When newly elected French president Nicolas Sarkozy named Bernard Kouchner Minister for Foreign Affairs in May 2007 there were few eyebrows raised. It had been an open secret in French political circles for weeks beforehand and it later transpired that Sarkozy had offered Kouchner the job before the election – an election during which Kouchner [...]

According to the Reaffirm blog:
“This year our economy is expected to shrink by 8%, but we have reduced our commitment to those most margainalised in this world by 22%.
In 2009, we will commit 0.48% of our GNP to the world’s poorest - just above the amount Mr Cowen committed that we would achieve by [...]