There have been a number of times over the last couple of years that I’ve heard a helicopter pass above my apartment in Manchester, and thought about how menacing that sound must be in a warzone. And wondered if the sound of a helicopter would ever sound menacing in this way to me. Then I’ve told myself, “Don’t be so morbid, Illingworth!” But this morning I woke to the continuing screams of sirens and rumble of helicopters I’d gone to sleep to, as police surveilled the area after a suicide bomber killed 22 and injured 59 at a pop concert up the street from my house. And there was menace in the air. Continue →

We asked a Parisian to comment* on their feelings regarding En Marche! leader Emmanuel Macron’s recent win over Marine Le Pen in the hotly contested, decidedly non-traditional 2017 French election. Sophie, who prefers not to make her full name public, also gives insight into the general political climate in France.

Continue →