More NHS strikes
21 Sep 2023
The CEO of a large NHS trust has expressed his concerns about the ongoing industrial action by NHS consultants and junior doctors, comparing the situation to going into a battle with one arm tied behind their backs. The joint action by consultants and junior doctors has led to the cancellation of over 10,000 outpatient appointments, more than 1,000 non-urgent surgeries, and some urgent surgeries. Hospitals have even stopped booking appointments for strike days, exacerbating the disruption to elective care. The industrial action, now in its tenth month, is causing significant challenges for patients and healthcare staff. Trainer highlighted two main issues: patients not receiving the care they need and healthcare staff working in increasingly difficult circumstances, especially in emergency departments. The situation poses significant challenges as the NHS prepares for the winter season.
Germany: shortage of teachers
21 Sep 2023
As the new school year begins in Germany, the biggest problem is still the nationwide shortage of teachers. This could be remedied, for example by employing career changers, having larger classes, and using more hybrid lessons (partly online). But this increases the risk that the existing teachers may suffer illness or even resign and makes the general atmosphere and conditions for the students to learn well in lessons more challenging. In addition, due to measures introduced during the Covid crisis, learning deficiencies and mental illnesses have increased significantly among children and young people. The fear of being infected by Covid has now been replaced by fears about climate change and the apocalypse (the world coming to an end). These take away motivation and willingness to learn. The building of a world for tomorrow requires not only discipline, but above all a vision.
King Charles’ visit to France
21 Sep 2023
On 21 September, King Charles III followed in his mother's footsteps by addressing lawmakers in the French upper chamber, the Senate. He focused on a message of unity between France and the UK, ending with a personal pledge to strengthen what he described as the ‘indispensable’ relationship between the two countries during his time as monarch. He also suggested that France and Britain should team up to jointly tackle the climate and biodiversity emergencies with a new version of the 1904 Entente Cordiale pact that sealed the friendship between Paris and London. The king’s speech, which he delivered in English and French, received a standing ovation as it came to a close.
Poland / Ukraine: dispute over grain escalates
21 Sep 2023
One of Ukraine's staunchest allies, Poland, has said it will no longer supply weapons to its neighbour, as a diplomatic dispute over grain escalates. The dispute began after the Russian invasion forced Ukraine to find alternative overland routes, which led to large quantities of grain ending up in central Europe. Consequently, the EU temporarily banned imports of grain into five countries to protect local farmers, who feared Ukrainian grain was driving down prices. The ban ended on 15 September, but Hungary, Slovakia and Poland decided to keep on implementing it. Remarks by President Zelenskiy at the UN, that it was alarming how some of Ukraine's friends were ‘making a thriller from grain’, have been denounced by Warsaw as unjustified. Prime minister Mateus Morawiecki was adamant Poland was helping Ukraine defeat the ‘Russian barbarian’ by maintaining a military hub, but he said he would not agree to Poland's markets being destabilised by grain imports. Ukraine has filed lawsuits with the World Trade Organisation against the three countries over the bans, which it says are a violation of international obligations.
India / Canada: spiralling tensions
21 Sep 2023
Canada's high commission in India has said that it has decided to ‘adjust’ staff presence in the country temporarily after some diplomats received threats on social media platforms, adding to spiralling tensions between the two countries. The statement from the high commission came soon after an Indian company published a notice that it was suspending visa services for Canadian citizens. Tensions between the two countries escalated earlier this week when Canada said that it was ‘actively pursuing credible allegations’ linking Indian government agents to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia in June. Prime minister Narendra Modi's government has categorically rejected the claims. With both nations expelling a diplomat each, and India urging its nationals in Canada to ‘exercise caution’, relations between the two countries have touched the lowest point.
From business and strategic perspectives, Joe Biden's recent visits to Vietnam and India will likely be seen as bolstering ties with countries that can help Washington to counter China’s growing might. But for rights advocates, Biden's travels are a huge disappointment, given his administration's vow to prioritise human rights when taking office in 2021. Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the government's Hindu majoritarian ideology is reflected in bias in the justice system, and authorities have intensified efforts to silence activists and journalists through politically motivated charges. Meanwhile, Vietnam is holding at least 159 political prisoners - people imprisoned for peacefully exercising basic civil and political rights - and at least 22 others were in detention pending eventual trial before a court controlled by the ruling Communist Party. In the first eight months of 2023 alone, HRW said, courts have sentenced at least fifteen people to long prison terms in violation of their rights to a fair trial. Reporters asked Biden in Vietnam if he was putting US strategic interests above rights and replied: ‘I’ve raised it (human rights) with every person I met with’.
But HRW said talking in private was not enough.
Iran: Christians pressurised to boycott protests
21 Sep 2023
As thousands of protesters around the world took to the streets in a show of solidarity, a year after the killing of hijab protester Mahsa Zhina Amini, there are reports that Christians are coming under pressure from the authorities to boycott the protests. Those who participate have been arrested and face sexual assault in prison, according to a new report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Since the freedom protests began in Iran, the country has detained some 20,000 protesters and killed at least 530, by conservative estimates. It is claimed that seven protesters have been executed after ‘sham trials’ and dozens more have been sentenced to death. The women’s rights protests in Iran have turned into a movement pressing for greater freedom of religion or belief. For more information about the pressure on Christians in Iran, including many being jailed for their involvement with house churches, see 'More'.
Gabon: hopes for a better future after coup
21 Sep 2023
Selling mobile phone accessories in a small shop in Gabon's capital Libreville, Doles Gabriel sees coup leader General Brice Oligui Ngeuma as someone who has unshackled the nation from the chains of his former boss - President Ali Bongo. ‘Moses was educated in the house of Pharaoh, but God appointed him to liberate the people of Egypt from slavery. This is what is happening in the house of Bongo’, the 23-year-old said. Her comments reflect the joy - and hopes - of many people who had lived under the Bongo dynasty. With an iron fist, the family have ruled oil-rich Gabon since 1967, when Omar Bongo became president in 1967. When he died in 2009 his son Ali succeeded him. He appointed the general head of the elite Republican Guard, in charge of his own security. But on 30 August, shortly after Mr Bongo was announced as the winner of disputed elections, the general seized power from the man he was supposed to protect. In a new development, on 20 September Gabon was partially suspended from the Commonwealth, as its foreign ministers said that they ‘strongly condemned the unconstitutional removal of the elected government from office’. See