Two recent events in the US – the victory of Steve Bannon backed candidate Roy Moore in the Alabama Republican Senate primary and the huge dispute around NFL players kneeling during the national anthem – confirm the deepening polarisation in US politics. The background which is driving this is the very slow growth in the US economy.
By Ian Richardson
The attempt of the Catalan independence movement to hold a referendum has been met with brutal state repression. The Madrid government used Guardia Civil forces from outside the region to block voters and attack them, seize ballot boxes and smash up polling stations. TV footage of unarmed protesters and voters being brutally assaulted have now been seen worldwide, despite the ludicrous denials of ministers in Madrid and their spokespersons.
By John Ross
The outcome of the 24 September German elections was dramatic itself. The Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union’s (CDU/CSU’s) 33 per cent was its lowest per centage of the vote since the first election in West Germany in 1949. The German Social Democratic Party (SPD) result was even worse – at 20.5 per cent it was the lowest vote ever recorded by the SPD in any election in West Germany or the reunited Germany. The extreme rightest Alliance for Germany (AfD) received 13.5 per cent of the vote – the highest for an extreme rightest party in Germany since World War II. The radical left Left Party received 9.2 per cent of the vote.
By Fiona Edwards
The devastating hurricanes hitting the Caribbean and southern US have shown yet again that climate change has truly arrived. Without urgent action, events like this will become more common and more severe. While extreme and tragic weather events across the world are often largely ignored but the impacts on North America has put climate change high on the political agenda in the US — the country most responsible for climate change.
By Jude Woodward
Once again tensions between the US and North Korea over the latter’s nuclear programme have reached a dangerous boiling point, as North Korea carried out its largest-ever nuclear test in early September.
By Mark Buckley
The beleaguered Trump presidency has continued to ramp up its war rhetoric against North Korea. But the impediments to any attack, even a nuclear attack are substantial. The real target for the US administration is China.
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