Current Affairs

By Yvonne Ridley I WAS determined not to write about the American president in this column but Donald Trump keeps saying and doing things which make it impossible to ignore, like some needy, spoiled brat that demands the attention of those around him.

By Yvonne Ridley I AM now home from Cox’s Bazar on the `Bangladesh-Myanmar border and appreciate my surrounds like never before. I am sitting here in the secure knowledge that no one is going to threaten or drive me and my family from our home. It makes me feel warm and safe but it also makes me feel sad because it is a feeling that is denied to the Rohingya people.

By Yvonne Ridley WELL my dear American brothers and sisters, another year is drawing to a close and it is only natural we look back on the last 12 months before we go charging in to 2018 with renewed vigor and hope.

By Yvonne Ridley Well it seems your President Donald Trump and I have found some common ground, at last! POTUS has just imposed sanctions on a Myanmar general accused of leading an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya people.

By Yvonne Ridley So here we are again, another week and another fine mess your president has created because, like it or not, Jerusalem affects all of us.

Jerusalem was lost and regained by Muslims several times in history, first to Crusaders in 1099, regained by Salahuddin in 1187 after the battle of Hattin; lost again to the British when General Allenby entered the city in 1917 and declared:

Yvonne Ridley NELSON Mandela’s grandson, Chief Mandla Mandela MP, arrived in Palestine on Sunday morning for a historic visit to the nation his grandfather so admired. During his time in Palestine it is expected he will hold several meetings with Palestinian leaders including one with the beleaguered, unpopular 83-year-old President Mahmoud Abbas.

Yvonne Ridley The news which reaches this side of the Atlantic usually revolves around some insulting tweet or the latest weird appointment your president has made from The White House. Donald Trump dominates the news so much, he is the news when it comes to events in the USA and so distracts all meaningful discussion and debate of what is really happening elsewhere in America.

By Yvonne Ridley It seems to be widely accepted now that the biggest civilian threat posed to Americans is ... erm, Americans - angry white guys to be precise.I can't begin to understand exactly how the good people of Sutherland Springs will come to terms with the mass shooting which must have blighted the lives of all who live in the tiny community. With a population of around 600, it's not an exaggeration to say almost every home there must have been affected by Sunday's shooting at First Baptist Church.

Yvonne Ridley The emergence of Black Lives Matter is an indication of the serious escalation of racism and bigotry in America these days which is obviously felt around the US hence the emergence of the #taketheknee protests. US President Donald Trump might be in denial but it is obvious there is institutional racism in your back yard, but there are equally sinister agendas at play over here in the UK albeit a tad more subtle.