Ukrainian president to attend talks with Irish Prime Minister
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Simon Harris at Shannon Airport on Saturday.
It will be Mr Zelensky’s first bilateral meeting in the Republic of Ireland, and the focus will be on Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Press Association, Mr Harris is scheduled to convey his sympathies to Ukrainian citizens who have died in the war.
This follows the bombing of the country’s largest children’s hospital earlier this week.
It is understood that Mr Harris would also declare the Republic’s full support for Ukraine’s application for EU membership.
The Taoiseach will also provide additional Irish aid to thousands of Ukrainian children who have been forcibly moved to Russia and Belarus and enrolled in Russian re-education schemes since the war began. Mr Harris will also declare the Republic’s membership in an international alliance seeking the repatriation of the estimated 20,000 youngsters.
Five people have been arrested for the murder of an Ecuadorian presidential contender.
Five persons belonging to one of Ecuador’s most powerful criminal gangs have been imprisoned for the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio last year. Mr Villavicencio, a former journalist and member of the country’s national legislature, was shot and killed as he exited a campaign event in Quito last August.
Carlos Angulo, the suspected leader of the Los Lobos gang, and Laura Castilla were sentenced to 34 years and eight months in prison for orchestrating the murder. The court in Quito sentenced two men and a woman to 12 years in prison for helping a kill squad during the attack. Prosecutors claimed that Angulo, also known as The Invisible, ordered the hit from the Quito prison where he is held.
He contested the claims, alleging he was being used as a “scapegoat” for the hit. Castilla was tasked with coordinating the hit’s logistics. She allegedly provided the men with weapons, money, and motorcycles to carry out the hit.
Erick Ramirez, Victor Flores, and Alexandra Chimbo were accused of assisting the hit team in tracking Mr. Villavicencio’s movements.
More than 70 people gave evidence throughout the trial, including a key witness who claimed the gang had been given more than $200,000 (£154,000) to assassinate Mr Villavicencio.
Kelly calls for action to ensure equal treatment of the Irish language
“Immediate and sustained action” is required by the European Parliament to guarantee Irish is treated equally with other European languages. That’s according to Seán Kelly, an Irish MEP and former GAA president. He said that Irish speakers in Northern Ireland with Irish passports may find difficulties in applying for employment in the parliament.
He has also requested that it form a partnership with Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) to recruit additional Irish-speaking professionals. Mr Kelly has written to the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, to express his concerns.
Irish was designated as an official language of the European Union (EU) in 2007. It is one of the EU’s 24 official languages, which means that speeches in parliament and papers are translated into and from Irish. However, a lack of translation staff has resulted in a restricted number of EU publications being translated into Irish.
According to a 2021 European Commission report, 138 Irish speakers worked for EU institutions, with more than half of the positions being temporary. It stated that, while Irish translation had increased, finding enough Irish-speaking employees was “the main challenge” to delivering complete services in Irish.
Biden avoids further gaffes at the Detroit event
According to the BBC’s Nada Tawfik, President Joe Biden delivered a strong speech to a receptive audience at a rally in Detroit.
The Democrat has been under severe criticism following a string of high-profile gaffes in recent weeks. However, in a fiery speech, the 81-year-old assured supporters that he could defeat former President Donald Trump in the November election. The crowd in Michigan chanted, “Don’t quit” and “Four more years.”
