Christine Lagarde to stand for IMF top job
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has announced her candidacy to be the next head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The post is vacant after Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned last week to fight sex assault charges in New York.
Ms Lagarde has the support of much of Europe but emerging countries have called the tradition of a European always leading the IMF "obsolete".
All 10 of the IMF's managing directors since 1944 have been European.
25 May 2011