President Joe Biden to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with Irish PM

 The cultural celebration has been observed by the Irish as a holiday for more than 1,000 years.

President Joe Biden and Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar will attend a series of Saint Patrick’s Day events celebrating strong United States-Irish links.

The Irish leader’s White House visit on Friday is a cherished annual tradition. That has never been more true than under Biden, who frequently trumpets his family roots in Ireland and sprinkles quotes from Irish poems through his speeches.

Varadkar’s day will start with breakfast at Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence with “eggs Saint Patrick” on the menu, according to the White House. Varadkar and Biden will then have lunch at the US Capitol, hosted by the Republican Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy.

“Ireland and the United States are forever bound together by our people and our passion. Everything between us runs deep,” Biden said.

At the White House, Varadkar – known as the taoiseach – will then present Biden with the traditional shamrock – a sprig of clover representing Ireland. Entertaining the revellers will be Irish pop star Niall Horan, a former member of mega-boy band One Direction, now a singer-songwriter.

The White House is even dyeing its South Lawn fountain green.

The cultural celebration has been observed by the Irish as a holiday for more than 1,000 years.

There will be weightier issues on the table, however. Biden says he will visit Ireland and the British north soon – possibly to mark the 25th anniversary of the US-brokered Good Friday Agreement, which ended the violent unrest known as the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The Biden administration watched closely as Britain, Ireland, the European Union and leaders of the British province of Northern Ireland hashed out a compromise – the Windsor Framework – on how to manage cross-border trade now that Britain is out of the EU, which includes Ireland.

Biden and Varadkar will stress their “support for the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement as we approach its 25th anniversary and welcome the recent agreement between the UK and EU on the Windsor Framework as an important step in preserving the agreement’s peace dividend”, the White House said.

Some 32 million Americans – almost 10 percent – claim ancestral roots in Ireland. Given the long history, the fates of the island country and the troubled northern province play outsized roles in US politics.

Biden on Monday said he intends to visit both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

If the post-Brexit trade arrangement does get full backing from rival forces in Northern Ireland, that could pave the way for restarting a local power-sharing agreement between pro-British loyalists and the nationalist parties, which want to break away and reunite the province with the Republic of Ireland.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin on war crime allegations

 Judges at the International Criminal Court accuse Russian president of being responsible for war crimes committed during Ukraine invasion.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

The Hague-based court said in a statement on Friday Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”

It also issued a warrant for the arrest for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the commissioner for children’s rights in the office of the president of the Russian federation on similar allegations.

There was no immediate comment by Russia following the ICC’s move on Friday.

Russia denies committing atrocities since it invaded Ukraine in February last year.

The warrants came a day after a United Nations-backed inquiry accused Russia of committing wide-ranging war crimes in Ukraine, including the forced deportations of children in areas it controls.

More to follow …

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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Ugandan Pilgrims Warned Against Drinking ‘Holy Water’

 Ugandan Catholic pilgrims visiting the popular Namugongo Martyrs Shrine in central region have been cautioned against drinking water from the so-called holy well.

Church authorities say the water can be used for other scripture purposes such as making the sign of the cross, but it is not fit for consumption.

Uganda Episcopal Conference secretary general, John Kauta, on Thursday said although faithful who collect the water claim spiritual healing, health experts have advised church leaders that the water is unclean and unsafe.

“The water in Namugongo is distilled, but it is not safe to drink. This is also because it runs from many places. People can take it and use it for signs, but don’t drink it,” Mr Kauta told state-run New Vision website.

Mr Kauta said the church will in future set up more taps at the well for easier access due to the high demand for the water.

Pilgrims have started arriving at the Namugongo shrine for this year’s Martyrs’ Day celebrations in June.

The annual event pays homage to the 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican martyrs who were executed for their faith on the orders of Kabaka Mwanga of Buganda between 1885 and 1887.

Source: BBC

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Malawi’s president appeals for immediate aid after Cyclone Freddy

 In an interview , Lazarus Chakwera calls for international help after Cyclone Freddy strikes twice, killing more than 300 people and displacing hundreds of thousands.

President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi has appealed to the international community to send urgent help to the southern African nation, which has been ravaged by storms that have killed more than 300 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more.

“We need immediate help,” he told Al Jazeera on Thursday from outside a camp in Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial capital and one of the areas hardest hit. “We need helicopters now that [the storms have] cleared off somewhat so that we can airlift some foodstuffs and other equipment.”

Tropical Cyclone Freddy hit the coast of southern Africa for a second time over the weekend, causing devastation in Malawi and its neighbour Mozambique. At least 326 people have been confirmed dead in Malawi, bringing the overall number of fatalities across the region to more than 400 since February.

Chakwera, who declared 14 days of mourning and pledged $1.5m in assistance, has now called for more aid, saying the country’s capacity to provide relief is limited.

“Climate change is real, and what we are having to see is devastation,” the president said. “Thirteen months, three devastating cyclones. We are trying to do the best we can to pull ourselves by [our] bootstraps.”

As climate change causes warmer oceans, heat energy from the water’s surface is fuelling stronger storms. Freddy broke the world record for most accumulated cyclone energy, a measure based on a storm’s wind strength over its lifetime. Meteorologists say it might break two more records.

Chakwera said recovering from such a storm cannot happen without international help. “What is happening to us can happen to anyone, anywhere,” he said. “Let the world come in and help Malawi because we cannot afford to be going backwards instead of forward in terms of all the provisions that Malawians need.”

Rasmane Kabore, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Blantyre, said the most pressing issue was the lack of clean water, which could cause a cholera outbreak like the aftermath of Cyclone Anna in the country’s south last year.

In his interview with Al Jazeera, Chakwera concurred, calling for shelter, blankets and amenities that will help with water and sanitation provision to the people because we do not want another outbreak of waterborne diseases”.

Earlier on Thursday, Yusuf Nthenda, member of parliament for Mulanje West, told Al Jazeera correspondent Fahmida Miller that the community had yet to receive any aid and some of his constituents had no food to eat.

In response, the president said his government had begun providing help but some communities were inaccessible because roads have been washed away by mudslides.

But “my goal and my desire is let everyone be accounted for”, he said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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