Ancient Creatures Brought to Life

The Royal Ontario Museum and Parks Canada Bring Ancient Creatures to Life

A spectacular website!

One Woman...

... And a very frail one, at that, managed to unmask and, eventually remove, Reuters' main correspondent in Yemen who also became a close collaborator of Saleh's.

Hind (that is her name) posted a tweet about that, then a blog, then it was retweeted and otherwise repeated by a growing number of followers... Eventually, a Facebook page called #ShameOnReuters did the trick: the mainstream media got hold of the information and brought it into the wider world.... That made Reuters decide to remove their man in Sanaa to another post in the Middle-East...

Here is Hind's interview on France24 in Arabic:

Here you will find Hind's blog (in Arabic, but with the help of Google Translation you get more or less the meaning).

Hind is an extraordinary woman - she seems much younger than she is, you'd think she is just a girl. But she is one of the most courageous women I ever met. She works and lives in Beirut, as a single mom with a young daughter. She cannot go back to Yemen, for fear her ex-husband will take her daughter away. She blogs about Yemeni politics, has taken an active part, by her tweets and blogs, in the Arab Spring, taking the risk to be cut off from some of her relatives in Yemen, who resent her for being so outspoken and (not irrealistically) fear for themselves. I was much impressed when I met her - and now I am even more impressed. 

Happy Diwali!

Cats on a Cold Tin Roof

This was yesterday. What took place today was much more violent, even more noisy, it happened too fast to take any photos, and much closer: on my balcony, invaded by neighbour Fax - who didn't stay long, though. Cat hair everywhere, reddish, white - and black. Fax chose the wisest option. In one big bond, he was downstairs and safe again. And he only wanted to make friends... :-(

Lucien Bodard

A great journalist - 'Lulu le Chinois'. Lucien Bodard was born in China, loved Asia, and knew how to tell stories about it, both in his books and in his articles in France-Soir.

For Cats...