Sir David Attenborough has fascinated viewers around the world for decades with his documentary series like The Blue Planet and Life on Earth. Now the 95-year-old naturalist is using his communication skills to try to explain the complex issues to be tackled the United Nations’ COP26 environmental summit in Glasgow from 31 October. Attenborough was … Continue reading “David Attenborough: People’s Advocate for the Planet”
Little Amal is anything but small: she’s a giant puppet of a Syrian refugee girl making her way across Europe. The 3.5-metre-tall puppet began an 8,000 kilometre journey in Turkey on 27 July. After the south of France in September, she’ll be making stops across the north in October before embarking for the U.K. The … Continue reading “Walking Across Europe for Refugees”
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to two journalists with a long track record of fighting to protect freedom of expression: Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, working in the Philippines and Russia. Both journalists are working in countries with populist governments which seem to have little respect for freedom of expression and both have … Continue reading “2021 Nobel Peace Prize Supports Freedom of the Press”
The Canadian actor William Shatner, aka Star Trek Captain Kirk, will be aboard the next rocket from Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ company, on October 13, 2021. It’s a dream come true for Captain James T. Kirk who led the original Star Trek series on screen from 1966 to 1996. Shatner confirmed that he would be … Continue reading “Captain Kirk Goes Back to Space!”
Canada went to the polls two years early on 20 September. The situation after the election looks almost exactly the same as that before, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party losing the popular vote but winning the most seats, though not enough for a majority. Trudeau will now form another minority government. Justin Trudeau, … Continue reading “Canada Elections: Status Quo”
On 11 September 2001, the world watched in horror and disbelief as first one plane and then a second crashed into the Twin Towers of the NYC’s World Trade Center. Then news spread of a third hijacked plane heading to the Pentagon and a fourth that crashed en route to Washington, D.C., thanks to the … Continue reading “9/11 20 Years On”
The Global Partnership for Education has a simple goal: to ensure that all children everywhere have the possibility to go to school. The organisation, founded in 2002 is holding a Global Education Summit co-hosted by the U.K. and Kenya on 28-29 July to persuade donors to finance its goals for 2021-2025. Since the creation of … Continue reading “Education for All”
The Residential School system which removed indigenous children from their families and forced them to assimilate, was described by a Canadian government as “cultural genocide”. Indigenous groups searching for information have carried out searches of schools looking for the traces of children who died there. Since May, more than 1,000 sets of remains have been … Continue reading “Terrible Legacy of Canadian Residential Schools”
In Shine Bright AMC File 19 A Tale of British Cities, we mentioned that Liverpool had been threatened with losing its UNESCO World Heritage status because of property develop plans in the historic heart of the city. On 21 July 2021, the announcement was made: UNESCO has stripped Liverpool of the status. And on 28th, … Continue reading “Liverpool Loses Unesco World Heritage Status”
Queen Elizabeth II has awarded a George Cross medal to the National Health Service. It is one of the highest honours that can be awarded to British civilians, for “acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger.” On 5 July, the 73rd anniversary of the creation of … Continue reading “Queen Honours NHS Heroes”
