It will help to replace all the trees in the District that have been cut down by Property Businessmen.

what’s important nowadays…

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Every vantage point is taken. –Commentator on the crowds in Montmatre on the final stage of the 2025 Tour

By Roger Childs

Back in Paris

Because the Olympics were on in Paris at the time, the 2024 Tour de France finished in Nice. Traditionally the most famous bike race on the world has ended on the Champs-Élysées, so it was back to normal in 2025. However there was a twist. The organisers decided to include four circuits of a loop through Montmatre before a final sprint down the Champs.

This proved to be highly successful as huge crowds filled the streets including dancers from the Folies Bergère, and were able to be close to the riders as they flew by four times. It is estimated that over a million people watched Stage 21 in the French capital.   

Tour winner already decided

Coming into Paris there was no doubt about this year’s winner of Le Tour. Slovenian Tadej Pogacar had held the yellow jersey from Stage 12 and built up a lead of more than 4 minutes over two times winner Jonas Vingegaard from Denmark. In the last 10 stages the Dane tried his utmost to break Pogacar, but the Slovenian legend was always too strong. The yellow jersey holder just had to stay on his bike in Paris and cross the finish line on the Champs-Élysées to claim his fourth title.

A small group of great riders – Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Induráin – have won five tours. It is highly likely that Tadej Pogacar will join this illustrious bunch in time.

Hinault was actually the last yellow jersey holder to win the final stage in Paris back in 1982. On the last circuit in Montmatre it looked as if Pogacar would emulate this feat. But Belgian champion Wout van Aert had other ideas. He raced past the Slovenian with 5km to go and crossed the finish line comfortably first on the Champs-Élysées.

2025 jersey winners

As well as winning the overall event Tadej Pogacar also took the polka-dot King of the Mountains jersey. Jonathan Milan from Italy won the green sprinter jersey and Belgian Florian Lipowitz was the best young rider. The winner’s time for the 21 stages was 76 hours and 32 seconds.

160 bike riders finished the gruelling 3338.8km event which included 52,500m of climbing, including Kiwi Laurence Pithie who was 89^th. Many of the Tour riders will now move on to another punishing event: the Vuelta a Espania, which covers 3151km in 21 stages and begins on August 23. Pogacar is contemplating taking part after a week off!

summarised by Centrist

Klaus Schwab, architect of the World Economic Forum and darling of the global elite, has been forced out after 55 years amid serious allegations of corruption, abuse of power, and lewd behaviour.

The 87-year-old founder of the WEF was accused of misusing millions in organisational funds, manipulating economic data for political purposes, and sexually harassing staff. 

Internal leaks reveal he splurged tens of millions on a villa in Geneva, racked up nearly £1 million (NZD $2 million) in personal expenses, and interfered in the WEF’s rankings to punish Brexit Britain.

One whistleblower accused Schwab of trying to sabotage UK competitiveness so the data would not help the pro-Brexit camp. Others claimed he used staff and WEF resources to engineer a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for himself. 

Female employees alleged disturbing conduct, including “embarrasing interactions”, suggestive remarks, and unwanted advances. In one case, Schwab allegedly positioned his crotch in front of a staffer’s face and said he wished she were Hawaiian so he could see her in costume.

Allegations note the WEF fostered a toxic workplace where pregnant women were sidelined, black employees were mistreated, and young female staff were handpicked for photo ops. Former employees created a WhatsApp group called “WEFugees” to share horror stories.

Schwab has denied all wrongdoing and complained about media leaks. In April, following a 48-hour standoff during which he threatened to file a criminal complaint against the board for pursuing further investigation into his activities, he ultimately chose to resign.

(Yorkshire Panzer pic)

58,000 of them didn’t come home.

His Party has passed the “Online Safety Act” ostensibly to protect children from porn websites — but that wasn’t the real intent of it.

There are lessons for NZ in this — reject all moves to increase official censorship: it does not belong in a Democracy.

And it doesn’t end there…

The Chair, Senator Ron Johnson, is a leading critic of that substance — like us he refuses to call it a vaccine.