Prince woos with chopper: Prince William came under criticism this week for landing a Royal Air Force helicopter at his girlfriend’s country estate. Newspapers condemned the use of government property worth $20 million for private wooing, particularly during a time of war. The Defense Ministry issued a news release saying the stopover at Kate Middleton’s family’s property was part of an exercise for practicing takeoffs and landings. But some British papers, citing unnamed sources, reported that the head of the Royal Air Force has demanded an inquiry into who authorized the trip. Two weeks ago, William flew his brother, Harry, to a cousin’s bachelor party on the Isle of Wight, also in an RAF helicopter.
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Apologizing to China: French President Nicolas Sarkozy sent apologetic letters and high-level envoys to China this week, in an attempt to ease growing anti-French sentiment there. Demonstrators have been protesting at French stores and consulates across China for the past two weeks, angry at what they see as France’s failure to protect the Olympic torch when it passed through Paris. Sarkozy wrote to Jin Jing, the wheelchair-bound Chinese athlete who was accosted by protesters in Paris, saying he felt “deep emotion” over the way that she was “pushed around.” But the city of Paris dealt Sarkozy a setback in his quest to appease: It angered China by making the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader in exile, an honorary citizen of the French capital.
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