DUBLIN, IRELAND – Two brothers, ages 24 and 39, were to go on trial 7 November for the 2010 murder of a 15-yar-old boy. The trial was adjourned by the judge before it could begin when the lawyer defending the older brother “Paul Barry, told Mr Justice Paul Carney his client had been taken to hospital this morning and was deceased,” according to the Irish Times. The judge then gave instructions that “the indictment against him should be marked that he was deceased.”
No cause of death was given by Irish media, who reported only that the younger brother had shown up for court, but left for the hospital upon learning of his brother’s situation.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Dublin is under water and three people are dead, five missing in Liguria, in northwest Italy, as heavy rains led to floods Monday and Tuesday. Thailand’s continuing woes from rivers swollen by weeks of heavy rain resulted in the second airport in the capital, Bangkok, being closed Tuesday 25 October.
Dublin is almost back to normal Wednesday after several public transport services shut Tuesday, following torrential rains the previous day and night. Other parts of Ireland still have roads shut due to flooding. The rainfall in October has set a record for the country.
Italy’s popular tourist towns in Cinque Terre, along the Ligurian coast, have been hit by high winds and rain. Three people have died and five are missing according to Spezia police Wednesday morning. Authorities are asking residents of the area to stay home if possible and to not drive their cars.
Links to other sites: Bangkok Post, CBS, Irish Times, TSR (Fr)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Ryanair blames falling passenger traffic and high airport charges for its decision to stop Dublin-Kerry and Dublin-Cork flights in the south of Ireland. The company says it will end the first in early September and the second in late October. Ireland’s greatly improved highway system has cut travel time by road in the south, and the company mentions this as a factor in falling traffic, reports the Irish Times.
French artist Raphael Dellaporto in 2008 exhibited his photos of small, delicate-looking landmines, in Geneva
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss federal government has opened a public consultation on the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), approved in Dublin in May 2008 and to date ratified by 46 countries. Switzerland is one of 108 countries that have signed it, but several steps will need to be completed, including consulting interested parties, before it can be ratified.
The CCM bans the use, development, production, acquisition, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions, which have been in use since the second world war. They were widely used in the 1960s and 1970s in southeast Asia, particularly in Laos and Vietnam. Laos alone is estimated to have 78 million pieces of unexploded bombs, 40 years after the war there ended.
“The high incidence of unexploded cluster bombs in conflict zones is a serious humanitarian problem: unexploded ordinance continues to cause countless deaths and injuries for many years after conflicts have ended and impedes the post-conflict reconstruction of affected countries,” the Swiss Foreign Affairs Department notes in a press release on the consultation.
Switzerland spends CHF16 billion a year on humanitarian demining and clearing explosive remnants of war. But it also owns munitions.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Flights from Switzerland to western and northern parts of the UK, as well as Dublin in Ireland, risk being delayed or canceled, with many of the airports closed due to a volcanic ash cloud. Easyjet’s 21:50 flight to Liverpool Sunday night was canceled. London’s airports remain open for the time being, but are under threat as the cloud moves south late Sunday. Dublin airport closed early in the evening and will remain shut until at least noon Monday 17 May.
Geneva Airport recommends checking directly with the airlines for latest information.
The charts issued by the UK Met office show that the cloud is predicted to move towards the continent during the morning – but not at levels that would disrupt air travel.
Links to other sites: BBC, Irish Times, Met UK
Update 19:04 Ireland’s air traffic controllers are taking industrial action Wednesday 20 January, which will result in about 100 flights being cancelled in and out of Cork, Shannon and Dublin airports. Their union is backing 14controllers who were fired suspended Tuesday for refusing to cooperate with their employer, the Irish Aviation Authority, over using new technology, according to the Irish Times.
Paris airports cancelled about 15 percent of their flights 13-15 January, reports the Canadian Press news agency, when French air traffic controllers went on strike over pay and the possibility their civil servant status will change.
Croke park, Dublin,Ireland (GenevaLunch) - Irish captain Brian O’ Driscoll celebrated his 100th cap for Ireland with a last minute try that allowed the home team to draw their match with Australia 20-20. In other matches a dull England side plodded their way to a 16-9 win over Argentina. The New Zealand All Blacks struggled against a tough Italian side before winning 6-20 in front of 80,000 fans in the San Siro stadium in Milan.
Links to other sites: Irish Times, The Times
A group of llamas and goats from an Australian circus that were stolen from the pound where police put them has been the big news story in Ireland Friday and Saturday 2-3 October, although more than 50 percent of eligible voters did turn their attention to the referendum on the European Union long enough to vote. The votes are being counted at Dublin Castle Saturday morning with 516 accredited media organizations from around the world in attendance. Ireland is the only country to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
Meanwhile, unaware perhaps of the key vote, a group of three goats and five llamas “ran wild” on the M50 motorway near Dublin Thursday noon after their gate at the Australian Circus Sydney, staying at Tallaght, was left open. Police took in the errant animals and put them in a pound, demanding €5,500 for their return. During the night hard-working thieves took the animals, reports the Irish Times: “The thieves traversed eight fields, opened up ditches and travelled two kilometres on foot to the shed where the animals were being kept.” The owner, who says he did not know where the animals were being kept by police, suspects animal rights activists. He says the tamed animals are worth at least €2,000 each, but are useless except to circuses.
Links to other sites: Irish votes live on Irish Times
