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A shocking poll shows that two years after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre that murdered more than 1,200 Israelis, a majority of Palestinians still say the terror group was right to launch the attack — and, equally disturbing, an overwhelming 86 percent deny that Hamas committed the well-documented atrocities against civilians. According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR), 53 percent of Palestinians say Hamas’s decision to launch the October 7 assault was correct; support is strongest in the West Bank at 59 percent, while 44 percent in the Gaza Strip back the attack — a...

A group of sick Palestinian children have been evacuated from Gaza to Ireland to receive medical treatment, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health have confirmed. Seven children arrived in Dublin on Saturday evening, with 29 accompanying family members.It marks the third medical evacuation from Gaza following Government approval in September last year in response to an appeal from the World Health Organization (WHO) to address the health needs of Gazans. Doctors from Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) worked with the WHO to identify sick and injured children who would benefit from treatment in Ireland. The group traveled from Gaza to Jordan...

A French court on Friday sentenced an Algerian woman to life imprisonment without parole for raping, torturing and murdering a girl in Paris, making her the first woman to receive this maximum sentence. Dahbia Benkired was handed an “irreducible life sentence” for killing 12-year-old Lola Daviet in the French capital in 2022, in a case that horrified the country and sparked anti-immigration fervour because the woman did not have the right to be in France. The sentence is the harshest under the French penal code. “We believed in justice and we got it,” said Lola’s mother, Delphine Daviet, following the...

Catherine Connolly’s lop-sided victory to be Ireland’s next head of state was accompanied by a surge in vandalized ballots from right-wing voters. DUBLIN — Independent socialist Catherine Connolly swept to a landslide victory Saturday to become Ireland’s next president, dealing a record-breaking rebuke to the two center-ground parties of government.Jubilant supporters of the 68-year-old Connolly, a lawmaker from the western city of Galway, embraced and kissed her as final results from Friday’s election were announced at the Dublin Castle count center.In her victory speech, Connolly struck an immediate note of unity. She stood side by side with Ireland’s government...

A Laois Fine Gael Councillor said he believed people who spoiled their vote shouldn’t be entitled to State benefits. Councillor John King made the comment at the Laois Presidential Election Count Center in Scoil Chríost Rí (Christ the King School) in Portlaoise this morning. In Laois, more than one in ten voters chose to spoil their vote rather than select any of the candidates on the paper. In total there were 4,156 spoiled votes, representing 14.6 percent of the Laois vote. “I am disappointed with the spoiled votes because our forefathers fought to get those votes,” Councillor King said in...

As an example of political self-harm by establishment political parties, the current Irish presidential election will be hard to equal. The latest opinion poll before Friday’s vote indicates that the far-Left independent candidate, Catherine Connolly, is likely to romp home in this two-horse race. With just two days to go, Connolly has an unassailable 19-point lead over her sole opponent, Heather Humphreys of the centre-Right Fine Gael party. Humphreys ended up being the establishment candidate, after the centrist Fianna Fáil party’s candidate was forced to withdraw from the election as a result of a minor scandal regarding overpaid rent of...

Let’s put the events of the last 72 hours into context.On Monday and Tuesday, Russian oil refineries in NATO countries Hungary and Romania suddenly, and simultaneously, have mysterious explosions and catastrophic fires {citation}}. On Wednesday, NATO head Mark Rutte comes to visit President Trump in the White House, and at the end of the day, the same Russian company, Lukoil, whose refinery exploded in Romania, suddenly becomes sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury. These events are not disconnected.President Trump then disputes a Wall Street Journal report, further saying he did not give approval, nor does he know where NATO long-range missiles...

This is the moment a police van was set on fire as riots broke out near a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Dublin. Officers were also attacked with missiles and fireworks as protesters gathered at the Citywest Hotel last night. Six people were arrested and the Irish police service, the gardai or An Garda Siochana, said one of its officers suffered a foot injury. Ireland's Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan said that those involved in the violence will be brought to justice. He said: 'The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest tonight must be condemned. 'Unfortunately,...

Ireland has officially joined the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) as an associate member state. CERN is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world on the Franco-Swiss border, just outside Geneva. The main focus of activity in CERN is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a 27-km (17-mile) underground ring in which protons are accelerated and collided into one another. Associate membership will allow Ireland’s researchers to participate in CERN’s scientific programs and will make Irish citizens eligible for staff positions and fellowships at CERN. …

Former British senior army officer Lord David Richards has told UK newspaper The Independent that Ukraine cannot win its war with Russia without NATO military support and should instead negotiate peace terms with Moscow. Speaking to The Independent’s “World of Trouble” podcast, the “five star” ranked former Chief of Defence Staff who led NATO forces in Afghanistan, said: “What we have done in the case of Ukraine is encourage Ukraine to fight, but not given them the means to win.” The former commando added that even with the right resources, Ukraine “would not win” as “they haven’t got the manpower.”...

Tánaiste Simon Harris is expected to call for the EU to play a greater role in increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza … at an EU foreign minister meeting today. […] Speaking ahead of today’s meeting, the Tánaiste said the EU’s focus on the Middle East “must now be on preserving the ceasefire and flooding Gaza with desperately needed humanitarian aid”. “The people of Gaza have endured unimaginable suffering. Ireland has announced an additional €6 million in humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza to fund urgent food, medical care and other vital services,” he added. …

Iran said on Saturday (Oct 18) that it was no longer bound by restrictions on its nuclear programme as a landmark 10-year deal between it and world powers expired, though Tehran reiterated its "commitment to diplomacy". The 2015 deal - signed in Vienna by Iran, China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - saw the lifting of international sanctions against the Islamic republic in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear programme. But the pact had already been in tatters after Washington unilaterally withdrew during President Donald Trump's first term, with Iran later pulling back from its commitment. The...

Dublin’s Mater Hospital recorded a 68% increase in knife-related injuries in its Emergency Department over the past five years, prompting calls from ED doctors for more measures to deal with the issue. The Irish Association of Emergency Medicine (IAEM) is calling for a focus on prevention and first aid skills, as well as equipment to deal with what it describes as a concerning and urgent issue across the country. Over the past decade, knife-related crime has been on the rise and while incidents dipped last year, knife injuries are now a regular issue for doctors in emergency departments. The IAEM...

The US has been secretly holding talks with Hamas for months Buzzfeed reported Thursday, despite its official stance that it would (not?) negotiate with the terrorist organization. “Our administration needed to hear from them that this unity government would move toward democratic elections, and toward a more peaceful resolution with the entire region,” a US official stated to the “social news” site, on condition of anonymity. “It was important to have that line of communication.” US officials have publicly denied the charges, however, leading to confusion over the report’s veracity. …

BRUSSELS (AP) — Germany on Wednesday pledged more than $2 billion in military aid for Ukraine, as the government in Kyiv signaled that it would need $120 billion in 2026 to stave off Russia's nearly four-year all-out war.Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Germany would buy $500 million worth of U.S. weapons for Ukraine under a new program to fast-track military equipment. Estonia, Finland, Lithuania and Sweden said that they would also participate in the funding initiative.Pistorius said that Germany's “package addresses a number of urgent requirements of Ukraine. It provides air defense systems, Patriot (missile) interceptors, radar systems and...

From Sunday, non-EU travelers entering Europe’s Schengen open-borders zone will be photographed and fingerprinted at border crossings, as the European Union rolls out its much-delayed automated border checks. The aim of the new system is to eventually replace the manual stamp on passports and secure better information-sharing between the bloc’s 27 states. The border-check system will allow authorities to know when people entered and exited a country, with the goal of better detecting anyone overstaying and people refused entry. […] Non-EU nationals arriving for short stays in EU countries — except Cyprus and Ireland — will be asked for their...

The EU’s plan to watch what you spend.and modernization. But, much like the Chinese model that seems to inspire ECB President Christine Lagarde, what is at stake is not just technology: it is the risk of turning a payment instrument into a mechanism of control over every citizen’s transactions. Across the Atlantic, the United States took the opposite path: it legalized stablecoins and banned a centralized digital dollar, strengthening freedom and competition instead of state control.On September 26, the European Central Bank announced what had long been anticipated: it will conduct new experiments on what can be achieved with the...

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Irish activists who arrived to Ireland late on Monday night have said they were treated with “petty and extreme cruelties” by Israeli authorities and endured “really unpleasant” conditions while they were detained. Sarah Clancy, Thomas McCune and Donna Schwarz were the first to arrive to Ireland after being detained alongside 13 other Irish citizens following the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla last week. […] “For example, Greta Thunberg was made to kneel beside an Israeli flag while people marched around her, taking her photo,” she said. They were subsequently brought to Ktzi’ot Prison, she said, where they were subject...

Sir Keir Starmer will warn students not to take part in “un-British” protests marking the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas massacre and accuses those who call for violence against Jews of a “total loss of empathy and humanity”. Writing in The Times, the prime minister says that Britain has become indifferent to antisemitism, posing a profound threat to the nation and its values. He accuses those taking part in the protests of a lack of respect for others and urges the police to use the “full force of the law” against those who call for violence against Jews. “This...