NI Troubles: US space surveillance suggested during peace process
At the time, there were discussions on the decommissioning of IRA weapons.The idea that the US could use satellites to monitor whether IRA weapons dumps had been concreted over was raised in a meeting between Irish and US officials.Brief details were recorded in a note by an official in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO).According to the note, it was also suggested that satellites could "replicate the functions of the South Armagh towers". "But we were pretty clear that would not work," the NIO official noted.He said that when the idea was suggested, a senior diplomat had "laughed it out of the room".
There were a number of army observation towers in south Armagh during the troubles.The towers were later scrapped as part of the peace process.That was not the only example where potential help from the USA was raised.The late Ulster Unionist Party leader and First Minister David Trimble suggested a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Louis Freeh, be appointed to "look into" racketeering and gangsterism in Northern Ireland.Lord Trimble made the suggestion during a meeting with NIO officials, according to the state papers.
A number of papers also mention the early development of proposals by the UK government to deal with those known as On the Runs.So-called On the Run letters provided assurance to over 100 people that they did not face arrest and prosecution for IRA crimes.But the details were only made public during a court case involving a suspected IRA bomber in 2014.
The papers also reveal tense meetings between British officials and Ulster Unionists over symbols, like the use of the Royal coat of arms in courtrooms and a redesign of the PSNI badge."Lord Kilclooney and Trimble complained at length about what they saw as the relentless diminution of Britishness in Northern Ireland," the note of a meeting from November 2001 said."Trimble said the publication of the proposed designs for a new police badge had 'ignited one hell of a row' within the UUP," a subsequent note said.An NIO official also described a letter from Trimble to Blair on the situation within unionism as "singularly graceless and ill-timed".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
28 minutes ago
- Reuters
South Korea in push for US trade deal to offer package including shipbuilding tie-up
SEOUL, July 29 (Reuters) - South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Tuesday he would seek a mutually beneficial trade deal when he meets U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for talks this week, just days before an August 1 deadline expires to avoid punishing tariffs. Speaking at the airport before departing for Washington, Koo said he would propose at Thursday's meeting a "programme" South Korea had prepared and consult on areas where they could cooperate in the mid-to-long term, such as shipbuilding. South Korea's Hanwha Group, parent of shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean ( opens new tab, had submitted a major investment plan to government officials, according to two people familiar with the matter. The plan included expanding its recently acquired Philly Shipyard in the state of Pennsylvania and involved Hanwha Group and some of its affiliates, said the sources, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue. Hanwha Group's Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan also flew to Washington to support trade negotiations, local media reported. Seoul officials are scrambling in an all-out push to clinch a trade deal ahead of the August 1 deadline to remove or reduce tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump against the country's key industrial exports to the United States. Koo's plan to travel to Washington last week for talks with Bessent was postponed due to the U.S. treasury chief's scheduling conflict. "Treasury Secretary Bessent holds the important position of overseeing trade negotiations in the Trump administration," Koo said in brief remarks to reporters. "We will make the best effort to derive an agreement based on our national interest that would allow South Korea and the United States to co-exist," he said. Koo said he would be joining Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo who have been holding talks in Washington with U.S. officials including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for an "all-out response." Lutnick said in an interview with Fox News on Monday that South Korean officials had flown to Scotland to meet with him. "Think of how much they really, really want to get a deal done," he said. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun will also visit Washington this week for a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, following a visit to Japan on Tuesday to meet his counterpart.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy praises Trump for trimming Putin deadline by about 25 days
Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said Donald Trump showed a 'clear stance and expressed determination' after the US president said he would cut the 50-day deadline he set for Russia to negotiate peace in Ukraine. Trump on Monday set a new but still imprecise deadline of '10 or 12 days from today' for Russia to make progress towards peace or face consequences. Trump's previous deadlines to end the war have included 'one day … 24 hours' and 'about two weeks … within two weeks' as well as '50 days'. Two weeks had already passed since Trump threatened to act within 50 days, leaving 36 days remaining of the original deadline. The new ultimatum of '10 or 12 days' means the US president has given Putin about 25 fewer days to deliberate. Trump has threatened sanctions on both Russia and buyers of its exports unless progress is made. On Monday, Trump indicated he was not interested in talking directly to Putin. 'If you know what the answer is going to be, why wait? And it would be sanctions and maybe tariffs, secondary tariffs,' Trump said. 'I don't want to do that to Russia. I love the Russian people.' Zelenskyy said: 'I thank President Trump for his focus on saving lives and stopping this horrible war … Russia pays attention to sanctions, pays attention to such losses.' The Russian airline Aeroflot was forced to cancel dozens of flights on Monday after an established pro-Ukraine hacking group said it had carried out a cyber-attack. Dan Milmo reports how departure boards at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport turned red as flights were cancelled at a time when many Russians take their holidays. Irate passengers vented their anger on social media. One wrote: 'I've been sitting at the Volgograd airport since 3:30! The flight has been rescheduled for the third time!' Another posted: 'The call centre is unavailable, the website is unavailable, the app is unavailable.' A statement purporting to be from a hacking group called Silent Crow said it had carried out the operation with a Belarusian group called Cyber Partisans, and linked it to the war in Ukraine. 'Glory to Ukraine! Long live Belarus!' said the statement. Silent Crow said the cyber-attack was the result of a year-long operation that had deeply penetrated Aeroflot's network, destroyed 7,000 servers and gained control over the personal computers of employers including senior managers. It did not provide evidence. It threatened to shortly start releasing 'the personal data of all Russians who have ever flown Aeroflot'. Pjotr Sauer meanwhile reports how tens of thousands of passengers have seen their travel plans thrown into chaos in recent weeks, as Ukrainian drones repeatedly disrupt Russian airspace. The systematic Ukrainian campaigns aims to bring the war home to ordinary Russians, many of whom have otherwise experienced it only from their television screens. Pjotr Sauer writes that Ukrainian civilians live under the constant threat of being killed by missiles and drones, and Ukrainian officials have emphasised that life in Russia should not be comfortable for 'a population that, by and large, continues to support the war. The tactic seems to be bearing fruit: regular airport shutdowns and missed holidays have become a major talking point among the Russian public and a growing source of frustration.' Blackouts took place in parts of Russian-occupied Donetsk during a mass attack by Ukrainian drones on Monday, according to reports. The electricity distributor Donetskenergo said three substations were hit, leaving about 160,000 customers without power. The independent Russian-run Astra Telegram channel said the Donbas Palace Hotel in Donetsk city was also hit. Ukraine's Sumy region came under Russian attack on Monday into Tuesday evening, local officials reported. A man, 45, was injured by a drone while taking a cow out to pasture in the Krasnopil community, said Oleg Grigorov, head of the Sumy regional administration. A man, 66, was injured when his apartment was shelled. 'At around 5.45pm, the Russians attacked the Burynska community with four attack UAVs. The strike destroyed a local store,' Grigorov said. 'One of the saleswomen was injured – she was promptly provided with medical assistance and her life is not in danger. Damage was also recorded to residential buildings, a cultural centre, non-residential premises and cars.' The US-German defence company Auterion will provide 33,000 artificial intelligence guidance kits for Ukrainian drones funded by a $50m Pentagon contract. According to the company, the kits enable manually piloted strike drones to autonomously track and hit targets up to a kilometre away – one way of circumventing electronic jamming that can cut a drone off from its operator. 'We have previously shipped thousands of our AI strike systems to Ukraine, but this new deployment increases our support more than tenfold,' said the CEO of Auterion, Lorenz Meier.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy praises Trump for trimming Putin deadline by about 25 days
Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said Donald Trump showed a 'clear stance and expressed determination' after the US president said he would cut the 50-day deadline he set for Russia to negotiate peace in Ukraine. Trump on Monday set a new but still imprecise deadline of '10 or 12 days from today' for Russia to make progress towards peace or face consequences. Trump's previous deadlines to end the war have included 'one day … 24 hours' and 'about two weeks … within two weeks' as well as '50 days'. Two weeks had already passed since Trump threatened to act within 50 days, leaving 36 days remaining of the original deadline. The new ultimatum of '10 or 12 days' means the US president has given Putin about 25 fewer days to deliberate. Trump has threatened sanctions on both Russia and buyers of its exports unless progress is made. On Monday, Trump indicated he was not interested in talking directly to Putin. 'If you know what the answer is going to be, why wait? And it would be sanctions and maybe tariffs, secondary tariffs,' Trump said. 'I don't want to do that to Russia. I love the Russian people.' Zelenskyy said: 'I thank President Trump for his focus on saving lives and stopping this horrible war … Russia pays attention to sanctions, pays attention to such losses.' The Russian airline Aeroflot was forced to cancel dozens of flights on Monday after an established pro-Ukraine hacking group said it had carried out a cyber-attack. Dan Milmo reports how departure boards at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport turned red as flights were cancelled at a time when many Russians take their holidays. Irate passengers vented their anger on social media. One wrote: 'I've been sitting at the Volgograd airport since 3:30! The flight has been rescheduled for the third time!' Another posted: 'The call centre is unavailable, the website is unavailable, the app is unavailable.' A statement purporting to be from a hacking group called Silent Crow said it had carried out the operation with a Belarusian group called Cyber Partisans, and linked it to the war in Ukraine. 'Glory to Ukraine! Long live Belarus!' said the statement. Silent Crow said the cyber-attack was the result of a year-long operation that had deeply penetrated Aeroflot's network, destroyed 7,000 servers and gained control over the personal computers of employers including senior managers. It did not provide evidence. It threatened to shortly start releasing 'the personal data of all Russians who have ever flown Aeroflot'. Pjotr Sauer meanwhile reports how tens of thousands of passengers have seen their travel plans thrown into chaos in recent weeks, as Ukrainian drones repeatedly disrupt Russian airspace. The systematic Ukrainian campaigns aims to bring the war home to ordinary Russians, many of whom have otherwise experienced it only from their television screens. Pjotr Sauer writes that Ukrainian civilians live under the constant threat of being killed by missiles and drones, and Ukrainian officials have emphasised that life in Russia should not be comfortable for 'a population that, by and large, continues to support the war. The tactic seems to be bearing fruit: regular airport shutdowns and missed holidays have become a major talking point among the Russian public and a growing source of frustration.' Blackouts took place in parts of Russian-occupied Donetsk during a mass attack by Ukrainian drones on Monday, according to reports. The electricity distributor Donetskenergo said three substations were hit, leaving about 160,000 customers without power. The independent Russian-run Astra Telegram channel said the Donbas Palace Hotel in Donetsk city was also hit. Ukraine's Sumy region came under Russian attack on Monday into Tuesday evening, local officials reported. A man, 45, was injured by a drone while taking a cow out to pasture in the Krasnopil community, said Oleg Grigorov, head of the Sumy regional administration. A man, 66, was injured when his apartment was shelled. 'At around 5.45pm, the Russians attacked the Burynska community with four attack UAVs. The strike destroyed a local store,' Grigorov said. 'One of the saleswomen was injured – she was promptly provided with medical assistance and her life is not in danger. Damage was also recorded to residential buildings, a cultural centre, non-residential premises and cars.' The US-German defence company Auterion will provide 33,000 artificial intelligence guidance kits for Ukrainian drones funded by a $50m Pentagon contract. According to the company, the kits enable manually piloted strike drones to autonomously track and hit targets up to a kilometre away – one way of circumventing electronic jamming that can cut a drone off from its operator. 'We have previously shipped thousands of our AI strike systems to Ukraine, but this new deployment increases our support more than tenfold,' said the CEO of Auterion, Lorenz Meier.
