11.02.25
WHSmith encourages the post offices if the sales are made
WHSmiths thoughts on the post office: Coming off the back of the post office scandal, WHSmiths states that the post offices in the area found in the store will remain if the sale of the business goes ahead. They stated that their ‘partnership’ with the Post Office was a key part of their business, with post offices increasingly having to deal with handling cash deposits and withdrawals. They also deal with other very important details, including passport/drivers license renewals and bill payments.
As a society, how do you think we would manage without a postal service?
Do you think heritage and history of brands is important (given that WHSmith shops have been around since 1792, or 232 years)?
President’s Trump’s most recent policies
On Sunday 26th January this year, nearly 1,000 immigrants were arrested as Donald Trump’s promises of mass deportations are being ramped up. The ‘sanctuary’ city of Chicago has been a focus of the raids, with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and areas of New Jersey and Miami also being targeted. Trump and the Colombian government had an argument after two US military flights carrying deported migrants were barred from landing, with the Trump administration threatening to slap tariffs on Colombian exports to the US, and the Colombian government later agreed to let the planes land.
How do you think freedom of movement could change for the better?
What do you think life is like for a deported immigrant?
New Chinese AI sweeping the nation
New Chinese AI: Massive US tech firms’ price shares have plummeted after a Chinese chat bot stormed up in usage rates, made up of a price around a quarter of its American rivals.”Deepseek”- founded by the 40 year old Liang Wenfeng in 2023- has shocked the market and worried other companies because of how cheap it was to make, and how quickly they’ve further invested into more technology.
How do you feel about the rapid advancement in technology and why?
What dod you think this will lead to in the future?
The terrors of Auschwitz, revisited 80 years laterThe freedom of the Jews from Aushwitz: The commemoration took place on the 27th of January, thousands upon thousands of Jews were freed from the walls of the horrid compound. On the day of remembrance, Leonn Weintraub, spoke out to millions of attendants about his experience with Auschwitz, stating “We the survivors, we understand the consequences,” he says. Depicting the clear realities, atrocities that took place.
How do you think it might have felt living in Auschwitz?
How do you think It may have felt being freed from Auschwitz?
1000 palestinians return back to their homesScared Palestians civilians return home: Thousands of palestinians ran in complete fear as Hamas were now controlling major Northern transport links on 15th of January, but finally after taking over 30 hostages, Hamas are agreeing to start releasing 6 hostages per week, restoring faith to the thousands that ran away, on the morning of the 25th, 1000’s of innocent civilians returned back to their home in the north.
How would you feel if you had to leave your home due to the lack of safety?
Do you think you would have been able to leave your home at a short notice?
- The LA Fires. The fires have raged across the coast, causing irreversible damage to those who live there and their property. The fires spread rapidly and by the 11th of Jan, it covered 16.5km of land. People are pointing figures to many different sources but the rising temperatures due to climate change seem to be the biggest culprits. This has launched climate change back into the focal point of the news as people’s anger surges after the wildfires. What do you think this means for global climate efforts?
- Ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza War. Israel’s government has approved the plan for peace with Hamas and the hostages on both sides are set to be returned. This highly controversial conflict has been at the forefront of the news since October 2023 and it seems the end is in sight. The plans to return Palestinian citizens to their homes and reunite hostages with their families is a hopeful sign for all those involved. Is this just a temporary solution or could this start to change the problems in the Middle East?
- Starmer’s plans make the Uk a leader in AI intelligence
Keir Starmer has promised to make Britain ‘one of the great AI superpowers’, and has plans to use artificial intelligence to boost development and improve different services. Once utilized, AI will be used for things like creating growth zones, where jobs and and building projects will be created and will detect potholes through cameras so they can be fixed. On top of this, a boost in infrastructure has also been proposed, and £14 billion has been dedicated to large data centres.
Do you think it should be a priority for governments to improve the country’s use of AI technology?
- Tiktok ban
Last Friday, the US supreme court upheld the law that means that TikTok will be banned in the USA if the company who owns the app, ByteDance, does not sell it to a neutral party by the 19th of January. This is the result of a vote over the ban that took place last year, as worries of the company sharing information with the Chinese government arose within the congress. This ban meant TikTok went ‘dark’, becoming unavailable in app stores, and prevented users already on the app to access it. Was the American Government right to ban TikTok?
- Trump’s inauguration
Trump is currently in the capitol to be sworn in as the 47th president of America (Monday the 20th of January). After this event has taken place, many executive orders are going to be put into place, such as actions that are going to cut down on migration. This includes the continuation of the construction of the US-Mexico border wall and revoking the birthright of the children of immigrants that are living in the US illegally. On top of this, he also has orders involving the economy, planning to do things like establish a national energy emergency , which will allow America to produce more natural resources that will mean more jobs becoming available. How do you think these plans will affect those living in America?
Book of the week!
Wolf Brother
Image sourced from Amazon UK
First Book of the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness
Wolf Brother is an adventure book set thousands of years before today. It is an action-packed book filled with tribes and stone-age beliefs. If you’re a fan of stone-age and fantasy, then this book is for you.
12-year-old Torak just witnessed his father’s death from a demonic bear. Only Torak and his new friend, a wolf cub, can defeat the evil in the land. Their adventure takes them across forests and mountains, and with a wide cast of characters, their journey changes with every step.
Wolf Brother is the first book in the series of Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. It was written in 2004, with its sequels releasing mainly every year. In recent years, three new books have been added to finish the series off. It was written by Michelle Paver.
15.05.23
- Volodymyr Zelensky has been on a visit to meet UK PM Rishi Sunak, who has pledged more weapons to Ukrain after Germany promised them $7bn in Leopard tanks a few weeks earlier. NATO is still rejecting Ukrainian requests to send F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv.
- At a Conservative party conference, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has stated that we should ‘train our own fruit pickers and team of lorry drivers’ instead of relying on migrant labour – this is expected to cause a party split.
- Presidential elections have begun in Turkey, with the (at best controversial) President Erdogan expected to still come out on top of his opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The vote will end in a run-off on Tuesday May 28th.
- An intercity train in Austria was found to be playing a speech from Adolf Hitler over its loudspeaker. The owners of the train company OBB (Austrian Federal Railways) have said that the ‘announcement’ likely came directly from the intercoms
- The first driverless bus has begun to offer services to passengers in Edinburgh. Despite the name driverless, the bus will still have one person in the driver’s seat making sure that the technology is working as intended.
journalismnottshigh.com 