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OUEST-FRANCE

Virtual Pétanque: COVID Forces French National Pastime To Go Online

Virtual Pétanque: COVID Forces French National Pastime To Go Online
Emma Flacard

There's croissants and cheese, bérets and BrigitteBardot — and then there's pétanque.

On the list of the Frenchest things, this national pastime ranks pretty high, conjuring up scenes of convivial apéros where old and young gather together, a boule in one hand and a glass of pastis or rosé in the other.

What shock it must have been then to pétanque players upon learning that this highly communal sport — akin to Italy's bocce or Britain's lawn bowling — was to be moved online because of the pandemic ... With large gatherings still banned in France, local daily Ouest France reports that a number of pétanque pros have decided to give the game a COVID-compliant virtual twist by competing through a Facebook group, starting on May 8.

While pétanque fans are already used to watching the sports on television, with channel L'Equipe TV regularly broadcasting competitions, this time players will also be interacting from a safe distance. Launched by world-renowned pétanque stars Philippe Quintais and Jean-Luc Robert, the Club Maboule initiative aims to keep the spirit and rules of the game: Players score points by throwing their heavy metal boules as close as possible to the smaller, target boule — a.k.a. the cochonnet.

But this virtual version will see pairs of players compete by filming their throws, with referees then checking and comparing the footage behind their screens. The online competition is open to all — pétanque beginners will just have to make sure they don't place their computers too close ...

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Geopolitics

What If Antonio Guterres Screamed In The Forest And Nobody Heard?

The UN Secretary-General is raising the tone in the war in Gaza, but it comes at a time when international institutions are extremely weak. Looking back at history, that's a dangerous thing.

Photo of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres boarding a plane at Egypt's El Arish International Airport, as part of his late October visit to the Middle East.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at Egypt's El Arish International Airport, as part of his late October visit to the Middle East.

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — There was a time when all eyes turned to the UN Security Council as soon as a conflict broke out somewhere in the world. The United Nations was the theatrical enclosure where the great powers of this world would put themselves on stage: Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader banging his shoe on the podium, or Colin Powell, the American diplomat waving his chemical vial before invading Iraq.

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Today, we might almost forget the very existence of the Security Council, even with two major wars are underway, in Ukraine and Gaza. The United Nations is marginalized, which is what risks happening when the great powers directly or indirectly confront each other.

It is even surprising when the UN Secretary-General raises his voice to warn about the crisis in the Middle East which he's declared: “threatens the maintenance of international peace and security”; and raises the risk of seeing in Gaza a “total collapse of law and order soon.”

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