Michael

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51001167 As was kind of expected, Iran is no longer going to follow the restrictions imposed by the 2015 Nuclear deal which they had. So Iran will now resume it's nuclear programme.

There was a lot of condemnation about the destruction of historical sites in Iraq and Syria, it's just the world knew that we were dealing ISIS maniacs who were beyond reason. So there wasn't a hell of a lot that we could do about it, except to get rid of ISIS. The mainstream media did cover a lot of sites that were damaged or destroyed and many were appalled by what happened. However, we expect much better from a leader of the United States of America. So expect much more media scrutiny and questions about accountability, if the US were ever to destroy such historical sites.

Yes, definitely, but even attacks on the other cultural sites in Iran, would be condemned by the international community. As you said, there should be a strategical gain and a logical objective to any type of potential strike on Iran.

Yeah, no doubt there is a hell of a lot of propoganda that goes on in Iran. But Trump's statement was ambiguous, probably deliberately so. If it is the media centres that he meant, then that clearly wouldn't be as bad as targeting literal cultural sites. But generally speaking, if we do see that many US strikes on Iran, then this could perhaps be the start of the end for this Iranian regime. Because the Iranians will not stop retaliating and neither will Trump and there's only realistically going to be one so called winner in all of this and it isn't Iran.

Yes, the general message that Trump is sending, is that he is prepared to do pretty much anything in order to put Iran in place. There would be uproar around the world if cultural sites were targeted across Iran, as that would obviously be totally out of order.

Yes, I've just read that myself. So it seems like Trump will actually strike places in Iran now, if Iran retaliates in any sort of way for the killing of Soleimani. The US are really sending a strong message here and it will be interesting to see how Iran responds to this. What I really don't get is the following quote from Trump, in regards to the type of targets that he is intending to potentially hit: "at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture". So he is intending to hit places that are important to Iranian culture, does that mean places of cultural importance? Why would he do that? Surely if he were to attack certain sites in Iran, the military bases or the military factories would be the best places to hit. There doesn't seem to be any justification in attacking places of cultural importance, as it will only infuriate many of the local Iranian populace, more so than the Iranian government.

Yes, the Sunni Iraqis hated Qassem Soleimani and they will for the most part, be pleased that he is now out of the picture. It's obviously true that the Iraqi Shias have always looked to Iran favourably, mainly due to religious reasons. They were happy with the Iranian influence at the start of a new era after the sunni backed Saddam was overthrown. However, in recent times, even many of the Shia Iraqis have become fed up with how Iran has interferred in Iraq and they are even more angry with their predominantly Shia lead government, which is corrupt as hell. I think the West and the US in particular are well aware of the Shia Sunni divide in that region and the US in particular plays on that religious divide as well as the differences that certain ethnic groups have. They will side with one group when it's convenient for them and then side with the other side when the time is right. There are plenty examples of this through history, Iraq being just one of them. That's US foreign policy for you.

Yes, you were alluding to the fact that Soleimani's power and what type of man he is, right? As for Trump, he is going on the offensive and in most people's opinions he has probably gome too far. Not for any sympathy towards Soleimani, but because of him upping the anti against Iran. The attack on the US Embassy didn't really warrant murdering a major public figure of the Iranian regime, as chaotic as it was. There won't be a WW3, but Iran will use its influence in the region to form attacks on Americans in the Middle East or on others such as the Saudis and the Israelis. The Iranians are likely to intensify such efforts and cause more strife in the region.

No surprise that the Iranian PM(I mean the IRAQI PM, lol) has condemned the assasination of Soleimani.

LOL

Of course Soleimani wasn't a sympathy piece, if you know anything about Middle Eastern Politics, you will know that Soleimani was infamous, the man was a brute! Abu Mahdi was similarly a nasty piece of work. But that is not the point, the point here is that by killing Soleimani, one of the significant figures in the Iranian regime, the US has really gone close to instigating something very serious with Iran. The Iranians are not going to take Soleimani's death lightly and the consequences could be far reaching.

Yes, Iran will lose a hell of a lot and the surrounding countries will also be negatively affected. While Europe will probably see another huge wave of refugees heading towards it. All this while the US mainland is not effected at all.

The US have really gone that one step further and have killed such a big Iranian regime figure such as Qassem Soleimani. It's noteworthy that Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis was also killed in the attack, as he is a very controversial figure, who was accused of terrorist activities by Kuwait years ago. At least 7 people in total are known to have been killed in this US attack. In reality, it shouldn't be too surprising that the US killed these two Iranian backed figures. Trump clearly said that Iran would pay after the US Embassy protests and attack in Baghdad a few days ago. Trump has been shown to be ruthless and he is a person who is not afraid to take military action as we have seen once again with today's news. All this just brings more instability to the Middle East and we can all now expect Iran to retaliate in some way. Lets just hope that things don't become too drastic, as the last thing that anyone humane wants is another major war in the Middle East.

Wow, this map says it all really. There is a huge divide in opinion between the young people and the older people of this country. If this map is accurate, then it is very revealing and very telling as to the mindset of the age demographics in this country. I was aware that a lot of the older generation voted for the Tories(my nan being one of them), but I didn't realise that the extent of the correlation between peoples ages and which way they voted was this difinitive. That's a very interesting map, thanks for posting it.

"All faiths are bs", that is your opinion and you are entitled to it, I myself am not convinced of any particular religion. But to say that all followers of faiths are brainwashed is a totally misinformed thing to say. Believe you me, there are many highly educated and highly intelligent people that are religious. To claim that they are brainwashed is just narrow minded and quite frankly, very silly. As far as I am aware, the literacy rates in the Arab world as a whole, are not that bad, they are better on the whole than many other parts of the world. It's bad in a few Arab countries, but it's excellent in other Arab countries. In anycase, if it's Islam that you are having a dig at here, the Arab countries only make up around 20% of the muslims worldwide. There are highly educated practicing Christians, Muslims and Jews around the world, to claim that they are all brainwashed is stupid. Are people like Peter Hitchens brainwashed in your opinion?

"Harbourne is part of the Edgbaston constituency that stayed Labour. Bournville is about 2 Miles from my house. Both Birmingham constituencies that flirted with conservatives last night Northfield and Erdington are the two white working class wards, total collapse of the vote for Corbyn. Also worth noting that both of these are what’s left of white working class Birmingham with increasing demographic change. " Yes, Harborne is part of the Edgbaston constituency where Labour won and Bournville is part of the Selly Oak Borough constituency where Labour won as well. In fact, Labour won quite comfortably in their Selly Oak constituency. I noticed which way Northfield and Erdington voted. I suppose then the Northfield, Selly Oak, Edgbaston and Halesowen constituencies are mostly white middle class wards then. The demographic picture in Birmingham has seen a huge change over the past 20, 30, 40 and 50 years. The East, North and Western parts of the city are very multicultural these days. Different ethnic minorities are known generally to vote in a particular way and politicians try their hardest to get their vote. Every community has their own issues and that influences the way they vote. But Birmingham has historically been a very working class city.

Yes and we can expect more austerity as the public spending cuts continue under the Tories. Whether they realise it or not, this vote outcome doesn't promise to be good for the average working class person. Since the Tories took power in 2010, there have been huge budget cuts, particularly to the Work & Pensions departments, the Transport department and the DCLG. Expect such cuts to continue.

I very much doubt that Sancho will leave in January given that Dortmund have qualified for the next round of the Champions League. There is no point in selling him in January as they don't need to sell him at the begining of the year and they will need his services for the Round of 16 of the Champions League. Furthermore, the next round of Champions League games and beyond are a great stage for Sancho to continue showcasing his skills. So that if Dortmund sell Sancho during the summer(which is quite likely given the demand), they will be able to ask for an even greater transfer fee. Harit has just signed a new contract at Schalke, but as Schalke could do with the money, I wouldn't rule out a January transfer for the little Moroccan. Haaland joining either Dortmund or RB Leipzig, could be the biggest January Bundesliga transfer. He would be a great addition to the league.

Yes, well that's happened in quite a few constituencies around the country, all due to Labour's poor campaign and due to the fact that Corbyn put a lot of people off with his radical views on politics. There are a lot of people who would of been opposed to many of his policies, landlords being one of them. But at least you live in a decent part of Birmingham, I've been to Northfield and it's quite nice, being located next to some of the better areas of Brum like Bournville and Harborne.

Well the North East is still clearly a Labour stronghold, lol.

Correct and in the villages of Cornwall you'd largely see the typical Celt, lol. These political parties will take advantage of anything and try and please as many different groups of people as possible, just to get elected.

Welcome to Eastern Europe mate, where it's cheap, cheerful and where the big cities have a lot of interesting history. Bulgaria is actually the cheapest country in the EU, so it's great value for money. Sofia is an absorbing city, I am not surprised that you had a good time there.

Dortmund are the side with the most potential that can challenge Bayern, but not with some of their recent performances. I really think that Favre has to go. I believe that the right manager can get this Dortmund team back to playing to their true potential(beating Atletico Madrid 4-0 type of potential). So I don't see Dortmund seriously challenging this season. Gladbach have looked very good at times this season, but convincing defeats to RB Leipzig, Union Berlin and worst of all Wolfsberger, has given me serious doubts as to whether they have the consistency to seriously compete for the title. Schalke are a bit erratic performance wise and not as good as the other teams currently in the top 5 in my opinion. They have some great players and they have played very well in some games this season, but they don't seem good enough to mount a serious challenge to Bayern. I can see them falling off a little when the season reaches its final stages. In my estimation, RB Leipzig will be Bayern's biggest challengers this season. The CL will be a distraction for Leipzig, especially as they have already qualified for the Round of 16. Leipzig themselves have been a bit inconsistent at times, but recent form would suggest to me that they are probably over that and that things are really coming together for them as a team. In the past month or so, they have blitzed Mainz 8-0, Wolfsburg 6-1, Hertha 4-2 and Koln 4-1. Even when they went 2-0 down in their recent CL match against Benfica, they dominated most of the game and they showed real character to comeback and draw 2-2. Leipzig's team also have a lot of depth and there is a good balance within the team. Of course their team is still very young, so that can perhaps count against them at times, but as Ajax showed last season, if you're good enough, age shouldn't really matter when it comes to getting big results. So I'd say that Leipzig will be Bayern's biggest challengers this season in the Bundesliga.

You can tell that BOJO's father is the type of person who probably looks down on the working class. It seems like insulting others for no good reason, is the norm amongst people of his ilk.

I just thought that I'd mention the sad and sudden death of the celebrity chef Gary Rhodes. Rhodes has sadly passed away at the age of only 59. RIP Gary Rhodes and my sincere condolences go out to his family.