Ramblings of a 70-year old: britain

Showing posts with label britain. Show all posts

Saturday, November 5, 2022

Prince Harry founded the Invictus Games and the Invictus Games Foundation in 2014

Idea of the Invictus Games came to Prince Harry after he witnessed the Warrior Games in 2013. That was during one of his visits to the U.S. and it acted as his inspiration to start the veterans' sports project. Subsequently, he arranged to hold the first edition of the Invictus Games in London the following year. That was 2014. The aim of the games is to make available a platform for disabled war veterans to compete in team and individual sports events. The games continue for several days and the participants get a chance to demonstrate their mental and physical fitness. They are the wounded, sick or injured armed forces servicemen and women. Harry maintained his working relationship with Invictus when he stepped down from his official role within the royal family. He had his wife Meghan Markle alongside him. In 2020, they relocated to the U.S. and his role as founder and patron remains unchanged. As the founder and patron, he extends support to the Invictus Games event and Invictus Games Foundation in several ways. These include promoting them on the world stage to fundraising and shaping their direction. Is Prince Harry Still Head of Invictus Games? . The official foundation website states that the prince - "Sees the Games as an important part of a broader legacy of support, through a combination of ongoing care, training and employment opportunities, to the well-being of those men and women who have served their country."

In 2021, its CEO Dominic Reid said that the royal's links with Invictus hadn't changed following the Sussexes decision to step away from their roles within the monarchy in Britain. His words at the time were - "We are proud to have The Duke of Sussex as our Patron. The Invictus Games was founded by him, it has been built on his ideas and he remains fully committed to both the Games and to the Invictus Games Foundation.” The official website of the foundation states that the prince: "Sees the Games as an important part of a broader legacy of support, through a combination of ongoing care, training and employment opportunities, to the well-being of those men and women who have served their country." Incidentally, the Invictus Games Foundation is the organization that oversees the Invictus Games brand. It also selects the host city each year, develops and maintains the lasting legacy of the games, including looking out for the wellbeing of past and present participants. The Netherlands would host the Invictus Games in 2022. The foundation announced that it would collaborate with BetterUp for these games. BetterUp is the digital mental health coaching business that appointed Harry as chief impact officer in 2021. It announced that the partnership would "support service members from around the world and empower them as they transition from military to civilian life." Benefits of the partnership would accrue to all participants in the Invictus Games because they would get tools for personal development.

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Climate change a matter of concern for the security of Britain

Britain is worried. Its national security appears on shaky ground. This is believed to be a fallout of the failure of the government. A parliamentary report cautions that the reasons for such a situation could be attributed extreme weather events caused by climate change. The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy consists of senior MPs and peers. It has urged the government to take control of the major security risks posed by the effects of climate change on critical national infrastructure. These include power, transport, water and communications. The world of today depends heavily on these factors. The report highlight salient issues of the recent past that could be pointers on possible repercussions in future. A few of these are – (i) loss of power to millions in parts of England and Scotland during Storm Arwen in November 2021 due to downing of power lines (ii) loss of lives in Scotland due to derailment of a train in August 2020 and (iii) heatwave of July 2022 when temperatures rose to 104F in the U.K. UK security in danger as govt fails to prepare for extreme weather sparked by climate change - report. The report mentions about finding "overwhelming evidence" that climate change is already having an impact on UK infrastructure and that "no minister has been taking responsibility" for adapting it.

The report follows a series of extreme weather events in recent years. It reveals an "extreme weakness at the centre of government." Moreover, the committee hauls up the ministers of "a severe dereliction of duty" and stresses that "even more severe weather - and consequent impacts - will be prevalent soon." These observations leads the experts to predict that high temperatures are likely to give rise to issues like sagging of electricity cables, softening of roads and increase in the frequency of flooding. These, in turn, might result in frequent failure of railway embankments. Chair of the Joint Committee, Labour MP Dame Margaret Beckett, said Rishi Sunak, the new Prime Minister “must pull all the strands of government together to mitigate against potential disasters… This government must finally recognise that prevention is better than cure and move on from their dangerously reactive approach to risk management."

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Egypt will host COP27, the annual United Nations climate talks

Glasgow held COP26 last year but the world has changed considerably over the past year. The full form of COP is Conference of the Parties. There is now an energy crisis, the war in Ukraine, tensions over Taiwan apart from situations like the floods in Pakistan. These have changed the geopolitical concept dramatically. All eyes are now on Egypt where COP27 will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh between 6-18 November. Developing nations will look forward to Egypt, a middle-income developing nation, to provide a stronger platform to their demands. This is an annual event where leaders from almost 200 countries assemble. They put their heads together to evolve methods to tackle the crisis of climate change and its impacts. Apart from leaders, thousands of observers, civil society groups and media attend too. Incidentally, France hosted the 2015 talks. It led to the historic Paris Agreement where countries agreed the need to limit global warming to below 2°C, and ideally to 1.5°C, of warming above pre-industrial levels. COP27: Everything you need to know about the United Nations climate talks in Egypt. One of the attendees would be US President Joe Biden. King Charles, known for his focus on the environment when he was Prince of Wales, would not attend. He pulled out after discussions with Britain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss. As to the presence of Britain, there is no confirmation on whether the Prime Minister will attend, or whether business secretary Jacob-Rees Mogg will come instead. He supports fossil fuel expansion.

COP might not be the ideal process, but right now, it is the single biggest geopolitical forum for countries to join hands and work together to tackle a threat that has an impact on all of humanity. The violent flooding that ravaged Pakistan is a recent example of how climate change can uproot people from their homes and heap miseries on the community. A relevant issue that might come up is on whether richer countries, responsible for the vast majority of emissions, should pay reparations to poor countries. The latter suffers the worst impacts of climate change. Another contentious issue could be the untapped gas fields of Africa. In the opinion of Nick Mabey, chief executive of think tank E3G, countries could be divided over whether to exploit untapped gas or go straight from fossil fuels to clean power.

Saturday, September 3, 2022

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive in Britain minus their children

The last time Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle visited the UK was in June. The occasion was to attend the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. The couple has now returned after flying commercial and dispensing with their private jet. This time their children Archie and Lilibet are not accompanying them. A spokesperson for the couple had confirmed the visit in August. The information was - "Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are delighted to visit with several charities close to their hearts in early September." Travel plans of the couple include Manchester on September 5 for the One Young World Summit. This is an event that helps to bring together young leaders from more than 190 countries. The Duchess of Sussex is a counsellor for the organization. She has with her Justin Trudeau, Sir Richard Branson, and Jamie Oliver. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive in the UK – all the details. Other engagements of the couple during their stay are a visit to Germany for the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 One Year to Go event. They also plan to attend the WellChild Awards on September 8 prior to returning to the UK.

Their visit is brief and it is not known whether they will get an opportunity to spend time with the Queen. At present, the monarch is on her summer break at Balmoral. She had travelled to Scotland in July. Incidentally, the return of the couple comes on the heels of another of Meghan's wide-ranging interviews. In it she mentioned that it takes "a lot of effort" to forgive and hinted that she can "say anything." In the interview to a media outlet, she had said that “just by existing" she and Harry were "upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy.” That was prior to their stepping down as senior working royals.

Monday, August 29, 2022

Meghan Markle says she and her husband were "happy" to leave the UK

In another tell-tale interview to a New York magazine, Meghan Markle admits she and her husband Prince Harry were "happy" to leave the UK. The main reason was apparently adjustment. In her words - "just by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy." She went on to add that the two of them were prepared to go anywhere in the Commonwealth. They wanted to move out of their life in Britain and relocate to Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. That was before deciding on a home in California. The Duchess of Sussex explains that she did make efforts to patch up with both her in-laws and members of her own family and she is “still healing" from the ordeal. . Meghan’s interview comes amid speculation she and Harry might noit be able to visit the Queen at Balmoral during their forthcoming visit to Britain next week due to security issues.

Meghan recently launched her Archetypes podcast on Spotify. In it, she reveals that in spite of her son Archie narrowly escaping a fire in his bedroom, she and Harry had to go ahead with their visit to South Africa. The couple now live in Montecito. This is a small coastal village north of Los Angeles. On the subject of her relationship with Prince Harry, she said they were like "salt and pepper." This is because they "always move together." The couple has made some plans related to their upcoming trip to the UK. They will make appearances to "support several charities close to their hearts." Their itinerary includes a trip to Manchester on 5 September for the One Young World Summit. Later they will visit Germany for the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 One Year To Go event.