Power-sharing talks begin, again…

In this past week the impossible happened – talks got underway at Stormont in a fresh attempt to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Assembly has been sitting dormant for more than two and a half years following a breakdown between the main parties. The British and Irish governments agreed to convene a new round of talks after facing pressure from the public following the murder of journalist Lyra McKee during riots in Derry/Londonderry last month. In this past week two men were charged with riot and petrol bomb offences as part of the investigation into Lyra’s murder. The talks also follow the local council elections which saw a surge of support for smaller parties known as ‘the others’ – parties that are not aligned with unionism or nationalism – across Northern Ireland. 

The structure of the talks have a new ‘trust-building focus’, involving weekly roundtables featuring all party leaders alongside five working groups dealing with specific issues relating to the political deadlock and future of Stormont. Commentators have noted the difference between this approach and previous negotiations’ structure of ‘let’s-just-lock-them-in-a-room-and-see-what-happens’. These working groups are not chaired by politicians but instead by former and current senior civil servants. Meanwhile, the Secretary of State Karen Bradley also announced a £105 million package for the Derry/Londonderry-region to boost the city’s economic potential and tackle long-term deprivation.

Although this injection of funding has been welcomed by politicians, its unlikely to improve the current political atmosphere, with Brexit and its ramifications simmering in the background. As Northern Slant’s own Steve McGookin pointed out, this past week may have been a glorious one for football, but it wasn’t one for Prime Minister Theresa May as she attempts to secure support for Brexit. Although the Conservative Party leader stated  that she has no plans to step down before getting a Brexit deal passed, parliamentarians including Esther McVey have announced their plans to run in a future party leadership election. Pressure has grown for Theresa May to resign since the Conservative Party faced huge losses in recent local elections, with the Conservatives also facing warnings that it will face losses at the European Parliament elections as well. These elections will take place on 23rd May.

Also simmering in the background of power-sharing negotiations in Northern Ireland are issues of the historical prosecution of servicemen and women. In this past week the Conservative MP for Plymouth and former army officer Johnny Mercer wrote to Theresa May announcing that he would not vote with the government on any issue besides Brexit until new laws were put in place to protect veterans from prosecution over deaths in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. Mercer directly called on the Prime Minister to end the “abhorrent process” of “elderly veterans being dragged back to Northern Ireland” to face possible prosecution. Six former soldiers are now facing prosecution over Troubles-era killings while up to 200 former members of British security forces are currently under investigation over historical accusations arising from this time in Northern Ireland.

 

The earth is dying and it’s our fault

The United Nations released a report in this past week stating that humans are the cause of biodiversity declining at an unparalleled rate. This 1,500-page report outlined how human beings have transformed the earth’s natural landscapes so dramatically that a million species are on the verge of extinction. As a result of global warning biodiversity loss is projected to accelerate through 2050 unless countries seriously step up their conservation efforts. The report was led by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), reviewing about 15,000 scientific and governmental reports. It contained stark criticism of the attitudes of governments and businesses towards climate change; the world is currently on track to miss the targets of the Paris Agreement. The report also comes six months after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (PICC) warned that the world has less than 12 years to avoid catastrophic levels of global warning.

Shrinking habitats, the exploitation of natural resources and pollution were cited as the main drivers of species loss. However, the UN has also stated that it’s not too late to fix the problem, with individuals being able to help with simple changes to the way they eat and use energy.  

 

Playing the Trump card in US-Chinese trade negotiations

In the past week US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose new tariffs on Chinese-made goods. This is the latest instalment in the escalating trade battle between the two superpowers, which so far has amounted to the US imposing three rounds of tariffs on more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods. Trump has now threatened to raise tariffs on a remaining $325 billion of China’s exports after claiming that the two sides were close to reaching a deal before China attempted to renegotiate.

US-China trade negotiations have been ongoing for months, with Trump repeatedly delaying imposing additional tariffs on Chinese goods. The relationship between the US and China turned sour when China asked for change to the text of their trade agreement with the US as negotiations were nearing their final stages. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer described this change as “an erosion in commitments by China.” Some even feared that the Chinese Vice Premier Liu He would cancel his planned trip to Washington for trade talks. However, Liu landed in Washington this past week, hoping to salvage a trade deal. Prior to Liu’s visit to Washington China was largely quiet in its response to Trump’s threats, although Chinese state media remained adamant that Beijing would not respond to Trump’s threats with concessions. However, Trump did say that he received a “beautiful letter” from his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, so the global economy should be satisfied with that. Or it could note the IMF’s warning that a full-blown trade war would make the world “poorer and more dangerous.”

Despite Trump’s attempts to calm the US financial markets earlier this week by insisting that it was still possible to reach a trade deal with China with “great alternatives” to the current impasse, the US-China trade talks ended with no deal – and more tariffs. On Friday Trump followed through with his threat to increase tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion in Chinese-made products. These threats alone caused the Dow to plunge by 450 points on Monday morning, making future trade negotiations look increasingly bleak for both the two superpowers and the global economy at large. China has not yet given any specifics about how it will retaliate to these tariffs, with President Trump insisting that there is “no rush” to secure a deal as trade talks “will continue.” China and the US have agreed to hold more trade talks in Beijing, with this round of discussions being described as “honest” and “constructive.”

 

Iranian deal or no deal?

In this past week the Iranian government announced that it would stop complying with two of its commitments in the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. The date of this announcement, 8th May, came exactly one year after President Donald Trump announced America’s “withdrawal” from the Iran nuclear deal.

In his announcement Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened to restart the country’s nuclear weapons programme if world powers do not keep the deal’s promises, setting a 60-day deadline for new terms to the deal. The 2015 deal saw sanctions on Iran lifted in exchange for limits on its nuclear program. In response to this announcement, President Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on Iran’s metals industry, warning that Tehran “can expect further actions unless it fundamentally alters its conduct.” The UK, France and Germany – known as the E3 as the three European powers involved in the deal – warned Iran not to abandon the accord, rejecting Iran’s demands as an unacceptable ultimatum.

Each of the countries involved in JCPOA now have a 60-day deadline to implement what Iran has referred to as “their commitments” to the deal, particularly in banking and oil sectors. Meanwhile, President Rohani called for unity among his country’s political factions as the country faces tightening US sanctions alongside increased economic and military pressure.

 

And finally, some good news

On Tuesday of this past week two Pulitzer Prize winning Reuters reporters were freed from prison in Myanmar after more than a year in detention for covering the country’s treatment of the country’s Rohingya population.

The journalists, Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, had spent more than 500 days in prison after being arrested while investigating the death of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys. They were convicted in September of breaking the Official Secrets Act and were sentenced to seven years in jail. Their case had sparked outcry from human rights advocates across the world as it was viewed as an assault on press freedom and raised questions about Myanmar’s democracy. The two men were released as part of an amnesty of 6,520 prisoners by Myanmar’s President Win Myint.

Following his release from prison Wa Lone told reporters, “I can’t wait to go to my newsroom.” Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler described the two men as “courageous reporters” and “symbols of the importance of press freedom around the world.” Both men were named by Time Magazine as its ‘Person of the Year’ last year alongside other journalists. The news of their release was celebrated internationally to the joy of their families and young children, with Wa Lone only having seen his daughter a handful of times on her visits to prison as she was born after his arrest. The Nobel laureate and former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi, the current leader of Myanmar’s National League for Democracy and incumbent State Counsellor, has been criticised for playing a role in preventing the release of the two reporters.