Bloody Sunday prosecution

On Thursday of this past week Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS) announced that one former soldier in Northern Ireland, known as ‘Soldier F’, will face murder charges over the killing of two people on Bloody Sunday in 1972. The former soldier will be charged in the killings of James Wray and William McKinney, and the attempted murder of four others. Eighteen others will not be prosecuted, as there was insufficient evidence to pursue charges against them, but they may face charges of perjury.

In a statement the Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Herron announced that this decision does not in any way undermine the findings of the Saville Inquiry report published in 2010, which found that those who died in 1972 were not presenting any threat when they were shot and that they had been killed without justification.

However the prospect of a trial has not been received well by Britain’s military establishment. Bob Seely, and ex-soldier and Tory MP, stated that “British soldiers are being hung out to dry while those they fought are being treated by different rules.” Meanwhile Conservative Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has sparked outrage with his comments over the decision, releasing a statement confirming that the Ministry of Defence will pay for Soldier F’s legal costs and that the government will “urgently reform the system for legacy issues. Our serving and former personnel cannot live in constant fear of prosecution.” Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley, who previously sparked controversy for stating that the killings carried out by security forces in Northern Ireland “were not crimes,” released a statement commending the those who “served with courage and distinction to bring peace to Northern Ireland.”

For Soldier F, an official summons to appear before a district judge is awaiting them, with the decision to release their name to be addressed at future court proceedings. Meanwhile, campaigners for the Justice for Northern Ireland Veterans group are planning a large ‘Paratroop Regiment Rally’ in Derry/Londonderry to protest against this decision. The families of the Bloody Sunday victims have stated that they will “pursue these soldiers through the courts until they are all called to account.”

 

Withdrawal Agreement rejected, again

It’s been another big week for Brexit, with votes (which aren’t legally binding, expect for the first one, but are still very important) every night for three days.

The first vote was this past Tuesday, 12th March, when MPs went to the House of Commons to vote on Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement. Just before the vote the government’s top legal advisor, Geoggrey Cox, published a statement saying that there is no change to the legal risk from Theresa May’s changes to the Brexit deal. He stated that the new provisions “reduce the risk” of the UK being “indefinitely and involuntarily” held in the backstop, but said that “the legal risk remains unchanged” that the UK would have no legal means of exiting without EU agreement. This was bad news for Theresa May as her EU withdrawal deal was rejected by MPs by an overwhelming majority for the second time. MPs rejected the deal by 149 votes.

Vote number two was held on Wednesday of this past week on a motion put forward to rule out leaving the EU without a deal on the 29th of March. However, due to an amendment tabled by West Midlands MPs Caroline Spelman and Jack Dromey which passed by four votes, the government’s motion was changed to simply reject no-deal Brexit at any time and under any circumstances. Later that day MPs rejected a no-deal Brexit by a majority of 43. The Prime Minister responded by insisting that a no-deal Brexit could only be avoided by agreeing on a deal or cancelling Brexit altogether. The UK also published its approach to cross-border movement of goods in Northern Ireland under a no-deal scenario this past Wednesday. These no-deal tariffs were widely criticised as a “potential disaster” for Irish farmers, fuelling fears that the region would become a back-door smuggling route into Britain. Katy Hayward from Queen’s University Belfast outlines the issues with these tariffs in this thread:

The third and final vote of this past week took place on Thurday, when MPs voted to allow a short delay to the UK’s proposed exit from the EU on the 29th of March. On the same day MPs also voted to reject an amendment which called for a second Brexit referendum by 334 votes to 85. Theresa May will now seek an extension from the EU, with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, emphasizing that any extension must come with a purpose. At the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg Bernier stated that, “The negotiation on Article 50 is over. We have a treaty. It is here.”

So what’s next for Brexit? Well, if the EU approves an extension period the UK government will have to use the time productively to figure out how they will break the deadlock that is currently paralyzing British politics. The UK is still set to leave the EU on the 29th of March, and Jerely Corbyn has said that Labour is likely to back an amendment aimed at securing a second Brexit referendum this week. Meanwhile, minsters have held talks with the DUP to try and get them to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal, with Chancellor Philip Hammond stating that the deal will not return to the Commons until “”enough of our colleagues and the DUP are prepared to support it”. The DUP, who have opposed the deal up until now, are seeking “clarifications” on the government’s legal advice surrounding the backstop. So, basically, it looks like the future of Brexit negotiations are ust as unpredictable as the past two years of Brexit negotiations.

 

Grounded

This past Sunday the international community was stunned when an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew on board. Passengers from more than 30 countries were on the flight, including 22 UN workers who were headed to Nairobi to attend the fourth UN Environment Assembly, the top decision-making body on global environmental issues. The flight had been nicknamed the ‘UN shuttle’ due to how often United Nations staff took it.

This is the second time in less than five months that one of the Boeing’s 737’s jets crashed shortly after take-off, with a Lion Air plane crashing and killing 189 people in Indonesia in October. The Ethiopian Airlines plane reportedly lost contact with air traffic controllers just six minutes after takeoff. Countries and airlines around the world were quick to ban the 737 max this past week after the crash. This is reportedly the biggest setback for the US-based aircraft manufacturer in its history.

The economic setback for Boeing that has resulted from this crash may explain US President Donald Trump’s initial hesitation to grounding the planes. Initiatlly the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the “continued airworthiness” of the planes used by three US airlines. It has been reported that Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg called President Trump this past Tuesday to convince him not to ground the planes following tweets in which Trump claimed that aircraft are “becoming far too complex to fly.”

After deciding to ground the Boeing 737 MAX planes this past Wednesday, President Trump has said that he hopes that they will only be grounded “for a short period of time.” Boeing is set to roll out a software upgrade for these grounded aircrafts in the coming weeks.

 

Terror in New Zealand

It has been confirmed that 50 people have passed away after a mass shooting took place at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. This terrorist attack happened during Friday Jummah prayers by a white nationalist who posted a racist manifesto online and streamed live video of the killings on Facebook. The 73-page manifesto mentions the American conservative pundit Candace Owens as well as other figures and cultural references popular among the alt-right online. It has been reported that the gunman sent the manifesto the the New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern just minutes before the attack. A 28-year-old man from Australia was charged with murder after appearing in court on Saturday morning.

It has been reported that people from at least half a dozen countries and young children were among those killed. Jacinda Ardern described the attack as “one of New Zealand’s darkest days,” carried out by a suspect with “extremist views” that have no place in New Zealand, or anywhere else in the world. Ms Ardern has promised that New Zealand’s gun laws will change, announcing a plan to ban semiauthomatic rifles – although the country’s attorney general has said that this might not be the government’s final decision.

With consoldences and messages expressing horror at this atrocity being expressed by leaders around the world, Senator Fraser Anning from Queensland has been making headlines for his statement condmening the attacks – while also using islamophonic and anti-immigration rhetoric that is remarkably similar to that expressed by the gunman in his manifesto. Mr Anning’s statement has been condemned globally, with the Australian governemnt and opposition preparing to censure him over his comments. In the meantime, however, one 17-year-old decided to take matters into his own hands, egging the Australian politician at an event in Melbourne. Will Connolly, the teenager who egged Anning, has gained infamy online under the name ‘EggBoy’, with a GoFundMe page being set up to pay for his legal fees and “more eggs”. Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has told reporters that “the full force of the law should be applied to Sen. Anning” for punching the teen.

While news outlets are criticised for  describing the terrorist who carried out this attack as an “angelic boy”, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter are struggling to prevent the spread of footage taken by the gunman during the massacre. Conversations have now begun about the role that social media played in radicalising the gunman, especially as he is reported to have said “subscribe to PewDiePie” – a controversial YouTuber, real name Felix Kjellberg, who has a history of promoting antisemitism. Kjellberg tweeted to his 17 million followers that he was “absolutely sickened having my name uttered by this person.” The

The names of the victims of this massacre are only now being released as 50 people have been confirmed killed, and 50 injured. As of Saturday night, 36 people remain in hospital.

 

Students take stand on climate change

It’s been a week of bad news. For many, it’s been hard to see any positivity or light beneath the darkness of these headlines. However in a week when many have been immersed in tragedy from both the past and the present, some have been looking to the future.

On Friday of this week young people across the world took to the streets once again to protest against climate change. Thousands of students across the UK, including in Northern Ireland, took to the streets to express their anger at older generations not, in their view, taking climate change seriously enough.

The Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, praised the actions of the students alongside other Conservative politicians in a video message:

In other positive news the inspiration behind this international school strike, Greta Thunberg, was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her climate activism. If she were to win the 16-year-old would be the youngest ever recipent of the prize (the current holder of this title, Malala Yousafzai, was 16 when she won the prize).