UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson with US president Joe Biden in The White House last night
“We’re going to talk a little bit about trade today and we’re going to have to work that through.
“But on the (Northern Ireland) protocols I feel very strongly on those.
“We spent an enormous amount of time and effort, the United States, it was a major bipartisan effort made.
“And I would not at all like to see, nor I might add would many of my Republican colleagues like to see, a change in the Irish accords, the end result having a closed border in Ireland.”
Dublin singer/songwriter Eoin Glackin (top) raises a smile with a message of positivity on his new single – and the cherry on top is the charming picturesque video.
Eoin writes:
“Although we’ve certainly missed out on a lot over the course of the pandemic, a positive has been that people have had time to reconsider the track that certain aspects of their lives were on. Both small and big choices have been given fresh perspectives, and there’s no harm in that. That’s where this song comes from, realising that our future really is ours and nobody else’s. It’s a call to embrace that feeling of uncertainty and just follow your own feet.”
Judy Woodruff spoke to Bill Gates about ‘vaccine equity’, climate change and his meetings with deceased financier and underage sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (@10.54). From the interview:
Woodruff: “You had a number of meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, who – when you met him 10 years ago – he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from minors. What did you know about him when you were meeting with him, as you’ve said yourself, in the hopes of raising money?”
Gates: “Uh, you know, I had dinner with him. I regret doing that. He had relationships with people he said, you know, would give to global health, which is an interest I have. Not nearly enough philanthropy goes in that direction. Those meetings were a mistake,” he added. “They didn’t result in what he purported, and I cut them off. You know, that goes back a long time ago now. There’s – you know, so there’s nothing new on that.”
Woodruff: “It was reported that you met with him over several years, in other words a number of meetings What did you do when you found out about his background?”
Gates: “Well, you know, I’ve said I’ve regretted having those dinners, and there’s absolutely nothing new on that.”
Woodruff: “Is there a lesson for you or anyone else looking at this?”
Gates: “Well, he’s dead, so, uh, in general, you always have to be careful, uh, and, you know, I’m very proud of what we’ve done and very proud of the work of the foundation. That’s what I get up every day and focus on.”
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation part funds the PBS Newshour.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told the United Nations General Assembly yesterday that his country, the world’s largest polluter, “will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.”
As announcement’s go it’s pretty grand:
China’s drawing a line in the sand
No more coal-powered stations
In faraway nations
But plenty back in the homeland
“The last thing senior diplomats wanted ‘was some LGBT version of Angela Lansbury in Murder She Wrote wandering around with a badge poking her nose in’.” 🤣🤣
Pres. Biden tells UN General Assembly about U.S. COVID-19 vaccination efforts worldwide: “A dose of hope, direct from the American people and importantly, no strings attached.” https://t.co/D6gd0XDJFqpic.twitter.com/imgiLTEpSU
President Biden at #UNGA: The U.S. is “opening a new era of relentless diplomacy” after the American military withdrawal from Afghanistan https://t.co/bKqRhzqNba
From top: Outside Leo Varadkar’s home on Sunday; This morning’s Irish Times
KN writes:
If I wasn’t so completely trusting of the guards and the Irish Times I might have thought this was all a bit of a set- up done on the cheap.
Having being at all the marches to date, I’ve never heard any homophobic comments or chants or placards from those in attendance. It wouldn’t be tolerated. And the stuff I’ve seen from the grainy footage of the protest on Sunday would not have been tolerated by anyone I know at these marches.
This group, ‘We Are Sovereign People’ – whose crap I condemn, by the way – have no online presence, no spokesperson and never publicise their protests, which appear to consist of hanging outside ministers’ houses on Sundays, and provoking the inevitable twitter backlash. Why would they repeat the same failed formula that damages their supposed cause?
Some unnamed members then pledge to the crime correspondent of a national newspaper that they plan future protests outside GPs’ houses. What kind of group is this?
