Atomic workers to strike
13 Jan 2017
The workers’ union Unite has announced that atomic weapons workers will stage two 48-hour strikes from next Wednesday over what they claim are broken promises over pension cuts. Six hundred staff at the two Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) sites in Aldermaston and Burghfield, both in Berkshire, will strike for 48 hours from 18 January, and then for another 48-hour period from 30 January. AWE is owned by two US firms and a UK private security firm. The staff, all members of Unite, feel betrayed as the pensions, which they were assured would be ironclad when they were transferred to the private sector, will now be cut. AWE bosses have pledged to close the original scheme and replace it with a new contribution-based version from 31 January. Unite claims that the new scheme would be subject to the unforgiving ebb and flow of the stock exchange.
Israeli involvement in NUS politics?
13 Jan 2017
It has been alleged that Israeli authorities collaborated with student campaigners in an attempt to topple the president of the UK’s National Union of Students (NUS), Malia Bouattia. Al Jazeera reports that the Israeli embassy in Britain and the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) have sponsored attempts to influence student politics, manipulate NUS elections, and even bring down the current president. NUS vice-president Richard Brooks is seen in undercover filming footage telling a reporter posing as a student that he is the one helping to organise Bouattia’s opponents; however, he has since denied that he has had any contact with the Israeli government. Bouattia, who represents more than four million students, ran on an openly pro-Palestinian platform, and has been criticised in the British media for calling herself anti-Zionist.
At least 500 churches, synagogues, and mosques across the UK have opened their doors to homeless people in the past year, a report by the charity Housing Justice says. Volunteers donated more than 490,000 hours to the 34 church and community night-shelter projects that contributed data to the report - an average of 14,850 hours per shelter. The report was produced to draw attention to the plight of homeless people in the UK and the work of night shelters. It says that these shelters stayed open for an average of 114 days during the year, with a total of 1,920 guests (84 per cent of them male). The findings were published as the Prime Minister announced extra funds for helping the homeless. Speaking last month, Mrs May said, ‘In the run-up to Christmas, images of soup kitchens and hostels remind us of the vital lifeline provided by charities and local services to those facing a night on the streets. But today I have witnessed a different kind of support, one which seeks to stop people ending up on the street altogether by providing assistance to address their most immediate needs, and - crucially - giving them the skills and opportunities to help them build a more secure future for themselves.’
France: Election frontrunner a Christian
13 Jan 2017
On Wednesday François Fillon, the frontrunner for the French presidential election due to take place in April, bucked tradition by declaring his Christian faith. He was picked as the presidential candidate for the French centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party in November. His declaration of faith has caused a stir in a country where the government, and elected officials, are legally not allowed to endorse a certain religion or the lack of religion, a policy known as laicité - secularity. He told the TF1 television channel, ‘I am a Gaullist and furthermore a Christian. It means that I will never take a decision that would run counter to the respect of human dignity, the respect of the individual, and solidarity.’ He was urged by politicians to keep his faith out of his campaigning. They accused him of using religion to win votes. 60% of people in France identify as Christian.
It snowed in southern Albania for the first time in 32 years. The homeless are dying. Most rural areas are cut off by snow. There are temporary power and water outages and army helicopters are distributing aid in mountain areas. Shipping along Europe’s second-longest waterway is suspended as freezing conditions grip the continent, causing hardship among migrants, homeless and elderly. On Tuesday the death toll was 61, one-third in Poland. Icy conditions in Serbia claimed two lives. Refugees are at risk in Greece. Three people died in the past three days in Macedonia from temperatures of -20C. A 68-year-old homeless man froze to death in the capital, Skopje, while a 60-year-old man died in front of his home in Strumica. Authorities urged homeless people to go to shelters and local schools, which are taking them in during the cold spell. Elsewhere roofs are collapsing and schools are closed.
Afghanistan: many victims of bombings
13 Jan 2017
Up to thirty people were killed and 80 wounded in twin bombings near the parliament in the capital, Kabul. Blasts at the governor's guesthouse in Kandahar killed at least 11 and injured 14, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ambassador. Earlier, in Helmand province a Taliban suicide bomber targeted a guesthouse used by an intelligence official, killing at least seven people. Reports speak of a suicide bomber striking first outside the entrance to parliament, followed by a car bomb. President Ashraf Ghani vowed that all those behind the ‘criminal attacks’ would be caught. ‘The Taliban shamelessly claim credit for the attack on civilians and they're proud of it’, he said in a statement. Afghan sources said a district head of the National Directorate of Security - Afghanistan's main intelligence agency - was among the dead. The UAE foreign ministry called it a ‘heinous terrorist attack’.
Two problems for Trump
13 Jan 2017
The director of the US office of government ethics has criticised Donald Trump's plan to hand control of his business empire to his sons before his inauguration next week. Walter Shaub said that the plan does not match the standards of US presidents over the last forty years, and would not remove conflicts of interest. ‘Every president in modern times has taken the strong medicine of divestiture’, he said, referring to a process whereby Mr Trump would sell off his corporate assets and put the profits into a blind trust run by an independent trustee. The Trump Organisation is an umbrella company for his hundreds of investments in real estate, brands and other businesses. Another problem for the president-elect is the huge and very public rift between himself and the US intelligence community, over its recently-published conclusion that the Kremlin sought to support Trump’s election. Neither side is likely to back off and both may come out damaged. See:
Egypt: four bombing suspects arrested
13 Jan 2017
Four men have been arrested in connection with the suicide attack at the St Peter and St Paul church in Cairo last month, which killed 28 people and injured over 40. Eleven people are still in the hospital. Egypt's Interior Ministry says one of the four men arrested has links to the Muslim Brotherhood, though the group has denied any involvement. Hours after the attack, the terror group IS said one of its soldiers, named Abu Abdallah-al-Masri, was responsible for carrying out the attack, the worst on Egypt's Coptic Christian community since 2011. Despite this claim by IS, Egypt appears eager to pin the blame on the outlawed Brotherhood. Damage to the church was repaired just before 7 January, the day Coptic Christians celebrate Christmas. The renovations were undertaken by Egypt's army under orders of president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who has promised to rebuild all churches that have been destroyed or damaged since 2013.