wooden Archives - Good News!

Future Trends — Brexit Finalised, African Free Trade, Wooden Satellites

Austin Tang — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 17:00:51 +0000

Tuesday 05 January 2021

Welcome to the first Future Trends of 2021.

While 2020 certainly showed that predicting the future is full of fallacy, we look forward to bringing you this weekly roundup of news stories that we think provide some insight to the road ahead.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

What you need to know this week — ex-Pentagon chiefs caution Trump, Brexit deal finalised, African free trade bloc opens, and Japan develops wooden satellites.

Politics

Ten former Pentagon chiefs warn Donald Trump against involving military in pursuing election fraud claims. All 10 living former Secretaries of Defence, who are a mixture of Republicans and Democrats, have cautioned against any move to involve the military in pursuing claims of election fraud. Signatories include Cheney and Rumsfeld as well as two ex- Secretaries of Defence appointed by Trump.

Indian state bans Islamic schools, drawing criticism. Assam, an Indian state ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party passed a law abolishing all Islamic schools, saying they provided sub-standard education.

UK parliament approves Brexit trade deal with EU as both sides look to future. The deal is inclusive of trade which covers about 20% of the UK economy but doesn’t cover services, including finance. London is Europe’s leading financial centre and it is unclear how the divorce will affect its position.

Thousands march against Nepal PM’s dissolution of parliament. Thousands of opponents of Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli marched through the streets of Kathmandu urging him to reverse his decision to dissolve parliament and call for early elections.

Turkish-Russian ties not an alternative to NATO or EU – says Turkish minister. Turkey’s relations with Russia are not an alternative to its ties with NATO and the European Union, Turkish Foreign Minister told a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart in Russia.

Development

Japan developing wooden satellites to reduce space junk. A Japanese company and Kyoto University have joined forces to develop what they hope will be the world’s first satellites made out of wood by 2023. Research firm Euroconsult estimates that 990 satellites will be launched, on average, every year this decade.

COVID-19 is here to stay. World Health Organization experts have warned that even though the coronavirus pandemic has been very severe, it is “not necessarily the big one”, and that the world will have to learn to live with Covid-19.

Iran tells IAEA it plans to enrich uranium up to 20% at Fordow site. Iran has told the UN nuclear watchdog it plans to enrich uranium to 20% purity, a level it achieved before its 2015 accord, at its Fordow site buried inside a mountain.

Canary Islands sees more than eight-fold increase in migrants in 2020. As north and sub-Saharan Africans grew desperate after losing incomes from tourism and other industries because of the COVID-19 pandemic, 23,023 migrants arrived in the archipelago last year, up from 2,687 in 2019.

Social

Joe Biden says it will take years to vaccinate the US against COVID-19 at the current rate. “Even if we boost the speed of vaccinations to 1 million shots a day, it will still take months to have the majority of the United States’ population vaccinated,” he said. The vaccination takes two shots.

UK extradition decision on mental health grounds a victory for Assange, not press freedom, lawyers and campaigners say. A British judge’s decision not to extradite Julian Assange to the US was based purely on mental health grounds.

Microplastics found in the placentas of unborn babies. The health impact of microplastics in the body is as yet unknown. But scientists said they could carry chemicals that could cause long-term damage or upset the foetus’s developing immune system. The particles are likely to have been consumed or breathed in by the mothers.

Dissatisfaction with democracy is growing in developed nations, improving in Asia. In the US, society’s divisions have deepened under the Trump administration, leading to demonstrations by opposing forces. In Europe, Britain left the European Union and populism spread.

Virus found to be 3 times deadlier than flu. This is according to coverage of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Conflict

Afghan troops, police abandon nearly 200 checkpoints to Taliban. Afghan security personnel have abandoned nearly 200 checkpoints in restive Kandahar province in recent weeks. In some cases, they left behind their weapons which were seized by the Taliban.

Violence closed 800 polling stations in the Central African Republic. More than 14% of polling stations failed to operate during the recent presidential and legislative election due to armed rebels who attacked voters and barred electoral staff, the electoral commission said.

Breakthrough reached in Gulf dispute with Qatar. A breakthrough was reached in Qatar’s three-year-old dispute with Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries, with an agreement to end their rift to be signed.

Iranian authorities seized a South Korean-flagged tanker in Gulf waters and detained its crew for chemical spill. Seoul confirmed the seizure of a South Korean chemical tanker by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps in the waters off Oman, and demanded its immediate release.

Economics

African free trade bloc opens for business. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aims to bring together 1.3 billion people in a $3.4 trillion economic bloc that will be the largest free trade area since the establishment of the World Trade Organization. The World Bank estimates it could lift tens of millions out of poverty by 2035.

China and EU poised to sign long-delayed investment deal. The investment talks have centred on opening up Chinese markets for European investment and changing forced labour practises.

Africa’s debt and fragile economies likely to cause pain in 2021. Africa’s debt has doubled in the last decade with many countries likely to default. Along with subdued commodity prices, many African nations may experience political and civil unrest in 2021.

Turkey, Iran and Pakistan join China’s belt and road initiative. The governments of Turkey, Iran and Pakistan will revive a transnational rail service linking Istanbul, Tehran and Islamabad in 2021.

OPEC sees oil outlook for first half of 2021 full of downside risks. OPEC sees plenty of downside risks for oil markets in the first half of 2021, its secretary general said, before meeting allies led by Russia to discuss output levels for February.

At a time when politics is more furious and fragmented than ever, when technology is colonising our everyday existence, when COVID-19 is reshaping our lives, we still look to books to make sense of things. Peace in the Age of Chaos is the perfect reading accompaniment in this uncertain period. The world now has an opportunity to reset, but unless we approach global problems with new approaches we won’t meet these challenges.

Get your free chapter now

The post Future Trends — Brexit Finalised, African Free Trade, Wooden Satellites appeared first on Good News!.

The Wooden Bowl

admin — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 15:07:36 +0000

I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl
tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now.A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year–old grandson.The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.

The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.

When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.

‘We must do something about father,’ said the son. ‘I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.’

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.

There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

When the family glanced in Grandfather’s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.

Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.

He asked the child sweetly, ‘What are you making?’ Just as sweetly, the boy responded, ‘Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.

‘ The four-year-old smiled and went back to work..

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather’s hand and gently led him back to the family table.

For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

On a positive note, I’ve learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as making a ‘life..’

I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw somethingback sometimes.

I’ve learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you
But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others,
your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

I’ve learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone.

People love that human touch — holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.

I’ve learned that you should pass this on to everyone you care about. I just did.

FRIENDSHIP CANDLE

NOTICE AT THE END,
THE DATE THE CANDLE WAS STARTED.

GONNA GIVE YOU GOOSE BUMPS.

I am not going to be the one who lets it die.. I found it believable —
angels have walked beside me all my life–and they still do

*********************

This is to all of you who
mean something to me,
I pray for your happiness.

The Candle Of Love, Hope & Friendship

This candle was lit on the

15th of September, 1998

Someone who loves you has helped
keep it alive by sending it to you.

Don’t let The Candle of Love, Hope and Friendship die

Pass It On To All Of Your Friends
and Everyone You Love!
May God richly bless you!

The post The Wooden Bowl appeared first on Good News!.