Can ‘technocratic daddy' Mark Carney solve Canada's deep-rooted problems?
On today's
Inside Politics
podcast Canadian journalist Jen Gerson joins Hugh Linehan to talk about the
results
of Monday's federal election in
Canada
, which confirmed the once-unlikely comeback of the Liberal party led by former central banker
Mark Carney
.
Gerson explains the unique challenges facing this vast, dispersed country whose relationship with its closest ally - the
US
- has collapsed since the election of
Donald Trump
.
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Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Can South Korea's new president unify an unhappy country?
With the election of Lee Jae-myung as president of South Korea, a period of political turmoil there may be over - for now at least. But Lee, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, faces many challenges, including a political system in disarray, the threat of tariffs and a looming demographic disaster. Denis Staunton reports on the political situation in South Korea on today's Inside Politics podcast with Hugh Linehan.
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Inside Sunny Jacobs' hellish 17 years on US death row for crime she didn't commit before tragic Irish house fire death
AFTER enduring a hellish 17 years on death row in a Florida prison awaiting execution for a crime she did not commit, Sunny Jacobs found peace in the west of Ireland. But, in a tragic twist, Sonia, alongside her carer Kevin Kelly, sadly perished in a house 5 Sunny was wrongfully convivcted of murdering a cop Credit: Getty 5 Irishman Pringle and Sunny met in New York Credit: Getty The 78-year-old had moved to Ireland a number of years ago with her Irish husband, Peter Pringle, who had also been condemned to death before his conviction was quashed. But Jacobs hailed from across the pond in She spent 17 years of her life on death row in a Sunny, who was 28 at the time, was travelling to Read more in Irish news Her When the couple ran into A shooting incident broke out at the Interstate 95 rest stop where they had stopped, resulting in the deaths of a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and a Canadian Jacobs and Tafero were tried for murder and convicted, with both sentenced to death row. Most read in Irish News Tafero was executed in 1990, but a malfunctioning electric chair meant it took several attempts and 13 minutes to kill him. Jacobs remained in a tiny solitary confinement cell during her time on death row. COPING MECHANISM It was there that the mother-of-two discovered her love of yoga and used it as a coping mechanism. Walter Rhodes, who had been in the back seat of the car, had received a life sentence for testifying against Jacobs and Tafero. He later confessed to the murder although he retracted the admission. Jacobs, meanwhile, was granted a new trial in 1992 after an appeals HOPEFUL LEGACY She entered into what is known as the Alford Plea on two counts of second degree murder. Both Sunny's parents died in a plane crash while she was incarcerated and her daughter Christina was put into foster care. Her son, Eric, who was aged in mid-teens at the time, supported himself with a part time food delivery job while his mum was behind bars. And when Sunny was released from prison in 1992, both her children had grown up. 'CHOICE TO HEAL' On her exoneration, Jacobs became a leading advocate against the death penalty and teamed up with Amnesty International to campaign against it. She lived in Los Angeles for a time and taught yoga, having solidified her love for the And she vowed not to become bitter, opting instead to leave her children with a legacy of hope. In 2006, she said: "It was very important, that choice I made to heal, rather than to spend the gift of a new life that I had looking backwards at the wrongs that were done to me." MEETING PARTNER In 1998, she met Peter Pringle at an Amnesty International Event which called for the sentence to be abolished. Pringle himself had been sentenced to death in Ireland for the murder of gardai John Morley and Henry Byrne during a He was acquitted in 1995 and the pair married in 2012, moving to Connemara in the same year. Jacobs once told The Irish Times : "The stone in the west of Ireland makes me feel grounded; it anchors me.' 'GONE TO BE WITH HER PETER' In 2008, Jacobs published her book, Stolen Time, about her life in prison, which went on the become a bestseller. In 2023, Pringle passed away. Jacobs remained in Connemara until her death just days ago, after which she was remembered as a "hero". One person said: 'Sitting here numb and sad, Sunny Jacobs has gone to be with her Peter Pringle in the afterlife. "What a sad sad day. Until we meet again, One Love Sunny.' And another added: "I am sad to share news of the passing of my dear friend, a true hero and a champion for Justice, Sunny Jacobs.' 5 Sunny and Peter Pringle were married in 2012 Credit: Getty 5 She spent 17 years in prison in Florida Credit: AFP 5 Sunny was killed in a house fire just days ago Credit: gettyimages
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Anniversary of Tiananmen Square crackdown passes off quietly
The 36th anniversary of a bloody crackdown that ended pro-democracy protests in China passed like any other weekday. Security was tight on Wednesday around Beijing's Tiananmen Square, where weeks of student-led protests shook the party in 1989. Under then-leader Deng Xiaoping, the military was sent in to end the protest on the night of June 3-4. Using live ammunition, soldiers forced their way through crowds on the streets that tried to block them from reaching the square. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed, including dozens of soldiers. A plain clothes security person stands on duty near security cameras overlooking Tiananmen Square (Ng Han Guan/AP) The ruling Communist Party has tried, with some success, to erase what it calls the 'political turmoil' of 1989 from the collective memory. It bans any public commemoration or mention of the June 4 crackdown, scrubbing references from the internet. In recent years, that ban has been extended to Hong Kong, where a once-massive annual candlelight vigil is no longer permitted. It is only in Taiwan, the self-governing island that is claimed by China but runs its own affairs, that large June 4 gatherings can still take place. University students occupied Tiananmen Square in the spring of 1989. Their calls for freedoms divided the party leadership. The decision to send in the troops marked a decisive turning point in the evolution of modern China, keeping the party firmly in control as it loosened economic restrictions. Chinese officials have said the country's rapid economic development since then proves the decisions made at the time were correct. 'On the political turmoil that happened in the late 1980s, the Chinese government has already reached a clear conclusion,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday. He added that China would continue along its current path of what it calls 'socialism with Chinese characteristics'. Tiananmen Mothers, a group formed by relatives of the victims, made an annual online appeal to the government. Signed by 108 members, it called for an independent investigation into what happened on June 4, 1989, including a list of all who died. The group also demanded compensation for the families and a legal case against those responsible for the deaths. The British and German Embassies in Beijing posted videos commemorating the anniversary on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, but they were later taken down. The Canadian and German Embassies displayed images of a single lit candle on large screens facing the main street. Police officers set up a road block in the Causeway Bay area of Hong Kong on Wednesday (Chan Long Hei/AP) In Hong Kong, a carnival showcasing Chinese food and products was held in Victoria Park, where tens of thousands of people used to gather in the evening for a candlelight vigil to mark the anniversary. Hong Kong authorities first shut down the vigil during the Covid-19 pandemic and arrested the organisers in 2021. The moves were part of a broader crackdown on dissent following monthslong anti-government protests in 2019 that turned violent and paralysed parts of the city. Police were out in force to try to prevent any protest. Jailed vigil organiser Chow Hang-tung said she would go on a 36-hour hunger strike to remember the events of the day. The British and Canadian consulates posted social media messages about not forgetting June 4. Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997. The American consulate posted a message from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on its website. 'The CCP actively tries to censor the facts,' Mr Rubio said, referring to China's Communist Party. 'But the world will never forget.' Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te used the anniversary to position the island he leads on the frontline of defending democracy against authoritarianism. In a Facebook post, he drew a distinction between Taiwan's multiparty democracy and China's one-party rule. 'Authoritarian governments often choose to remain silent and forget about history, while democratic societies choose to preserve the truth and refuse to forget those who have contributed to the ideals of human rights and the dreams they embrace,' Mr Lai wrote. Taiwan transitioned from authoritarianism to democracy in a process that began in the late 1980s. It relies on support principally from the US, along with other democratic partners, to deter China from an invasion. The Communist Party says it favours peaceful reunification but does not renounce the use of force. A commemoration and candlelight vigil remembering June 4 was planned for Wednesday evening.
