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  • NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 29 December 1924

    NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 29 December 1924

    29 DECEMBER 1924

    Following the gale and rainstorm of Friday night, great damage has been caused to property in all parts of Scotland by flooded rivers. Countless fields have been inundated, and roads rendered impassable. A shipping disaster is reported from Islay, where a German trawler has been wrecked, with the loss, it is feared, of eleven lives. In England, Wales, and Ireland, extensive flooding took place. The Rhondda and Taff rivers overflowed their banks at several points, causing great damage and heavy destruction. Shipping also suffered severely.

    The Conference of Ambassadors has decided to notify Germany by Collective Note that it is impossible to evacuate Cologne on January 10. It is understood that the reasons they will give are the necessity of awaiting the final report of the Control Commission and evidence regarding the non-fulfilment of the disarmament clauses of the Treaty.

    The last report which General Nollet made to the Inter-Allied Commission of Military Control shows that the organised forces of Germany are in excess of the number authorised, and that the stipulations regarding the High Command and the reserves have not been observed.

    M. Tsankoff, the Bulgarian Prime Minister, after conferring with members of the Jugo-Slavian Government at Belgrade, left for Bukharest. In an interview with Press representatives at Belgrade, he stated that the Balkan States were at present faced by a grave danger from subversive elements, which aimed at the overthrow of the existing social order.

    The Congress of the Indian National Liberal Federation at Lucknow has concluded. According to Reuter’s correspondent, the session is generally regarded as showing signs that the party is regaining strength.

  • NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 28 December 1924

    NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 28 December 1924

    28 DECEMBER 1924

    There were substantial floods in the Thames Valley with heavy amounts of damage done to agricultural land.

    A train was caught in a landslide in Wales with four passengers hurt when 300 tons of earth fell on it.

  • Barack Obama – 2024 Statement Following the Death of Jimmy Carter

    Barack Obama – 2024 Statement Following the Death of Jimmy Carter

    The statement made by Barack Obama on 29 December 2024.

    For decades, you could walk into Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia on some Sunday mornings and see hundreds of tourists from around the world crammed into the pews. And standing in front of them, asking with a wink if there were any visitors that morning, would be President Jimmy Carter – preparing to teach Sunday school, just like he had done for most of his adult life.

    Some who came to hear him speak were undoubtedly there because of what President Carter accomplished in his four years in the White House – the Camp David Accords he brokered that reshaped the Middle East; the work he did to diversify the federal judiciary, including nominating a pioneering women’s rights activist and lawyer named Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the federal bench; the environmental reforms he put in place, becoming one of the first leaders in the world to recognize the problem of climate change.

    Others were likely there because of what President Carter accomplished in the longest, and most impactful, post-presidency in American history – monitoring more than 100 elections around the world; helping virtually eliminate Guinea worm disease, an infection that had haunted Africa for centuries; becoming the only former president to earn a Nobel Peace Prize; and building or repairing thousands of homes in more than a dozen countries with his beloved Rosalynn as part of Habitat for Humanity.

    But I’m willing to bet that many people in that church on Sunday morning were there, at least in part, because of something more fundamental: President Carter’s decency.

    Elected in the shadow of Watergate, Jimmy Carter promised voters that he would always tell the truth. And he did – advocating for the public good, consequences be damned. He believed some things were more important than reelection – things like integrity, respect, and compassion. Because Jimmy Carter believed, as deeply as he believed anything, that we are all created in God’s image.

    Whenever I had a chance to spend time with President Carter, it was clear that he didn’t just profess these values. He embodied them. And in doing so, he taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service. In his Nobel acceptance speech, President Carter said, “God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace.” He made that choice again and again over the course of his 100 years, and the world is better for it.

    Maranatha Baptist Church will be a little quieter on Sundays, but President Carter will never be far away – buried alongside Rosalynn next to a willow tree down the road, his memory calling all of us to heed our better angels.

    Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to the Carter family, and everyone who loved and learned from this remarkable man.

  • NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 27 December 1924

    NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 27 December 1924

    27 DECEMBER 1924

    Mr Gandhi, in his presidential address to the Indian National Congress at Belgaum, Bengal, outlined a scheme of Swaraj or Home Rule. He said that the Congress must find a remedy to demonstrate both to the Government and the revolutionaries that there was a more effective force than violence.

    The Conference of Ambassadors will meet in Paris to-day to consider the report on the disarmament of Germany, and to determine the procedure to be followed in notifying the Reich that the Cologne zone will not be evacuated on January 10.

    According to a Washington telegram, President Coolidge resents recent speeches by M. Jusserand, the French Ambassador, in which he pleaded for leniency for France in regard to payment of her debt to the United States.

    A Belgrade telegram states that the Albanian revolution has terminated in a success for the insurgents under Ahmed Beg.

    It is reported that negotiations are on foot for a Balkan Triple Alliance (Greece, Jugo- Slavia, and Rumania.)

    In the French Chamber, it was stated that a “national carburant” as a substitute for petrol had already reached the stage of practical usefulness. Military vehicles use a mixture of which alcohol forms 50 per cent.

    The Canadian Government have issued a new order in regard to freight rates on the Canadian railways.

    Through the bursting of a dam in a Virginian town 23 persons were drowned.

    Bandits derailed a passenger train in Mexico, killing a woman and six soldier guards.

    In an affray at Cologne on Christmas Eve a gunner of the Royal Artillery was stabbed.

  • NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 26 December 1924

    NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 26 December 1924

    26 DECEMBER 1924

    A meeting of the French Cabinet approved a memorandum from M. Herriot expressing the opinion that it was impossible to evacuate the Cologne zone by January 10.

    The Paris Eclair publishes an account of M. Herriot’s conversations with Mr Ramsay MacDonald at Chequers in the summer, when the French Premier emphasised the dangers which threatened France on her eastern frontier.

    Mr Bruce, the Australian Prime Minister, has informed the Imperial Government that it would be difficult for him to attend a special meeting of the Imperial Conference in March to discuss the Geneva Protocol, and he has suggested that the matter could be settled by cable. A similar view is understood to be held by the Canadian Government.

    A fire broke out at a Christmas entertain- ment in a school at Hobart, Oklahoma, U.S.A., and 40 persons lost their lives.

    A terrible air disaster occurred near the Croydon Aerodrome. The Instone air liner DH 34 had just left with seven passengers and the pilot on board, when it was seen to be in difficulties, and then it crashed. On reaching the ground it burst into flames, and everyone on board perished.

    In an American aviation accident four men of the Naval Air Service lost their lives.

    M. Otto Ballon, a well-known Latvian air- man, has been killed at Buenos Ayres.

    The Pope, amid scenes of solemnity and splendour, opened the Holy Door of St Peter’s, Rome, to signify the opening of the Holy Year.

    On January 1, Oslo, the ancient name of Christiania, is to be revived.

  • NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 25 December 1924

    NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 25 December 1924

    25 DECEMBER 1924

    Many spectators were injured following a football game between Bristol City and Swansea Town played on Christmas Day.

    The Dundee Evening Telegraph reported:

    “Mr F. G. Linfield, the former Liberal M.P., who has returned to London after a tour in Africa extending over several months, described his jungle adventure with a lion.

    Mr. Linfield, Mr. Ormsby Gore, and Major Church were appointed by Mr. J. H. Thomas, when Colonial Secretary, as a Colonial Office Mission to make inquiries in Central Africa. While they were there the General Election intervened. They were unable to return in time, and of the three who left Britain M.P.’s only one, Mr Ormsby Gore, came back to find himself re-elected. Mr Linfield’s adventure with the lion occurred after he had ascended a mountain in company with Lord Delamere and was returning in order to secure help to release Lord Delamere’s car from a dangerous position.

    Concealed Behind a Bush

    “While we were ascending in the car,” he said, “rain came on, and the car skidded all over the place. There were no roads, and at one point one of the wheels went over, and the car was on the point of toppling over. Major Buxton, Major Dutton, and myself got out and tried to push the car to keep it from toppling over the side, but at one point one of the wheels went over, and the car had to be abandoned. Major Buxton and I walked for nine miles to the nearest farm to get help. As we were walking along I saw under a little bush a foot or two away from me a black object. I was not thinking of Africa, and imagined it was like a pig. Before I could say a word it jumped up, just looked at me, and then bounded into the dense bush. Major Buxton walked over to where the lion had disappeared, but I told him to be careful as there might be cubs there. He said, ‘The best thing we can do is to walk straight on. Probably the lion is as much frightened of us as we are of it.’ So we walked on, keeping as far as possible from the dense bush. I kept one eye on the bush and another on the nearest tree.”

    Lion’s Skull as a Reminder.

    On another occasion,” he said, “I stepped out of the rest house in which I was staying one night because I could not sleep on account of the high temperature. I had just opened the door and stepped into the garden when there was a tremendous growl. I went back into the house at once. Next morning I was informed that two or three hyenas had been prowling about the grounds.”

    Mr Linfield has brought back a large number of trophies and mementoes of his visit. These include swords, spears, and shields, a beautiful lion’s skin, and the skull of another lion. The lion’s skin his colleagues decided ought to be presented to him because of his adventure.”

  • NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 24 December 1924

    NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 24 December 1924

    24 DECEMBER 1924

    The Government is sounding the Dominions and India will, according to the Times, be represented at a conference in March to discuss the questions arising out of the Geneva Protocol. Germany has notified the League of Nations that in the event of entry into the League she could not accept responsibilities under Article 10 of the Covenant.

    The increasing hostility of the Russian peasants to Communism has caused the Moscow authorities to summon a conference for the revision of Soviet institutions.

    The Egyptian Parliament has been dissolved by decree of King Fuad, and new elections will take place in February.

    After several days’ hard fighting Scutari and Alessio have fallen into the hands of the insurgents in Albania.

    The Ministry of Transport announces that the highway authorities of the country have been invited to collaborate with the Ministry in the modernisation of certain limited lines of national communication, and that the number of principal routes selected is main road schemes contemplated include a new high level bridge over the Tyne and a new crossing of the Tweed at Berwick.

    Sir John Gilmour, M.P., Secretary for Scotland, was among the speakers at a “Come to Britain” dinner in London last night. Replying to the toast of “The Trade of the People,” he expressed the hope that the housing problem, the Scottish herring industry, and agriculture in the co-operation of Government, and employers in the building trade workers would have the co-operation of the Government and employers in the building of houses.

    Sir James Craig, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, in a Christmas message to the people of Ulster, says he is convinced that united action on the part of all in the return to stabilised conditions in Europe will eventually put the coping stone on the prosperity of the Imperial Province.

  • NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 23 December 1924

    NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 23 December 1924

    23 DECEMBER 1924

    Thomas Johnston, the Socialist candidate in the by-election at Dundee, had a majority of 12,739 over Mr E. D. Simon (Liberal).

    In a letter to Mr Austen Chamberlain, M. Rakovsky refers to a statement in the House of Commons by the Home Secretary on December 10 to the effect that proofs of the authenticity of Zinoviev letter cannot be disclosed out of fear for the safety of the person who supplied Britain with the document, and adds that the Soviet Government “is prepared to guarantee the unhindered departure of the above-mentioned person” from its territory.

    The Turkish Government has warned the Soviet that if the attempts to renew Communist propaganda activity in Turkey do not cease, they will expel and deport the majority of the Russian officials attached to the Soviet diplomatic and trade missions. The Soviet envoy, Suritz, was informed that the Turkish authorities have at their disposal incontestable evidence of anti-French and anti-British propaganda in Syria and Egypt conducted by Russian agents with headquarters in Constantinople.

    The German Government’s Note to the League of Nations on the question of Germany’s admission to the League refers to the dangers with which a disarmed Germany is confronted, and to the difficulties resulting from the disparity in national armaments in Europe.

    From Washington it is reported that President Coolidge opposes elevation of ships’ guns, regarding it as futile to spend money on battleships which are likely to be scrapped after twelve years.

    Martial law is reported to have been extended to the whole of Albania in consequence of the lack of response to the recent mobilisation order.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Rogue employers will be banned from hiring overseas workers [November 2024]

    PRESS RELEASE : Rogue employers will be banned from hiring overseas workers [November 2024]

    The press release issued by the Home Office on 28 November 2024.

    Shameless employers who commit serious offences will be banned from hiring overseas workers as part of a government crackdown on visa abuse and prevent exploitation.

    Delivering on a key manifesto commitment, businesses that repeatedly flout visa rules or commit serious employment breaches, such as not paying the National Minimum Wage, will be barred from hiring overseas workers.

    Currently, employers who flagrantly flout visa rules can only be sanctioned for a maximum of 12 months. Under our changes we intend the period for repeat offences to be at least 2 years, double the current length, with final cooling off periods announced in due course.

    This government will also not wait until employers have committed serious breaches of the law before taking action, when there are already signs of rule breaking. Action plans bind businesses who commit minor visa breaches to a set of specific actions to help them improve and correct any issues. These are being strengthened further, with the maximum time they can be applied quadrupled from 3 to 12 months, ensuring long-term and sustained compliance with visa rules.

    The measures are part of wider efforts to tackle the root causes behind the UK’s long-term reliance on international workers and action to link migration policy with skills and wider labour market policy.

    The wide-ranging crackdown will also protect vulnerable workers from exploitation, prohibiting unprincipled companies from engaging in the unethical practice of charging skilled workers for the cost of sponsorship. These costs, which can be passed onto workers at grossly inflated levels, has led to the exploitation and unfair treatment of staff, particularly within the care sector, in some cases burdened with unsustainable levels of debt to their employers.

    Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Seema Malhotra MP said:

    We committed in our manifesto to do everything in our power to ensure those who abuse our immigration system face the strongest possible consequences.

    No longer will employers be able to flout the rules with little consequence or exploit international workers for costs they were always supposed to pay if they choose not to recruit domestically.

    Worker exploitation is completely unacceptable. Shamefully, these practices have been seen particularly in our care sector, where workers coming to the UK to support our health and social care service have all too often found themselves plunged into unjustifiable insecurity and debt. This can, and must, end.

    The new powers will ensure employers who recruit internationally will be required to pay associated costs themselves, which is fair and reasonable for employers that do not recruit from the domestic workforce.

    While the longer action plans are in place, employers will face restrictions on their ability to bring in overseas workers. Failure to comply or make the necessary improvements will see their visa sponsor licence revoked.

    These changes will be made alongside the government’s new Employments Rights Bill, which is currently going through Parliament. Under the bill, the newly-established Fair Work Agency will bring together existing state enforcement functions including regulations for employment agencies and employment businesses, enforcement of the National Minimum Wage, Statutory Sick Pay and the licensing regime for businesses operating as ‘gangmasters’ in certain sectors.

    Minister for Care, Stephen Kinnock, said:

    Migrant workers are a valuable part of our social care workforce, supporting vulnerable people across the country every day. Many have travelled to the UK with the promise of a rewarding and fulfilling career.

    However, there has been an unacceptable rise in the exploitation and abuse of overseas social care workers from rogue operators.

    Cracking down on these unethical employers will protect migrant workers from unacceptable and shameful exploitation.

    This new crackdown also forms part of the government’s wider action to target rogue employers who abuse the immigration system by exploiting vulnerable migrants who are working in the UK illegally. This government is determined to clamp down on illegal working and the exploitative treatment of illegal workers, and we have rapidly expanded the action we are taking. A range of sanctions will be taken against those employing illegal workers, including:

    • financial penalty notices
    • business closure orders
    • potential prosecution

    We have delivered a major surge in Immigration Enforcement’s targeted visits to rogue businesses suspected of employing illegal workers, with 856 visits in October alone – a 55% increase on the same month last year. Between January and October this year, more than 6,600 visits have been made, and 22% increase on the same period last year, with over 4,600 arrests being made, up 21% on last year.

    International care workers are particularly vulnerable to abuse, with widespread concerns of exploitation in the sector. The Department of Health and Social Care has already been working closely with the Home Office to share concerns and intelligence on bad practices in the recruitment and employment of overseas care workers, and the measures announced today will further bolster the government’s action against exploitation.

    Since July 2022, the government has revoked approximately 450 sponsor licences in the care sector as the government continues to clamp down on abuse. Significant work is ongoing across government, in collaboration with the care sector, to ensure high standards across the immigration system, and to support care workers into alternative jobs when their sponsor has had their licence removed.

    Fifteen regional partnerships in England have received £16 million worth of funding to support them to prevent and respond to unethical international recruitment practices in the sector. This includes funding support for international care workers to understand their rights and establishing operational processes with regional partnerships to support individuals to switch employers and remain working in the care sector when they have been impacted by their sponsor’s licence being revoked.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Israeli-Palestinian correspondent banking services – E3 foreign ministers’ joint statement [November 2024]

    PRESS RELEASE : Israeli-Palestinian correspondent banking services – E3 foreign ministers’ joint statement [November 2024]

    The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 28 November 2024.

    E3 foreign ministers renew calls for the urgent extension of reciprocal banking arrangements by at least 12 months to prevent economic collapse in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

    Foreign ministers’ statement:

    The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France and Germany are deeply concerned that Israel has yet to provide assurances it will extend the indemnifications for essential correspondent banking relationships between Israeli and Palestinian banks for a minimum period of at least 12 months.

    On October 31, the Israeli government renewed its indemnifications of Israeli banks for 30 days, the shortest extension to date. This disappointing decision prolongs uncertainty and endangers the Palestinian economy. Cutting off these banking ties, which Israel has a clear duty under the Paris Protocol to maintain, would create significant economic turmoil in the West Bank, jeopardising the security of Israel and the wider region.

    There is no technical basis on which to withhold a year-long extension. We are fully satisfied that the Palestinian Authority has taken significant steps to counter the risks of terror financing, and that financial institutions within the West Bank maintain adequate controls to manage these risks. The issue of cross-border payments must not be leveraged to undermine the Palestinian Authorities, and Israel must pursue policies which promote internal and external financial stability.

    As the deadline of 30 November approaches, we therefore renew our call for Israel to immediately extend the indemnifications by at least one year, and for future extensions to be transparent, predictable and de-politicised.