Today we will discuss Donald Trump. What do you think of him so far? Is he doing everything you expected? Is he living up to your dreams? Are you disappointed with him? Is he the right man for the job? Should Hillary Clinton have been president?
Donald Trump is now the 45th President of the USA. He’s running the United States of America. The new American president stepped into the White House on Friday January 20th. Depending on your politics, you either love him or hate him. His deputy, Mike Pence, is the new Vice President of the USA.
Love him or hate him, the Republican Party candidate Donald J. Trump is to be the new 45th President of the USA. In a stunning upset, The Donald has beaten Hillary Clinton, from the Democratic Party, to the White House.
The result has shocked many in the USA and around the world. It sent convulsions throughout the USA and the world. Many world leaders and celebrities are now back-tracking fast on any derogatory statements and speeches they previously made.
The result was a devastating blow to Hillary Clinton, 69, who many pundits thought would easily win the presidency. Mike Pence will be the new Vice President of the USA.
Today, let’s talk about the tension that is rising, right across Europe, regarding immigration. Well, let’s face it, it is. What’s more, week by week, it’s getting worse, thanks to the EU, and Mrs Merkel, the German Chancellor.
Western governments are only too happy to hand out benefits to anyone, who makes it to these countries. Top of the immigrant’s list is the UK, closely followed by Germany, Sweden and Holland.
Why don’t these economic migrants go and live in Saudi Arabia, or other Middle Eastern countries, or African countries that were once their neighbours?
Why not go to Eastern Europe? Because no one there wants any migrants. There are no benefits paid, worth taking about, in Eastern Europe. Mr Orbán built a fence. Austria is doing likewise. Why not France?
For the second year running, Singapore has been voted the top place for expats’ to live and work in 2016. The country topped the list of countries, in HSBC’s ninth annual Expat Explorer survey.
More than 60% of expats earnt more in Singapore, than they did in their own country. Nearly half, felt they were healthier living in Singapore. 84% of expats said the island was safer than their own country. 75% said the level of education was better than their original country. 58% of expats felt Singapore is a good place to start a business.
Switzerland offers the best wages, with annual incomes around US$188,000. In Singapore, the average expat salary is US$139,000. This is significantly higher than the global average of US$97,000.
Today, let’s talk about the iPhone 7 and the Samsung Note 7. Both have hit the headlines recently, ironically, for different reasons.
Apple has unveiled the new iPhone 7. It’s a waterproof smartphone, with a longer battery life than its predecessor. It has a faster processor, and improved cameras.
The most talked about feature must be the new wireless headphones. These are an expensive optional extra. They are dubbed AirPods and come with a charging case. Apple has removed the 3.5mm headphone jack, by replacing it with an adaptor to their ‘lightening’ connector.
Britain has a new £5 note. The Bank of England released the new polymer plastic £5 bank note into general circulation in England and Wales** on Tuesday. It marks the start of several big changes the Bank of England is making. The new fiver will see the Queen on one side, and Winston Churchill on the other. It will be 15% smaller than the current cotton-paper note.
For now, it’s only fivers that are changing. Plastic £10 and £20 bank notes will follow later. The new tenner will feature Jane Austin. It will enter circulation next summer. The new £20 note will arrive in 2020. The Bank has yet to decide on £50 notes. Be aware that existing £5 notes cease to be legal tender from May 2017!
**Scottish fivers will begin to change in late September and October.
Fancy a cuppa British grown tea? You might say they don’t have tea plantations in Britain. Surprisingly, yes they do. British tea is now grown in Scotland and Cornwall, and what’s more, it’s a rapidly growing business.
Climate change is one reason why this is happening. The cool, wet British climate is now ideal, as it is helping the plantations to thrive. British entrepreneurship and business is another reason. The result is, exports of British tea are now causing a stir in China and Japan.
At the Tregothnan tea plantation in Truro, Cornwall, yields are about 35% higher than in 2015. This is due to the very wet and mild winter and the perfect tea growing conditions this year.
Today, let’s talk about going back-to-school. It is September and the school holidays have now finished. It is time to start a new term. This could be at school, university or college, at language school, or even in the office. Students are now returning to lessons, following their summer break.
For schoolchildren, the new term may result in meeting new friends, as well as seeing old ones. It means a new school timetable. It will probably mean new subjects to learn, with exams to study for at the end of the school year.
A new term also brings new teachers, as well as some of the ones you already know and sometimes love. The new term can also include the dreaded word that no one likes – homework!
Should Britain leave the EU? Britain’s Daily Express newspaper thinks so. It recently explained why and hopefully it now makes an interesting theme to discuss. The British newspaper demanded ‘our country’ back from the EU! They called it ‘a crusade for freedom’. They wish to see Britain break free from the ‘EU dictatorship’.
Certainly many in Europe and beyond now jokingly call the EU the ‘E.U.S.S.R.’. This point definitely rings alarm bells in Eastern European countries, who clearly remember the U.S.S.R. and communism, and whose citizens now see the EU for what it really is. Is the EU a Big Brother state like the U.S.S.R. once was?
The Daily Express states those behind the EU have been intent on one goal: the creation of a single political and economic European state with absolute sovereignty over the nations under its control.
(Flashback lesson:This is an interesting lesson from 2011 that is still actual today)
Today, the question is: Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?
During the 2015 General Election British Prime Minister David Cameron promised British voters a referendum about the UK membership of the EU no later than the end of 2017. The referendum will take place on Thursday 23 June 2016.
The “Brexit” vote is likely to affect everyone living in the EU, as a vote to leave could mark the breakup or even the end of the EU. “Brexit” is a term commonly-used for the British exit from the EU.
