Gair Rhydd

This world, this week

Funny money

The European Union (EU) has suggested that a network of national funds be introduced to ensure that the cost of failures in the banking system will not be met by the taxpayer.

We're not going down with the ship

With the Euro tanking, James Dunn looks at why no one wants to be left standing on this sinking ship

David Cameron has signalled this week that he would never be willing for a transfer of power from Westminster to Brussels that would potentially shore-up the troubled Euro.

But during his visit to Berlin, the new Prime Minister declared that it was in the British national interest for “a strong and stable Eurozone”. His comments come on the back of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, attempting to persuade the 27 member states that a redraft of the Lisbon treaty is needed to prevent another Greek-style economic meltdown. The German Parliament narrowly approved their own portion of the €750 billion part of the rescue package for the ailing country.

Conservatives get the knife out

Katie Murdoch looks at the first cuts from Osbourne, and wonders what the Lib Dems think of it all...

Chancellor George Osborne has sketched out plans to make £6.2 billion worth of immediate cuts in government spending.

The cuts will target I.T spending, higher education spending and local authorities, among other areas. The savings are designed to help reduce the budget deficit quickly and to restore growth.

Is football coming home in South Africa?

With the FIFA World Cup fast approaching, Oliver Smith takes a look at the effects it could have on an unstable South Africa

Since FIFA allowed the new South African Football Association back into FIFA in 1992, following the collapse of apartheid, the day was bound to come when South Africa would host one of the greatest sporting events: the World Cup.

For a country blighted by the AIDS pandemic, high levels of crime and unemployment rates of 25%, the World Cup could offer a new opportunity to resolve its economic and social problems. Indeed, the former President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, has predicted that the event will be viewed as the moment that Africa “turned the tide on centuries of poverty and conflict”.

The Queen's Speech: Those crucial bills

Academies Bill: will give more schools, including primaries, the ability to become academies, which means that they won’t be under local authority control. Parents will be able to set up ‘free schools’. Schools will have more control over the curriculum.

Energy and Green Economy Bill: will promote energy efficiency, the introduction of smart meters and low-carbon energy production.

Korea vs Korea: the second leg

Occasionally, we hear of two countries that are ‘close to war’ or ‘on the brink of conflict’. As these two countries are rarely England and Wales, we often tend to flick on through the newspaper because it’s a long way away.

North and South Korea, by the way, are on the brink of war for the first time since the Soviet-backed North invaded the US-backed South in 1950.