Sermon on the Mount

Designating a series of moralistic lessons said to have been preached by Jesus in the vicinity of Capernaum alongside the Sea of Galilee, the evangelist Matthew invented what came to be known as the Sermon on the Mount : no doubt the most novel and awesome presentation of moral philosophy and intense love in the history of human thought.

I had the chance to find myself at this unique spot on Friday 16 December 1988, after a coach trip to the Arab town of Nazareth, during my first trip to Israel. This was a chance for me to realize fully that everything I had ever imagined about Christianity was summed up exclusively in that extraordinary Sermon on the Mount, which seemed to have been conceived spontaneously in the middle of the countryside. Above all, these lessons went against the grain of everything that rich people, tyrants and evil men might have ever imagined.

These days, whenever inspired folk start trying to tell me how we might welcome Islamic believers into our societies, I wonder instantly: Have Muslims ever grasped what the Sermon on the Mount is all about? I have no reason to suppose that they've ever even heard of it, let alone been inspired by its fabulous messages.

Number of wild tigers in the world has risen by 22%

That's the sort of unexpected news that fills me with hope and pride.

The number of wild tigers has increased from 3,200 in 2010 to 3,890 at present: an increase of almost 22%. Tiger countries include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russian Federation, Thailand and Vietnam.

We probably infected European Neanderthals with our African diseases

Neanderthal populations of Europe and Asia were probably weakened by pathogens that we homo sapiens emigrants brought with us when we moved away from our African birthplace. We probably didn't actually kill them in an outright manner, but the Neanderthals would have surely picked up our diseases such as tapeworms, tuberculosis, stomach ulcers and herpes. And these new afflictions would have no doubt sickened members of the old community to such an extent that they could no longer care for themselves by foraging and hunting.

Neanderthals seem to have been driven to extinction around 40,000 years ago. We didn't necessarily act deliberately in killing them. It has been suggested that we Humans and certain Neanderthal friends even got around to friendly sessions of rock-and-roll, resulting in genetic traces that remain in our present chromosomes. But the Neanderthals nevertheless disappeared from Europe and Asia soon after our arrival. You might say that it wasn't really our fault. But in a sense, it was.

Serial taxi rider

In April 2014, Agnès Saal was nominated as president of the Institut national de l'audiovisuel (which was an emanation of the Service de la Recherche de l'ORTF where I worked in the early 1970s).

A year later, the lady was obliged to abandon her high-level appointment after having been accused of an unusual misdemeanour. She appeared to have spent an exceptionally large amount of public money on taxi trips. When I first heard about this affair, I simply couldn't imagine how a professional person in Paris could possibly spend so much money on taxis.

I still can't understand how she did so... particularly when I learn that she had a professional chauffeur-driven automobile. Her children may have made taxi trips in Paris, but that wouldn't seem to account for all the expenses. In their attempts to shed light upon this mystery, many journalists asked questions.

Finally, her huge taxi bills remain a mystery. I'm convinced that, one of these days, we'll come upon a clear logical explanation...

Awesome French hoverboard

Click here to see an impressive demo from Franky Zapata.

France has ordered French drones

Last week, the French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian signed a contract of 350 million euros with the manufacturer Sagem for the purchase of 24 French Patroller drones, which have been tested satisfactorily for the last nine years in Afghanistan.

This drone can transmit high-quality images, and can carry a load of 250 kg of electronic surveillance equipment. Even in total darkness, this drone can detect whether a fellow on the ground is carrying either a simple bag of food or rather a kalachnikov weapon. This drone can even carry a human observer, to control operations programmed from the ground. In that way, the drone can legally operate in the same style as a conventional aircraft. (To my mind, that nevertheless sounds like an intrepid job for a passenger.)

Several Asian and Middle East nations have already expressed their interest in purchasing this French drone.