Latest news with #socialissues
New York Times
4 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
A Revolution in Public Safety Is Underway
Something important has been happening in American policing over the past few years. A consensus is emerging across the country that the police should not be the only professionals responsible for public safety. Since the police killing of George Floyd in May of 2020 in Minneapolis, an injustice that led to long overdue conversations about policing in America, it has become clear that police officers cannot be expected to resolve every social issue or solve every dispute or problem, whether it's homelessness, a public health crisis, finding a lost pet or responding to a minor traffic accident. We have seen in our work that local police leaders have become increasingly vocal about their rank-and-file being asked to do too much. They argue that sending the police to nearly every 911 call is unnecessary, ineffective, wasteful and dangerous. Police resources are strained and 911 callers don't get the help they need. And all too often, someone gets arrested when it was avoidable or injured or killed when unnecessary force was used. The unarmed Mr. Floyd was killed by a police officer responding to a report that he may have used a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes in a convenience store. In the ensuing confrontation with the police, an officer pressed his knee against Mr. Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, killing him. His widely reported death put a spotlight on data showing that many police killings happened in response to very minor offenses and that many of the victims had behavioral issues that the police acknowledge they lack the expertise to handle. Over the past five years, a movement of local alternative response programs that don't involve the police has flourished and redefined what the 911 system and municipal emergency response can do. The use of trained alternative responders for situations that don't require the police means safer communities for everyone. The police would focus on serious crimes, and more appropriate responders would deal with mental health crises, fender-benders and quality-of-life issues like noise complaints. By our count, there are now more than 130 alternative response programs operating across the country. Many of these programs respond to complex situations that require specially trained professionals. They are the sorts of interactions that have proved to escalate risk when an armed officer arrives on the scene. More research is needed, but early published studies show the possibilities. Alternative response teams have the potential to reduce crime, ease the burden on the police and better meet the needs of 911 callers. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CNA
5 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Insight 2025/2026 - Trump's 100 Days: Trader Woes in Asia
INSIGHT is a one hour long hard current affairs programme that aims to open the minds of viewers to the political, social and economic realities facing today's societies. Every week, a team of producers will bring forward compelling arguments, impartial analysis and penetrating insights into topical issues of the day. What's on the menu are topics of concerns that have set the region talking as well as changing trends and events which impact Asia and beyond. INSIGHT will get you closer to the heart of the issues with insightful interviews and engaging conversations, bringing to you the real story from behind extraordinary experiences.
Telegraph
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Farage's greatest threat isn't Kemi, it's Angela Rayner
After Nigel Farage gave Labour a metaphorical kicking in the local elections, Sir Keir Starmer shifted Right on social issues to meet Reform's challenge in the hope of stopping more Labour voters drifting away. But a fascinating alternative strategy is now being pushed by the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, who is recommending forcing Farage on to territory favoured by the Left. Last week, The Telegraph published a memo from Rayner setting out radical ideas to raise tax revenue and negate the need for further spending reductions, as cuts to benefits such as winter fuel payments are blamed internally for Labour's recent electoral failure. While some of the options set out in the memo included cutting welfare for new migrants, most were targeted at squeezing money out of the middle class, in particular by restricting their child benefits and cutting tax allowances. The memo claimed these policy announcements would be popular with voters. This is an exaggeration; child benefit cuts would play badly with all voters (particularly women), and most others would be too technical to register with all but the most politically obsessed. However, overall, Rayner was on to something: her policy platform would give Labour the first chance since taking power to present itself as the reliable defender of the least well off. Crucially, and most importantly, it would also finally place Farage on the back foot: forcing him to explain to his working-class base why his free-market approach would leave them better off. While I believe Reform can and should make a free-market, low-tax economic policy attractive to voters, there is no denying that many of the party's supporters would instinctively favour an approach closer to Rayner's. Big-state policies have failed provincial England, but they have a simple attraction. You can debate the specifics, and her suggestions would need refinement, but a variation of Rayner's strategy makes more electoral sense than Starmer's. By pivoting to issues such as immigration, crime and 'woke' since the local elections, the Prime Minister is fighting on ground where Reform is strongest. Starmer says he wants to cut immigration, but Farage will point to his failure on small boats. He says he wants to be tough on crime, but Farage will highlight the serious criminals strolling out of prison early. He says he wants to move away from woke excesses, but his public sector remains addicted to political correctness. Conversely, Rayner's approach would expose the massive ideological divisions at the heart of Reform's voter base – and indeed among its MPs and activists – which have not yet been exploited by the main parties. Last week, we heard of the sad early death of Ukip's former MEP (and Farage's ex-colleague) Patrick O'Flynn. He split with Farage in part because he believed a Left-leaning approach to the economy was more in tune with Reform's (Ukip's, at the time) provincial voters. Farage is desperate to stop the next election being fought on issues where Reform is divided – above all, on the economy and the NHS – and desperate instead for attention to remain on immigration, crime and woke (where Reform enjoys unassailable leads). Labour have no choice but to try to change the game. Rayner herself is no longer as popular as she was a year ago. And the discipline of government does not suit someone who likes to say whatever she thinks. However, her recent intervention will secure major support within the party. She might repair the connection she had with ordinary voters when Labour was in opposition. It is possible therefore that her alternative strategy secures traction. Rayner will need to dial down the excesses of her approach for a broader audience. But the fact remains that her approach would keep Farage up at night with worry, while Starmer's approach will have him relishing every day of battle.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Newport teen to read award-winning essay at state's Memorial Day ceremony
Rogers High School Senior Grace Rochelle of Newport is shown on the campus of Notre Dame University where she plans to enroll in the fall. (Courtesy of Grace Rochelle) The 2024 presidential election had not happened when Grace Rochelle wrote an essay for her AP comparative government class at Rogers High School in Newport responding to the question of 'Is America Today Our Forefathers' Vision?' But her perspective on the growing divide between conservatives and liberals remains relevant four months into the second administration of President Donald Trump. Rochelle sees the lack of political and social connection and collaboration at the national, state and local levels as hindering the country's progress. Grace Rochelle will read her award-winning VFW Voice of Democracy essay as the featured speaker at the 51st annual Memorial Day Commemoration on Monday, May 16, at 1 p.m. at the Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery in Exeter. Listen to the audio version of essay here. 'I thought about the issues in America, and I don't really feel like we're in a place where we can be proud, I guess you could say, of where we're at because a lot of issues need to be resolved,' Rochelle said. History teacher Coleen Turner made the essay a mandatory assignment for her students and gave them the option of recording the essay and submitting it to the 2024-2025 Veterans of Foreign War Voice of Democracy National Scholarship Competition through VFW Post 406 in Newport. Rochelle, a competitive tennis player with three State and All-Division honors to her name, including 1st team All-State this year, was fair game. 'I thought I already did the essay, I might as well do the recording,' Rochelle, 17, a Rogers senior, recalled. 'It took a few tries, or more like 20, 25 tries,' she said. 'It was either too short or too long depending on how I was pacing myself. But I just thought you know why not? We'll see what happens.' What happened was the VFW Department of Rhode Island named Rochelle the state winner. She won a total of $2,000 in scholarships and received a trip to the 2025 VFW Washington Conference held March 2-6, 2025, in Washington, D.C. 'It was the best trip I've ever been on. It was cool to be around a bunch of different kids,' Rochelle said, adding she made several new friends. 'I got (to be) pretty good friends with Oklahoma and Guam and Louisiana and New Jersey. Those were the four girls I really clicked with.' Rochelle will read her award-winning essay as the featured speaker at the 51st annual Memorial Day commemoration on Monday at 1 p.m. at the Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery in Exeter to honor service members who sacrificed their lives for our nation. Gov. Dan McKee, the state's four congressional delegates and state office holders and lawmakers are scheduled to attend. The 88th Army Band of the Rhode Island National Guard will perform and Gold Star Family members will participate in the ceremony. Rochelle is the daughter of Brian and Carrie Rochelle, both Army veterans who served tours in Iraq. Her parents work at Naval Undersea Warfare Center where her mother is a contracting officer and her father is a contracts manager. She plans to attend the University of Notre Dame to study political science and economics, with hopes of going to law school and making a career in international politics and government. Her dream job is to become a diplomat for the U.S. State Department or the United Nations. I thought about the issues in America, and I don't really feel like we're in a place where we can be proud, I guess you could say, of where we're at because a lot of issues need to be resolved. – Grace Rochelle, 17, of Newport In discussing this year's VFW Voice of Democracy question with her comparative government students, Turner had them the ideas of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness emerging from the Declaration of Independence and the contradictions over the meaning of equality as applied to different demographic groups. 'It was a good question. It fit in well with my curriculum,' Turner said of the class which looks at six different countries in relation to life in the United States. Rochelle's award-winning essay takes a contrarian view. She argues that the U.S. has been weakened by divisiveness and that's not what the founding fathers envisioned at all. 'You go back to George Washington's farewell address and he warned about political factions and that's where we are as a society. We have political factions,' Rochelle said. 'I don't necessarily feel like they are a horrible thing, but what political parties do however, is make people close-minded from what I've seen a lot of times. People aren't willing to hear the other side and even consider the other side, and I think that's where the real issue comes.' The solution, she said, is to somehow bring people back to the moderate side of both parties. 'I do think the majority of Americans are somewhat moderate. They're the less outspoken ones and I think we need to be uplifting the voices of those who are moderates and giving them the bigger platform than people who are far left and far right.' Turner said Rochelle presented a 'unique voice and a different perspective.' 'It came out really well,' Turner said of Rochelle's essay. 'She's made us all proud. She's going to do great things.' By Grace Rochelle When answering whether America today is our forefathers' vision, there may be a variety of responses. On one hand, Americans are still some of the most passionate people when it comes to upholding liberties, democracy, and nationalism. But on the other hand, we have never been more fractionalized, and the divide between conservatives and liberals seems to continue to grow. I will attempt to navigate these complexities and demonstrate that overall, America today is not our forefathers' vision. The struggle to answer this question is mainly the stark differences between the late 18th century and the 21st century. Our forefathers could not possibly imagine the advancements we have today, especially when it comes to technology, transportation, and media. For example, Thomas Jefferson, a major proponent for privacy and freedom, may find mass surveillance and data gathering disturbing and unconstitutional. Furthermore, the further in time we progress, the more different our country will look compared to when it was founded. So how can we compare values from the late 1700s to today's? I believe that as time progresses, central values may also have to progress and/or change to better fit the people of the time. Next, we look into what the forefathers wanted for our country. The most important and main issue was independence. In Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary, independence meant, 'A state of being not dependent; complete exemption from control, or the power of others; as the independence of the Supreme Being.' I argue that today, we are greatly economically dependent on other countries through the trade of goods and services which goes against our Founding Fathers' vision. Dependency, such as our large debt to China and reliance on their goods, leads us to be vulnerable to instability if a country were to collapse or eliminate trade with us. Since World War I, the U.S. has taken a sort of overseer role in the world. As a global power, we always appear to aid countries in need, whether it be supplies or money. While this certainly is a morally good thing, it also can undermine what gets done internally. In addition to the question of our true independence as a state, many of the forefathers were very weary and against the forming of political factions, but today we have not been more divided as a country since the Civil War because of factions. The current split between the conservatives and liberals has seriously hindered the progress of the legislature in this country, divided not just the government but also citizens, and weakens the country's internal strength. The Founding Fathers knew the importance of unity, as they brought the 13 colonies together not just for the Revolutionary War against the British, but also to form a new country. They promoted and inspired nationalism in the colonies and preached that unity was vital to protecting America from external influences. With the constant stalemate we see in Congress, we have seriously fallen behind in making a budget for our country and addressing social and other important political issues. I believe the current disunity in this country is the complete opposite of what the forefathers hoped to continue for America. The internal conflict disrupts the nation's progress and displays our weaknesses to our largest enemies such as China, Russia, and Iran. Although America today has seemed to have fallen on a different path from what our forefathers were envisioning, we have always and will continue to have fighting spirits. When it comes to civil liberties and social issues, Americans are some of the most vocal out of any groups in the world. While this is one of the main causes for discontinuity, it does show the freedom and pride that people have to improve this country. In the beginning days of our country, the Forefathers wanted the people's voices to be heard, setting up a system to ensure that was made possible. Today we see that same system allowing citizens to protest issues such as abortion and gun laws, without prosecution. That system in the 18th century instilled a sense of identity and nationalism into the new American people and continues to do that in Americans today. Overall, America today is not our forefathers' vision, whether it be the issue of independence or political factions. And while we have fulfilled some of their manifestations, altogether the drastic difference in society now has prevented their vision from completely continuing. While I wouldn't expect America to be fully on the path of our forefather's vision, I do believe they would feel we seriously need to fix our current system, economically, socially, and politically. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Daily Mail
A warning to Britain: Brought to its knees by a crackpot, Net Zero-obsessed socialist government, dystopian Spain offers a chilling vision of our possible future
Even the armed police patrolling Madrid-Barajas airport are wary of the rough sleepers who have turned Terminal 4 into a dosshouse. 'Be careful,' a young, clean-shaven officer warned when the Mail visited this week. 'It can be dangerous here – this is zombieland.' With an annual headcount of 65million passengers, Spain 's biggest airport has long been used to human traffic. But Barajas has now turned into a so-called 'hidden city' – thanks to the spiralling number of homeless people taking over its halls. In the past decade, the number of rough sleepers here has swelled from about 50 people to as many as 500. Unsurprisingly, the increase has sparked a rise in drink-related violence and other anti-social behaviour as well as reports of weapons, rampant drug use – including crack cocaine – and even prostitution. It's not exactly the stuff of holiday brochures and that cheesy 1970s pop hit Y Viva España. No one would describe Terminal 4 as a pretty picture. By 7.30pm, the'unauthorised occupants' – as the rough sleepers are diplomatically named by the authorities – start turning in for the night. Ranging in age from early 30s to late 60s, most of them bed down one level below the check-in area using blankets, sheets of cardboard or – for the lucky few – sleeping bags. The prime spots are located next to power sockets, where mobile phones can be charged and kettles boiled. Almost everyone has an airport trolley weighed down with battered suitcases and carrier bags. Among them is a Peruvian woman in her 60s who has been sleeping at the airport for the past year. 'I got robbed and lost all my documentation, so I have been scraping by and flitting around ever since,' she says. 'Basically, the little money I have isn't enough to live on outside of the airport.' Others, perhaps with darker tales to tell, are less inclined to talk. But a 67-year-old Spanish man exclaims: 'I was in full-time employment for 50 years. I lost my job and I've no pension left. That's how I ended up in this situation.' Trailing off, he adds: 'The problem here is Pedro Sanchez . . .' That is Spain's 53-year-old prime minister – a man who looms large in this increasingly dismal picture. For the chaotic scene at the airport has become a horrifying illustration of the country's decline since his socialist government took power in 2018 and which should serve as a disturbing warning to Britain. As any holidaymaker visiting the EU's sixth-largest economy in recent months will have observed, it is not just limited to Terminal 4. This week, tourists described 'watching in horror' as a homeless man stabbed a stranger in the neck at Palma airport on the Balearic Island of Mallorca. Carlos Heriberto Beltran Perdomo, a 45-year-old man from El Salvador, who is believed to be among dozens sleeping rough at the airport, later appeared in court over the attack. But the shocking scenes of poverty don't end there. Chronic housing shortages, spiralling migration and the highest unemployment rate on the continent have seen tensions rise across Spain. That's before we recall the devastating flash floods around the city of Valencia on the southwestern coast, which killed more than 200 people last November, as well as last month's power outage, which saw hospitals, shops and banking networks wiped out and led to the deaths of three people. Both events have been widely linked to Spain's demented, dysfunctional push for Net Zero. It doesn't take a particularly keen-eyed observer to see the cautionary parallels with Britain's Government today. Sir Keir Starmer and key Labour figures, including Ed Miliband, are intent on pursuing a slyly Left-wing agenda on economics and energy. Yet these are broadly the policies that Sanchez's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party has been implementing since coming to power and which are now wreaking havoc. So how exactly did it all go wrong for Spain? And is it in danger of losing its allure entirely? As far as Britons are concerned, the attraction dates back to the 1950s and the dawn of the package holiday. With its miles of golden beaches, 3,000 hours of sunshine per year and cheap sangria, Spain quickly became our favourite overseas destination. Even now, it remains our most popular choice. Of British travellers' 86.2million journeys abroad in 2023, around one in five (17.8million) were to Spain, data from the Office for National Statistics shows. But recent anti-tourist demonstrations are perhaps the clearest sign yet that the long-running love affair between Britain and Spain is heading for the rocks – in itself a knock-on effect of the country's major domestic problems. By far the biggest issue has been housing. Rents have risen by 74 per cent nationwide over the past decade, figures show. Almost half of tenants spend 40 per cent of their income on rent and utility bills compared to the EU average of 27 per cent, a recent Bank of Spain report reveals. While social housing makes up just 2.5 per cent of Spain's domestic property stock, some 3.8million homes – 14 per cent of the total supply – are vacant, largely after being snapped up by overseas buyers. These concerns have played a major part in the anti-tourist protests which have exploded this year in Barcelona, the Balearic Islands and, just last week, in the Canary Islands. Indeed, Sanchez yesterday confirmed he would push ahead with plans to hit Britons with a 100 per cent tax when buying holiday homes since – by his own admission – 'we are facing one of the largest problems our society is currently confronted with'. Elsewhere, tensions have grown over Spain's unemployment rate which – at 11 per cent – is the highest in Europe. This is even worse among the under-25s, more than a quarter of whom don't have a job. Jorge Calero, a credit controller from Madrid, explains the rage: 'Lots and lots of people in Spain are not in a good place. The housing situation is a real disgrace. It is really difficult to get a place to live. I'm not too far off 30 and I have to share a place with three other guys. I really don't see a time when I will be able to afford a home of my own.' He adds: 'I'm lucky that I have a job. I know plenty of people who are well qualified and genuinely want to work, but they just can't get anything that is even vaguely suitable. 'And the wages in most sectors are pretty low. The cost of living in Spain might not be as high as other places, but you still need money to live.' Migration, too, has become a crunch issue, with Sanchez unveiling plans last October to make it easier for migrants to integrate into the labour market and cut red tape for residency applications. Now, of the 49million population, nearly one in five was born abroad and close to 900,000 come from Morocco. But while the Spanish public has traditionally taken a liberal approach to the incoming population, a poll commissioned by the Left-wing El Pais newspaper last October found that 57 per cent believe there is now 'too much' immigration. It all paints a dismal portrait of Sanchez's political stance. His drive for Net Zero came under the spotlight internationally after the blackout, which saw mainland Spain and neighbouring Portugal plunged into mayhem. Communications networks were paralysed, transport ground to a halt and panic buyers stripped supermarket shelves bare. This week, claims emerged that officials had 'covered up' evidence linking the 23-hour outage to Spain's reliance on renewable energy. More than half of the country's electricity is now generated from solar and wind. One of the green push's few dissenters is Jordi Sevilla, who served as chairman of Red Electrica, which runs the national grid, until 2020. He says that the current government's plan for the grid has involved 'too much renewable messianism' and 'turning a deaf ear to the technical problems associated with such an important change in Spain's energy mix'. Another expert, Antonio Turiel, of the state-owned Spanish National Research Council, warns that the system is vulnerable due to the 'haphazard integration of a host of renewable systems'. Indeed, just this week, EU sources told the Daily Telegraph that authorities had been conducting an experiment before the system crashed to investigate how far they could push the country's reliance on renewables before Spain phases out its nuclear reactors from 2027. If that wasn't alarming enough, Red Electrica is currently overseen by Beatriz Corredor, a political ally of Sanchez who has no previous experience in the electricity sector and whose reported six-figure salary is six times higher than that of the prime minister. Yet, despite these misgivings and cover-up claims, there is no sign of any let-up in Spain's relentless drive for renewable energy. Quite the opposite, in fact. The authorities are determined to cover 81 per cent of the country's electricity demands using green power by 2030. For his part, Sanchez is resolute. 'In Spain, the future of energy lies in other sources such as hydroelectric, solar, wind and green hydrogen,' he has declared. 'Renewables are not only the future; they are our only choice.' Four hours from Madrid, I visit Valencia, the country's third biggest city. As well as its pristine beaches, aquarium and 13th-century cathedral, it is home to the Requiem in Power project: a plan to create the country's largest urban solar farm by carpeting three cemeteries with 6,600 photovoltaic panels. More than 800 of these unsightly metallic panels – each covered in cells which absorb sunlight to convert into electricity – have already been slapped over the top of window-sized 'nicho' graves lining the cemeteries' walls. None of the relatives of the deceased were asked about what they thought about the project before work started because, according to city official Carlos Mundina, the graveyards are 'publicly owned' and the authorities 'don't need to consult anyone'. But it doesn't stop there. In the southern rural province of Jaen, 100 olive farmers have been forced from their land to make way for a 900-hectare solar park. The plan, which will see 40,000 olive trees cut down, has already sparked outrage – as Natalia Corbalan, the spokeswoman for agricultural lobby group SOS Rural, tells the Mail. 'We're seeing farmers who have no say whatsoever and are being forced to hand over their land,' she says. 'We're not talking about farmers who are willingly giving up their lands on promises of money for the next 30 years. 'The energy companies are pressuring them into giving up their land in exchange for an amount of money that is nothing to write home about – around €3,000 per hectare – and are telling them that if they don't agree to do so, the land will be categorised as land of national interest and end up being expropriated. 'These farmers can't sue either because lawsuits are lengthy and costly, and we're talking about people who perhaps haven't got the resources to fight against an army of lawyers. 'It's David against Goliath, the weak against the strong.' And the wider repercussions for the country could be even more dire, as Ms Corbalan highlights. 'When you transform fertile agricultural land to make way for solar panels, the change is irreversible,' she warns. 'We need a system that guarantees us food in extreme situations, like the one we suffered during the Covid crisis, or in certain times of difficulty, like the one caused by the power blackout. 'If we carry on the way we are, we risk suffering a food blackout.' All of which paints a gloomy picture indeed for Spain's once-glittering socialist dream. And, as I watch yet more rough sleepers preparing to bed down at Terminal 4, I can only hope Britain isn't next.
