The arrest in New York City of former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on charges of sexual assault has had a ripple effect in the French cabinet. As a result, France has a new minister for higher education and research. After finance minister Christine Lagarde replaced Strauss-Kahn as IMF chief on 29 June, Valerie Pecresse, who had held the research post for 4 years, was appointed junior budget minister and government spokesperson. Her place was in turn filled by Laurent Wauquiez, formerly in charge of European affairs. Wauquiez, who at 36 is the youngest member of the cabi- net, studied history, English, German, and Arabic, and graduated from two of France's most elite higher education institutions, the Ecole Normale Superieure and the Ecqle Nationale d'Administration.
展开▼
