Control panel was damaged during Condor flight after captain put cup on tray table
A pilot spilling coffee in the cockpit of a plane flying over the Atlantic Ocean forced it to turn back and land in Ireland.
The hot coffee damaged an audio control panel, which gave off an electrical burning smell and smoke, an accident report found. It created significant communication difficulty for the pilots flying the Airbus A330, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.
Continue reading...Leaked resolution says it will use veto against any Brexit deal without an insurance policy
The European parliament is to criticise the British government’s treatment of EU citizens living in the UK and insist it will refuse to ratify a deal that fails to include an Irish backstop or provisions that tie the UK into EU standards after Brexit.
A leaked copy of a resolution of the parliament due to be voted on next week lays out a series of concerns about the conduct of Boris Johnson’s government. The parliament has a veto on any deal agreed.
Continue reading...EU trade commissioner says he believes ‘penny is finally dropping’ for Boris Johnson
The EU is pinning hopes on British negotiators reverting to the Northern Ireland-only backstop that was previously rejected by Theresa May as a threat to the constitutional integrity of the UK.
With Boris Johnson facing a choice between breaking his word and extending the UK’s EU membership beyond 31 October or bringing back a tweaked deal for a last-gasp vote in parliament, officials and diplomats have expressed hope that the prime minister will make a U-turn.
Continue reading...Last day of parliament also sees prime minister forced to publish no-deal plans
Opposition MPs were holding up signs in parliament saying “silenced”.
“Silent acquiescence in the face of tyranny is no better than outright agreement.”#OurParliamentSilenced pic.twitter.com/DxlVXXWWjR
Bercow was loudly applauded by opposition MPs as he left the chamber. Labour MPs then chanted “shame on you!” to Conservatives as they exited.
Bercow being applauded by the Opposition. Labour MPs screaming “shame on you!” to ministers. These are absolutely extraordinary scenes.
Continue reading...Leo Varadkar says UK and EU will still have to negotiate, with same problems on agenda
The Irish prime minister has warned Boris Johnson that there will be no “clean break” from the EU, with further fraught negotiations to come if Britain crashes out of the bloc without a deal.
In a tough message to his British counterpart on the steps of Ireland’s Government Buildings, Leo Varadkar warned Britain would be back to square one on the very issues that it refuses to agree on now in a no-deal scenario.
Continue reading...The Irish prime minister has warned Boris Johnson that a no-deal Brexit would cause 'severe disruption’ without offering an end to the Brexit process. Leo Varadkar added that Ireland was open to alternatives to the Irish backstop, which has proved a major obstacle in negotiations, but had not received any from the UK.
The two leaders met in Dublin for their first face-to-face meeting since Johnson became prime minister in July. At their joint press conference, Johnson insisted he was seeking a deal, and claimed no deal would be a 'failure of statecraft for which we would all be responsible'
Continue reading...PM battles to keep Brexit plan on track after Amber Rudd quit the government on Saturday
Boris Johnson will fly to Dublin to meet the Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, on Monday, as he battles to show his Brexit plan remains on track after Amber Rudd dramatically quit the cabinet.
Against a backdrop of mounting disquiet inside government at Johnson’s gung-ho approach and the combative style of his chief strategist Dominic Cummings, the British prime minister hopes to demonstrate that he is serious about negotiating a fresh Brexit deal.
Continue reading...The prime minister takes his game of Brexit bluff to Dublin tomorrow, seemingly unconcerned that his mendacity is now visible to all
The self-image of the public-school ethos from which Boris Johnson springs is best expressed in Thomas Hughes’s high-Victorian novel, Tom Brown’s School Days. But Johnson’s own model is surely not the honourable Tom but the contemptible cad Harry Flashman, as he is so hilariously reimagined in George MacDonald Fraser’s The Flashman Papers. The arch-bounder was sometimes suggested as an avatar for David Cameron but he is surely a better match for Johnson. He rises inexorably to become Sir Harry Flashman VC and brazenly informs us that “all my fame and glory has been earned by accident, false pretence, cowardice, doing the dirty, and blind luck”. Flashman makes his career in the military and explains: “Some human faults are military virtues, like stupidity, and arrogance, and narrow-mindedness.”
We may take assurance from the very fact that Johnson is prime minister that the same goes for politics. Some human faults – mendacity, cynicism, opportunism, bluster, recklessness – are political virtues. But only up to a point. Those qualities have taken Johnson to the pinnacle of power. Shamelessness is practically a requirement for high office. But as we have seen in a dramatic week, the vices that allow you to take power are not much use when you have to wield it – at least not yet and not in a country whose battered democracy retains some life.
Continue reading...Council calls for fewer marches amid reports of smoke bombs and closure of Govan Road
Riot police, mounted officers, a force helicopter and dog units are being used in Glasgow after protesters against an Irish unity march sparked “significant disorder”.
Police said the planned march through the city’s Govan area, organised by the James Connolly Republican Flute Band, was met by hundreds of “disruptive” counter-demonstrators at about 7pm.
Continue reading...Lecarrow, Tahilla and Scoil an Ghleanna will reopen as multi-denominational schools
Three schools in Ireland are expected to make history this week by becoming the first to abandon their Catholic ethos and become multi-denominational state-run schools.
The transfer in patronage reflects an ebbing of the Catholic church’s dominance in education – it runs about 90% of primary schools – and efforts by small rural schools to attract more pupils to avoid closure.
Continue reading...Brazil’s handling of forest fires set to top agenda of G7 countries at meeting in Biarritz this weekend
Amazon fires: what is happening and is there anything we can do?
France and Ireland have said they will oppose an EU trade deal with South American countries unless Brazil takes action to stop the burning of the Amazon.
On the eve of a meeting of the G7 nations in Biarritz, an Élysée source said Emmanuel Macron thought Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, “lied” to him at the G20 meeting in Osaka in June about his climate commitments and therefore France would oppose the Mercosur treaty.
Continue reading...Johnson says MPs who claim they can prevent no deal are to blame for hardline EU response
The European Union has rebuffed Boris Johnson’s attempts to tear up the Irish backstop, in a coordinated response that appeared to close the door on further meaningful Brexit negotiations.
In remarks shortly before the prime minister departed for a whistle-stop tour to meet European leaders, Johnson put the blame for the EU’s hardline response at the feet of Conservative rebels, claiming his negotiating strategy was being undermined by those who said they could prevent no deal.
Continue reading...Government figures seek to play down predictions of food, medicine and fuel shortages in leaked document
Downing Street has reacted with fury to the leak of an official document predicting that a no-deal Brexit would lead to food, medicine and petrol shortages, with No 10 sources blaming the disclosure on a hostile former minister intent on ruining Boris Johnson’s trip to see EU leaders this week.
The leaked document, detailing preparations under Operation Yellowhammer, argues that the most likely scenario is severe extended delays to medicine supplies and shortages of some fresh foods, combined with price rises, if there is a no-deal Brexit on 31 October.
Continue reading...Postmortem examination to determine whether further police investigation needed
A postmortem examination will be carried out to determine the cause of death of Nora Quoirin, 15, whose body has been found in the Malaysian jungle.
The London girl’s body was discovered on Tuesday by a local team of hikers just over a mile from the resort where she had been on holiday with her family. The find brought to an end a 10-day search which had involved more than 350 volunteers and drawn offers of support from around the world.
Continue reading...Nora Quoirin’s mother has appealed to the public for information as the search for the missing 15-year-old British girl continues in Malaysia. A £10,000 reward has been offered to help find the vulnerable teenager who disappeared from her bedroom at a nature resort on 4 August. The sum was donated by an anonymous Belfast-based business, Meabh Quoirin said. Speaking of her daughter, she added: ‘She is so precious to us and our hearts are breaking’
Continue reading...Series of events include exhibition of portraits by Welsh artist Dan Llywelyn Hall, poetry and vigils
It was the summer storm that roared without warning into the Celtic Sea, unleashing monster waves that ambushed a fleet of 303 boats competing in the Fastnet race.
Instead of skimming along the south coast of the UK to the Fastnet Rock off south-west Ireland, sailors found themselves battling for life against howling winds and walls of water. Dozens of yachts capsized, trapping crews in their cabins and tossing others into the foam.
Continue reading...Parents thanked police and volunteers as Irish band Westlife appealed to fans
The parents of a London teenager with learning difficulties who has been missing for almost a week in Malaysia have thanked teams taking part in a widespread search operation.
Meabh and Sebastien Quoirin, whose 15-year-old daughter, Nora, has been missing since last Sunday, said terima kasih (thank you) on Saturday to those searching for her.
Continue reading...Three officers injured as officers are forced to retreat from pyre to mark 1971 mass internment
Youths in north Belfast have attacked riot police in a standoff over an unauthorised republican bonfire.
The officers withdrew in their Land Rovers from the New Lodge area on Thursday afternoon after coming under a hail of bottles, bricks, fireworks and other projectiles that injured three officers.
Continue reading...I was born in 1931 in the small German town of Meiningen, famous for its theatre, much like Stratford-upon-Avon. Its mainly middle-class citizens were deeply disillusioned, tired of the infighting of the political parties. Germany seemed to be in a state of social and moral disintegration, crying out for healing and reconciliation. People were drawn to a charismatic, unconventional power-hungry leader who read their minds and promised what they wanted to hear. I know history never quite repeats itself, but the analogies are frightening.
The single issue was the exceptionalism (Opinion, 29 July), the superiority of the German race. The good, mainly churchgoing citizens easily voted his Brown Shirts onto the regional council (cpcf the Brexit party). Two years later they voted nationally in sufficient numbers to enable Hitler to seize total power. It was all perfectly legal, too late to effectively protest. Dissent was now treason (think the Daily Mail). My father’s parents were Jews. Outcasts now (think our non-Brits), a few years later we had no choice but to flee and my grandmother to take poison. I pray for our PM and hope that I am needlessly crying wolf.
Canon Dr Paul Oestreicher
Brighton
After rebuff from Irish taoiseach, PM ready to blame ‘friends across the Channel’
Boris Johnson has said it is up to the EU to compromise to avoid a no-deal Brexit, after his demands for the backstop to be scrapped were met with a flat refusal from the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.
In comments that showed he is preparing to blame the EU if the UK ends up leaving without a deal, Johnson said he was not aiming for a no-deal Brexit but the situation was “very much up to our friends and partners across the Channel”.
Continue reading...