Written by Foras Teamhrach
Minister Sherlock has stated that the wording of the controversial statutory instrument reinforcing online copyright laws will not be changed and would proceed. The Irish Government was “not trying to impose something here” and that comparisons with the SOPA legislation in the US were “not based in fact”, adding that the SI was merely [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
“Free and comprehensive health care is set to end with the passage of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat government’s Health and Social Care Bill 2011. The National Health Service (NHS), established in 1948 as the centrepiece of Britain’s post-war welfare state, is the world’s oldest and largest taxpayer-funded system. It faces rapid privatisation on the basis of [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
A holy shrine that contained a relic of St Brigid has been stolen from a church two day’s before the patron saint’s feast day. Thieves made off with the rare Celtic-designed reliquary – an ornate container for relics – which was screwed into the altar at St Brigid’s Church in Killester, north Dublin. The [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
Irish Times – Belgium’s first general strike since 1993 brought the country to halt today in an anti-austerity protest aimed at the government and EU leaders meeting in Brussels. Unions have called the general strike, Belgium’s first since 1993, over government plans to raise the effective retirement age along with other measures designed to [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
Reuters Sunday- “More than 400 anti-Wall Street protesters were arrested in Oakland during a night of skirmishes in which police fired tear gas and bean bag projectiles, the city said on Sunday, marking one of the biggest mass arrests since nationwide economic protests began last year. Earlier on Sunday, authorities had said that the [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
Some 400 people rallied outside the US embassy in London today, Saturday, against any attack and sanctions on Iran and Syria. The protest drew together long-time peace activists, Iranian and Syrian people living in Britain and people from the Anonymous “hacktivism” group. People chanted, “We don’t want another war” and “Freedom”. Speakers from the [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
European stocks fell, headed for the biggest two-day drop in two months, Treasuries rose and the euro weakened as Greece signalled opposition to economic oversight in exchange for aid. Italian bonds fell as the government sold debt and the cost of insuring Portuguese debt reached a record high. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slumped [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
EU leaders arrived in Brussels today to complete a German-led deficit-control treaty and to endorse a 500 billion-euro rescue fund to be set up in 2012. Greek Sound bites: “The fact we’re still at the beginning of 2012 talking about Greece is a sign this problem hasn’t been dealt with,” U.K. Chancellor of the [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
BBC News – Kader Arif, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta), resigned over the issue on Friday. He said he had witnessed "never-before-seen manoeuvres" by officials preparing the treaty. On Thursday, 22 EU member states including the UK signed the agreement. The treaty still needs to be ratified by the [...]
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Written by Foras Teamhrach
India Times – “Twitter, a tool of choice for dissidents and activists around the world, found itself the target of global outrage on Friday after unveiling plans to allow country-specific censorship of tweets that might break local laws. … Twitter insisted its commitment to free speech remains firm, and sought to explain the nuances [...]
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