Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates appears poised to endorse the adoption of a controversial financial transactions tax (FTT) to be used as a new source of development aid for poor countries. Such an endorsement, to be included in a report to the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Cannes in November, will likely boost efforts by the summit's host, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, to persuade other countries, particularly in the European Union (EU), to impose such a tax, said activists who have long advocated what some of them call a "Robin Hood" tax...Activists who favour the FTT said Gates' position...should help their efforts. "The FTT ship has sailed, and the world's richest man is on board," said Richard Gower of Oxfam International. "We're on course for an agreement which delivers billions to help poor countries fight poverty and climate change."