Scotland After Brexit

We head to Scotland now, where Malcolm Brabant reports on the mood among citizens where a majority of voters had wanted to stay.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Stung by the Brexit vote in England and Wales, Scotland now appears to be racing along the road to independence. Two years ago, Scots voted in a referendum against leaving the United Kingdom, above all because it guaranteed continued membership of the European Union.

According to independence activist Stuart Bremner, Brexit feels like betrayal.

STUART BREMNER, Digital Artist: The Scottish referendum was a bit like the final cracks opening in the British Empire, and what we’re seeing in this, in the last couple of days could be not just cracks, but the final heart of the British Empire splintering completely. People are unable to say what they feel because they’re so emotional. There’s tears. There’s anger.

I was in a march and a rally just in this very square on Friday night, and there were people speaking, there were people crying. And people are upset, deeply upset by this. And it’s almost beyond words, just because it’s too enormous. What’s happening is beyond anything we have ever known in this country in our lifetimes.

MALCOLM BRABANT: On Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, an upbeat tune swirled from the pipes of Thomas Wilson, but in his heart was a lament.

THOMAS WILSON, Musician: I’m incredibly disappointed, actually. I never — obviously, I never wanted to leave the E.U. I’m incredibly worried. I think, well, for starters, I’m a big supporter of free movement around Europe. I enjoy going around Europe, and busking and traveling to all the different kind of cities, you know?

And I find it very disappointing that I will not be able to do that as easily anymore. I think we should go for another — our own independence referendum again, which I hope will happen in the next two years, because that’s when the U.K. are planning on leaving Europe.

MALCOLM BRABANT: With an opinion poll estimating that nearly 60 percent of Scots now want independence, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has taken the nation’s pulse and put the wheels in motion.

NICOLA STURGEON, Scottish First Minister: A second independence referendum is clearly an option that requires to be on the table and it is very much on the table. And to ensure that that option is a deliverable one in the required timetable, steps will be taken now to ensure that the necessary legislation is in place.

MALCOLM BRABANT: That’s music to the ears of hard-core Scottish nationalists, who’ve never abandoned hope of what they regard as liberation, especially at the permanent vigil in Edinburgh, where campaigners display the Arbroath Declaration of Independence, written in the 14th century by the legendary Scottish King Robert the Bruce.

Unemployed bricklayer’s laborer Dean Halliday.

DEAN HALLIDAY, Independence Vigil: They made their decision about their country. We made our decision about ours. There’s no difference. We don’t not like the English people. The English people are lovely people. It’s their government that we don’t want to be tied to. We can’t keep being subservient to a government that’s not working in our best interests, and that’s Westminster.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Outside Scotland’s idiosyncratic Parliament Building, Holyroodhouse, the Brexit vote has reaffirmed history lecturer Lesley Orr’s desire for independence. She believes Scotland is sufficiently mature to flourish.

LESLEY ORR, Women for Independence: Scotland is not just part of the state of the United Kingdom, but it’s a nation which has its own longstanding, centuries-old traditions, relationships, legal framework, educational system, religious tradition, all of which are different from that of England and of Wales.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The leader of the main opposition Scottish Conservative Party, Ruth Davidson, is vehemently opposed to a second independence vote north of the border.

RUTH DAVIDSON, Scottish Conservatives: The U.K. market is worth four times as much to Scotland’s in the E.U. market. I cannot support even further instability by having a second independence referendum. We voted on that in Scotland. We had a clear vote with a clear mandate to stay within the United Kingdom.

And we all now have to work together, Scottish government and U.K. government, to get the best deal for Scotland’s businesses going forward.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, is advising Parliament here to vote against Britain leaving the European Union. Some people are hoping that her words mean that Scotland has the power of veto. But constitutional experts say that is not the case. All the Parliament can do is to advise Westminster.

Christine O’Neill, one of Scotland’s top constitutional lawyers, believes the country should be in line for fast-track membership of the E.U., if it becomes independent.

CHRISTINE O’NEILL, Brodies Law Firm: Well, the first point is the E.U. normally deals with states, rather than sub-state entities. So it would be quite difficult for Scotland to be a member of the E.U. without being a state in its own right.

If Scotland was to become independent, then it could negotiate its way into the E.U. in the way other states have done in the past. And we would expect Scotland to be in a strong position to negotiate membership, given that it’s in the E.U. at the moment.

MALCOLM BRABANT: But what about business? Edinburgh was the birthplace of Adam Smith, the economist who espoused the virtues of the free market. Whiskey is a pillar of the Scottish economy, providing 10 percent of the nation’s exports to the E.U., and generating 40,000 jobs.

According to industry spokesman David Williamson, the producers aren’t sure which way to jump over independence.

DAVID WILLIAMSON, Scottish Whiskey Association: Scotch whiskey has been around for 500 years. We will still be selling Scotch whiskey to markets around Europe. But what our members are telling us is that there’s uncertainty, for example, access to and influence within the single market, our biggest market.

And also for us as an export industry, how do we keep benefiting from the trade deals that the E.U. has negotiated with countries around the world?

MALCOLM BRABANT: At Arthur’s Seat, the volcanic crag dominating Edinburgh, business leader Jill Murphy insisted that Scotland had nothing to fear from Great Britain becoming the dis-United Kingdom.

JILL MURPHY, Business for Scotland: We polled our members, and 82 percent of them were clear that they wanted to remain within the European Union, and that’s because we’re a net exporter. We want to keep that single market open. We want to keep that area of trade open. It benefits Scottish business, but it also benefits our — it benefits our youth in studying future innovators and future investors in the Scottish economy.

MALCOLM BRABANT: But there were cautionary words from Frances and Ioannis (ph) Lalos. She’s Scottish. He’s Greek. They moved to Scotland from Athens six years ago to escape the Greek financial crisis. They have worked hard to become financially secure, are about to buy a house, but are worried about the currency of a future independent Scotland.

FRANCES LALOS, Teaching Assistant: If Scotland was to become independent from the U.K., they would, I presume, have to enter the Eurozone like the rest of the countries entering the euro when they join the European Union. And that would be a concern for me. We experienced that living in Greece. And it was a disaster for Greece. I wouldn’t want that to happen to Scotland. It’s a small country in a big pond, and I have concerns that might not work out well.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Four days after the referendum, and warnings of Armageddon, Britain is still floating along, although her foundations seem to have vanished.

But here in Edinburgh, as in the rest of the United Kingdom, no one seems to know what the future will bring, except it will be like Scotland’s national symbol, prickly.

For the “PBS NewsHour,” I’m Malcolm Brabant in Edinburgh.

Olympics / Rio / Compréhension Orale / Transcript

In the opening ceremony of Rio's Olympic Games, Brazil's favelas, or shantytowns, were showcased as the birthplace of a lot of Brazil's culture.

That was showbiz. In three of the most iconic communities, the reality of how these Olympics are affecting favela residents is more complicated.

Brazil is one of the most unequal countries in the world. In Rio, at least 25 percent of the population lives in impoverished communities.

Take Santa Marta. Perched above Rio's expensive South Zone, it's the city's most internationally famous favela.

Michael Jackson filmed the video for "They Don't Care About Us" here, and in response, the community has gotten a lot of attention over the years. It's sponsored by a paint company, so all the ramshackle housing is covered in pastels. It was the firstfavela to get community police when Rio launched its "pacification" program.

These days, there is a bronze statue of Jackson, arms outstretched, in the middle of a small square surrounded by gift shops.

Salete Martins, a tour guide in the Santa Marta favela, stands in front of the Michael Jackson statue. She says tourists aren't coming because consulates told their citizens to stay away from favelas.

Joao Velozo for NPR

Santa Marta was expecting big things during the Olympics because it is both safe and famous.

"Michael Jackson left a huge legacy for Santa Marta. I would even say he's my patron; I bring tourists up here many times a day," tour guide Salete Martins tells me.

I ask her about the impact of the Olympics.

Not so great, she says.

"Tourism has been very weak. Many consulates told their citizens not to visit thefavelas. I think people were too afraid and we are seeing very few tourists coming here. It's very disappointing," she says.

Tourism is a boost for the whole community, she explains. All the guides who take visitors up here are from Santa Marta, and funds from their cooperative are given to the residents association. One gift shop owner told me she has taken to heading down to Copacabana to hand out fliers to drum up interest.

(Top) A man enters his home in the Santa Marta favela. (Left) A view of the favela from the tram. (Right) People wait for the tram that travels over Santa Marta.

Joao Velozo for NPR

Francisco Aragão owns a kiosk that sells drinks and snacks to Santa Marta visitors. As we walk by, he is watching the Olympics on the TV in his store. I ask him if he's enjoying the show.

No, he answers.

"Who is enjoying the games?" he asks. "Not the poor. It's only for the tourists. Brazil doesn't have the money for these games. Our hospitals are a mess. The government has put up a facade to hide the truth."

He can't afford to buy Olympic tickets to see anything in person, so this is the closest he is getting to the games, he says.

It's not only in access to the games and revenue from tourism where the Olympics are coming up short for Rio's poorest citizens.

Security, too, is dire in many favelas, despite the presence of 85,000 security forces in the city. The extra army and police are focused on securing the Olympic venues, while gun battles rage far from the cameras.

Lucia Cabral looks through a bullet hole in her door. She lives in the Alemao favela complex and says gunfire has become frequent in the past few days.

Joao Velozo for NPR

Yesterday, Lucia Cabral woke up to shooting in Alemao, her complex of favelas in Rio's North Zone, far away from the main Olympic venues. She lifts up her cellphone and lets me listen to her recording of the gun battle. She records the almost daily firefights to send out on a messaging app to members of her community. That way, they know it's not safe to take the kids to school or to make a run to the shops.

In Wednesday's shootout, a woman was wounded in a fight between drug traffickers and police. While Olympic organizers promised the safest games ever, Cabral, who works for Viva Rio, a nonprofit, says that clearly doesn't apply to the residents here.

In the past two weeks, five people have been shot in Alemao.

In the Alemao favela complex, five people have been shot in the past two weeks. Security is dire in many favelas, despite the presence of 85,000 army and police forces in the city.

Joao Velozo for NPR

"I think during the Olympics, they just want to keep us trapped inside the favela. We are abandoned," she says.

Cabral saw the opening ceremony on TV. She liked the way it celebrated favela life.

"But it doesn't help. A lovely show for a single day, but the rest of the time they are killing two or three kids a day. Our youth often doesn't make it to 15 years old," she says.

But there is one community that has gotten a huge boost from the games.

The favela known as Cidade de Deus is a sprawling, gritty area that was the subject of the hit 2002 Brazilian film City of God. The streets are all named after biblical figures: Noah Street runs near Moses Avenue.

Rafaela Silva (right), who grew up in Rio's City of God favela, celebrates after winning gold in the women's 57 kg judo on Monday — Brazil's first gold medal in the Rio games. " 'Never forget your roots' is what I always told her. She was born in the City of God; she'll always be from the City of God," says her father, Luiz Carlos Silva (left).

Joao Velozo for NPR; David Ramos/Getty Images

Inside a tin roof home with fading pink walls, Rafaela Silva's family is boisterous and exuberant. Silva won Brazil's first gold, for judo. Her story is already the stuff of legend here. She rose from poverty and suffered terrible racism because she is black. Now she is a national hero.

Her father, Luiz Carlos Silva, tells me that when Rafaela was growing up, he used to pretend he lived in another neighborhood, because employers wouldn't give jobs to people from the favelas. That has changed, but there is still stigma.

"This is a wonderful moment. Our whole family is thrilled," he says. But it's also great "for the community," he says. " 'Never forget your roots' is what I always told her. She was born in the City of God; she'll always be from the City of God."

Paramilitary police monitor a checkpoint on a bridge in the City of God favela on July 21.

Tony Barros/AFP/Getty Images

Among those celebrating at the Silva family home is Sérgio Leal, who runs a martial arts organization in Cidade de Deus. He says he is thrilled about Silva's win. But when I ask him if he thinks the Olympics brought good things to this neighborhood, only 5 miles away from the Olympic Park, he pauses.

"The Olympics themselves didn't do anything for City of God," he says. "Rafaela Silva, through her hard work and merit, did something. The light is Rafaela and not these games, because she sends a message to the people here that maybe if she could do it, I can, too."

Tensions in Northern Ireland Today - For September 22nd

By SkateTier - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36762551

By SkateTier - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36762094

The Scottish Referendum for Non Brits!

For September 22nd in PT & PT* - Irish History!

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Dear students / Chers élèves in #Eiffel, please fill in this form / SVP remplissez ce formulaire en ligne: https://t.co/Jd2AWOHBnW …

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#Brexit - Extra Docs

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#LochteGate - NPR One

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And what happened to Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte and three other teammates last weekend has become the focus of global attention. 

Lochte claimed he was robbed at gunpoint, and that made a lot of news at the time, tarnishing the image of the Rio Games. But Brazilian police now say, after an investigation, that he lied. 

And this morning, on Instagram, Lochte made this apology. Quote, "I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself, and for that, am sorry to my teammates." 

Here's NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro from Rio de Janeiro.

LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO, BYLINE: 
To a crowded news conference, Rio's civil police chief, Fernando Veloso, said this last night, categorically...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
FERNANDO VELOSO: (Speaking Portuguese).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: "There was no robbery in the way it was reported by the athletes."

A short sentence, but one that has a lot of repercussions. 


Veloso says Brazil's police have investigated the matter and that Ryan Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jimmy Feigen and Jack Conger were not the victims of a crime but rather, the perpetrators of one. 

According to the police, the four were returning from a late-night party when they stopped at a gas station. They allegedly vandalized the bathroom. They urinated on the side of the building. And then they were stopped from leaving until the police showed up. Lochte, the police says, became belligerent, and a security guard pulled his gun. Eventually, the group paid around $50 in restitution and left. And that was that until Lochte made his alleged robbery public.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VELOSO: (Speaking Portuguese).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Veloso is saying the swimmers are people who made a mistake under the influence of alcohol, and so an apology should be made to the people of Rio who saw their city stained by this fantasy version of events.

Lochte changed his story a few times. First, he told the press that men dressed as police robbed him and put a gun to his head after being stopped on a road. Then he flipped and said the robbery had indeed taken place at a gas station, but he insisted he was the victim of a crime. The police now say the other swimmers confirmed the police's version of events.

The U.S. Olympic Committee, in a statement last night, apologized to, quote, "our hosts in Rio and the people of Brazil for this distracting ordeal in the midst of what should be rightly a celebration of excellence." It says it will review any potential consequences for the athletes after the Olympics.

Bentz and Conger have already left Brazil. Feigen, according to his lawyer, has been fined the equivalent of $10,800 for giving false testimony. The money will reportedly be given to The Reaction Institute, a sporting program for at-risk youth here. And then he, too, will also leave Brazil, ending a deeply embarrassing episode for U.S. sports.

Lulu Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Rio de Janeiro.

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