Headlines

 Washington DC, July 27.– The Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to tap billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to build sections of a border wall with Mexico.

The court’s five conservative justices gave the administration the green light on Friday to begin work on four contracts it has awarded using Defense Department money. Funding for the projects had been frozen by lower courts while a lawsuit over the money proceeded. The court’s four liberal justices wouldn’t have allowed construction to start.

It will need the rule of law and a system of arms control to thrive

July 18.– The moment when, 50 years ago, Neil Armstrong planted his foot on the surface of the Moon inspired awe, pride and wonder around the world. This newspaper argued that “man, from this day on, can go wheresoever in the universe his mind wills and his ingenuity contrives…to the planets, sooner rather than later, man is now certain to go.” But no. The Moon landing was an aberration, a goal achieved not as an end in itself but as a means of signalling America’s extraordinary capabilities. That point, once made, required no remaking. Only 571 people have been into orbit; and since 1972 no one has ventured much farther into space than Des Moines is from Chicago.

The next 50 years will look very different. Falling costs, new technologies, Chinese and Indian ambitions, and a new generation of entrepreneurs promise a bold era of space development. It will almost certainly involve tourism for the rich and better communications networks for all; in the long run it might involve mineral exploitation and even mass transportation.

 Dundee, June 27.– Taking the theme of People, Place and Power, and based on the work of Dundee thinker Sir Patrick Geddes, the conference has attracted speakers from as far afield as Brazil, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Kenya and Canada.

Geddes, a pioneer of the global sustainable development movement, was a biologist, sociologist, geographer, philanthropist and ground-breaking town planner.

He is known for innovative thinking in the fields of urban planning and sociology and was professor of botany at University College Dundee from 1888 to 1919.

Trust-building between Trump, Kim signals flexibility in upcoming working-level negotiations.  

Trump 5th US president to visit DMZ, first to cross into North Korea. 

Seoul, June 30.– The US will resume working-level dialogue with North Korea, US President Donald Trump said Sunday following his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Panmunjom.