
France‘s new socialist President Francois Hollande started work on Thursday taking a 30 per cent cut in his wages and pledging to combat excessive austerity and better manage public finances. M Hollande also ordered a similar pay cut for all his new ministers. The sizeable wage reduction was endorsed at a first meeting of the 34-minister team, a day after Germany‘s government awarded rises to its ministers and Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose pay will overtake Hollande’s. There were no armed troops patrolling the city and no riot police as Nicolas Sarkozy, the outgoing French President strode out of the Elysees Palace soon after handing over the country’s nuclear codes to … Continue reading




