Rugby League referee Belinda Sharpe speaks to the media in Sydney on July 16, 2019, after being named as the first female referee for a National Rugby League (NRL) game between the Brisbane Broncos and Canterbury Bulldogs. Australia's NRL will make history with Sharpe as its first female referee on July 18, as it struggles to leave behind its "blokey" culture. SYDNEY - Australia's National Rugby League will make history with its first female referee on Thursday night, as the NRL struggles to leave behind its "blokey" culture.Belinda Sharpe will be in charge for the clash between the Brisbane Broncos and Canterbury Bulldogs in Brisbane on Thursday.The appointment is momentous not just for Sharpe, a former newspaper sub-editor, but also for the scandal-plagued NRL."It's a historic occasion," head of football Graham Annesley told reporters in Sydney."It's the first time it's happened in the 110-year history of the game but it's the first of many that will follow over the next … [Read more...] about First woman to referee in Australia’s scandal-plagued NRL
Shedding french bulldog
Macron demands answers from Iran over academic’s detention
French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters: "What has happened worries me a great deal" PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called on Tehran to explain why a Franco-Iranian academic based at a Paris university has been arrested in Iran, expressing concern for the woman's welfare.The detention of Fariba Adelkhah, a well-known expert on Iran and Shiite Islam at the prestigious Sciences Po university, risks increasing tension between Paris and Tehran at a critical moment in crisis talks to save the beleagured Iranian nuclear programme.Adelkhah has been denied contact with consular staff, the French foreign ministry said Monday, confirming her dual nationality."France calls on the Iranian authorities to shed full light on Mrs Adelkhah's situation and repeats its demands, particularly with regard to an immediate authorisation for consular access," the ministry said in a statement."What has happened worries me a great deal," Macron told reporters at a news … [Read more...] about Macron demands answers from Iran over academic’s detention
France says Franco-Iranian academic arrested in Iran
A Franco-Iranian academic based at a prestigious Paris university has been arrested in Iran and denied contact with consular staff, the French foreign ministry has said PARIS - A Franco-Iranian academic based at a prestigious Paris university has been arrested in Iran and denied contact with consular staff, the French foreign ministry said Monday. The detention of Fariba Adelkhah, a well-known expert on Iran and Shiite Islam at Sciences Po, risks increasing tension between Paris and Tehran at a critical moment in the crisis over the Iranian nuclear programme."The French authorities were recently informed of the arrest of Fariba Adelkhah," said the foreign ministry statement which confirmed she holds dual nationality."France calls on the Iranian authorities to shed full light on Mrs Adelkhah's situation and repeats its demands, particularly with regard to an immediate authorisation for consular access," it said."No satisfactory response has been received until now," it … [Read more...] about France says Franco-Iranian academic arrested in Iran
Secretive British billionaire Barclay sues over French play
A court in northern France on Monday was to begin hearing a case brought by one of the secretive Barclay brothers, who own the Daily Telegraph and the Ritz Hotel, claiming he was defamed in a play by a French writer. David Barclay, who shares along with his twin brother Frederick an estimated fortune of £8 billion (10.4 billion dollars, 9.3 billion euros), is suing playwright Hedi Tillette de Clermont-Tonnerre for violation of privacy and defamation. The court in the city of Caen was due to hear the case, which was filed in June 2018, from 1200 GMT in a case expected to last several months. If the court rules in favour of David Barclay, the play could be banned from performance and the theatres that performed it forced to pay damages of tens of thousands of euros. The play, "Les Deux Freres et les lions" ("The Two Brothers and the Lions"), was performed at the 150-seat Theatre de Poche in Paris up to March 31 this year and was critically acclaimed. The play does not mention the … [Read more...] about Secretive British billionaire Barclay sues over French play
French village offers reward to decipher its ‘Rosetta Stone’
PLOUGASTEL-DAOULAS, France: Lapped by the waves of the Atlantic and visible at only low tide, a mysterious rock inscription believed to be centuries old and so far undeciphered lurks outside a French village in Brittany.The town hall in Plougastel-Daoulas in the Finistere region of Brittany in northwest France is now offering a €2,000 (US$2,250) reward for anyone who can decrypt the sequence of letters and symbol.Could the small boulder have been used for a love letter whose secret has remained untouched for centuries, or a proud note left by an eighteenth-century fort-builder? Or something even more mysterious?Locally, the rock is sometimes compared to the Rosetta Stone, the great ancient Egyptian stele now in the British Museum whose inscription was partly deciphered by the French Egyptologist Jean-Francois Champollion.The authorities in Plougastel-Daoulas hope that their competition will shed light on the enigmatic piece of history."This inscription is a mystery and it is … [Read more...] about French village offers reward to decipher its ‘Rosetta Stone’