Turkey was the main topic of conversation for my family over the Christmas break. Not in the usual way, when we discuss which celebrity chef’s turkey roasting technique we’re faddishly going to mimic this year. (The blessed bird always tastes exactly the same, without fail.) On the day my family was first reunited for the holidays, news came of the assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey. “You don’t want to mess with the Turks,” my youngest brother offered, predictably. “Or the Russians, for that matter,” he said.
The room was heavy with worrying about global politics. With peace in the world so fragile, my father was looking around at his sons and grandsons and thinking of the young men of his 1940s childhood. A week later we shared the announcement of the ceasefire in Syria, brokered seemingly against the odds by Turkey and Russia at the UN. Let’s hope that my brother is right and that no one will mess with the Turks and the Russians, and that the Syrian people, whose lives and losses haunt us all, can have a glimmer of hope for 2017. No one in my family is convinced that peace is on its way, but we made promising noises nonetheless.
Wish upon a star
As I’m sure he will be doing for the next six years, my son demanded a family outing to watch the latest Star Wars flick. Rogue One did not disappoint. We’re a bunch of Star Wars fanatics. My brother Luke was named by our older siblings in homage to Mr Skywalker. My mother vetoed calling me Leia.
The news of Carrie Fisher’s death hit us hard, but none more so than my eldest son, who took to YouTube (as all of his generation do) to watch every interview with her. He sat down at breakfast and said: “Carrie Fisher had a mental health problem, Mom, and she was a really big feminist, did you know?” “Yes,” I answered, “I did know, and the fact that she was willing to talk about it made her pretty special.” “She was pretty ace, wasn’t she, Mom?” he said.
Yes, bab, she really was.
Straight to video
Perhaps until this year I lived under a rock, or was a normal person who didn’t seek out the New Year messages of political leaders. My metamorphosis into a Westminster bubble-dweller must be complete, though, because this year I watched the offerings of both Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May. Next year I mightn’t bother.
I watched Mrs May’s at 1.15am on 1 January – after returning from an evening out dancing and drinking with my mates. Perhaps this set it up for a fall, because I felt she wasn’t really grabbing the New Year spirit. It left me thinking that although the message of unity wasn’t bad, she could have cheered up a bit.
Jeremy’s offering was hampered by the version I watched sounding as if he was on a building site. I think expectations let this one down, as it had been trailed as the beginning of a new move to grasp the populist nettle. I was expecting the pizzazz of a slogan such as “Make Labour great again”. Aside from mentioning the establishment, the text of his message could have been written by Ed Miliband’s speechwriters.
I think neither of these videos will launch a thousand ships and, alas, the privileged few chided in both videos will, I am certain, be resting as comfily in their establishment beds in 2017 as they were in 2016. I’m not pleased about this, but I am more of a realist than a populist.
All’s fair in love and war
I like to poke fun at the idea of resolutions, and to pretend that I’m a cynic who can’t be won over by the endless “new year, new you” lifestyle articles about losing weight or becoming a better version of yourself, which are all so heavily gendered in tone. I’ll be the same shape and size and as good as I’m going to get at the end of 2017 as I am at the start. In 2013, inspired by the Boney M hit (“Ra-ra Rasputin”), I made a resolution to become Russia’s greatest love machine. Had I put in the effort, perhaps geopolitics today might be in better shape.
Land of hope and glory
Despite my cynicism, I find myself looking forward to 2017 with hope. I’m as terrified of a Donald Trump presidency and the unknowns of Brexit as the next person, but I spent the break with my friends and family, who range from political nerds to people who don’t vote and couldn’t name a single member of the cabinet. I find that most people are just crossing fingers for the best in their own lives. They don’t give a toss about half the stuff that haunts us in Westminster, but they do give a toss about each other.
French connections
My brother and sister-in-law are classic examples of what Theresa May calls the “just about managing”, or Jams. When we chatted about it on Christmas Day, they rolled their eyes at being the new Tory target audience. They want things to be easier and better for them and their young son, but they wouldn’t use their vote to damn other people. My other brother and his family live in France and, for them, 2017 brings an impossible choice between a Continental version of Thatcherism and the BNP. They are both convinced that liberté, égalité, fraternité will remain in their lives and in those of their neighbours, regardless of the vote.
Critical events
This year could see a huge crisis in the world, for all sorts of reasons. My mother used to say, “Never waste a crisis,” and I hope we won’t. If we do our best, 2017 and all the possible macro horrors will be counteracted by simple British shrugging and getting on with making sure that the way we live does not look like the crazy hate fuelled by figureheads like Trump.
I expect that most people wouldn’t call themselves socialists, yet deep down we all believe that we are all better off when we are all better off – and I hope that in 2017 we show it. It’s the only chance we have to clear out the gloom.
Jess Phillips is the MP for Birmingham Yardley (Labour)
When the UK voted to leave the EU, many assumed that Scotland would soon vote to leave the UK. In contrast to the rest of Britain, Scots backed Remain by 62 per cent to 38 per cent. On the day following the referendum, Nicola Sturgeon warned: « It is a significant and material change in circumstances – and it is therefore a statement of the obvious that the option of a second referendum must be on the table. And it is on the table. »
But six months later, the SNP leader is striking a notably different tone. She told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme that she was prepared to « put aside » her « preferred option of independence » if a « hard Brexit » could be avoided. « Am I going to stop arguing for independence or believing in independence? Am I going to stop believing that Scotland is on a journey to independence?
« No, but we’re talking here about the particular context and timescale of Brexit – and I’m putting these proposals forward in good faith. I’m deliberately saying, ‘put my preferred option to one side’ and asking people if we can find a consensus and compromise option. »
What’s Sturgeon’s game? It’s unsurprising that the First Minister isn’t rushing towards a second referendum. Contrary to expectations, polls have shown no rise in support for independence since the Brexit vote. A BMG/ Herald survey last week put the Yes side on 45.5 per cent, almost identical to the 2014 result. As long as the polls remain static, the SNP will not stage a second vote. Party strategists believe that they would need a 20-point lead to be confident of victory (owing to the likelihood of a Unionist swingback). Mindful of the fate of Quebec’s secessionists, the nationalists will not re-run the battle under current conditions.
But if Stugeon is not ruling a referendum in, she is also not ruling one out. As the First Minister well knows, a « soft Brexit » of the kind she seeks is unlikely. Theresa May has consistently vowed to achieve control over immigration, a demand that would force the UK to leave the single market. The EU 27 have long made it clear that they regard the « four freedoms » (of goods, people, services and capital) as indivisible.
The rise of nationalists such as Marine Le Pen, Alternative für Deutschland and the Dutch Partij voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom) has made the EU less, rather than more, amenable to British demands. In this hazardous climate, the UK cannot be seen to enjoy a cost-free Brexit.
For Sturgeon, then, the reasonable demand for a « soft » withdrawal is a tactical ploy. Its likely rejection offers her a new chance to maximise nationalist support. If Sturgeon has taken one step back, it is only, like Lenin , in order to take two steps forward.
© Source: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/01/why-spite-everything-im-hopeful-about-2017
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Так, обмеження для всіх видів транспорту ввели у Дніпропетровській області на таких автошляхах: 
Як повідомляють російські ЗМІ, глава Генштабу повідомив, що першими зону конфлікту залишать авіаносець « Адмірал Кузнєцов » та крейсер « Петро Великий », а також кораблі супроводу. 
ベストセラーとなった新書「日本会議の研究」で名誉を傷つけられたとして、書籍に登場する男性が出版元の扶桑社に出版差し止めを求めて申し立てた仮処分で、東京地裁（関述之裁判長）は６日、「真実でない部分があり、損害も著しい」として、差し止めを命じる決定をした。ベストセラー書籍の出版差し止めを認めるのは異例という。 「日本会議の研究」は昨年出版。保守系団体の日本会議と特定の宗教団体の関係を探り、安倍政権による改憲に向けた動きを批判する内容。各書店でベストセラーランキングの上位に入った。 決定によると、書籍では、宗教団体の活動の中で自殺者が出たと記載。宗教団体の幹部だった男性は自殺者が出たことについて「馬耳東風であった」と描かれていた。 決定理由で関裁判長は、自殺者が出たことを裏付ける客観的な資料が存在せず、一部の取材対象者は伝聞を述べているにすぎないなどと指摘。著者が男性に対して直接の取材も行っていないことなどから「真実でないと言わざるを得ない」とした。 その上で、書籍が全国で販売されていることを踏まえ、「男性の著しい損害を避けるために販売の差し止めが必要」と判断した。 扶桑社は同日、決定を受け、「今後の対応については決定内容を精査し、決めてまいります」とのコメントを出した。
メキシコでの自動車生産を攻撃するトランプ次期米大統領が、日本を代表するトヨタ自動車を名指しで批判した。日本企業が標的にされる懸念が早くも現実のものとなり、年初の行事が続く日本の産業界に激震が走った。北米で事業を展開する日本企業は次の攻撃対象にされるのではないかと身構えている。 【特集】大統領選で浮き彫り「二つのアメリカ」～日本人地元紙記者が見た分断の姿～ 
政府系金融機関の商工組合中央金庫（商工中金、社長＝安達健祐元経済産業事務次官）は６日、景気悪化や災害時の国の制度融資の審査で不正があったと発表した。制度の適用を受けるため、職員が融資先の企業の資料を改ざんしていた。件数は判明した分だけで２２１件にのぼる。融資総額は公表していない。 不正は昨年１０月に発覚し、１２月に第三者委員会を設置した。現時点で鹿児島、岡山、名古屋、松本（長野県）の４支店で不正があったことが判明しているという。計１５人の職員が、融資先の財務状況を示す資料などを改ざんしていた。業績が大きく悪化していないのに悪化したように見せかけるなどして、危機対応融資の適用を受けていた。今後の調査で不正の件数が増える可能性がある。 同融資は自然災害などで業績が悪化した企業に運転資金などを貸す制度。商工中金は国から利子補給が受けられ、貸し倒れの際の穴埋めもある。急な資金が必要な企業に貸しやすくする制度だが、基準を満たさない企業でも適用されるように不正を行っていた。理由について「内部評価を得ること」「業績評価の対象となっていた」などと説明している。 商工中金は今後第三者委員会の…
６日午後５時ごろ、福岡市南区中尾２丁目のスーパー「にしてつストア中尾店」で、外壁の一部が崩落し、歩道などに破片が散乱した。当時は営業中だったが、けが人はいなかった。福岡県警南署は老朽化が原因とみて調べる。 
ニューヨーク（ＣＮＮＭｏｎｅｙ） トランプ次期米大統領は５日、ツイッターでトヨタ自動車がメキシコで新工場の建設計画を進めていることを非難した。 
■中曽根弘文・自民党日本の名誉と信頼を回復するための特命委員長 （韓国・釜山の日本総領事館前に慰安婦問題を象徴する「少女像」が設置され、日本政府が対抗措置をとったことについて）日韓両国間で不可逆的かつ最終的な解決で合意し、日本は誠実に合意の内容を履行してきたのだから、毅然（きぜん）とした措置は当然だ。抗議などの対応ではなく、毅然とした措置をとることで、国際社会に対して日本の立場を明確に示すことが重要だ。 これは韓国国内だけの問題ではない。米国でも慰安婦像や慰安婦に関する碑が設置されている。カリフォルニア州では、いわゆる学習指導要領の中で慰安婦問題が取り上げられている。特命委を出来るだけ早く再開し、具体的な対応をとっていきたい。（朝日新聞の取材に対して）
