Mixed Happenings
- June 4th, 2011
- Posted by Lee Duffield
Risorgimento revisited in Rome; old Cold War adversaries playing hot war games together; the EU in gathering pressure on Syria.
PARTY IN ROME
Much parading in the streets of Rome on Thursday, military feathers and finery on a par with the swashbuckling 19th Century legions that brought off the Risorgimento (Resurgence) – the unification of Italy 150 years ago to the day.
Giuseppe Garibaldi himself (picture), leader of the “redshirts”, horsemen for Italy, certainly would have revelled in the crowd of celebrities from 80 countries, in town for the spectacle. … Read More »
Persistence paid off in the long drive to deploy submersibles and find a black box recorder from Air France flight 447, from Rio de Janiero to Paris, which disappeared over the Atlantic on 1.6.09. 
Britain’s Royal wedding happened on Friday 29th April amid churchbells, some pageantry and cheers from very large crowds. 
Changing relations with the Europeans …
People flying into and out of Europe will have their names entered in a database, as a check against crime and terrorism, under a proposed new law – an extension of the practice already followed by Australia, Canada and the United states. 
Talk of an Australian Air Force aircraft involved in an accident over the Atlantic quickly cleared up (20.1.11), the explanation being that it was a new refueling plane being tested by Airbus. 
Hundreds of travellers did not make it, and spent Christmas in airport terminals in Europe, affected by the backlog of flights from a week of bitter weather.