‘Explosive shock’ as Britain votes to leave EU, Cameron quits, by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton Report
Britain has voted to leave the European Union, forcing the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron and dealing the biggest blow since World War Two to the European project of forging greater unity.
Brexit Factbox: Who, where, when why – and what next, by Alastair MacDonald, Report
In England’s Mean and Truculent Land, by Jonathan Manthorpe, F&O International Affairs columnist
Britain’s departure from the EU will be a journey across new territory full of terrors and treacherous terrain. Among the many stupidities in Cameron’s management of the referendum was allowing a simple majority for victory.
An American “Brexit” revolt? Not likely, by Tom Regan, F&O Summoning Orenda columnist
Immediately after the Brexit vote, to take Britain out of the European Union, the hyperventilating United States media found umpteen different ways to say “It could happen here.” This American media chorus is wrong.
Joyful rebels sign ceasefire with Colombian government, by Marc Frank and Carlos Vargas, report
A historic ceasefire deal brought Colombia’s government and leftist FARC rebels close to ending the longest running conflict in the Americas. Capping three years of peace talks in Cuba, it sparked celebrations, and set the stage for a final deal to end a guerrilla war born in the 1960s out of frustration with deep socio-economic inequalities.
Note to our readers: Facts and Opinions will take a summer break next week, returning on July 10.
Commentary:
The Revolt of (some of) the 4.5%, by Jim McNiven, Thoughtlines Column
One of the American presumptive presidential candidates has been creating a big nationalist fuss about ‘Making America Great Again’. Somehow, according to this interpretation, the country’s just not given the respect it had in the past….
Canada’s National Aboriginal Day, by Deborah Jones/Free Range Column
Time, some vast and today unfathomable sweep of time, may eventually heal the wounds in the people, families and communities left by Canada’s treatment of its first peoples; of even the theft, abuse and murder of generations of children. For now, on the first day of summer each year, Canada celebrates National Aboriginal Day.
Singing is the best revenge, by Penney Kome/Over Easy Column
Heightened security will greet a major Denver music festival, from July 2 – 6. For a week, the U.S. city’s music venues will showcase 6000 singers in 130 groups.
Arts:
Fearful Symmetry — a poem, by Stephen Collis, excerpt
A poem from the Chapbook New Life, available this month by Above/Ground Press.
Note to our readers: Facts and Opinions will take a summer break next week, returning on July 10.
FINDINGS:
“Act locally, think globally.” We’ve all heard that one. But the mayors of more than 7,100 cities, in 119 countries, just put it into practice, announcing their commitment to tackle climate change. The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy represents some 600 million people, more than 8 per cent of the world’s population. Read about it on the covenant site.
Also on the climate front, a new paper in the science journal Nature Climate Change, Why the right climate target was agreed in Paris may convey hope. The researchers, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said limiting temperature rise within survivable limits “is possible, yet requires transformational change across the board of modernity.” Their work, remarked a Washington Post report, suggests that the Paris climate agreement has what it takes to stabilize climate change. “That’s a pretty big deal,” wrote Chris Mooney.
Brexit became a household word overnight. But in the larger context, are all of Europe’s fault lines deepening dangerously? Conflict experts told Common Space the European Union is in for a rocky time, even without Brexit, due to “nationalistic and racist politics” and with economic conditions …. continue reading at Common Space.
When even the IMF warns America about its poverty levels, people listen. The U.S. economy “is in good shape” — but is threatened in future by declining labor force participation, falling productivity growth, polarization in the distribution of income and wealth, and high levels of poverty, said the International Monetary Fund, after an annual analysis. It said about one in seven people are impoverished, and recommended raising the minimum wage and offering paid maternity leave. … find the IMF press release here.
William Koch’s recent sale of 20,000 bottles of wine for $21.9 million prompted Oliver Roeder of FiveThirtyEight to look into this rarefied underground. “… wat I found was a high-end wine market, and a blockbuster auction, with notes of geography, chemistry, economics, culture and thousands of years of history — with a detectable aroma of bullshit.” …. read The Weird World of Expensive Wine.
Elsewhere, Nepal banned its citizens from working in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria because of the recent slaughter of 13 Nepalis and the ongoing terrorist threat. Thousands of migrants were rescued on the Mediterranean this week. South Africa’s top court ruled that 800 corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma will stand. Game of Thrones production will not be affected by Brexit, said HBO, responding to stories warning filming in the UK would be disrupted. Pope Francis named the mass killings of Armenians — a red hot button in Turkey — “genocide.” Rulings by America’s top court put paid to an amnesty plan, and upheld affirmative action at a Texas university — a case, reports ProPublica, not quite as the plaintiffs presented it. In Bangladesh, Buddhist monks served food to Muslims breaking their fast at sunset.
Updated June 25 to include Tom Regan’s column
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