Although the rugby world’s attention is understandably focused on the New Zealand-France match that will determine the world champion this weekend, Ecouter La Radio has a story (also available here in the original French) on an organization that is using rugby to help change the lives of poor children in Senegal. It is easy to […]
“It is necessary to restore order in the administration of Haiti,” declared Monseigneur Guire Poulard, the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, during a meeting with officials of international volunteer groups. “If the country was well organized,” he added, “in 10 years it would be rebuilt.” In its article, Mgr. Guire Poulard wants more Order in the Government, […]
Japanese camera and precision-technology maker, Olympus, announced the firing of its president and CEO, the Briton Michael Woodford, last Friday. Woodford, one of the few foreign CEOs in Japan, apparently ruffled some feathers in Olympus’s hierarchy, leading to culture clash. The firing of Woodford illustrates how Japanese values are sometimes at odds with Western, and […]
For the first time ever, the Norwegian Chief of Defence is paying a visit to the Russian General of the Army in Moscow. On October 11, Chief of Defence Harald Sunde visited General Nikolai Makarov in Moscow to discuss bilateral cooperation. Over the past two decades, Norway and Russia have built a strong history of […]
Hollywood and other sects have made millions of dollars speculating on the eventual end of the world in 2012. However, should 2012 be instead seen as the year of the renouveau? Powerful states will go through a change of leadership next year; as is the case with France, the United States, China, Russia, Spain, India, […]
It’s a story that could have been written by Borges. A powerful man publishes a satirical novel under a playful yet obvious pseudonym. The book’s protagonist is a fiercely intelligent, insecure and amoral intellectual, a “‘vulgar Hamlet’ who can see through the superficiality of his age, but is unable to have any real feelings for […]
“Japan: The Strange Country” is a short, animated documentary by graphic designer Kenichi Tanaka. It illustrates a lot of things I’ve been talking about on this blog, and sums up Japan great in under 12 minutes. Tanaka explains that even though Japan is a relatively small country, it is significant for both its heritage and […]
The flagship of Canada’s aging fleet of icebreakers suffered mechanical failure to its center propeller on September 19 and has been anchored off the coast of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut since September 27. The 42-year old St-Laurent had been on a joint mission with the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy to conduct bathymetric surveys and mapping of the […]
Explosive campaign on Change.org asks Sweden’s minister for migration and asylum policy to reconsider deportation of 20 Iranian Kurds facing prosecution and possible execution in Iran. Amsterdam – More than 56,000 people from over 40 countries have joined a popular campaign on Change.org demanding the Swedish government grant asylum to 20 Iranian Kurds who face […]
I’m still recovering from the 1-2 punch of the Boks being ousted from the IRB Rugby World Cup and Bafana Bafana getting pipped at the wire for a berth in the finals of the African Cup of Nations on a dubious tiebreaker. The frustrations derive from different sources, however. As an almost universal rule I […]
The Japan Tourism Agency plans to offer free airfare to and from Japan to 10,000 foreigners in order to boost the tourism industry. Tourism dropped 50 percent in the months following the March 11 quake and tsunami, due largely to fears of radiation from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The tourism agency, part of […]
From July 2010 to June 2011 the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina advertised 9,050 jobs openings. Only 752 Americans expressed interest, even though North Carolina’s unemployment rate is above 10 percent. Short-handed, farmers across the state have resorted to the H-2A visa program, which allows foreigners to work in the United States temporarily. So […]
Last week, the University of Québec at Montréal hosted the two-day “Arctic in Transition: Regional Issues and Geopolitics” conference. My friend, Joël Plouffe, one of the conferences’ main organizers and an expert on geopolitics in the Arctic, let me know that it was taking place. The Centre Jacques Cartier, ArcticNet, and the Northern Research Forum […]
India’s Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal launched Aakash, the $35 tablet, midst much fanfare last week. The launch was hailed as a grand moment for India’s innovative prowess and claims to have silenced the skeptics. Aakash is developed by DataWind, a wireless Web access products maker in Montreal in partnership with IIT Rajasthan. […]
On Tuesday, October 11, 2011, Liberians will go to the polls to choose the country’s next president from a pool of 16 aspiring presidential candidates, which includes the incumbent Ms. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The election comes a few days after President Johnson Sirleaf and another Liberian women’s activist Leymah Gbowee were awarded the Nobel Prize […]