Reading the Globe: A weekly digest of the most important news, ideas and culture around the world.

Mandating French in QuebecFurious controversy and public demonstrations have raged this week over Bill 96, one of the toughest pieces of legislation so far drafted in the efforts of francophones to make theirs the official language of Quebec. A May 16 article by Elizabeth Zogalis on the website Global News describes how many anglophones in Montreal and other parts of the province f

Censorship in ChinaCensorship in communist China extends further than some may realize. The repressive regime in Beijing seeks to extirpate not only speech and writing that contravene its dogmas, but even symbols that might give viewers the wrong idea.An article by Zachary Evans in National Review Online on May 2 details how China’s censors demanded that Sony cut the Statue of Li

Succession at Fox NewsWhether or not you are a fan of Fox News, it is reasonable to wonder, as Ken Lacorte does in an April 12 article on National Review Online, what will happen to Fox News after the reign of owner Rupert Murdoch, 91, comes to an end.Lacorte finds cause for optimism in the person of the young and dynamic Lachlan Murdoch, who is executive chairman and CEO of Fox Co

Schumer Hearts Dunst; Dune TriumphsPeople might assume that a politician who can get elected mayor of one of the nation’s largest cities, and win reelection four years later, is on the way to bigger things. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti won election in 2013 and then again in 2017. As Thomas Buckley details in a March 13 article in California Globe, Garcetti emerged during the 2

The Israeli Path to PeaceThere may be hope. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and Israel’s prime minister, Naftali Bennett, have been speaking on a regular basis since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. On March 8, Zelensky personally thanked Bennett for intervening in the conflict and trying to help bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. And if Benne

Justice for HalynaMatt Hutchins, the widower of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has moved ahead with a wrongful death lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and others involved with the film. During the widely covered news conference on Tuesday, attorneys for Matt Hutchins made a number of points. The Los Angeles Times quotes attorney Brian Panish stating, “There are many people culpa

Houthi rebels, Soros funding, Holocaust portrayals and Quebec heavy handednessMany observers of Israel’s continuing efforts to strengthen ties with the region reacted with dismay to the news that Houthi rebels in Yemen had fired a missile in an apparent attempt to disrupt Israeli president Israel Herzog’s official visit to the United Arab Emirates.According to a January 30 Poli

The Future of the UnionThe Economist’s January 1 issue features a bold lead editorial, entitled “Walking away,” about the perceived fragility of democracy in America one year out from the trauma of the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. It sounds a dire note about the growing polarization in the country and the tendency of members of either major political party to view th

Gotham in DeclineThose of us who grew up in New York City in the 1980s have troubling memories of a grimy, graffiti-ridden urban landscape where danger was a part of everyday life and you could not walk the streets without anticipating the possibility of becoming a victim of harassment or worse.The election of Rudolph Giuliani in the 1993 mayoral race drew howls of outrage from the

Alec Baldwin Blames Everyone But HimselfThe shocking news that Alec Baldwin shot dead the cinematographer on the set of a film on October 21 has clearly been hard for Baldwin to digest. There can be no doubt as to the unintentional nature of the fatal shooting and the sincerity of Baldwin’s wish that this terrible unexpected event had never happened. In his relatively few photo-o