Day: April 12, 2023

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday began a nostalgia-filled tour of the Republic of Ireland, jetting in from Northern Ireland where he pushed for an end to crippling political paralysis in the British province.

Biden emerged from Air Force One at Dublin airport to driving wind and rain, and was greeted by the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar and a sea of black umbrellas.

The 80-year-old president, who regularly mentions his Irish roots, calls Ireland “part of my soul” and his visit includes trips to the hometowns of his 19th-century ancestors.

He will also meet Irish head of state Michael Higgins and address a joint sitting of both houses of the Oireachtas — the Irish parliament — before heading home late Friday.

Despite the sentimental nature of his Irish visit, Biden was keen to underscore the seriousness of his trip.

The priority, he said, was “to keep the peace” in Northern Ireland, 25 years after a landmark peace agreement that ended three decades of deadly sectarian violence over British rule.

He used a speech at a new campus of Ulster University in Belfast earlier on Wednesday to promote the benefits of enduring peace and investment.

But he still faced heated criticism from pro-UK hardliners.

The UK government also downplayed suggestions his one-night-only trip to Belfast was a snub to the so-called “special relationship”.

“I hope the (Northern Ireland) Executive and Assembly will soon be restored,” Biden said, urging feuding leaders to restore power-sharing government which has been suspended since February last year.

– ‘Anti-British?’ –

Biden touted the “unlimited possibilities” for investment and growth offered in Northern Ireland, 25 years on from the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

But, he said, peace and stability must always be guarded, warning that the January 6, 2021, riot at Congress in Washington had proved that in every generation, “democracy needs champions”.

The president met Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said the UK’s relationship with the United States was “in great shape” and greeted local political leaders.

Senior figures in the pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which is under pressure to resume local power-sharing, were strikingly undiplomatic about the president.

Sammy Wilson, a DUP member of the UK parliament in Westminster, branded Biden “anti-British”, accusing second Catholic US president of having “made his antipathy towards Protestants in particular very well known”.

Another DUP lawmaker, Nigel Dodds, called Biden’s administration “transparently pro-nationalist” while party leader Jeffrey Donaldson said the visit did nothing to change the political dynamic.

Power-sharing government is a key plank of the 1998 peace accord, but it collapsed 14 months ago over the DUP’s opposition to post-Brexit trade arrangements in Northern Ireland.

The party fears that keeping Northern Ireland in the European single market and customs union drives a wedge between the province and Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).

Despite the UK and the European Union agreeing to overhaul trading rules earlier this year, the DUP is yet to back the new trading terms and allow the restoration of Belfast’s Stormont legislature.

– Security fears –

Biden’s defenders hit back at claims he was “anti-British”.

“The president has been very actively engaged throughout his career, dating back to when he was a senator, in the peace process in Northern Ireland,” said Amanda Sloat, National Security Council Senior Director for Europe.

Sectarian violence remains a concern north of the border, with Britain’s MI5 security agency elevating its terrorism threat level for the territory ahead of Biden’s visit.

On Monday, masked youths pelted police vehicles with petrol bombs during an illegal march by hardline nationalists in Londonderry, which is also known as Derry.

Police in Northern Ireland on Tuesday said that four suspected pipe bombs had been retrieved from a cemetery in the Creggan area of the city.

Biden brushed off any security concerns and saw up close how much redevelopment has transformed Belfast since 1998.

The five-star hotel in Belfast where he stayed only opened in 2018.

Before 1998, the only place for visiting dignitaries to stay was the nearby Europa, which was attacked so often by the Irish Republican Army paramilitary group that it became known as the most bombed hotel in Europe.

“I came here in ’91 to this neighbourhood and you couldn’t have a glass building like this here… I don’t think they would have stood up very well,” Biden said of the new university campus.

“The dividends of peace are all around us.”

Source: Seychelles News Agency

From a country where athletics faces an uphill battle with football in the popularity stakes, Dodin is in a race against time to boost his speed in a bid to qualify for the World Championships in Budapest in August and the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The remote Indian Ocean archipelago, which has a population of only around 100,000, has never come close to winning a medal at either Olympic or world level.

Dodin, a 100 and 200 metres specialist, is now in training in Kenya with the country’s sprint sensation Ferdinand Omanyala to hone his skills for the upcoming outdoor season.

Both men will line up for their first competitive outdoor meet of the year at the Athletics Grand Prix in Pretoria on Wednesday, the same event where 24-year-old Dodin set his personal best of 10.47sec.

That, however, came way back in March 2018 and is leagues away from the current African record of 9.77sec run by Omanyala in September 2021.

But the Seychellois says the tough training regime with the Kenyan and former South African 100m champion Henricho Bruintjies is already bringing out the best in him.

“When I got here in Kenya the first week, it was really, really hard to keep up with these guys because every day is fast training,” said Dodin.

“It’s really good to run with them because they’re always pushing hard to achieve their goals, and they help me better myself.”

Dodin has represented Seychelles in the Indian Ocean Islands games, the Francophone games and the African junior championships.

– ‘Main target’ –

He said he hopes to qualify for both the 100m and 200m at the World Championships.

But it has been made much harder for the likes of Dodin to make the cut, with World Athletics raising the bar for both events at the World Championships.

The qualifying time in the 100m is now a tough 10.00 and for the 200m it is 20.16, with a deadline of July 30. A large percentage of lesser sprinters, however, are expected to qualify outside those times through the world ranking system.

“It is the main target for every athlete to make it to the World Championships,” says Dodin, a trained mechanic.

“The work I am putting in should help me get there. That’s my main target this year.”

His sole international podium to date is an African under-20 championship bronze, which was also the country’s first sprint medal at the continental level.

The youngest of six siblings, Dodin used to play football, the number one sport in the island nation better known for its idyllic beaches.

He only decided to make a career in athletics at the age of 15 after being inspired by Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt.

Dodin said there was great potential in athletics in Seychelles but it was hampered by a lack of serious training.

“The people on the island love a lot of leisure and the talented ones don’t like to put in lots of hard training to become successful.”

Source: Seychelles News Agency

Mombasa County Governor, Abdulswamad Sharif Nassir has issued a cautionary alert to the public of a diarrheal disease that is accompanied by severe vomiting. Addressing the media in his office, Nassir said that he was alarmed with the increase of the reported cases of extreme diarrhea and vomiting especially from infants. He said that there have been 75 recorded cases in the last two weeks and that tests have been conducted, ruling out Cholera. So far out of 15 patients, 3 were confirmed with Rotavirus. Rotavirus is a very contagious genus of double- stranded RNA viruses in the family of Reoviridae that causes diarrheal disease among infants and young children. The most affected area is Kisauni Sub-County. Nassir noted that a cautionary measure has been taken to hire 54 more medical staff at the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital to handle the influx of patients. He also added that the Community Health Volunteers (CHV) will help in the first aid of treatment of this disease noting that they will be under the County Government’s stipend until the end of the financial year (June). ‘In collaboration with the Water Department we shall install chlorination ports in the county to treat all water sources to ensure the residents have access to clean water and also regularize all Early Childhood Education (ECD) and the daycares for children under the age of 2 years by providing hand washing stations while sensitizing on the practice of proper hand hygiene,’ Nassir said. Nassir assured the public that if the rest of the cases are confirmed to be Rotavirus, the Public Health Department will immediately roll out a vaccination drive. He urged the trade department to sensitize food handlers and restaurants to have hand washing stations. He also urged the residents of the county to observe utmost cleanliness, cooperate in the vaccination process and visit the nearest medical facility for checkup and treatment if they experience any of the aforementioned symptoms.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Two people have died with seven others recuperating at Longisa County referral hospital following an outbreak of rabies in Bomet County. The County Governor, Prof Hillary Barchok revealed that a total of 179 cases of the disease have been reported in the county. Barchok said this while launching the distribution 12,000 doses of anti-rabies vaccine targeting both human beings and animals including cats and dogs. He said in a quick response the government through the veterinary officers have managed to vaccinate 40 dogs in Longisa Ward which has the highest incident of the disease. According to Longisa Ward Member of the County Assembly Stephen Chang’morik, there was a rabid dog on the loose in Longisa town which has since bitten four cows and a goat. He however said security agencies and veterinary officers were doing their best to apprehend the canine before it wrecks more havoc in the area. He said the most affected areas were Kipreres, Motiret and Cheboin of Bomet East Sub County. The MCA further urged the residents to ensure that they were vaccinated and ensure that their pets equally received the jab. This follows an outbreak of zoonotic disease including Anthrax and Black Quarter that have since been put under control as the county Government has provided and distributed the vaccines.

Source: Kenya News Agency