Showing 1 - 10 of 15
Paris Olympics can help unify a fractured city
News, Lionel Laurent, Published on 26/07/2024
» Paris faces the test this week of launching the Olympic Games safely and affordably at a time of war, political polarisation and social unrest. It's not a done deal. Heavy-handed security barriers and Covid-style QR codes are already infuriating residents and tourists trying to navigate a River Seine that's been cleaned at great expense.
Conscription panic isn't the debate Europe needs
News, Lionel Laurent, Published on 06/04/2024
» 'The French are all soldiers and must defend their homeland." So decreed the 18th-century law that made military service mandatory in France, until the end of the Cold War banished it to the history books and replaced it with a kind of glorified recruitment day -- which I dutifully attended as a teenager and promptly forgot about. Nobody under the age of 45 in France has forcibly worn army fatigues or picked up a weapon, including Emmanuel Macron.
Riots' deja vu raises the stakes
News, Lionel Laurent, Published on 04/07/2023
» A teenager killed by police in a Paris suburb. A wave of anger that morphs into widespread rioting and opportunistic looting. A tough law-and-order response followed by an appeal for unity and calm -- and a political call for action that fades over time.
Give Pita a chance
News, Postbag, Published on 20/05/2023
» Re: "Senators slow to warm to Pita's PM bid", (BP, May 17).
Panda woe Number One
News, Postbag, Published on 23/04/2023
» Re: "Giant panda Lin Hui dies in Chiang Mai", (BP, April 20).
Lessons from a World Cup win
News, Mario I Blejer, Published on 02/01/2023
» Much has been written, and even more has been said, about Argentina's impressive triumph in this year's World Cup tournament. Most of the media coverage, of course, has revolved around the Argentinian team's tactics and performance, the wild celebrations that followed the country's first world title win since 1986, and the potential political impact, given that the team's victory took place in an election year.
31 arrested for gambling network ties
News, Wassayos Ngamkham, Published on 16/12/2022
» Thirty-one people have been arrested on charges of operating gambling websites for a major online gambling network during police raids in Bangkok and Chanthaburi.
Want to escape a lockdown? Give Sweden a try
News, Lionel Laurent, Published on 28/03/2020
» Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is known for showing no mercy to world leaders on carbon emissions.
It ain't real English, but sounds great
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 24/03/2019
» The other night at home I was listening to CDs -- yes, I'm still in the Stone Age -- and two of my favourite songs came up, Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers and Ain't No Mountain High Enough from Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Apart from both being soulful numbers -- and like me, pretty ancient -- you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to observe that a common factor in the title is the word ain't.