Latest news with #US-originated
The National
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
It is not surprising that young men are choosing to carry weapons
It also betrays a rather signature MSP ignorance of day-to-day reality in impoverished, usually but not exclusively inner-city, communities in the context of threadbare social services and and several decades of alienation from more wealthy and more healthy citizens. The public service depletion that contributes per force to the endemic decision by so many good young people to 'bear arms' is the complete evisceration of community policing that followed the establishment of a unitary police force in this country. Do people in political and social bubbles realise that a parallel justice and 'policing' system has emerged in the de facto absence of an adequately state-funded presence in daily life in many areas? Do they understand that some young men protect themselves and their loved ones by the carrying of, for the most part, deterrent weaponry? READ MORE: Shona Craven: Young people have the right to feel disillusioned A rudimentary 'justice' system has arisen in many areas to deal with criminal and antisocial behaviour in courts of summary street justice, as the police and by extension the state is not protecting either life or property with a properly funded, engaged and embraced community police service. If Holyrood is to save, and at the same time improve, lives in all areas of Scottish life, from health to education and law and order ,it must commit, across political boundaries, to secede from a neoliberal Westminster colonial stranglehold and subscribe wholeheartedly to the commonweal principle that charity and justice begin at home. Angela Constance's colleagues must provide a credible vision of justice in all areas of Scottish life and do the job their Scottish electorate are paying them to do without excuses and/or equivocation: seek radical constitutional change as their pre-eminent priority, and in the meantime have more cops with moral authority. Knives are a symptom of wounded lives that need radical surgery not sticking plasters! Dr Andrew Docherty Selkirk IT is time the running sore of Brexit was given the chance to heal. The self-inflicted damage that Brexit has done economically has really only benefitted other countries. The reality of the close interactions between economies and the illusion that one country can stand alone has been exposed. Trump's misguided tariff war has shown clearly just how interdependent even the biggest economy in the world is. Brexit significantly weakened London as a financial centre. Before Brexit the London Stock Exchange was $1.5 TRILLION larger than Paris. Post-Brexit, the Paris region is emerging as the powerhouse of the EU with more than a hundred US-originated companies creating more than 4000 jobs. READ MORE: Experts debunk Nigel Farage claim that scrapping net zero would save £40bn a year The market speculator insiders benefited initially from the UK Brexit upheaval just as Trump's cronies did in the US tariff debacle. The scenario: create confusion, exploit the resulting stock exchange fall, walk away with a large profit and look for another opportunity. The fallout in damaged economies and poorer families is not their concern; their next big profit is. The illusion that Brexit benefitted ordinary people and not the rich speculators is dead. Even Farage has moved on, attempting to ride on Donald Trump's coattails. Is he too a would-be dictator? People within Reform already have their doubts. Andrew Milroy Trowbridge, Kent AS details of the UK-EU trade deal become clearer, the UK Government, even by its own admission, has highlighted that the economic gains resulting from it will be marginal. At a recent meeting of G7 finance ministers in Canada, Chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed the deal would add nearly £9 billion to the UK economy by 2040 and boost trade with the EU as Britain's single biggest trading partner. The UK Government estimates that material changes in areas covered, such as fisheries, food and energy, will increase GDP by 0.2% by 2040. Contrasting with this, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that Brexit will reduce the UK's long-term GDP by approximately 4% compared to remaining in the EU. The deal shows the UK clearly moving towards a relationship with the EU that is the worst of both worlds: formally sovereign, yet locked in ongoing negotiations and deeply enmeshed in EU frameworks across the entire economy. Moreover, these conditions also mean the UK can't strike a trade deal with the US involving food and agriculture unless there is no trans-shipment of goods, or unless the EU signs a trade deal with the US that solves this issue. Trade deals with the likes of India, the US and the EU simply limit the immense economic damage of Brexit to the UK economy, rather than bringing any benefits. Alex Orr Edinburgh
Korea Herald
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
N. Korea chides Trump over Gaza, Greenland, ‘Gulf of America' and Panama
North Korea chided US President Donald Trump over his repeatedly stated expansionist ambitions to own the Gaza Strip, purchase Greenland and regain control of the Panama Canal as well as his order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America." In a Korean Central News Agency commentary released Wednesday titled 'Oppressive and Ruthless Plunderer— This Is America,' the Kim Jong-un regime on Wednesday criticized Trump's unorthodox foreign policy — notably without once mentioning Trump's name. The KCNA commentary instead rebuked the "current US administration." The commentary stated, "On the 4th, the current United States administration publicly declared that it would take over the Gaza Strip if the Palestinians there were relocated elsewhere," citing Trump's remarks from a Feb. 4 joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The commentary, without naming Trump, condemned his repeated claims over the Gaza Strip as proof of the US intent to "expand a new foothold for its Middle East domination strategy." "The US' innate nature of surviving through slaughter and plunder, along with its hegemonic and aggressive ambition for global domination, is not merely a thing of history but is being clearly demonstrated through today's reality in Gaza," the Korean-language commentary read. 'This is by no means an issue confined to the Gaza Strip." The commentary also listed Trump's expansionist statements, calling for the US to 'immediately stop violating the dignity and sovereignty of other nations and peoples.' 'The current US administration, from the moment it took office, is brazenly committing reckless acts that mock international law and principles without hesitation by having schemed to incorporate Greenland as part of the US, asserted jurisdiction over the Panama Canal and renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America,'' the commentary read. 'The sovereignty, right to self-determination, and territorial integrity of nations and peoples can never be subjects of bargaining or mockery by the US.' The KCNA commentary also appeared on the sixth page of Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers' Party's official newspaper and a key propaganda tool for domestic audiences. North Korea has been issuing statements with greater frequency and intensity, denouncing the US as an imperialist force seeking global dominance through power while reinforcing the perception that strengthening its military and nuclear capabilities is a legitimate response to US-originated threats. During a Feb. 8 visit to the Defense Ministry to mark the 77th anniversary of the Korean People's Army, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said, "The dark shadow of the US, invariably lurking behind conflicts both large and small and bloody ravages around the world today, serves as evidence that our Party and government's policy of pursuing limitless defense capabilities is the most justified." While North Korea's state-run media has repeatedly portrayed the United States as the root of regional and global threats, it has yet to issue any statements directly targeting Trump since his inauguration. The only instance in which North Korea has mentioned Trump's name since his inauguration was in a brief two-line report on the ceremony. Trump has repeatedly boasted about his friendship with Kim Jong-un and expressed openness to meeting him again.
