3 bits of news from abroad (not America)

1. This is superb. It is a letter from around twenty generals, a hundred senior officers and more than a thousand other soldiers calling for a return to ... well, let's just say a return to the good old days. My browser offers me the option of translating it, but even if you take it out of French, you can't take it out of France. It begins: "L’heure est grave, la France est en péril, plusieurs dangers mortels la menacent. Nous qui, même à la retraite, restons des soldats de France, ne pouvons, dans les circonstances actuelles, demeurer indifférents au sort de notre beau pays." It tells us that "Nos drapeaux tricolores ne sont pas simplement un morceau d’étoffe"; it reminds us that the Primate of Belgium once said that "Quand la prudence est partout, le courage n’est nulle part"; and it concludes, magnificently, "On le voit, il n’est plus temps de tergiverser, sinon, demain la guerre civile mettra un terme à ce chaos croissant, et les morts, dont vous porterez la responsabilité, se compteront par milliers." One might never give such service to the old beau pays as De Gaulle, but one can try to emulate his prose. (Actually, I would recommend the translation: at one point it warns us about fearsome "surburban hordes", summoning in my mind an image of respectable families with sensible cars and a resigned attitude to softplay centres. Not the sort of people the Primate of Belgium wanted to see.)

2. On the other side of the world, New Zealand sends worrying (and apparently surprising) signals about its role in Five Eyes. This may be bigger news than the impending French civil war.

3. Also potentially huge news (and rather more cheering): "Two years on from the launch of a pilot programme, more than 1.7 million doses of the world’s first malaria vaccine have been administered in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, benefitting more than 650 000 children with additional malaria protection." More here.