Virtual Global Village News Update - March 2021

Welcome to the Virtual Global Village News Update of the week, I’m Geoff Meenan, on behalf of the International News Team. This week, we begin in the Middle East, where the American Navy announced that it would be holding a major military exercise in alliance with Japan, Belgium and France in response to increasing unease surrounding Iran’s nuclear plans.Drills by ships from all four countries - including France’s aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle - were planned for the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Also on the subject of nuclear weaponry, documentary makers have uncovered information which suggests that Spain’s late dictator, General Franco, secretly ordered the theft of fragments from jettisoned American hydrogen bombs dropped in the Mediterranean during a refuelling accident. The incident - which took place in 1966 - indicates that Franco had nuclear ambitions of his own, and regarded the theft of US technology as fair game. In Italy, tradition and progress united as Cristina Corbucci became the first female traffic controller to ascend the famous podium in Rome’s Piazza Venezia, where potentially chaotic traffic is regulated in three different directions. The famous landmark lay dormant for a year, while nearby roadworks were carried out, but has now returned to use and is providing a welcome indicator of normality whilst coronavirus restrictions continue in much of the country. Also in Italy this week, a one billion Euro plan was unveiled to refurbish and repopulate thousands of abandoned dwellings in stunning locations across the country. The scheme was piloted in the Abruzzo region, where the ‘alberghi diffusi’ (spread-out hotel) concept proved popular with tourists looking for an alternative to Rome or Venice for their Italian holidays. With some properties being sold outright to foreign buyers for as little as one Euro, urgent work is taking place to improve internet connectivity so that working from home in stunning, inexpensive surroundings can boost the Italian economy after a catastrophic pandemic. In India, a thaw in relations with neighbouring Pakistan saw the first joint commission meeting in three years take place to discuss water rights on the Indus river. Anger over a suicide bombing in disputed Kashmir had previously caused the long gap in bilateral talks. In the UK, the dramatic and tumultuous Scottish political saga involving Nicola Sturgeon and her former friend and mentor Alex Salmond took on a new twist with Mr Salmond’s announcement that he was setting up a new political party called Alba (or Scotland in Gaelic) to create a ‘supermajority’ for Scottish independence. However, many nationalists feared that the new party may split the pro-independence vote in future elections, damaging the separatist cause. Finally, a small piece of British musical history came under the auctioneer’s hammer this week, as an original touring contract from supergroup Oasis was sold for £4,000 at Hansons of Derbyshire. The contract - which dates from 1994 and was agreed for a concert at the Old Trout Pub in Windsor, Berkshire - stipulates that ‘sober-speaking’ staff must be provided for band liaison at the venue, together with 24 large cans of ‘high-quality’ lager and a binding agreement not to sell fast food on the night of the performance. And there we leave our look at all things news-related this week : I’m Geoff Meenan, and we are Virtual Global Village.