Eamon Ryan wins Green Party Leadership Election
This week saw the result of the Green Party’s leadership contest revealed. Eamon Ryan was re-elected as the leader of the Green Party following a tight race in which he only managed to win by a margin of 48 votes. This comes after recent upsets within the Green Party following their divisive vote on whether to enter Government with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail and the resignation of many members of the party. Eamon Ryan stated that as he goes forward, he will be looking to “heal the divisions” that were caused in recent months.
German Court Convicts 93-year-old for Nazi Crimes
93-year-old, Bruno Dey was convicted of helping in the murder of 5,232 prisoners at a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War between August 1944 and April 1945. While his defence argued that he did not willing join the SS at the time but rather forced to join due to underlying heart conditions which prevented him from fighting on the front lines the prosecution stated that he had a crucial involvement in the killings due to his time in the SS coinciding with the “Final Solution” order to systematically kill all Jews. Due to Dey only being 17 or 18 years of age at the time he was charged as a minor and received a suspended 2-year sentence. When asked by the Judge if he ever spoken to his grandchildren about the time he said “I don’t want to keep going over the past” and “I don’t bear any guilt for what happened back then” as “I didn't contribute anything to it, other than standing guard. But I was forced to do it, it was an order."
China Launches first Rocket to Mars
In China this week, a rocket carrying an unmanned rover, orbiter and probe was launched to Mars. This launch comes just a week before the US is set to launch a rocket on a similar mission and comes after an orbiter probe was launched from the United Arab Emirates on Monday. The Chinese probes mission will be to obtain and study plant soil on Mars.
Green List is Published for Ireland
Ireland’s long awaited ‘green list’ was published earlier this week setting out 15 countries where individuals could travel without needing to quarantine upon return. From the list of 15, the countries currently have a similar rate of Covid-19 to Ireland however the advice from NPHET is still to stay in Ireland this year. Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said that he “believes strongly that it's wrong to send out mixed messages about international travel" and that the ‘green list’ should be scraped if people are being told not to leave the country.
China Orders US to Close Consulate in Chengdu
China has ordered for the US to close their consulate in Chengdu following the US’ demand for the closer of the Chinese consulate in Houston. This follows a deterioration between the two economic giants in recent time. China’s retaliation to the US was to be expected following the unexpected 72-hour time frame placed on the Chinese consulate in Houston to vacate the building. Following this announcement global share markets fell with a 4.4% drop of Chinese blue chips.
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