Current Events Flashcards
Five International Topics
Iran Unrest Rhohinga Crisis Poland Judicial Reforms North Korea Talks Israel/Palestine - Jerusalem
Five UK Topics
Self-driving cars NHS Winter crisis Brexit & Trade Deals Mis-information and reporting in the social media age Gender Pay-gap
Iran Unrest
Mass demonstrations in Iran (since 2009). Started over economic issues but has shifted to political issues against President Rouhani and Supreme Leader Khamenei. Sharp rise in the price of eggs. Caused protests in Masad which is Iran’s second city. Messaging apps and social media have been shut down. Iranian have called for President and Clerics to go and have spoken out against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Economic sanctions were lifted after Iran curbed their nuclear programme in 2015 but the benefits are yet to be seen by most. Iran spends considerable amounts of money supporting President Assad, Hezbollah (Lebanon) and Hamas (Palestine). The deal in 2015 was about curbing Nuclear acitivty, not removing the oppresive regime. Donald Trump is due to decide whether to extend the presidential waiver on the suspension of nuclear-related sanctions this week (it must be renewed every 180 days). The US has convened the UN Security Council over the protests, drawing criticism from Russia who have called the demonstrations an ‘internal affair’. At least 21 people have been killed so far, and over a thousand arrested.
It is estimated that the average Iranian has become 15% poorer over the least decade.
Rohingya Crisis
Over 1 million Rohingya people lived in Myanmar at the start of 2017, primarily in the Rakhine State. Primarily Muslim, the government claims they are illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, denying them citizenship. The relationship is strained by the claims of the Rohingya people that they are descendants of traders that have lived in the region for generations. Myanmar is primarily Buddist which gives rise to fears that the discrimination occurring is racially motivated. As a result of having no state, the Rohingya have a very low quality of life, are segregated from the locals and have limited access to public services and jobs. Rioting occurred in 2012 in Rakhine between the locals and the Rohingya people which drove thousands from their homes. After an attack in August by Rohingya militants resulted in a backlash reportedly involving sexual violence, murder and burning and villages. The total number of refugees in Bangledesh is now at around 900,000. There is also evidence that deaths as a result of the unrest number in the thousands giving rise to the question of genocide.
Yesterday Myanmar’s army admitted it was involved in the killing of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state.
Poland Judicial Reforms
Poland has adopted 13 new laws over the past two year that give the government the ability to intervene in legal matters, thereby threatening the independence of their judicial system. Since coming to power in 2015 laws including those to reduce the function of the constitutional tribunal and reforms concerning the Supreme Court and the National Council of the Judiciary have allowed the president to have more control over the terms judges can serve thereby giving him the power to place or remove judges to his advantage.
The EU has threatened to invoke Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty which gives the EU the power to punish member states that fail to uphold the bloc’s basic ideals: respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and human rights. If invoked, Poland could see voting rights suspended and cut the various aid funding they receive.
The Polish PM has just undertaken a significant reshuffle, sacking a number of secreataries and ministers.
North Korea Talks
Primary issue is its Nuclear programme for which it has been put under heavy sanctions. Missles are now supposedly capable of reaching the whole of the USA. Defections still occur, with the latest on 21st December, just over a month after a defector was shot near the village on Panmunjom. In recent months even China and Russia have shifted towards stronger sanctions. North Koreas has recently proposed the possibility of participating in February’s Winter Olympic Games in Seoul. The two countries speak on the 9th and will focus on finding a way for the North Korean athletes to attend the games. It will be the first such meeting in two years and is likely to be held at Panmunjom. In respect of the talks, the US and South Korea will delay the joint military exercises of Key Resolve and Foal Eagle until after the games. Foal Eagles involves the mass mobilisation of troops and heavy military assets every spring.
Israel/Palestine and Jerusalem
Jerusalem is holy to the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian faiths. It is claimed by both Israel and any future Palestinian State and as such, Trump’s recent decision to move the Israelian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is of course an issue. Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 during the Six Day War but this claim has not been recognised by the US until this proclamation.
57 Arab nations denounced the announcement along with countries such as the UK.
The US still argues it can be the primary arbiter of peace, but palestinian leaders deny this. In response to this Trump has threatened to cut aid to the region.
Further damaging the chance of a two state solution is a raft of new legislation restricting the possibility of Israel allowing Palestine to hold East-Jerusalem.
Self-driving cars
The UK government wants to be at the forefront of self-driving cars an believes the industry to be worth £28bn in the next 17 years. Volvo has been driving an autonomous vehicle around West London since last year. The University of Oxford has created a spin off company which supported by £8.9mil in funding has created vehicles which are planned to start driving autonomously between Oxford and London in 2019. The cars are due to be starting closed road trials in Oxfordshire in the next couple of months, with 6 cars due to be driving alongside ride users by June. Landrover Jaguar, Ford, and Tata Motors are investing heavily in a multi-car communication systems designed to make our roads safer by sharing information on crashes, weather conditions etc. Britain aims to launch self-driving cars on British roads by 2021.
NHS Winter Crisis
Many hospitals are working at close to 100 per cent bed occupancy. All non-essential and non-emergency appointments cancelled in order to reduce pressure. Chronic underfunding over the last seven years has made things worse. The nursing bursary no longer exists which is making staff shortages worse and an increasingly aging population that is growing exacerbates matters. Lack of community/council funding and closure over Christmas and the new year means that patients aren’t moved out into the community or given the support they need which means that they have to stay in hospital.
The CQC has now suspended all routine inspections to give staff more time to deal with patients.
85% bed capacity is seen as a safe level at which to operate. Before winter started, most trusts had already exceeded this figure. Over Christmas 91.7% of beds were occupied.
Labour is due to force a commons vote on the issue to increase cash limits for the current year to that the NHS can reschedule scores of cancelled procedures.
Brexit and Trade
20 MEPs have urged May to keep the Uk in the single market and customs union. The single market is a trade agreement between all EU member states which allows free movement of goods, services, capital and people from one EU member country (as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) to another and accounts for 25% of global GDP. It also eliminates tariffs and taxes on trade and require certain packaging, safety, and trading standards to be upheld within the area. The current intention is for the UK to remain in the Single Market and Customs Union for two years as part of a transition period. The customs union is where the member states have agreed to charge the same import duties which reduces administrative and financial barriers such as customs checks and charges. Talks are ongoing about possibly joining the TPP which is a trading bloc formed of 11 countries with Pacific borders, namely Australia, Canada, Japan.
Of most significant concern regarding trade at the moment is the issue of UK financial services. With the intention of leaving the single market, the EU has said that only goods will be covered by any new trade deal. Without including services, many companies in the financial sector are likely to move to Europe.
Misinformation and reporting in the social media age
Facebook and Twitter have both been implicated in the dissemination of misinformation in the UK.
They are damaging civil discourse, damaging all sides of any argument and appear to be leading to ever more hysterical argument.
The chair of the parliamentary committee has now given firms until 18th January to hand over any information relating to Russian interference in the EU referendum.
The Electoral Commission has also begun its own investigation. There has been criticism after Facebook identified only 3 adverts all of which were identified as part of ongoing investigations in the US, and thus indicates that Facebook has not yet looked further afield for UK meddling. So far, Facebook has only released information about adverts, and not ‘organic’ posts
Facebook has tried different methods to combat fake news such as using flags, and now using ‘related news’ to try and push people towards better news sources.
Gender Pay Gap
In 2016 the UK gender pay gap was 18.1% taken as an average across all employment. At Easyjet women get paid 52% less than men, whilst Virgin Money pay their woman 33% less than men. It is worth remembering that this is for mean hourly pay which means that for Easyjet, where 6% of its aircrew are women, and 69% of its woman are cabin crew with lower pay, skews the figures. Both Easyjet and Virgin Money pay their employees the same amount for the same role, irrespective of gender. The UK armed forces has reported a pay gap of 0.9% lower for women.
Overall gender pay gap in the UK is at 18.4%.
Of siginificant interest in the news at the moment is the BBC after the former Chinese editor Carrie Cracie who stepped down in protest of the gender pay gap when it was announced that her males counterparts were paid 50% more than her.
