'Racist ignorance': Brits clap back after Trump VP pick JD Vance calls UK a 'truly Islamist country'

Tory Co-Chair Sayeeda Warsi said UK-US ties have become 'a racist joke'

THE WEEK UK
Web Desk 

Updated: July 17, 2024 

Republican vice presidential candidate and Ohio Senator JD Vance does a walkthrough on stage during the second day of 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024 | AP/PTI

Donald Trump's running mate Vice-President J.D. Vance has sparked outrage after remarking that the UK under the Labour government is an "Islamist country".

Speaking at a conference for UK Conservatives last week, Vance said he was discussing with a friend which country would be the first "truly Islamist country with nuclear weapons", and answered that, "Maybe it's Iran, maybe Pakistan kind of counts, and then we sort of decided maybe it's actually the UK since Labour just took over".

He went on to add, "To our Tory friends, I have to say, you guys have got to get a handle on this."

This comes after Foreign Secretary David Lammy tried to mend ties with Vance in May when he was in the opposition. Vance had even said Lammy was his "English friend".

Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner played down the controversy, saying the Ohio senator has made such "fruity" remarks in the past as well.

Tory Co-Chair Sayeeda Warsi wrote in The Independent that the UK-US ties have become nothing more than "a racist joke" and warned of "dangerous times ahead".

Shadow Veterans Minister Andrew Bowie told Times Radio that he "absolutely" disagreed with Vance's claim, adding that it's "actually quite offensive, frankly, to my colleagues in the Labour party." Shadow minister posts are positions held by the Opposition party members in the UK Parliament.

British Treasury Minister James Murray told Sky News that the British are proud of their diversity, adding that "I don't know what he (Vance) was driving at in that comment, to be honest."

Norwich South Labour MP Clive Lewis told The Independent that the comments show that "we now need to prepare for the worst-case scenario of a Trump-Vance presidency."

Canterbury Labour MP Rosie Duffield called Vance's remarks as "pretty ignorant, racist and Islamophobic".

JD Vance's 'Islamist Country' Remark Sparks Outrage In UK, Deputy PM Dismisses 'Fruity' Remark

Speaking at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, Vance cited a conversation with a friend. He stated that the UK is on track to become "the first Islamist country with nuclear weapons", especially under the new Labour government.

Outlook Web Desk
Updated on: 17 July 2024 

Trump VP Pick JD Vance Upsets UK | Photo: AP

A day after former US president Donald Trump announced Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate, the vice presidential pick has already sparked controversy. His recent statements against the newly elected Labour Government have sparked outrage across the UK.

Speaking at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington last week, Vance cited a conversation with a friend and said that the UK is on track to become "the first Islamist country with nuclear weapons".


What Did Vance Say?

"I was talking about, you know: what is the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon?” he said. “Maybe it is Iran, maybe Pakistan already kind of counts, and then we finally decided that it’s actually the UK – since Labour just took over," Vance was quoted as saying.


"American leaders should look out for Americans... and for the Brits, UK leaders should look out for citizens of the UK or subjects or whatever you guys call yourselves," Vance added further, adding that the Torys in the UK have "got to get a handle on this".

Outrage In The UK

Politicians in the UK have slammed the remarks as "ignorant and racist".

Labour MP Rosie Duffield called the remark an "obviously a pretty ignorant and racist comment” while Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer termed the comment as "Islamophobic."

Even Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage, who is known for favouring Trump and his policies, disagreed with the VP pick's comments.

Russia to 'work with any American leader;' lauds JD Vance Ukraine aid opposition

'We will remain ready to work with any US leader who the US people elect,' says Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Michael Hernandez |17.07.2024 -



WASHINGTON

Russia signaled an openness Wednesday to working with whomever the American people elect in November as the nation heads toward presidential elections.

It also lauded Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance's opposition to further military assistance for Ukraine.

"We will remain ready to work with any US leader who the US people elect, and which the leader will be willing to engage in equitable, mutually respectful dialogue," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in remarks translated from Russian at the UN's New York headquarters.

Russia currently holds the UN Security Council presidency and Lavrov is in the city to chair a pair of Council meetings.

Lavrov further voiced approval to reporters for Vance's opposition to Ukraine aid, saying he is "in favor of peace, in favor of ending the assistance that's been provided, and we can only welcome that, because that's what we need, to stop pumping Ukraine full of weapons, and then the war will end."

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced Vance as his running mate Monday in a long-awaited announcement that has further raised concerns in Europe about the continuation of American support for Ukraine if the former president secures reelection.

During last week's NATO summit in Washington, allies announced plans to form a new command at a headquarters in Germany led by a three-star general with logistics hubs in eastern flank nations to facilitate the alliance's continued military assistance to Kyiv.

The action to bring the mission under NATO's auspices is being taken in part to insulate the process from potential disruptions that could be caused by Trump's reelection.

 The J.D. Vance Biopic “Hillbilly Elegy” and How to Watch It

ByPaula Tsoni

July 17, 2024

A 2020 Netflix movie Hillbilly Elegy describes the difficult childhood and challenges faced by Donald Trump’s 2024 Presidential election running mate, JD Vance. Credit: Ralph Branson / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

American venture capitalist, lawyer, and best-selling author James David Vance, best known as JD Vance, has just stepped into the international spotlight by becoming Republican candidate and former US President Donald Trump’s choice as his running mate for the upcoming November US Presidential election, it was announced on Monday.

The 39-year-old retired US-Marine-turned-politician, who will be named US Vice President if Donald Trump wins the election, described his difficult childhood in Appalachian Ohio and detailed the challenges he faced as part of the white working class of modern-day America in the 2016 best-seller memoir Hillbilly Elegy.

Although it met with controversy in the region, the book’s nationwide publishing success led to a drama movie adaptation by Imagine Entertainment, released in 2020, currently available for streaming on Netflix, which owns the international distribution rights.

The biopic describes JD Vance’s childhood troubles amidst his mother’s substance abuse problems, his years of service in Iraq and university studies, and his personal happily-ever-after with his girlfriend.

J.D. Vance movie receives mixed reactions

Directed by Oscar winner Ron Howard, starring Amy Adams, Glenn Close, and Gabriel Basso, Hillbilly Elegy received mixed—if not contrasting—reviews, as many critics thought the movie reinforced stereotypes.

It received three nominations at the Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Director for Howard, Worst Screenplay for Taylor, and Worst Supporting Actress for Close, who played the role of Vance’s grandmother, Bonnie.

Paradoxically, it also earned Close nominations for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards, while Adams’ performance earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.

This made Glenn Close the third performer in history to be nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Raspberry Award for the same performance.

Several books have attempted to rebut the negative image of the region painted by Vance in Hillbilly Elegy. The same year as the movie’s release, the memoir received a bold response from Vance’s childhood community in the form of another book under the title Appalachian Reckoning; A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy.

Hillbilly Elegy‘s success led to JD Vance’s accession to US politics

As viewers might observe, Vance’s memoir and movie narrative ends where his political career begins with the one somehow leading to the other.

A former critic of Trump, Vance became sought after as a lecturer and political commentator following the release of Hillbilly Elegy. This is because the memoir served as insight into the lives of working-class whites living outside major cities. It offered an explanation as to why this group of Americans supported a political outsider like Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential elections.

Often rumored as a potential political candidate, he reportedly considered running for the US Senate in 2018 but declined to enter the race. He eventually did so when Ohio’s junior US Senator Republican Rob Portman announced he would not seek reelection when his term came to an end in 2022.

Entering the race to replace Portman, Vance publicly apologized for his past criticism of Trump, aligned himself with the former President’s policies, and even repeated the latter’s claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election. Whether there were motivations for doing so is unknown.

Upon defeating Democratic candidate Tim Ryan, Vance was sworn in as junior Senator of Ohio in January 2023.

THEY ARE BOTH ARYAN NATIONALISTS

Buzz grows in India over Indian-origin wife of Trump's running mate J.D. Vance

Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance is accompanied by his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, July 15, 2024.
PHOTO: Reuters

PUBLISHED ONJULY 16, 2024

ByNIRMALA GANAPATHY


NEW DELHI – Just who is Mrs Usha Chilukuri Vance, wondered many Indians as yet another Indian connection surfaced in the ongoing US presidential election campaign.

The 38-year-old lawyer was thrown into the media spotlight not just in the US but also in India after her husband, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, was chosen as the Republican vice-presidential candidate.

Wearing a khaki-coloured dress, Mrs Vance, who is of Indian origin, stood proudly by her husband’s side at the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin, in the US, where he was confirmed as the nominee on July 15.

Former US president Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he chose Mr Vance as his running mate after “lengthy deliberation and thought”.

In India, interest was focused more on Mrs Vance as another instance of the Indian-American immigrant success story, which has continued to captivate Indians.

Her impressive education and professional credentials were amply highlighted in Indian media reports.

Mrs Vance graduated from Yale Law School, where she met her husband. Their romance, according to a 2022 New York Times profile of the couple, was encouraged by Yale law professor Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother, which gave rise to the tiger mum phenomenon.

She went on to do a Master of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, and then clerked for US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh while he was an appeals court judge. She started in 2015 as an associate, and later became a corporate litigator at Munger, Tolles and Olson, a progressive law firm from which she resigned on July 15.

All aspects of the couple’s personal lives that highlighted the Indian connection were amply reported in India.

Mr Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, posted a picture of the couple on X wearing Indian clothes at their 2014 wedding, with the tweet “another great Indian wedding”. The couple had both Indian and Christian ceremonies.

The reference to “another” was related to the recent lavish, star-studded wedding of Mr Anant Ambani, the son of Asia’s richest man, Mr Mukesh Ambani, to Ms Radhika Merchant.

“Trump’s V-P pick J.D. Vance and Usha Chilukuri’s Hindu wedding picture goes viral,” said The Times of India in a headline.

Indian newspapers also highlighted how the couple gave the second of their three children an Indian name, Vivek. Their other children are Ewan and Mirabel.

A clip of the Vances talking about how they had different religious beliefs was also widely shared on social media in India, a Hindu-majority country.

“I did grow up in a religious household. My parents are Hindu, that was one of the things that made them good parents, made them good people,” Mrs Vance told the Fox & Friends show on Fox News in June.

Her husband said that her religious grounding had helped him in his own religious journey as a Christian. “Usha was actually raised non-Christian... I remember when I started to re-engage with my own faith, Usha was very supportive,” he said.

While not much has been written about her parents, a mechanical engineer and a biologist, and their immigrant roots, Mrs Vance was brought up in an upwardly mobile suburb of San Diego, said the 2022 New York Times profile.

“The family was part of a small, close-knit community of Indian-American academics and professionals, and their children,” the NYT said.

While Mrs Vance’s political views and how they reconcile with her husband’s political position are matters of debate in the US, over in India, the focus remained for now on her Indian roots. The NYT noted she was a registered Democrat in 2014.

Indians have had a lot to be proud about when it comes to Indian-origin politicians making it big overseas, said Mr Robinder Sachdeva, co-founder of the US India Political Action Committee.

Most recently, a frenzy arose over Mr Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent, when he became the British prime minister in 2022. He lost in elections earlier in July.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris is also being closely watched in India to see if she might replace US President Joe Biden as the candidate in the upcoming election against Trump. Ms Harris, 59, was born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, both of whom migrated to the US to study.

“The excitement in India is part national pride and part of it is the sense of succeeding in America,” said Mr Sachdeva.

“And given that the Democratic ticket has Harris and now the Trump ticket can also be said to have an Indian connection, that means that irrespective of who wins, the vice-president house will have a person of Indian origin.”

Torrential rains hit Canada's largest city Toronto, closing a major highway and other roads

Toronto Fire Services said it rescued 14 people from flooding on the highway

AP Toronto

 Published 17.07.2

Cars are partially submerged in flood waters in the Don Valley following heavy rain in Toronto, on Tuesday, July 16 2024

A major highway, several other thoroughfares and a key transit hub were flooded in Toronto as torrential rains washed over Canada's largest city Tuesday, causing power outages in multiple areas.

Toronto police said part of the Don Valley Parkway, which runs from the north part of the city into the downtown area, was closed due to flooding. They also said part of Lakeshore Boulevard, which runs along Lake Ontario, was flooded and closed.

Toronto Fire Services said it rescued 14 people from flooding on the highway.

“We're actively rescuing people that are trapped in their cars or on top of their cars,” Deputy Fire Chief Jim Jessop told reporters in the afternoon. “We are triaging based on life safety.”

Tima Nizomov was among those who got stranded on the Don Valley Parkway. The 26-year-old said he had to wait in his BMW, with water around him, until firefighters arrived.

“A lot of water came but...my car is stuck and that's it,” he said, recalling his decision to stay in his vehicle as water rose around him. “Firefighters helped me.”

Rapper Drake shared a video on Instagram that appears to show flooding at his mansion.

“This better be Expresso Martini,” he wrote about the brown water.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his basement was flooded.

At the heart of the downtown core, there was flooding at Union Station, a key transit terminus. Water was seen pooling on the floor of a main concourse and stores at the station were closed. Parts of the underground PATH network, which has retail and restaurants and connects to Union Station, were also closed due to flooding and stores lost power for a time.

Subway trains were not stopping at Union, the Toronto Transit Commission said in the afternoon, while several transit buses and streetcars were making detours on their regular routes across the city due to localised flooding.

Flooding also disrupted life in many other parts of the Toronto region, with the provincial police warning of flooding on parts of highways and local police forces urging caution.

The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority said that shorelines, rivers and streams should be considered dangerous. It said more than 10 cm (4 inches) of rain had fallen in pockets across Toronto.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the number of Toronto Hydro electricity customers without power was down to about 109,000 by late afternoon

Spain's Valencia shuts three beaches hit by oil spill

17 July 2024 - 11:48BY EVA MÁÑEZ

The city council of Valencia, Spain, on Tuesday closed three beaches on the Mediterranean coast after oil or fuel from a spill washed up on a 2-km (1.2-mile) line of sand. The cause of the spill was not immediately clear.

“The red flag was raised on the beach of Saler, Arbre del Gos y Garrofera because of the spill,” city hall spokesperson Juan Carlos Caballero told reporters

Authorities in Valencia, Spain's third-largest city, have sent a drone and a helicopter to find the origin and nature of the spill and gauge its severity. Special crews were sent to clean up the popular beaches just south of the city on a narrow strip of land between the Mediterranean and a protected wetland called L'Albufera.

The extent of the spill appeared limited to that area, Caballero said.

In addition to an industrial port and several heavy-industry plants, Valencia also has popular beach resorts.

Reuters

What does NATO's planned Jordan office mean for the region?

THE HEGEMON'S IRON FIST EXPANDS

NATO will open its first Middle East liaison office in Jordan. Some locals have described it as Jordanian "betrayal." Others suggest it means NATO might get involved in the Gaza conflict.

Jordan's King Abdullah (left) visited NATO headquarters in Brussels last November

Cathrin Schaer

DW

JULY 17,2024

The angry comments began as soon as the announcement was made.

NATO said at its summit in Washington last week that Jordan would host its first liaison office in the Middle East.

"The opening of a NATO Liaison Office in Amman is a natural progression of the longstanding relationship between NATO and Jordan," a press release said. It also acknowledged Jordan "as a beacon of stability in both regional and global contexts."

Others didn't see things in such a positive light.

"Betrayal runs in their veins," one social media user based in Algeria wrote on Facebook under a news article about the new NATO office. "How do you explain shaking the hand of those who kill your brothers everywhere?"

"Jordan has been sold without a shot fired," added another user, also from Algeria.

"Where are the free people of Jordan? Do they agree with this?" a commentator from Tunisia scolded.

The idea of the NATO office also spawned a number of conspiracy theories. Some speculated that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization must now want to be actively involved in conflicts in Gaza or Lebanon on behalf of Israel.

This is not the first time in recent months that Jordan has been the target of this kind of criticism. In April, after Iran launched drones and missiles at Israel, the country played a significant role in fending off the attack.

Jordan said it was only protecting its own airspace, but this was seen as problematic by many Jordanians. One in five people there, including the country's queen, are of Palestinian descent, and the Palestinian desire for statehood is a cause close to the hearts of many.

However, in reality, Jordan — where political dissent is often suppressed by the ruling royal family — has a close, security-focused relationship with neighboring Israel that is seldom reported inside Jordan itself. It has also been collaborating with NATO and the United States, a major ally, for decades on various defense and military activities.

NATO did not respond to a DW request on when the office might open. However, it cannot be too far away: A recent NATO job posting, seeking a chief for the liaison office, set August 25 as the deadline for applications.

Jordanians have been protesting for weeks about the ongoing Israeli military campaign in GazaImage: Laith Al-jnaidi/Anadolu/picture alliance

Unpopular NATO

Despite the proximity to Gaza, the new NATO liaison office in Jordan has nothing to do with the conflict there, experts told DW.

"Despite the tremendous increase in hostilities in the region — Israel-Hamas, of course, but also Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis, Iran, and so on — the decision by NATO was almost certainly long planned rather than a reaction to current conflicts," Jonathan Panikoff, director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council's Middle East Program, told DW.

An Amman office for NATO was being discussed back in July 2023, long before the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and the ensuing Israeli military campaign in Gaza.

The conflict in Gaza possibly accelerated the planning for the office, according to Isabelle Werenfels, a senior fellow in the Africa and Middle East division at the Berlin-based Institute for International and Security Affairs. "But I don't think that NATO has any appetite to move closer to the Middle East conflict," she told DW.

Additionally, the new liaison office is hardly NATO's first foray into the Middle East. The organization already has a wide range of partnerships in the region.

Amman office both significant and symbolic

Despite all the online outrage, how big a deal is this NATO liaison office in Amman really?

From NATO's perspective, it can be seen as a significant milestone, said H.A. Hellyer, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"It shows NATO is keen to emphasize that the world has changed and it is committed to showing engagement with partners in the Middle East," he said. "Considering Russian outreach into the region as well, this makes sense for NATO.

"A liaison office sets into motion a different structure and means that Jordan will have more direct cooperation in a number of shared interest areas [like] crisis management, cyber security, climate change and others," Hellyer added.

From the region's perspective, it should be seen as more of a "symbolic big deal" right now, Werenfels and Panikoff agreed. But it has the potential to grow in the future.

"The NATO [Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI)] regional center in Kuwait has already united countries in the region," said Werenfels, who was part of the independent expert group advising NATO on the region. "Jordan is a fairly neutral territory in the Arab world. So I think the question now is: How big will this [Amman office] become over time? And how much will it work with other regional actors, particularly from North Africa?"

Jordan has deployed troops alongside NATO in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Libya and, in 2017, became the first Mediterranean Dialogue country to host a NATO regional exerciseImage: NATO

Even nations that don't want to be seen as close to NATO are interested in some of what the alliance offers, Werenfels noted.

"Populations in the region generally do not like NATO because they associate it with interventions in the past," Werenfels told DW. "But at the same time, I think the elites [in those countries] do have an interest in things like further professionalizing their militaries."

An expert report from May said no Middle Eastern country wants direct military intervention from NATO. But the report also said NATO could advance its partnerships in the region by strengthening maritime security, assisting with arms control, and helping prepare countries for climate change and other crises.

Despite popular criticism of Jordan for permitting a NATO office on its own soil, Panikoff said he doubts there's any danger of it destabilizing the country.

"For years Jordan has faced a myriad of security, economic and political pressures," he told DW. "Any increase in any one of those is probably a greater threat than slightly enhanced cooperation with NATO."

Edited by: Sean Sinico

Bangladesh authorities urge universities to close after 6 die in violent protests over government jobs

Some universities quickly moved to comply, but others, including the major university at the center of the violence, were still deciding how to respond

AP Dhaka Published 17.07.24

Students clash over quota system at Jahangir Nagar University at Savar outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 15, 2024. Police have fired tear gas and charged with batons overnight during violent clashes between a pro-government student body and student protesters, leaving dozens injured at a leading public university outside Bangladesh's capital over quota system in government jobs, police and students said Tuesday.AP/PTI

Authorities in Bangladesh urged all universities to close on Wednesday, after at least six people died in violent protests over the allocation of government jobs.

Some universities quickly moved to comply, but others, including the major university at the center of the violence, were still deciding how to respond.

The University Grants Commission asked all public and private universities to suspend classes and empty their dormitories until further notice, in order to protect students. The country's universities are run autonomously and the request did not have legal force.

Authorities said that at least six people were killed on Tuesday in violence across the country as student protesters clashed with pro-government student activists and with police, and violence was reported around the capital of Dhaka, the southeastern city of Chattogram and the northern city of Rangpur.

On Wednesday, stray protests took place at Dhaka University and elsewhere in the country. Police were deployed on the campus, while paramilitary border forces patrolled the streets in Dhaka and other big cities.

The protests began late last month, demanding an end to a quota that reserves 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans of Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence in 1971, but turned violent on Monday as protesters clashed with counter-protests and police at Dhaka University, leaving 100 people injured.

With six dead and schools nationwide closed, why are Bangladeshi students protesting?

Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling party Bangladesh Awami League, and anti-quota protesters engage in a clash at the Dhaka College area, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 16, 2024. — 

Wednesday, 17 Jul 2024 

DHAKA, July 17 — Bangladesh has shut schools nationwide after the deaths of six people in protests demanding the government scrap its preferential hiring rules for prestigious civil service jobs.

AFP explains why students around the country are protesting and how weeks of demonstrations escalated into violence:


What are Bangladesh’s civil service job quota rules?

Bangladesh has more than 1.9 million civil servant posts, according to a 2022 report by the country’s public administration ministry.

More than half of the people hired to these jobs are not selected on merit but under affirmative action rules prioritising women, residents of less developed districts and other disadvantaged cohorts.

The most contentious aspect of this quota system is the reservation of 30 per cent of posts for children of freedom fighters who fought in the country’s 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.

The current rules were introduced in 1972 by independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Earlier protests by students in 2018 prompted Hasina’s administration to cut down the quota scheme.

But last month the High Court ruled that this change had been unlawful and ordered the government to reintroduce the freedom fighter category it had abolished.

Why are the quota rules opposed by students?

Bangladesh was one of the world’s poorest countries when it gained independence in 1971 and suffered a devastating famine three years later.

Its economy has grown dramatically in the decades since, thanks largely to a thriving textile industry that supplies the world’s leading fast fashion brands and accounts for around US$50 billion (RM233 billion) in yearly exports.

But the country still struggles to provide adequate employment opportunities for its burgeoning population of about 170 million people.

More than 40 per cent of Bangladeshis aged between 15 and 24 were not working, studying or training, according to government statistics from 2022 — altogether 18 million people.

Economists say the jobs crisis is especially acute for millions of university graduates.

Civil service posts offer a chance at stable lifetime employment but students say the quota system is abused to stuff government posts with loyalists of Hasina’s ruling Awami League party.

They want the quota system dramatically scaled back to only apply to ethnic minorities and people with disabilities, with the remaining 94 per cent of positions selected purely on merit.

How have the protests unfolded?

Protests began on July 1 with university pupils blocking major roads and railway lines in big cities around the country to draw attention to their demands.

They have continued nearly every day since, with high school students also joining the rallies, despite Bangladesh’s top court suspending the quota system on July 10 for one month and urging demonstrators to return to class.

Police attempted to disperse rallies the following day, firing rubber bullets and tear gas canisters, but failed to suppress protests in the capital Dhaka.

Monday saw the start of fierce clashes between anti-quota demonstrators and the student wing of the Awami League, with more than 400 people injured across two Dhaka universities.

Police crackdowns and clashes between rival student groups killed six people across Dhaka, Bangladesh’s main port Chittagong and the northern city of Rangpur.

How has the government responded?

Prime Minister Hasina has condemned the protests as pointless, saying this month that the students “are wasting their time” given that the rules have already been suspended.

But with no sign of the demonstrations abating, her government has escalated its efforts to quell the campaign.

On Tuesday the education ministry ordered all schools, universities and Islamic seminaries nationwide to shut down until further notice, and deployed the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh force to keep order in several cities.

Police that night raided the headquarters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, arresting seven members of its student wing and claiming they had found a cache of Molotov cocktails and other weapons.

Protesters have vowed to continue demonstrations despite the crackdown, while rights groups and the United Nations have urged the government to protect students from violence. — AFP

Biodegradable coffins are 'growing in popularity'

By Rachel Candlin, BBC News, West of England

The willow coffins are handmade using traditional techniques

Demand for biodegradable caskets is growing in popularity, to coffin-makers said.

Artists Helen Lomberg and Amanda Rose set up the Gloucester Willow Coffin Company after repeated requests from people at local farmers' markets.

"I could see that it was a need in some people to take care of these things and to think about their impact on the earth and what they want to leave behind.

"I think the thing that really draws me to it, it's so sustainable," Ms Lomberg said.


Amanda Rose (L) and Helen Lomberg started the company after repeated requests


Customers are offered the opportunity to work with the artists, adding their own personal touches to the coffin.

Some people bring greenery from their garden or small mementos to weave into the coffin.

"Maybe that just helps a little bit with the grieving process," said Ms Lomberg.

The handles are also biodegradable, made from hemp rope.

Ms Lomberg has been crafting items, such as baskets and sculptures, from willow for 35 years.

"In Gloucestershire we're beginning to see the appeal of these traditional ways of doing things because of the lower impact on the environment.

"Crafting willow also gives a wonderful link to our domestic, agricultural past.

"We have a crop every year, something useful and beautiful.

"It can be used and return to the earth.

"There's no pollution and no threat to the environment," she added.

The willow coffins, including the hemp rope handles, are fully biodegradable

Ms Rose started as a student of her fellow artist and said she found the process very therapeutic.

"There is something very tactile and organic about a basket.

"It seems like a lovely completion of the circle to be put to bed at the end of your life in a coffin, having started your life, possibly, in a wicker crib," she said.

For their next enterprise, the pair plan to make coffins for pets.

UK
'Don't kill our protected ravens', rescue pleads

By Eleanor Lawson, BBC News, West Midlands 

• Felicity Kvesic, BBC Hereford & Worcester

 Herefordshire Wildlife Rescue has recently received several birds with pellet wounds.

An animal rescue group is pleading for people not to shoot ravens, after a raven with a pellet lodged in its skull died hours after arriving at the rescue.

Herefordshire Wildlife Rescue has recently received several birds with pellet wounds, and all had died from their injuries.

Dr Sasha Norris, who runs the rescue, said that when she sees ravens who have been shot, she finds it "completely devastating" and goes into a "short depression for several days, sometimes weeks".

"These are very rare birds, there are 7,000 pairs in the whole of the UK. People don't realise how rare they are," she said.

Dr Sasha Norris said she finds it "completely devastating" when ravens are shot

The loss is particularly personal for Dr Norris, as her rescue has an aviary which was specifically built for ravens, where two of the rare birds live.

Dr Norris freezes birds which have died so they can be sent to universities, who will investigate the cause of death.

"This raven came in, he or she was absolutely in the prime of life, with a really good body condition," she said.

"They are as intelligent as primates. They get married and stay married for life, so its partner will be out there somewhere, they probably would have been getting ready to make a nest and rear chicks."


This raven died a few hours after arriving at Herefordshire Wildlife Rescue


An X-ray showed a lead pellet was lodged in the back of the raven's skull, which Dr Norris said would have caused all kinds of neurological damage, prevented it from flying and finding food.

Ravens, like birds of prey, are a protected species in the UK and it is illegal to shoot them.

Dr Norris said: "We do report everything to the police, to try and make a difference.

"But to be honest not a lot happens, it's very difficult to prove.

"People are out shooting these animals, illegally. In the middle of the countryside people don't generally see [the shooters].


"Ravens are as intelligent as primates" and "get married and stay married for life," Dr Norris said

'A town killer' - businesses' fear over steel jobs

By Lucy Parry, BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire investigations
Share

BBC


Steel workers, their families, and small businesses say their lives are on hold as the threat of significant job losses at Scunthorpe steelworks continues to hang over them.

As part of a £1.25bn decarbonisation plan, British Steel would close the plant's two blast furnaces, replacing them with a greener electric arc furnace.

Trade unions said the move would result in 2,000 redundancies in steel and iron making.

The new Labour government said it would be working to safeguard jobs as part of its negotiations with British Steel, which also said it would support affected employees.

Jessica Lane/ BBC
Scunthorpe steelworks dominate the town's skyline


Around a quarter of the workforce in Scunthorpe is employed in manufacturing - including 4,000 at British Steel, according to North Lincolnshire Council.

And much of the private sector is involved in logistics and supply chains for the plant.

That worries those in the hospitality and leisure industry, who depend on disposable incomes, including Stuart Ross, the owner of Ashby Bowl in Scunthorpe.


Stuart Ross worries his customers will stop spending on leisure activities


Mr Ross said a lot of his customers were steel workers, or connected to the steel works in some way: "They're very worried. People are coming up to retirement age and they don't know what is going to happen to them.

"If they haven't got the money, they won't spend. That will be the entertainment industry, the leisure industry. Everything, everything will be affected.

"It could be a town killer."


Former steel worker, Steve Barnes, now runs a sweet shop in Scunthorpe


As Steve Barnes scooped fizzy cola bottles into a bag at his High Street sweet shop, he remembered what it was like to lose his job at the steel works: "It was absolutely gutting at the time and it's going to be the same for these people."

Mr Barnes was one of 4,000 steel workers made redundant in 1981, when large parts of the Scunthorpe plant were shut down.

He said his business is going well, for now: "We're riding on a little bit of a crest of a wave because sweets are almost fashion because of Tik Tok, but it's only good while people have got money."

He is worried customers will cut back on treats: "The steel works provide many of the better paid jobs in Scunthorpe, so obviously it's a huge chunk of spending power coming out of the town."

Green steel making

British Steel said replacing Scunthorpe's blast furnaces with an electric arc furnace, would help with its Low Carbon Roadmap, which aims to deliver net-zero steel by 2050.

However, the move depends on what its Chinese owner, Jingye, described as “appropriate support” from the UK government, widely reported to be a request for £300m in subsidies.

As negotiations continue, business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds said: "Steel is vital for a vibrant, secure economy.

"Our steel sector needs a government working in partnership with trade unions and business to secure a green steel transition that’s both right for the workforce and delivers economic growth.

"Decarbonisation does not mean deindustrialisation, and I will be working to safeguard jobs as part of these negotiations, securing the future of steelmaking communities for generations to come.”

British Steel said it would support employees affected by its plans, adding: "The new government is well-briefed on the challenges our business faces, and the timely support we require for decarbonisation.

"We look forward to working together to build a clean, green, and sustainable future for British Steel.”

Simon Spark/BBC
Sir Nic Dakin (centre) was re-elected as Labour MP for Scunthorpe in July



Meanwhile, Scunthorpe's Labour MP, Sir Nic Dakin, said he was concerned about the closure of the blast furnaces:

"What the Labour party made clear during the election period was that we wish to retain primary steel making capacity in the UK.

"There's no reason that couldn't be retained here in Scunthorpe where we've got good blast furnaces and obviously there needs to be a move to cleaner, greener technology over time, but these are the discussions that need to take place.

"What we need is a sensible transition and we may be able to retain the blast furnaces for way longer than was envisaged in the plans that are being talked about."

Paula Gouldthorpe says small business must be supported



The Federation of Small Businesses' regional development manager, Paula Gouldthorpe, said support must be there for those facing redundancy.

She added: "Some might look for alternative roles, some might take the decision to look at starting their own business, and I think for the local authorities and for the government, it's really important to look at that wider package of support."

Jamie has been a steel worker for 19 years

Jamie Stringer works in the continuing casting section of the works: "We take liquid steel and make it into hard steel, it gets rolled into different products like rails."

Like many others, his family came to Scunthorpe because of steel: "My grandad travelled down from London in the 60s to work in the plant, so it runs in the family.

"I did an apprenticeship and have been there about 19 years now."

He said morale was low because of the uncertainty: "People are just after answers really and want to know what's happening with blast furnaces, because they are a major part of the steel plant."

Professor Ian Barnes believes Scunthorpe can continue to adapt to change

But Prof Ian Barnes, from the University of Lincoln's school of economics, believes Scunthorpe can cope with yet more change: "When you think that 40 odd years ago, you had 30 odd thousand people working in the steel industry, it's adjusted very well to the current situation.

"One of the great things about Scunthorpe, it's got good connections to the road and railway network.

"It's got a lot going for it, provided it gets the right kind of jobs coming in over time, but it will be an adjustment period."

Scotland Loves Nature

Environmental groups call for new law to protect nature

A coalition of 38 groups say say there should be a commitment to halt the decline in nature by 2030.


The Scotland Loves Nature campaign is backed by 38 organisations.
PA Media

A coalition of 38 environmental groups is calling for a new law from the Scottish Government to protect Scotland’s nature.

The Scotland Loves Nature campaign is backed by 38 organisations, including RSPB Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and WWF Scotland.

The Scottish Government has previously suggested it would bring forward a Natural Environment Bill that would set out statutory targets for restoring nature.

The campaign is urging First Minister John Swinney to include these in his first legislative programme, expected in September.

Environmental groups say there should be a commitment to halt the decline in nature by 2030 and make significant progress in restoring the natural environment by 2045.

The campaign produced opinion poll data, commissioned through the Diffley Partnership, to demonstrate support for their goals.

Polling of a nationally representative sample of 1,079 Scots in mid May found 74% supported legal targets.

Deborah Long, chief officer of Scottish Environment Link, said: “People in Scotland truly love nature, and they expect our government to take care of it.

“Nature makes an enormous difference to our wellbeing and quality of life, and a healthy natural environment is our first line of defence against climate change.

“Sadly, our environment faces enormous challenges, and we risk losing some of our iconic species altogether. But we also know that nature can recover.

“The overwhelming majority of Scots back our call for legal targets for nature recovery.

“We are calling on the Scottish Government to bring forward a Natural Environment Bill and get nature back on track.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Scotland’s natural environment is key to addressing the twin crises of nature loss and climate change.

“That is why we have protected 18% of our land and fresh water and 37% of our seas, pledged £250 million to restore damaged peatlands and committed nearly £40 million since 2021 through our Nature Restoration Fund to deliver the nature restoration we need.

“Further actions to protect and restore nature will be a key consideration in the upcoming Programme for Government”.

Campaign calls for new Scottish law to protect environment

17 JUL 2024


Environmental groups have today launched a new campaign calling on the Scottish government to bring forward legislation to protect nature.

The campaign, Scotland Loves Nature, is backed by 43 organisations, including RSPB Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, and WWF Scotland.

The coalition is demanding that the Scottish government introduces a Natural Environment Bill to bring in legal targets to restore nature. These targets would commit the government to preventing the extinction of wildlife and halting the decline of nature by 2030, and to make significant progress in restoring Scotland’s natural environment by 2045.

The health of Scotland’s natural environment has been in long-term decline, and today one in nine species are threatened with extinction.

Ministers had previously committed to the proposed bill, which has since been delayed. The campaign groups are calling on First Minister John Swinney to include the Natural Environment Bill in his upcoming programme for government, expected this September.

The campaign launch comes as a new opinion poll shows three quarters of Scots back legal nature targets.

The poll, conducted by Diffley Partnership, found that 74 per cent of people in Scotland support legal targets to improve the natural environment, with only 11 per cent opposed.

Deborah Long, chief officer of Scottish Environment LINK, said: “People in Scotland truly love nature, and they expect our government to take care of it. Nature makes an enormous difference to our wellbeing and quality of life, and a healthy natural environment is our first line of defence against climate change.

“Sadly our environment faces enormous challenges, and we risk losing some of our iconic species altogether. But we also know that nature can recover.The overwhelming majority of Scots back our call for legal targets for nature recovery.

“We are calling on the Scottish government to bring forward a Natural Environment Bill and get nature back on track.”