France’s environment minister is prepared to reimburse any undue expense from lavish lobster-and-wine dinners he hosted when parliament speaker, his boss said on Thursday, ratifying Francois de Rugy’s position despite widespread public disgust. Investigative website Mediapart said in reports this week that De Rugy and his wife hosted a dozen luxury dinners, mostly for friends, at his official residence in central Paris when speaker from June 2017 to October 2018. The story raised questions over use of taxpayers’ money and reinforced perceptions of an out-of-touch government when President Emmanuel Macron is already ... (full story)