What is the customs union- why is it important? try these free links

This week there has been discussion on whether the UK will leave the customs unit after Brexit?

what is the customs union? why is it important?

Use these free resources to find out more.

See this handy guide from the Guardian newspaper

European Commission website explains what a customs union is and offers technical advice.


TARIC database enquiry system, gives current tariff rates applicable by exporting country and season – European Commission: Communication and Information Resource Centre for Administrations, Businesses and Citizens.

Customs union and Brexit.

The Conversation blog has academic discussion.
Economist discussion

For the IEA remaining in the Customs union would be a lost opportunity.

CBI perspective

TUC viewpoint.

Bar Council brexit paper no.25 from December 2017

European Parliament regulatory study.
also useful is the UK Trade Policy Observatory


The Institute for Government has some analysis

it also has an explainer on trading relations with the EU

 

Millicent Fawcett statute unveiled. See our free resources on Dame Millicent Fawcett

This week the first statute of a woman was unveiled in Parliament Square.
this features Dame Millicent Fawcett the famous suffragist.
It followed a campaigned by  Caroline Criado Perez whose website provides details of her  activism for this.

See the Guardian newspaper  gallery of images of the event 
Read the transcript of the Prime Minister's speech
Mayor of London Press release
it forms part of the year long #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign
Google Arts and Culture has a special feature Road to equality which includes discussion with Gillian Wearing on the creative process that went into making the statue.It also has an online exhibition with a timeline and biography of  Millicent Fawcett's life and work with stunning original photographs and manuscript images.

here are some resources to find out more.
Read her  writings via Project Gutenberg.
They include

Women's Suffrage: A Short History of a Great Movement
The Women's Victory—and After: Personal Reminiscences, 1911-1918
BBC Radio 4 Great Lives series provides a short podcast discussing her life . thi was recorded in 2006 and features. Matthew Parris talking to feminist campaigner Lesley Abdela about why she has nominated Millicent Garrett Fawcett, a suffragette campaigner, for great lives status. Historian Elizabeth Crawford joins the debate

Use the National Archives Discovery Catalogue to find records of  archives  

The include the personal papers of Millicent Garrett Fawcett; which are held by the Womens Library@LSE

Find out more about contemporary campaigns on the Fawcett Society website

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

This is being held in London this week.
It is a is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations
The official website has agendas, press releases and documents.
The UK government has a website of information on the British government persepctive. It includes transcripts of speeches from the Prime Minister.

Background information on the role and governance of the Commonwealth
The main Commonwealth website has at the foot a timeline of events.
Recent publications and reports can be read free online via the Commonwealth ilibrary. Subscribers ahve a wider range of services including downloading.
The Queen is the head of the Commonwealth and the Royal family website has details of  her role, lists of visits and some recent speeches

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
aims to connects, develops, promotes and supports Parliamentarian in Commonwealth nations.
It website has a section for women parliamentarians with useful articles and fact sheets on Gender.
It also offers free acess to its magazine the Paliamentarian. Ther are also online lectures from political leaders. There is a specific 2018 meeting section.

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
independent NGO founded in 1987 which seeks to promote human rights in the region. Its website has news and aces to publications. Including a page on its work at the 2018 meeting.

Royal Commonwealth Society
was founded in 1868 .It is a registered charity comprised of a network of individuals and organisations committed to improving the lives and prospects of Commonwealth citizens across the world. Its website provides information on its activites plus research reports- including a special 2018 report

Overseas Development Insitute website explores hiow the Commonwealth can assist with future development studies issues

Archbishop of Canterbury is attending the summit.

The Anglican Communion has called for urgent climate change action.

The Round Table Commonwealth Journal of World Affairs - has an interesting blog summarisng and analysing events

Syria and chemical weapons get some facts and comment with our academic resources.

Syria and chemical weapons.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has created a special section on its website
that covers its work with Syria. This includes press releases and reports

The purpose of this organisation is to implement the Chemical Weapons Convention

It has been collaborating with the main UN who has issued press releases on its website.

Syrian Civil Defense Organisation.over 3,000 volunteers. Funding received via Mayday rescue and chemonics from European governments.

Syrian Network for Human Rights.independent non-governmental organisation often cited by the United Nations.

Which monitors human rights violations in the region.

It has daily monitoring reports, lists of casualties, statements and images.

Other sources of reports include Human Rights Watch

Amnesty International

World Health Organization.

Also useful for background is the Syrian Center for Policy Research which has background reports on the socio economic impact of the conflict on Syria. This includes assessments on the loss of GDP, impact on the infrastructure.

For a different perspective see the Syrian Arab Republic official news service in English.

Chinese Language Day - celebrate the work of Chinese scholars

April 20th is designated by the United Nations as Chinese Language day
it seeks to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity.

Here are some recommended free sites:


National Social Sciences Database China

Free database of government-funded Chinese social sciences journals. Coverage varies, but includes in most cases materials post 2012 . Individual registration required.


Find some recent research papers (covering all topics) from the Hong Kong Scholars hub maintained by the University of Hong Kong. Note that some items have full text restricted to members only.


You can even download the full text of recent PhD and masters theses.

Government publications.
Chinese Government website
An official Chinese government website which provides free access to the recent government documents including: statistics, legislation, policy and budget materials. Many are full text. There is an English language version.

State Archives Administration has some earlier online historic materials.


Digital archives of documents.

Other key materials include:

Chinese Foreign Policy Database (Wilson Center)

Great website from the Wilson Center which provides a marvellous reference source fro Chinese foreign policy from 1949 onwards. It includes a timeline and chronology of key events. Thematic sectiosn and biographies. It includes hundreds of full text chinese and international government documents offering a range of perspectives on events. Mainly 1949-2000. Some are declassified materials.


Chinese Digital Archive 1966-1976 (ANU) More than 400 digitized documents dealing with the Cultural Revolution free online.

Good Friday Agreement - 20th anniversary - try our free academic services.

Its the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
 the Belfast Agreement paved the way for a relatively peaceful end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Find out more using these resources.

The peace agreement and its implementation.

Read the full text of the original agreement on the UK government website.
The UN Peacemeaker database has a number of full text treaties and documents between the British and Irish government

read many full text  official documents and commentaries  on the Irish peace proces from the great CAIN archive based at Ulster University.
they include the Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Reports (2012-), published by the Community Relations Council.
The ARK Qualitative Archive on Conflict - a searchable database of information about qualitative material related to the Northern Ireland conflict.
Incore - oral archive of accounts of the conflict maintained by Ulster University.

Bodies created by the agreement.

The North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) was established under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (1998), to develop consultation, co-operation and action within the island of Ireland. Its website has information on its areas of work and progress.
The British-Irish Council was established as part of the multi-party agreement reached in Belfast on 10 April 1998. Its membership comprises representatives from the Irish Government; UK Government; Scottish Government; Northern Ireland Executive; Welsh Government; Isle of Man Government; Government of Jersey and Government of Guernsey. It aimed to promote good relations

20th anniversary resources and anlysis

political parties.
Sinn Fein 
SDLP

A podcast from the Conversation blog discusses the 20th anniversary.
LSE Blogs discussion 
Slugger o'toole blog
it includes some videos from an Agreement 20  conference at Manchester.
Belfast Telgraph
BBC 
RTE  
Irish Times Analysis
Guardian Editorial
Queens University Belfast has a facebook live debate on the  proces and impact with key figures.
they also have discussion on their blog
Institute for Government live stream event.

Remembering Martin Luther King 50 years later- free academic resources

 On April 4th 1968. Martin Luther King as assassinated. 

Read his original obituary from the New York Times

The New Yorker Magazine has some articles honouring his contribution.

King spoke on April 3, 1968, at the Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters) in Memphis, Tennessee. On the following day, King was assassinated.This is his famous I have been to the Mountaintop speech which is reproduced  in the King Encyclopedia from Stanford University

This also has a timeline of events, access to full text speeches and documents relating to the civil riughts movement in the USA.

Established in 1968 by Mrs. Coretta Scott King, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change also has an extensive online digital archive  about the life and impact of Dr King. These include manuscripts, speeches and letters.

National Archives has a page with resources for teachers.

In terms of the assassination Shelby County have an online archive of police records.They include crime scene evidence, James Earl Ray documents and sheriff's notes.

There were reports of a conspiracy in 2000 this was investigated by United States Department of Justice. The report is online.