cover of the magazine.

Mr Kalifa said: "Rather than take a photo ourselves, we asked for one from her private office then did a montage of her with the viaduct in the background." At first he said the ministry had sent the photo with the jewellery already removed. "Perhaps she wanted to have a softer image, to be seen without her jewellery," he told the Le Poste website. But he later claimed the newsletter's picture editor had taken the initiative to remove the lavish objects himself.

The photo edit was spotted by Le Canard Enchaîné, the satirical weekly, which said the jewels were no doubt viewed as too "bling-bling". >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Coalition Government: David Cameron Announces Pay Cut for Ministers
THE TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has announced that all ministers in his coalition Government have agreed to a five per cent pay cut and a further pay freeze for the rest of this Parliament.

For Mr Cameron, the cut means he will receive a salary of £142,500 - £7,500 less than the £150,000 Gordon Brown was receiving when he left office.

The salaries for other Cabinet ministers will be cut from £141,647 to £134,565, while the pay for a junior minister in the Commons will be reduced from £94,142 to £89,435.

No 10 estimates that the reductions will save £300,000 this year and around £3 million over the lifetime of the Parliament. >>> | Thursday, May 13, 2010

Ministers Back Blair as Best Man to Lead EU
David Miliband said that a Blair presidency would be 'very good for Britain as well as very good for Europe'. Photo: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Tony Blair should be made head of a stronger European Union that would be able to compete with China and the United States on the world stage, the Foreign Secretary said yesterday.

David Miliband said that the new EU president needed to be someone who “stopped the traffic” in Washington and Beijing and was guaranteed the highest access to world leaders.

With EU leaders preparing to start talking about Mr Blair’s prospects this week, his supporters have begun a sustained campaign to showcase the advantages he would bring to the role. The behind the scenes battle is becoming increasingly fraught, with some of the smaller EU countries combining in a “Stop Blair” effort. So far he is the only politician to be backed publicly for the role. >>> Philip Webster, Political Editor and David Charter in Brussels | Monday, October 26, 2009

Stop Blair! Petition against the nomination of Tony Blair as "President of the European Union" >>>

MPs Urge Ministers to Open Middle East Peace Talks with Hamas Moderates
THE GUARDIAN: Commons foreign affairs committee says policy of non-engagement is achieving little

The government is facing fresh calls today from MPs to open contacts with the militant Palestinian Hamas movement in an attempt to inject new momentum into the Middle East peace process.

The Commons foreign affairs committee said the current policy of non-engagement with Hamas - which controls the Gaza strip - appeared to be achieving little.

It reiterated its call of two years ago for the government to "urgently" consider ways of engaging politically with "moderate elements" within the group.

The government refuses to talk to Hamas until it accepts the principles of the international Quartet - the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia - of non-violence and acceptance of the existence of the state of Israel. >>> Press Association | Sunday, July 26 2009

Ministers to Hold Summit on Church Closure Crisis
THE TELEGRAPH: The Government will hold a top-level summit next month to tackle the crisis facing Britain's churches.

Ministers are to examine how extra funding can be given to churches, with one in five of them under threat of being closed.

Andy Burnham, the culture secretary, said there would be a new drive to make them central to community regeneration, backed up with financial support.

His comments follow The Sunday Telegraph's Save our Churches campaign, which has called on the Government to increase grants to churches and allow them greater freedom to make the buildings suitable for community use. The campaign has been backed by politicians, celebrities and leading church figures, including Joanna Lumley, Jools Holland, David Cameron and Archbishop Rowan Williams.

Mr Burnham said that the campaign had placed the issue on the Government's agenda. He pledged to rally his Cabinet colleagues behind the proposals.

"It's a really timely campaign because some churches are on the brink of viability," he said.

"We need to find practical ways of helping them. Sometimes it's beyond the means of the local congregation to get the access to the necessary finances to do the repairs that are needed." >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | November 22, 2008

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