Over the first 7 days of the military operation in Syria that started on September 30, 2015, after request for help from President Bashar Assad, Russian Air Force dealt more damage to the Islamic State terrorist group than the United States did over the past year, report German journalists as […]

The worldwide community has split over the Charlie Hebdo issue No. 1178, originally printed at 3 million copies. However, the increased demand caused the journal to increase the print run to 5 million, later – 7 million copies. The “survivors’ issue” released on January 14, 2015, featured a cover cartoon […]

As a man with limited hill walking experience and a propensity to sit in the firing line of the pleasant sunshine, I was at best ambivalent about my wife’s idea of a summer holiday. Circumnavigating around the Mont Blanc range wasn’t top of my ‘self-preservation agenda’ for our summer holidays. […]

Pancake Day 2013 is only 4 days away for you ladies and gents in the UK, and this year I’ll sadly be missing the annual pancake-toss competition with my housemates for the first time. Living in France, I managed to experience their equivalent; La Chandeleur, or, le jour des crêpes, […]

Living in my little south-of-France student bubble, it’s not uncommon for huge world events such as the politics over gay marriage to completely pass me by from time to time. However, one thing that I have studied, read about in the newspaper and been quite shocked by these last few […]

Hitch-hiking was the best way to travel for me back in the ’70s. I’d pack a rucksack and sleeping bag and head for the nearest motorway service station. I always picked the height of summer, July or August, and went for it. I’d save around fifty quid for the trip. Most of […]

Everyone else is asleep. It’s almost eleven o’clock, but I can’t sleep. I lie tossing and turning in my bed. Above me on the wall are framed verses from the Quran. Even I know the characters Allah Akbar, ‘God is Great’. I smile. Is it his will that I am able to […]

Set high up on a hill, Carcassonne’s ancient walled city is Disneyworld-perfect. This fairytale collection of drawbridges, towers and atmospheric cobbled streets was reputedly the inspiration for Walt Disney’s The Sleeping Beauty, and it’s a must-see on any trip through this part of southern France. Its medieval core, the cité, […]