Bruce Harper

THERE WAS DELIGHT at the United Nation yesterday as Kyrgyzstan last night roundly defeated the Washington-controlled Philippines to win the sole Asia-Pacific seat at the UN Security Council. Kyrgyzstan received 142 votes, while the Philippines received only 49. The Iranians, sitting in one row ahead, were clearly delighted at the win. The Central Asian nation now becomes a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2027-2028 term. Most people in the west have never heard of the country, but the US was concerned about the vote, because Kyrgyzstani people have friendly, peaceful relations with their Chinese and Russian neighbors. The US spends billions of dollars a year to demonize China and Russia. The UK voted with the US. There was more bad news for the US-Israel bloc, too. Germany was defeated by Austria and Portugal in the European vote. After the illegal US-Israel attack on Iran, German leader Friedrich Merz shocked the world by echoing the far-right Israeli view that that international law did not apply to Iranians.

Germany has failed to win a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) secured 104 votes in the General Assembly, falling 23 short of the required two-thirds majority. It is the first time Germany has missed out on a rotating seat.

Is the Scottish High Court going to allow cameras in now on a regular basis, or did we see a strange, carefully selected one-off situation? 🙄

Great piece from Daniel Finkelstein about Sturgeon, but why did you ever have to treat her as sage or a titan? Her calamitous failure in government on every metric, along with her inexplicable crusade against women's rights have damaged Scotland badly. All in plain sight.