Latest news with #Fairmount
LeMonde
3 days ago
- Business
- LeMonde
Quebec and Canada find common ground: 'Who is best to stand up to Trump?'
In Montreal's Quartier des Spectacles, the Place des Arts has been transformed into a giant playground as summer approached, with games for children and adults alike. Passersby were invited to join in giant word searches, picking out letters that made up words like "solitude," "joie" (joy), "avalanche" and, notably, "résistance." The word "resistance" echoed across Canada ever since US President Donald Trump unilaterally announced his desire to make the country the "51 st state" of America, while simultaneously launching a trade war against his closest and most reliable ally. Canada shares nearly 9,000 kilometers of border with its neighbor, and its annual trade with the US totals one trillion Canadian dollars (€638 billion). But the word "resistance" rang particularly loudly in the ears of Québécois. For one of the first times in their history, they stand united with the rest of Canada, a country they belong to but have never truly identified with, and from which they nearly broke away in two (failed) referendums, in 1980 and 1995. Not even the two world wars had produced such unity: Quebec refused Ottawa's call for conscription to support Allied forces, arguing at the time that it was out of the question to send reinforcements to the British monarchy. Today, King Charles III remains Canada's head of state (as is the case for all Commonwealth countries, such as Australia). But in this context, Québécois have become less timid. 'Buy Canadian' On this sunny May day, expressions of support for the federal state – typically met with scorn – were flourishing. On Rue Sainte-Catherine, a souvenir shop displayed T-shirts and caps bearing the slogan "Canada is not for sale." At Fairmount, a renowned Montreal bagel shop, bagels were coated in a red paste with white sesame seeds, evoking Canada's national colors. Elsewhere, shop windows displayed signs proclaiming, "It's time to wake up, we're buying Canadian!"
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
US gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton arrested for drink driving
Legendary US Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton is facing charges of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs after she was arrested in her West Virginia hometown earlier this month. According to court records, Retton was arrested in Fairmount in Marion County on 17 May. She was released the same day after paying a $1,500 bond (£1,100) and has not yet entered a plea. Retton, 57, shot to global fame after becoming the first American woman to win the all-around gold for gymnastics at the Los Angeles Olympics in arrest come almost two years after she survived a rare form of pneumonia. Retton refused to take a breathalyzer test or blood test after her Texas-registered Porsche was pulled over by police, according to the criminal complaint. She allegedly failed a sobriety test and was slurring her words. Officers say they observed a container of wine in the car and she smelled of BBC has contacted the lawyer listed as her representative in the court documents for comment. Retton is from the city of Fairmount and there is a street there named after her in the northern West Virginia winning multiple medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Retton was nicknamed "America's Sweetheart". She appeared on Wheaties cereal boxes and was named Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportswoman of the was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2022, former gymnast spent nearly two weeks in hospital intensive care after a rare form of pneumonia left the her fighting for her the time, her daughter posted in an online fundraiser that Retton did not have health insurance and needed money to fund her treatment. More than $500,000 was raised, leading many to question why the famous athlete was uninsured. In an NBC interview last year, Retton said she was struggling financially after a divorce in 2018 and the Covid-19 pandemic. She said she was still using supplemental oxygen to breath.
