Prince George of Cambridge

Birth of a Prince

On Parliament Hill, Ottawa, the Peace Tower was illuminated to mark the birth of HRH Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge, on 22 July 2013. At noon on the 23rd a royal salute of 21 guns was fired by the 30th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery. In London 41 and 62 gun royal salutes were fired while bells pealed at Westminster Abbey.

Edvard Munch (1863-1944)

To mark the 150th anniversary of the great artist's birth, there is currently an exhibition of his work in two museums and the university's great hall in Oslo. I greatly enjoyed a cinema tour that gave me considerable insight into his troubled but courageous life, the range of his work, and his distinct, still powerful expressionist style.

Lac-Mégantic

Disaster at Lac-Mégantic, QC

The runaway train that devastated the town of Lac-Mégantic in the Eastern Townships of Quebec in the early hours of 6 July 2013 consisted of 5 locomotives, a buffer car, and 72 tank cars carrying 113,000 L each of crude oil. It was operated by a single engineer who parked it for the night in nearby Nantes, on the main line of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, then left it unattended! Federal regulations currently permit that.

Centre of town was devastated by massive explosions and fire— a large number of houses, businesses, and anyone caught in or around them were wiped out in an instant. Few injured arrived at hospital — the people were dead.

As of now 42 bodies have been recovered, with only 22 identified. Missing in all are 47 persons.

21 July 2013