Explainers

Feb222016 by Aylin Kaya No Comments

Are young Syrian refugees getting the education that they need?

“When I found out what GCSE’s was - I was shocked. I had two options: do GCSE’s or give up my dreams.” Bombs, starvation, fear of death, poverty and loss… These are only some of many ordeals that Syrians are fleeing from. With the fear of never seeing their homeland again, thousands are hitting the roads since the beginning of the on-going war. Some take days to arrive at a safer destination, some are fortunate enough for transportation whilst others like 5-year-old Aylan Kurdi, don’t make it at all. What do they want? Without a doubt they want safety and a better life, and the young, they want education, to rebuild a better Syria. Ayham Alhalabi, 20, from Syria was studying his first year in medicine when he moved to Egypt with his two brothers and mother. His brother’s battle with l

Jan302016 by Sara Macham No Comments

London housing crisis takes average price to new record

Business, Explainers, News

London’s house prices saw the largest monthly growth in more than a year in December as prices rose by 2.1% on November. It was the biggest monthly increase since August 2014, figures from the Land Registry show, and took the average price for a home in the capital to a new record level of £514,097. The report shows that December prices were also up by more than 12% year-on-year, the fastest rate of growth since last February. The increases were largely fuelled by growth in suburban areas, such as Hillingdon, Croydon and Bexley, as more and more Londoners are forced further out of town to find affordable housing. London mayoral hopeful Sadiq Khan tweeted his reaction to the report. https://twitter.com/SadiqKhan/status/693124526624903169 By contrast, prices in

Dec142015 by <a href="https://medium.com/@JayBeeSVG">Jay Belmar</a>No Comments

Saudi Women Vote

Explainers, News, ReportingWeek2

Women have made history by taking part in elections as candidates and participants for the first time in the Saudi Arabian Kingdom. According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA), at least 4 of the 979 women who ran for office have been elected to sit on councils. According to reports, about 25 percent turned out to vote in the elections. The Kingdom has faced criticisms from human rights activists. An anonymous source from the human rights organisation, Liberty, said:' Whether it means that there will be other change to the rights of women or if the vote was only allowed to shut up critics, it is a good first step. In a tweet from a women's right activist in Saudi Arabia,"This is a new day. The day of the Saudi woman." https://twitter.com/HatoonALFASSI/status/6755626429...

Dec142015 by Adelaide ArthurNo Comments

Tony Blair could face Intelligence Committee over Shaker Aarmer allegations

Explainers, News, ReportingWeek2

Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair may be invited to give evidence at the hearing of the Intelligence and Security committee of parliament. Chairman of the committee, Dominic Grieve, told BBC radio 4’s Today programme that there was the possibility of inviting Mr Blair to give evidence if it is relevant. “We have the material to look at which may help us schedule who knew what and we will be in a position to ask people to come and give evidence before us”, Mr Grieve said. “We will go where the evidence takes us. All such things are possibilities,” he told the Today programme on Monday. This comes after a series of allegations by the last British man to be released from Guantanamo Bay, Shaker Aamer. Mr Aamer, 48, has accused the UK of having knowledge of his torture in

Dec142015 by Aylin Kaya No Comments

Saudi Arabian females say that the votes are ‘not such a big deal’

Explainers, Politics

Saudi females have voted and run for office for the first time in History during Saturday’s municipal elections. The step for a more democratic country was widely covered and praised throughout worldwide media. The Telegraph reported that the election ‘marked an important step forward’. According to BBC’s report, a total of 978 women registered as candidates, alongside 5,938 men. And Officials have said about 130,000 women had registered to vote in Saturday's poll, compared with 1.35 million men. In order to understand what this change means for those living in the country, I spoke to Saudi women. But what do Saudi females feel about this move? A Saudi female artist who didn’t want to be named shared her views on the votes: “I didn’t participate in

Dec142015 by Cai MengweiNo Comments

Half A Million Elderly in UK Set to Spend Christmas Alone This Year

Explainers, News, ReportingWeek2

Research shows over half a million older people in UK spend Christmas alone this year. About 30 thousands of them are from London. Earlier this month, the German supermarket chain Edeka has also called for by airing a Christmas ad. The video, which has been viewed on YouTube almost 41 million times, is about a lonely old man comes up with drastic measures to bring his family together: he fakes his own death. The biggest tear-jerker of this season gives the old man a happy Christmas dinner in the end. However, not every elder have the fortune to spend the festival in company. According to a research released by the Aged UK, over half a million older people in UK set to spend Christmas alone. London has 30 thousand of them. The research also revealed that 60

Dec142015 by Judit SerraNo Comments

EU Referendum: Peers to present a fresh amendment for votes at 16

Explainers, Politics

Source: JesmondLocal Peers are about to present a new proposal to force the Government to allow 16 and 17 years old to vote in the European Union membership referendum Today they are putting down a new amendment in the House of Lords to question claims by the government that temporarily lowering the voting age to 16 would involve costs of around £6 million. Last Tuesday MPs at the House of Commons voted against the move by 303 to 253 overturning an amendment to the EU Referendum Bill passed in the House of Lords last month to let young people have a say on UK’s EU membership. The leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron said: “The Government will come with various excuses of why they can’t do it. It cost a little bit of more money, £6 million out of a budget which is much gre

Dec142015 by Aylin Kaya No Comments

UK: Increase in Islamophobia

Explainers, Politics

The rise in Islamophobic hate crimes has been compared to the 1930's antisemitism. A recent survey published by the Metropolitan Police reveals an increase in racial, religious and Islamophobic hate crimes in London. Figures show that Islamophobic crimes have increased by 41.8% in a year. According to Islamic societies factors that stimulated such hate crimes are the Syrian refugee crisis, UK airstrikes and Paris bombings, which took place 13th November 2015. Organisations such as Stand Up To Racism, tell MAMA (measuring anti-Muslim attacks) and The Refugee Welcome Board have stressed their concerns on the hate crime, which is spreading across the country. Zabi Dalu, Stan

Dec142015 by Adelaide ArthurNo Comments

Campaigners say climate deal is not good enough

Explainers, International, News, Politics, ReportingWeek2

Climate change campaigners say the Paris Agreement does not go far enough to reduce carbon emission. UK-based campaigner, Joana Blackman, told Westminster News “we need to leave fossil fuel in the ground and stop extracting it”. According to her, the world will become a safer place if we “wean ourselves of using oil” and move to a future of renewable energy. On Saturday, climate change campaigners protested in London. They said governments across the world had once again failed “to agree a deal that will protect our future”. This comes at the same time as former Nasa scientist, James Hansen, who is also considered the father of global climate change awareness called the Paris talks “fraud”. He told The Guardian website that: “It’s a fraud really, a fake. It’s just bull

Dec142015 by Giovanni PratiNo Comments

Front National wins no region but the youth vote soars

Explainers, ReportingWeek2

Front National failed to win any regions in the second round for the French elections on Sunday. Despite the defeat, it confirms its high appeal and leader Marine Le Pen attracted the youth vote. Front National (FN) - whose English translation is National Front - loses the second ballot in the regional elections. Of the thirteen regions voting, Sarkozy’s Popular Movement takes 7 regions and the Socialist Party 5. However, the vote revealed a trend on going since the European election in 2014. The FN confirmed to be the first party among the young people. Arnaud de Rigne, the coordinator of the FN's youth movement Jeunesse (FNJ), offered a deep analysis on what pushes a youngster to vote for the FN. He argued: “We lost, but right and left parties have failed. They showed all thei