Device made safe by army in Co Louth

Sunday 01 June 2014 16.25

An army bomb disposal team has rendered safe a suspect device which was found outside a house in Drogheda, Co Louth.

Following the discovery of the viable Improvised Explosive Device by a member of the public in the Moneymore area, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team was deployed at around 2pm.

The device was made safe at the scene without the need for a controlled explosion and was brought to a secure military location for further examination.

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IMO's Walley says HSE can restore medical cards

Sunday 01 June 2014 15.17

The Chair of the GP committee of the Irish Medical Organisation, has said he believes the HSE has the capacity to allow GPs to restore medical cards to those who lost them before a Government review into the system was stopped.

The HSE had indicated that it would not be immediately possible to restore the thousands of cards taken away before the review was suspended.

However, speaking on RTÉ's This Week, Dr Ray Walley, said the HSE had previously said that GPs could be allowed through a computer system to reinstate eligibility in an emergency situation.

He said he saw no reason why this mechanism could not operate, because these were emergency cases of discretionary cards given on health needs.

Dr Walley said it would be an equitable and fair way of applying the same logic as is done to existing cards.

He said that while there had been much attention on the medical card issue, there were many people who could not afford prescription charges and who were not taking their tablets.

He said there were also many elderly people who did not have access to public health nurses and other parts of the health service after losing their medical cards.

Dr Walley said there needed to be a debate in regard to the provision of care on medical needs.

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Man arrested over Jewish museum shooting

Sunday 01 June 2014 15.23

A Frenchman with suspected ties to Islamic radicals in Syria has been arrested over last week's shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels that left four people dead.

The suspect, 29-year-old Mehdi Nemmouche, was arrested on Friday in the southern French city of Marseille.

He was reportedly in possession of a Kalashnikov rifle and a handgun similar to the ones used in the attack on 24 May.

He has been detained on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, sources told AFP news agency.

An Israeli couple and a Frenchwoman were killed outright during the incident, while the fourth victim, a 24-year-old Belgian man, was left clinically dead.

Authorities had released chilling security camera footage of the gunman, wearing a cap and sunglasses, walking into the museum, removing an automatic rifle from a bag and shooting through a door before making an exit.

Customs officials detained Nemmouche at Marseille's coach station on board a bus arriving from Amsterdam via Brussels.

According to sources close to the investigation, he was carrying a Kalashnikov automatic rifle and a gun with ammunition in his luggage, as well as a miniature video camera.

Originally from Roubaix in northern France, he is believed to have travelled to join Islamist fighters in Syria in 2013, and was known to the French domestic intelligence agency DGSI, the source said.

He is being questioned by the DGSI who can hold him for up to 96 hours, until Tuesday, or 144 hours, to Thursday, if investigators invoke an imminent terrorist threat.

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Qatar World Cup bid faces fresh corruption claims

Sunday 01 June 2014 15.30

A British newspaper is reporting that a former top Qatari football official paid $5 million to get support for the emirate's campaign to host the 2022 World Cup.

The Sunday Times said it had obtained emails and other documents relating to alleged payments made by Mohamed Bin Hammam, the then FIFA executive member for Qatar.

It alleged that Mr Bin Hammam, who is also the ex-Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president, used slush funds to pay out the cash to top football officials to win a "groundswell" of support for Qatar's World Cup bid.

Mr Bin Hammam, who launched an abortive challenge against incumbent FIFA president Sepp Blatter, resigned from his FIFA and AFC posts in 2012.

It came shortly before he was banned for life from football administration by the global governing body's ethics committee. 

The newspaper said Mr Bin Hammam had made payments of up to $200,000 into accounts controlled by the presidents of 30 African football associations.

It said he hosted hospitality events in Africa at which he handed out further funds to get backing for Qatar's bid.

Mr Bin Hammam also paid $1.6 million into bank accounts controlled by Jack Warner, the former vice-president of FIFA, $450,000 of which was before the vote for the World Cup, the Sunday Times said.

Mr Warner was one of the 22 people who in 2010 decided to award Russia the 2018 World Cup and Qatar the 2022 tournament.

He stood down in 2011.

The latest allegations come two months after Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper alleged that a company owned by Mr Bin Hammam had paid money to Mr Warner.

Mr Bin Hammam did not respond to questions from the Sunday Times and his son declined to comment on his behalf, the newspaper said.

It quoted the Qatari committee behind the World Cup bid as denying that Mr Bin Hammam played any secret role in their campaign, or had any knowledge of the alleged payments.

The decision to give the World Cup to Qatar, a country with little football history, provoked widespread condemnation particularly over health concerns for leading players forced to play in the desert nation's stifling summer heat.

Mr Blatter said in May that it was a mistake to choose Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup because of the country's sweltering summertime climate.

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Man charged with Donegal assault

Sunday 01 June 2014 15.36

A 33-year-old man has been charged with assault and burglary following a serious assault on a 73-year-old man in Co Donegal .

Lee Mitchell of Windmill View, Letterkenny appeared at special sitting of Buncrana District Court this afternoon.

He was remanded in custody, and is to appear in Harristown District Court on 6 June.

The pensioner, is being treated for serious injuries at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry.

The attack happened on Friday at his home on Convent Road, Carndonagh, where he lives alone.

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Man arrested after fatal hit-and-run in Dublin

Sunday 01 June 2014 16.27

A man in his 30s has been arrested following a fatal road crash on Davitt Road in Dublin on Friday night.

A 40-year-old woman died when she was struck by a car, which failed to remain at the scene.

She was crossing the road at Goldenbridge Luas stop when she was struck by a car.

The dark coloured car, possibly a Ford Focus, either 08 or 09 registration, which was involved in the incident has not been located.

The car left in the direction of Naas Road.

Gardaí say the car would have damage to the front and to the windscreen.

They are appealing for anyone with any information to contact them.

The woman was taken to St James's Hospital where she was later pronounced dead.

The man was arrested yesterday evening in the Drimnagh area.

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Hagel says China 'destabilising' South China Sea

Saturday 31 May 2014 15.53

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has accused China  of "destabilising actions" in the South China Sea.

He warned that Washington will not remain passive if the international order is threatened.

Stressing US commitments to allies and friends in Asia, Secretary Hagel called for a peaceful resolution of international disputes.

He issued a blunt message to China, which was represented by a high-level military delegation at the forum.

"In recent months, China has undertaken destabilising, unilateral actions asserting its claims in the South China Sea," Mr Hagel told fellow defense chiefs, military officials, diplomats and security experts attending the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

He accused China of restricting access by the Philippines to Scarborough Shoal, putting pressure on Manila's long-standing presence in Second Thomas Shoal, beginning land reclamation at various locations and moving an oil rig into disputed waters with Vietnam.

Mr Hagel said that while the United States does not take sides on rival claims, "we firmly oppose any nation's use of intimidation, coercion, or the threat of force to assert these claims".

"The United States will not look the other way when fundamental principles of the international order are being challenged," he said.

Tensions have flared up recently in the South China Sea, claimed almost entirely by China, which has lately taken bold steps to enforce what it says are its historical rights.

Four Southeast Asian states, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, claim parts of the sea, with Manila and Hanoi being the most vocal in opposing China's claims. Taiwan is the sixth claimant.

A Chinese military official has blasted the United States for making "threats".

The Chinese army's deputy chief of staff, Wang Guanzhong, described Secretary Hagel's comments at the Shangri-La Dialogue as baseless.

"Secretary Hagel's speech is full of threats and intimidating language.

"Secretary Hagel's speech is full of encouragement, incitement for the Asia region's instability giving rise to a disturbance," state broadcaster China Central Television quoted Mr Wang as telling reporters.

"Secretary Hagel, in this kind of public space with many people, openly criticised China without reason. This accusation is completely without basis," Mr Wang added. 

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Death sentence for Sudanese woman condemned

Saturday 31 May 2014 15.00

There has been widespread international condemnation of a death sentence handed down to a Christian woman in Sudan for refusing to abandon her faith.

Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag was condemned on 15 May under Islamic sharia law, which has been in force in Sudan since 1983 and outlaws conversions on pain of death.

The 27-year-old is being held at a women's prison in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman, where she gave birth on Tuesday.

Her husband said he had visited her in jail and that she and their daughter are well.

Daniel Wani, a US citizen originally from South Sudan, told AFP he had visited Ms Ishag and the baby on Thursday, after being denied access earlier in the week, and that they were both in "good health."

He said he had obtained permission from the authorities to see them two days a week.

He also disclosed that he had sought permission for his wife to be transferred to a hospital to give birth, but that this was refused.

"We were afraid, but God protected her," he said.

Ms Ishag already has a 20-month-old son, who is also incarcerated with her, rights activists say.

Ms Ishag was born to a Muslim father but told the court, before Judge Abbas Mohammed al-Khalifa passed the verdict against her: "I am a Christian and I never committed apostasy."

The judge said to her: "We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged."

He also sentenced her to 100 lashes for "adultery."

Under Sudan's interpretation of sharia, a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man, so any such relationship is regarded as adulterous.

Britain and Canada last week summoned the Sudanese envoys to their countries over Ms Ishag's case, which they say conflicts with Sudan's international human rights obligations.

United Nations rights experts have called the conviction "outrageous" and said it must be overturned.

An appeal has already been filed against the verdict, and one of Ms Ishag's defence lawyers, Mohannad Mustapha, said a hearing that was to have been held on Wednesday was postponed because the case file was incomplete.

Ms Ishag should be allowed to nurse her baby for two years before any death sentence is carried out, legal experts have said. 

If she is hanged, Ms Ishag will be the first person executed for apostasy under the 1991 penal code, said Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a British-based group working for religious freedom.

Gilmore describes death sentence as 'inhumane'

The Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has strongly condemned the inhumane death sentence handed down to Ms Ishaq.

A statement issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs, said the Irish Embassy in Cairo, which covers Sudan, continues to follow the case of Ms Ishaq closely. 

It said the Government along with the EU are completely opposed to the death penalty in all cases.  

The statement said the Government attached the utmost importance to combating all forms of discrimination based on religion or belief.

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Kenny to make medical card issue a priority

Saturday 31 May 2014 15.29

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he will sit down with the new Labour Party leader when he or she is appointed and address the issue of medical cards as a matter of priority.

Mr Kenny was speaking on his arrival at the Bar Council's annual conference in Westport, Co Mayo.

He said he was very unhappy with letters sent out to people suffering from debilitating illnesses.

Mr Kenny also said he would not stand for that behaviour and repeated that he would fix the problem.

Meanwhile, Minister of State at the Department of Health, Alex White, has again acknowledged there was a massive problem in relation to the allocation of medical cards and said he accepted his share of the criticism.

On RTÉ's Saturday with Claire Byrne programme, Minister White said that some of what was reported in relation to the review of medical cards by the Health Service Executive did not happen.

He said there was a huge amount of misreporting in relation to some cases in which people were asked if their children still had conditions such as Down Syndrome.

Minister White said he would not get into individual cases but he knew there were some references in some reports that he read and checked and found that they were not true.

He said he accepted that the bureaucratic approach affects people.

He questioned if the regime is to be changed for the two million people in receipt of a medical card based on means.

He also asked if health resources should be allocated on the basis of need or should there be a universal health system.

Minister White said there should be a wider public debate on the allocation of resources.

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Man dies after attack in Blanchardstown

Saturday 31 May 2014 15.36

An investigation is underway following the suspicious death of a man in Blanchardstown in Dublin overnight.

A man's body was found at an apartment at Annaly Grove in Ongar at around 4am.

Detectives believe the 32-year-old man was attacked during a house party.

The scene has been preserved for a forensic examination and a post mortem examination will be carried out later today. 

Two women in their 30s were arrested at the scene. 

They are being detained at Blanchardstown Garda Station and can be questioned for up to 24 hours.

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