Tommie Smith is in Paris for the Olympic Games
Have you ever met a rock star? Or a famous scientist? Or, why not – the President of the United States? I have to say no to all three – but I can now say that I have met the man whose protest against injustice to Blacks shook the world. That man is Tommie Smith, the 6’ 5” Black athlete who won the sprint finals at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, breaking the 20 second record by finishing in…
ANALYSIS OF EU AND SNAP FRENCH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
INSEAD Political Science Professor Emeritus Douglas Webber had already agreed to speak to the AAA via Zoom on June 10, the day following the EU's scheduled Parliamentary elections. But when French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the Assemblée Nationale and called for new elections starting July 1, the focus shifted. What did the far right's gain of seats in the EU and the RN's trouncing of…
D-Day Anniversary Visit to Normandy
AAPA members (15 in all) took a day trip to Normandy, April 23, 2024, in advance of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings June 6, 1944 -- the beginning of the end of W orld War II in Europe. Intent on learning about how the day unfolded and what occurred in the weeks and months following the landings, we visited key sites and met with officials in charge of the Normandy D-Day anniversary…
Recognizing D-Day's Forgotten Black Soldiers 80 Years On
AAPA member Linda Hervieux talks to us about the forgotten combat soldiers of D-Day, the all-Black 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, among the first to land on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. Published in 2015, it is an episode in the upcoming National Geographic/Disney+ documentary series Erased: WW's Heroes of Color. The book’s theme of racism in America, particularly in the armed services, is…
Christopher Weissberg, representing French citizens in North America
AAPA members had breakfast with Christopher Weissberg on May 13, 2024, to hear the Assemblée Nationale deputy's views on the outlook for EU and US elections, the increasing restrictions on immigration, and his efforts to serve his 250,000-strong constituency of French citizens residing in the US and Canada. Weissberg holds meetings throughout North America with his constituents and says their…
Emmanuel Bonne talks to AAPA
Emmanuel Macron’s foreign policy advisor Emmanuel Bonne met with over two dozen active members of the Anglo-American Press Association on April 15. Speaking on background, M. Bonne outlined France’s foreign policy priorities at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions while giving us an insight into recent multilateral initiatives involving the Middle East, Ukraine, China, Russia and……
VIGINUM: French defense against cyber-attacks & fake news
AAPA members met with former Lt. Col. Marc-Antoine Brillant, director of VIGINUM, the government body responsible for vigilance and protection against foreign digital interference. VIGINUM is attached to the General Secretariat of Defense and National Security (SGDSN) which is under the authority of the French Prime Minister. Mr. Brillant explained that VIGINUM’s mission is to detect…
Breakfast with H.E. JAWED ASHRAF, Ambassador of India
H.E. Jawed Ashraf, Ambassador of India to the Republic of France and Principality of Monaco, invited members of the AAPA to breakfast at his residence in Paris on April 9 for an on-the-record wide ranging discussion just ten days before India's national elections (April 19 - June 1). India has 968 million registered voters, he pointed out, and the country has installed 1.2 million polling…
US elections key to Ukraine’s future: security analyst François Heisbourg
The outcome of the war in Ukraine will likely turn not only on issues as Europe’s ability to ramp up its defense spending to produce artillery shells for Kyiv, but particularly on what happens in the November US elections, defense and security analyst Francois Heisbourg told AAPA members on March 12 via Zoom. The return of former President Donald Trump to power would be “catastrophic” for…
Visit to the Olympic Aquatic Centre
On March 6, AAPA became the first group of journalists to visit the newly finished Olympic Aquatic Centre. The Centre claims to be "the only permanent sports facility to be built for the Paris 2024 Games". We were shown around for hours by the two architects, Laure Mériaud and Cécile Gross. We were wowed by what a state-of-the-art 2020s building can look like: made largely of pinewood,…