The Queen’s Speech is shorthand for the UK’s State Opening of Parliament, which takes place annually at the beginning of each parliamentary session. The monarch reads out a speech to the assembled Houses of Lords and Commons detailing the government’s programme of legislation for the upcoming year. The State Opening is one of those occasions … Continue reading “What is the Queen’s Speech?”
As every Harry Potter fan knows, Harry’s birthday is 31 July, like his creator JK Rowling. But 26 June, 1997, was also an important date in the Potter canon: it saw the publication of the first volume of the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The 20th anniversary of a cultural phenomenon is being … Continue reading “Happy Birthday, Harry Potter!”
John F. Kennedy was born 100 years ago in Brookline, Massachusetts. JFK was the 35th President of the United States (1961-1963) and the youngest man elected to the office. He was assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963 and became the forever-young president… A political and cultural icon Born in 1917, John Fitzgerald Kennedy would … Continue reading “JFK, a 20th Century American Political Icon”
Le « soutien » a longtemps été considéré comme LE moyen de lutter contre l’échec scolaire, généralement proposé aux élèves qui rencontrent de grosses difficultés, en les prenant à part. Il est clair aujourd’hui qu’il ne s’agit pas d’une forme de différenciation de l’enseignement, d’autant que le plus souvent le « soutien » part d’un constat de lacunes et … Continue reading “Personalised Support in a Class Context”
NASA received a record 18,300 applications to join its 2017 astronaut candidate class. The agency has just announced the 12 lucky people chosen for two years training to potentially become astronauts. And as NASA continues to open more opportunities to women, five of the new recruits are female. The 12 new astronaut candidates will undergo … Continue reading “Lucky Stars: NASA’s New Astronaut Class”
20 June each year is United Nations World Refugee Day. In the UK, it is included in Refugee Week, 19-25 June. The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, just released new figures showing that 2016 was yet another record year for refugees. The UNHCR’s Global Trends Report announces that 65.6 million people were displaced in 2016, … Continue reading “World Refugee Day”
The David Hockney exhibition that broke attendance records at the Tate Britain arrives as the Centre Pompidou in Paris. In London, almost half a million people saw the retrospective of Britain’s most famous pop artist, from his California swimming pool paintings to recent monumental landscapes and iPad art. Hockney was born in Yorkshire in 1937, … Continue reading “David Hockney: The Pompidou Goes Pop”
Ever since the surprise result of the June 8 General Election, figures have been flying round traditional and social media claiming that the swing away from the Conservatives to Labour was caused by young voters “taking their revenge” for the Brexit referendum. It’s a good story. But is it true? After the Brexit referendum, there … Continue reading “Did Britain Just Have A Youth Quake?”
The world’s most popular female superhero has finally made it to the big screen for her first solo movie and has been named an Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls by the United Nations…for only 2 months! It took 76 years to bring the world’s most famous female superhero to the big … Continue reading “Wonder Woman: from Comics to the UN”
The UK General Election that was supposed to consolidate the Conservative majority has a resulted in a hung parliament: no one party has reached the 326 seats needed for an absolute majority. The sitting Conservative government has asked the Queen to form a government with the backing of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party. The … Continue reading “Another UK Electoral Surprise”