Politics (Page 106)

The investigation into the Beirut port explosion has taken a new turn, with the judge overseeing the probe charging a former prime minister and two other former ministers with homicide with probable intent. The explosion in August 2020, which happened in a massive silo in the port of Beirut containing a large amount of the fertiliser ammonium nitrate which had been stored there since 2014, killed 218 people and devastated parts of the city. An investigation was quickly set up, but has been plagued with delays and difficulties. The judge’s decision to lay fresh charges comes after the investigation had been stalled for over a year following a succession of lawsuits from politicians already indicted. But the presiding judge, TarekContinue Reading

From calls for a second Scottish independence referendum and speculation about “indy-curiousity” in Wales, to the collapse of the power-sharing agreement in Northern Ireland, the state of the UK union has been the subject of much political discussion over the past decade. Traditionally, devolution has followed a so-called devolve and forget model. The UK parliament transfers law making power to the devolved legislatures to exercise as they see fit, as long as they do so within the defined limits. However, the UK government’s recent blocking of Scotland’s gender recognition bill suggests political and legal relationships are being tested, and maybe even reshaped. The fallout over Scotland’s gender recognition bill has not happened in isolation. It is important to understand theContinue Reading

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has announced a sweeping clear-out of senior national and regional government officials and the appointment of a new supervisory board for the state-owned natural gas giant, Naftogaz. This is a move to reassure both the Ukrainian public and the country’s western allies that the fight against corruption remains a priority, despite the ongoing war with Russia. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament – in which Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People party has a commanding majority – quickly followed the president’s lead by presenting a draft bill aiming to boost transparency in defence procurement to avoid, for example, artificially inflated prices being paid for troops’ rations. The move has been likened in the international press to aContinue Reading

This technology promises to turn one of the most polluting forms of transportation into a joyride whose only byproduct is water.Continue Reading

A healthy democracy needs widespread, equal voting. andriano.cz / Shutterstock Around the world, interest in lowering the voting age is growing. Major efforts to change the laws are underway in Canada and New Zealand, while Germany recently lowered the voting age for European parliament elections. But so far, there have been few opportunities to learn from countries that have done it successfully. Austria and a handful of Latin American countries have had more than a decade of votes at 16. Others, like Estonia (for local elections), Malta and some states in Germany have joined the effort in recent years. Scotland lowered its voting age to 16 ahead of the independence referendum in 2014, and for all Scottish elections starting inContinue Reading

Shutterstock The start of a new year these days signals the launch of Veganuary, a campaign which encourages people to give up animal products for the month of January. But while this time of the year sees a focus on diet, as political philosophers we argue that veganism should not be framed as a personal lifestyle choice but as a form of political activism. Viewed in these terms, veganism is a collective action aimed at political transformation, not an individual quest for an ethically pure diet. Veganism, we argue, is less about self-improvement, ascetic self-sacrifice or personal identity and more about addressing the harms created by social structures and systems. Veganism is devoted to tackling and overturning the oppression ofContinue Reading

Former teacher Enoch Burke returned to Wilson’s Hospital School on Tuesday morning, despite being dismissed from his teaching position by the school last Friday. Mr Burke arrived at the school at 8.38am, when he was dropped off by his father, Seán, in a Hyundai SUV. An Garda Síochána declined to comment on the situation. Mr Burke, who was present at the Co Westmeath school last Friday, was informed of his dismissal by principal Frank Milling and board of management chair John Rogers. Enoch Burke has arrived at Wilson’s Hospital School on Tuesday morning, despite being dismissed from his teaching position by the school last Friday pic.twitter.com/Lp2yHFrJge — Fiachra Gallagher (@fiachragllagher) January 24, 2023 It followed a chaotic disciplinary meeting onContinue Reading

Peru is in flames. Since early December, massive, often violent, protests have engulfed the South American nation. Demonstrators concentrated in the country’s southern Andean regions took to the streets after the then president, Pedro Castillo, was deposed for attempting to mount a coup by dismissing the parliament and ruling by decree. But he attempted his coup without the support of the armed forces and was rapidly arrested. The appointment of his vice-president, Dina Boluarte, as the new leader sparked riots that have resulted in the deaths of at least 55 people. Despite leading a mediocre government swamped with accusations of corruption, the fact that Castillo – an indigenous former schoolteacher from an Andean region – was elected at all hadContinue Reading

Rishi Sunak’s government is attempting to introduce tough new laws that would further limit the right to take industrial action amid continuing strikes in the UK. This is just the latest in a long line of legislation brought in over the past 50 years that has almost completely eroded such rights. Trade unions were once a major force in British society, but that is no longer the case. Here, a timeline of key events explains how the UK got to where it is today. 1970s In the post-war period, unions were seen as a vital institution in society, much like the free press. Their power reached its disruptive peak in February 1974, when, during a miners’ strike, Conservative prime ministerContinue Reading

When Prince Harry sat down with ITV journalist Tom Bradby for a conversation about his marriage, his estrangement from the royal family and his tell-all memoir, Spare, one particular segment stood out. Bradby said that Harry had accused some members of his family of racism, but Harry shook his head firmly. “The difference between racism and unconscious bias,” he said, “the two things are different.” He went on to argue that unconscious bias could become racism if it was pointed out to the perpetrator and left unchecked. The exchange between Harry and Bradby has prompted widespread debate. In op-eds, on TV, and on Twitter, people have rightly questioned whether Harry’s family members really were unaware of their own biases, whetherContinue Reading