Britain has entered a second period of hard lockdown to avert a wave of Covid-19 patients swamping hospitals. Holiday travel overseas is banned. However, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that visiting the Swiss assisted suicide clinic Dignitas will be permitted, as an exception. This follows consternation in the media over a woman with terminal breast cancer […]
Pádraig Mac Piarais (Padraig Pearse) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary; he who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. Following his execution along with fifteen others, Pearse came to be seen by many as the embodiment of the rebellion. Pádraig, his brother Willie, […]
In the face of massive protests, the government of Poland has delayed indefinitely the implementation of a law banning abortions of children with birth defects. The country’s supreme court ruled last month that this was unconstitutional, sparking huge demonstrations every day across the country. The government, led by the conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS), […]
Editor’s note: We have heard a lot about the toll Covid restrictions have taken on the wellbeing of young people. But three Maryland high school girls beat the lockdown blues by writing, illustrating and publishing an adventure story for young children. Well done, gi Here’s a sweet and delightful picture book for your little […]
China began its once-a-decade census on November 1st. About seven million community workers and volunteers will help to count the world’s largest population. It is expected to take two months to complete, with the results released in April 2021. Over 400,000,000 households will be included, from the country’s largest cities to its most remote villages. Though there […]
On Tuesday, October 20, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Google Inc under the provisions of the Sherman Antitrust Act, charging that the firm is a “monopoly gatekeeper for the internet”. This is the first time the DOJ has used the Act since 1998, when similar charges were filed against Microsoft. The Microsoft case failed to […]
What will change over the next day or two? Who can say? Will we wake up to the smile of a victorious Joe Biden (likely)? A chastened and contrite Donald Trump (unlikely)? A messy and disputed election (O, please, God, no!)? What will not change is the groupthink at America’s leading newspaper, The New York Times. […]
Eoghan Ruadh Ó Neill was born around 1580, the son of Art Ó Neill and a daughter of Hugh Conallach O’Reilly of Breifne. He had had least 8 brothers and sisters and many cousins and wider family, all connected through marriage to many of the leading native Irish families of Ulster. The Plantation of Ulster […]
It’s everyone’s nightmare scenario: an electoral stalemate; two men all but claiming the presidency; and a likely legal battle that may extend into December. So much is yet uncertain as the final ballots are counted, and as some jurisdictions prepare to pause counting while the courts have their say. Through the frustrating murkiness, however, there […]
The Traditional Story Tested Against the Evidence. “The Gunpowder Plot” of 1605 – known at the time as the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason -was billed as a failed assassination plot against Protestant King James I of England by a group of English Catholics led by Robert Catesby. The official story was that […]
In referenda run alongside parliamentary elections last month, two thirds of New Zealanders voted to legalise euthanasia, while a small majority voted against legalising marijuana. Results from a further 480,000 special votes, to be published on November 6, cannot change the euthanasia outcome and so the End of Life Choice Act will come into effect a year from now. […]
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