Salut!

The Globe and Mail: a world view of Bangladesh building collpase

Please, if you live in Canada or have seen the paper, tell me ....

* this, from the very top of Google news this morning, was not the main headline chosen by the Globe and Mail of Canada for its coverage of a disaster in which at least 159 people (update: 228) died ...

Canada's Joe Fresh among brands made in collapsed Bangladesh building

It comes straight out of of "Thousands dead in earthquake - local man safe" school of headline writing for far away but parochial audiences.

There seems to be an issue with posting comments, but this was received from Bill Taylor and goes a little way towards restoring faith ...

"Canada's Joe Fresh among brands made in collapsed Bangladesh building" is current headline on the Globe's on-line story which, if this is any defence, would be advancing the news of the disaster and providing new information. The headline in the paper itself is: "Dozens dead in building collapse," subhead: "Thousands injured in plant that housed garment factories, including suppliers to Loblaws cos, Joe Fresh."

The Joe Fresh angle is getting a lot of play, especially on radio, here today because of the exploited-workers angle. We have a huge south Asian population and this has been a sore point for some time - the production of cheap fashions on the back of even cheaper labour.

Champagne, caviar and smokescreens on the French left

No sooner had I given Rachida Dati generous space to discuss her Paris mayoral ambitions than she withdraws from the race, claiming the "system and the media" had already set their hearts on Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet as the centre-right UMP candidate for City Hall. But the left has been having its problems, too; François Hollande has approval from only a quarter of the electorate and a steep ministerial fall from grace has made a mockery of his promise of a république exemplaire. Here is my account for The National* ...

Romance or repose on a Provençal afternoon

One of the aims of Martine Aubry, architect of France's 35-hour week in 2000, was to enhance the quality of life of ordinary people by giving them more personal time.

She was undoubtedly more successful in that ambition than with the primary objective of persuading employers to take on more staff, which manifestly has not happened.

Photos du Jour: the big and small of Saint-Tropez

An inconsequential glimpse at life in the south of France ...

Introducing the star of the Parking du Port:

This is my other motor:

An audience with Rachida Dati. Et pourquoi pas?

Photo: (c) Marie Docher whose work appears at http://docher.com/

When one of France's most intriguing politicians summons you to Paris, and the name on the e-mail is Rachida Dati, there really is only one sensible answer.

So off I went on the early TGV from Toulon to meet her. Since she had
set aside 90 minutes to spend in my company, it would have been impolite to decline.

Maggie, Maggie, Maggie. A time for respect?

Our French doctor looked almost like a miner as he pulled on a headlamp while trying to work out why his patient had stiffness and pain around the ear. "Ah, ces anglais," he said, referring not to the owner of the ear but to those rejoicing at Lady Thatcher's death.

If I had been the patient, I might have used the mining theme to explain the depth of feeling about her policies, the implacably divided nature of views on them and necessarily on her.

But I would not have defended the more extreme and, in truth, unworthy reactions to her death.