Love Island's Billykiss Azeez: People assume I'm not Irish. It hurts
Billykiss Azeez, who lives in Westmeath but is originally from Nigeria, has spoken about her disappointment with the decision by the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael-led coalition to park new laws after a political and public backlash over perceived threats to free speech.
'It's disappointing to hear that the government, whose job and responsibility is obviously to protect the people, will not push to get that hate speech legislation in place,' Azeez, 28, told The Sunday Times.
It's disappointing to see that they're not putting the people first. The people is everyone; it doesn't matter if their ethnicity is pure Irish, white Irish, or if they're black Irish.'
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BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Sally Rooney says she will support Palestine Action despite ban
Author Sally Rooney says she will continue to support Palestine Action, despite the group being proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the award-winning Irish novelist said she intends to use the earnings of her work and her public platform to "go on supporting Palestine Action and direct action against genocide".Writing in the Irish Times, she said "if this makes me a supporter of terror under UK law, so be it".Her remarks come as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper again defended the proscription of Palestine Action, saying it is more than "a regular protest group known for occasional stunts". Palestine Action is a British pro-Palestinian direct action group that was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the government in activities have predominantly targeted arms companies since the start of the current war in Gaza. After mass arrests, what happens next with Palestine Action ban?Palestine Action can challenge UK ban, court rulesBring sick and injured children to UK from Gaza immediately, MPs say Rooney, who wrote bestsellers including Normal People and Intermezzo, has previously been a vocal backer of the protest group, writing in the Guardian in June that proscribing them would be an "alarming attack on free speech".She was speaking after some of its members broke into RAF Brize Norton and sprayed two planes with red paint, causing damages worth £ in 2021, she refused to allow Beautiful World, Where Are You to be translated into Hebrew in a move to boycott Israel over its policies towards her latest Irish Times opinion piece, she said she will continue to use the proceeds of her work - including residuals from a BBC co-production of Normal People and Conversations with Friends - to keep supporting the than 700 people have been arrested since the group was banned by the government on 5 July - including more than 500 at a demonstration in central London last writing in the Observer on Sunday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said while many were aware of the Brize Norton incident, fewer would be aware of other incidents for which the group had claimed example, in August 2024 alleged Palestine Action supporters broke into Elbit Systems UK in Bristol, an Israeli defence firm that has long been a key allegations are due to come to trial in November. Eighteen people deny charges including criminal damage, assault causing actual bodily harm, violent disorder and aggravated has also referenced a so-called "Underground Manual" from the group, which she said "provides practical guidance on how to identify targets to attack and how to evade law enforcement"."These are not the actions of a legitimate protest group," Cooper also said she had received "disturbing information" which "covered ideas and planning for future attacks".Rooney - who lives in the west of Ireland - wrote: "The present UK government has willingly stripped its own citizens of basic rights and freedoms, including the right to express and read dissenting opinions, in order to protect its relationship with Israel."She said "the ramifications for cultural and intellectual life in the UK... are and will be profound".The BBC and Rooney's management have been contacted for comment. Israel has long rejected accusations of genocide, but leading Israeli and global human rights organisations have argued that the country's conduct in the war in Gaza constitutes genocide against the Palestinian war was triggered by Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 others taken offensive has since killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Wetin dey do Third Mainland Bridge and how much govment say di repair go cost
Nigerians still dey wonder how govment wan spend 3.6 trillion naira to repair 3rd Mainland Bridge. Minister of Works for Nigeria, David Umahi, tok say Third Mainland Bridge go chop at least 3.6 trillion naira to repair am. Dis na sake of di problems wey di bridge don get from di structures wey dey underwater. David Umahi tok say sake of di urgency of di mata , im carry waka go di recent Federal Executive Council [FEC] wey President Bola Tinubu lead for Aso, Rock. Di FEC approve a total of N493 billion for two ogbonge projects. Di projects na to buoild new Carter Bridge for N359 billion and to upgrade di Kano-Katsina bridge to 152 kilometres for N134 billion. For Third Mainland Bridge for Lagos, South-West Nigeria, oga Uma tok say dem no go fit repair am sake of structural damage. Im add say di price to repair am cost well-well. Why Carter Bridge go chop N359 billion Di Minister of works tok say for 2019 dem bin do one study to show wetin dey happun under di water of Third Mainland bridge and di Carter bridge. Di pipo wey bin do di study discover say plenti problems dey. Dem bin install di pires [columns]in a technical term of skin friction becos dem no go fit discover rock. Skin friction na method we dem dey use secure di pires and under di aggregate of di pires na dia di pire cap dey, so dem discover say dis pires wey sand dey hold don wash away sake of illegal minning of sand and ocean current. Im explain say for 2019, dem do anoda study and dem discover say di pires don spoil well-well, some dey rust due to chlorine wey dey inside di water and dem dey lose sand well-well. Im tok say na President Bola Tinubu bin give directive make dem chook eyes for how dem go take repair di Third Mainland bridge. Umahi say dem don resurface am by 11.8 kilometres by 16 lanes. Im add say dem also chook eye for wetin dey happun under di deck above di water. "We bin give di contract to Julius Berger, Ido bridge, Carter bridge and Third Mainland bridge at a contract sum of 65 billion and dia job na to repair all di pires wey don rust, dem go also chook eye for di pire caps kon treat am sake of say dem dey exposed and e dey rust badly. Im add say wen dem bin dey do dis one wey add am for dia contract to chooking for di 2013 and 2019 underwater investigation wey be part of dia contract. According to di Minister, Julius Berger tell am say dem need to close Carter bridge sharp sharp sake of traffic and di bridge dey beyond repair dem gatz construct new one. "Dem give us a cost of about 38 something billion to repair am and e no dey realistic and di one wey dey realistic na to 359 billion for brand new bridge and dem discuss wit Dutch bank to fund am." 'Nobody submit proposal for Third Mainland Bridge but e go chop 3.8 trillion' - David Umahi For di Third Mainland bridge, Oga Umahi explain say nobody submit any proposal, but na di same underwater problems wey Carter bridge dey face na im Third Mainland bridge dy face too. "Wen we bin do a pro rata [na process wey dem go use di proportional cost of part of di work take compare to di whole work] for di part wey we go repair, e reach 3.8 trillion and if we go do new construction na 3.6 trillion." Im say dem go meet FEC to give dem approval to not less dan seven specialist contractors to do comprehensive investigation, design and bidding to reconstruct and to build new ones or to repair dem. Im say di third request na to advertise for Public, Private , Partnership [PPP] "We bin submit memo and di title for di memo na di approval for constructive engagement on di rehabilitation or construction of new Carter and Third Mainland Bridge for Lagos state." Im explain. Oda bridges wey need repairs for Nigeria Di former govnor of Ebonyi state say no be only Carter and Third Mainland bridges wey need urgent work. Im confam say oda bridges dey wey no good across di kontri and dem need sharp-sharp attention too. "I bin draw di attention of di Federal Executive Council [FEC] to di fact say we go intervene on some construction of new bridges and emergencies for a number of bridges across di nation..." Some of di bridges wey need woek include: Jaimata bridge for Adamawa state wey we don already complete. Murtala Mohammed bridge for Kogi state wey still dey go on. Jebba bridge for Niger state. Gashuwa bridge for Yobe state. Koltaka Marine bridge. Independence bridge. Akata bridge for Lagos. Ibi bridge for Taraba state, Artizan bridge for Enugu state. Apoah bride for Ebonyi state. Opobo bridge for Rivers state. Baro bridge for Niger state. Bukuru bridge for Benue state. And bridges wey don collapse along di East-West road wey include two for Delta and one for Bayelsa state.
Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Telegraph
Sally Rooney vows to use BBC royalties to fund Palestine Action
Sally Rooney has vowed to use money from the BBC to fund the proscribed terror organisation Palestine Action. The novelist said the police should investigate the corporations and the high-street stores that stock and promote her work if they believe she is committing an act of terrorism. Membership and support of Palestine Action, including funding, can carry sentences of up to 14 years in prison after the group was banned by the Government in July. The Normal People author made the comments in the Irish Times, noting that it would be illegal for her to publish them in a British newspaper. She said she felt compelled to publicly express her support after 'more than 500 peaceful protesters' were arrested for doing the same in a single day on Aug 9. 'If this makes me a 'supporter of terror' under UK law, so be it,' she wrote. 'My books, at least for now, are still published in Britain, and are widely available in bookshops and even supermarkets. 'In recent years the UK's state broadcaster has also televised two fine adaptations of my novels, and therefore regularly pays me residual fees. 'I want to be clear that I intend to use these proceeds of my work, as well as my public platform generally, to go on supporting Palestine Action and direct action against genocide in whatever way I can. 'If the British state considers this 'terrorism', then perhaps it should investigate the shady organisations that continue to promote my work and fund my activities, such as WH Smith and the BBC.' The BBC and WH Smith have been contacted for comment. Ms Rooney said that 'to ensure that the British public is made aware of my position, I would happily publish this statement in a UK newspaper – but that would now be illegal'. She has previously expressed her support for the group in a witness statement handed to London's High Court, where the decision to proscribe the group is being challenged by one of its founders. The Irish author has now accused Sir Keir Starmer's government of stripping its citizens of 'basic rights and freedoms' to protect its relationship with Israel. The ramifications are 'profound' and 'an increasing number of artists and writers can no longer safely travel to Britain to speak in public', she said. Palestine Action was proscribed by the Home Secretary after activists allegedly broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and vandalised two military aircraft, causing £7m of damage. Ms Rooney, whose novels Normal People and Conversations with Friends have been adapted into BBC dramas, noted that the decision puts it on the same footing as al-Qaeda and Islamic State. This means that 'even a simple placard or T-shirt' expressing support is now 'a serious terror offence under UK law', she wrote. In the six weeks since the ban, the Metropolitan Police have arrested more than 700 people for supporting the group. The force said a further 60 people will be prosecuted for support of Palestine Action, while Norfolk Police said on Saturday that 13 people were arrested at a protest in Norwich. Ms Rooney pointed out that those arrested include an Irish citizen and a woman in Belfast. She described the arrest by PSNI officers as 'political policing', noting that the force made no arrests after a mural for the proscribed Ulster Volunteer Force, 'responsible for the murders of hundreds of civilians', was repainted in north Belfast last year. She said: 'Palestine Action, proscribed under the same law, is responsible for zero deaths and has never advocated the use of violence against any human being. 'Why then are its supporters arrested for wearing T-shirts, while murals celebrating loyalist death squads are left untouched?' Ms Rooney also questioned why the Irish Government, which has stated that Israel is committing genocide in Palestine, has remained silent when its citizens have been arrested 'for protesting an acknowledged genocide'.
