World

President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday named Joe Kennedy III, a scion of the Irish American political dynasty, as an envoy on Northern Ireland.

Kennedy was given a title of special envoy to Northern Ireland for economic affairs with a focus on promoting investment and development.

The United States previously had a broader position of special envoy for Northern Ireland that started with former senator George Mitchell, who help negotiate the landmark 1998 Good Friday agreement that largely ended decades of violence in the British-administered region.

Kennedy will look to promote development “to the benefit of all communities” in Northern Ireland, historically divided between Protestants and Catholics, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

“His role builds on the long-standing US commitment to supporting peace, prosperity and stability in Northern Ireland and the peace dividends of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement,” Blinken said in a statement.

Blinken said that other US diplomats will work on political efforts on Northern Ireland, where tensions have grown since Britain left the European Union, effectively restoring a border with EU member Ireland.

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin voiced hope for progress on Northern Ireland ahead of next year’s 25th anniversary of the agreement.

Biden’s appointment of Kennedy “is a clear demonstration of the president’s direct engagement with Ireland as well as the enduring US commitment to supporting peace in, and building the prosperity of, Northern Ireland,” Martin said in a statement.

Kennedy, the grandson of assassinated senator Robert F. Kennedy, served in the House of Representatives until unsuccessfully seeking the Democratic nomination for a Senate seat in 2020.

His great-uncle John F. Kennedy was the first Catholic president and a hero of Biden, the second Catholic president, who often speaks fondly of his own Irish heritage.

The Kennedys remain active in Democratic politics with the late president’s daughter Caroline Kennedy serving under Biden as ambassador to Australia.

The new envoy’s great-grandfather, Joseph Kennedy, was ambassador to London at the start of World War II when he faced wide accusations of anti-British sentiment.

CORRECTS 9th paragraph to say Robert Kennedy sted of Ted Kennedy

A Jewish heirloom at the centre of one of the most searing images of the Nazis’ rise has returned to Germany, as political leaders pledged on Monday to combat a resurgence of anti-Semitism.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier joined in the lighting of the Hanukkah menorah, a nine-branched candelabrum used during the so-called Festival of Lights, which belonged to the Posners, a German Jewish family.

In 1931, a rabbi’s wife, Rachel Posner, photographed the family’s brass menorah on their windowsill in the northern port city of Kiel.

Opposite their apartment was the Nazi party’s regional headquarters with a large swastika flag hanging menacingly from the facade.

On the back of the snapshot Rachel wrote an inscription: “The flag says ‘death to Judaism’, the light says ‘Judaism will live for ever’.”

The image came to stand for the looming threat to Europe’s Jews — six million of whom would perish in the Holocaust — but also Jewish resilience.

– ‘Miracle’ –

Steinmeier said at the sundown ceremony at Berlin’s Bellevue palace that the lighting of the menorah filled him with “deep gratitude and humility and above all, happiness”.

He thanked the Posner family for their “generosity” in sharing their family history on what was certain to also be a “painful” visit to Germany from Israel.

Yehuda Mansbach, the couple’s grandson, wept openly after lighting the two candles.

Steinmeier called the rebirth of Jewish life in Germany after the Holocaust a “miracle”, noting that there were now menorahs glowing in “tens of thousands of windows” across the country this Hanukkah. 

“This light is a strong societal symbol against hatred,” he said, symbols that were “bitterly necessary” due to “growing anti-Semitism”. 

“Each of us must stand up against every form of anti-Semitism,” he said. “No one must look away. And our state, our authorities must be vigilant, and relentless in prosecuting crimes.”

Germany in May reported a new record in the number of politically motivated crimes last year, including a nearly 29-percent jump in anti-Semitic offences to 3,027. The vast majority — 2,552 — were attributed to the far-right scene.

The Posners’ granddaughter, Nava Gilo, 68, told AFP it was a “big honour” to be welcomed by the president, calling the event “very moving”.

“It’s complicated (to be in Germany),” she said. 

“We came because it is an educational mission for us. We are very glad that we came, to meet all the good people. Many people in Germany, like us, want to make sure that something like the Holocaust never happens again.”

In 1933, just months after the Nazis came to power, Rabbi Akiva Posner, Rachel and their three children Avraham Chaim, Tova and Shulamit fled Germany for Palestine, taking their menorah with them as they built a new life.

Years later they loaned the relic to Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial with the proviso that the family could use the candelabrum each year for Hanukkah. 

– ‘Feel welcome’ –

More than 90 years on, the descendants brought the menorah back to Kiel on a trip sponsored by the German Friends of Yad Vashem, a grassroots remembrance group. It was displayed in a local museum for three days last week before the family brought it to Berlin.

Rachel’s photograph only came to international attention in the 1970s when a Kiel museum put out a call for relics recalling Jewish life in the city.

Since then the image has served as a chilling symbol of the horrors to come but also the Jewish community’s defiance and will to survive.

Also on Monday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz celebrated Hanukkah for what he said was the first time with children, at a Jewish school in Berlin that is also hosting young refugees from Ukraine.

Scholz noted that Germany’s Jewish community with about 200,000 members was the “third largest in Europe” — a fact he also described as a “miracle”. 

He thanked its leaders for their support of the Ukrainian newcomers, and German pupils for “making them feel welcome”.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said Monday he was pessimistic that Russia’s war in Ukraine would end soon but he hoped it would be over by the end of next year.

“I am not optimistic about the possibility of effective peace talks in the immediate future,” he told reporters during his annual end-of-year press conference in New York.

It is ten months since Russia invaded its neighbor in late February.

On Monday, Russia launched a swarm of attack drones at critical infrastructure in Kyiv as the war showed no signs of relenting.

“I do believe that the military confrontation will go on,” the United Nations secretary-general said at the world body’s headquarters.

“I think we will have still to wait (for) a moment in which serious negotiations for peace will be possible. I don’t see them in the immediate horizon,” he added.

After several rounds of peace talks between delegations early in the conflict, negotiations quickly stalled.

Ukraine has said Russia would need to completely remove its forces for talks to take place.

Last month, a top Ukrainian official said any discussions not based on Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders are “not acceptable.”

Guterres said he “strongly” hoped that peace could be reached in 2023.

He cited “the consequences” for Ukraine’s people, Russian society and the global economy, which is battling high food and energy prices as a result of the war, if a deal is not found. 

“All these are reasons for us to do everything possible to make a peace solution happen before the end of 2023,” Guterres said.

Over the course of an hour, Guterres answered questions on a host of subjects, including on peace in the Middle East, North Korean missiles and the dire situation in Mali.

He described the Iranian regime’s crackdown of women-led protests as “totally unacceptable.”

“We are witnessing massive violations of human rights that we strongly condemn,” Guterres said.

Thai military frigates and helicopters kept up the search late Monday for more than 30 sailors missing after a naval vessel sank, with dozens of others already hauled from the choppy waters.

The HTMS Sukhothai capsized late Sunday as it was patrolling the Gulf of Thailand, about 37 kilometres (22 miles) off the Southeast Asian nation’s southeastern coast.

Some sailors survived by jumping into a life raft at night, according to images shared by the Royal Thai Navy, which said 75 people had been rescued.

Late Monday, search and rescue teams continued to scour the waters for the 31 missing sailors, with emergency workers and naval personnel waiting at the windy pier.

The operation involved two Seahawk helicopters, two frigates and one amphibious ship, the navy statement said.

A statement from the Royal Thai Air Force later Monday said they had assisted in the operation, without giving details.

“Our main priority is searching and rescuing as many as we can,” naval commander Pichai Lorchusakul said at the pier.

The vessel is believed to have run into trouble after its electronics system was damaged, according to the navy.

“The ship’s operating systems stopped working, causing the ship to lose control,” a spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha said the cause of the incident was being investigated.

“I am following the news closely, about five people are seriously injured,” he added in a statement.

The navy said the search was still ongoing over an area measuring around 20 miles by 15 miles, concentrating on a section of sea roughly 18 miles south of the Sukhothai’s last position, and the area where the latest survivors were found.

One image shared by the navy showed the vessel capsized, while a video showed a rescue boat alongside the ship in rough waters.

Other images shared on the navy’s Twitter account showed men wrapped in blankets following their rescue.

Some of those rescued were being airlifted to a hospital in Sattahip, while uninjured crew would be taken to a naval base.

– Storms –

In one clip captured by local media, an unnamed crew member said he had to keep himself afloat for three hours before being rescued.

“The waves were quite high, about three metres when the ship sank,” he said.

“I put on the life jacket and jumped. I swam for three hours,” he added, describing how one of the rescue vessels could not get close enough because of the waves.

Several areas in southern Thailand have been hit by storms and flooding in recent days.

The Thai meteorological office said Monday that strong winds were causing stormy conditions in the Gulf of Thailand, warning seafarers to proceed with caution and small boats to stay ashore.

The HTMS Sukhothai was commissioned in 1987 and built in the United States by the now-defunct Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, according to the US Naval Institute.

In 2018, a boat carrying mostly Chinese tourists capsized off Phuket island on Thailand’s west coast.

More than 40 people died in the accident, one of the worst boat disasters in the country’s recent history.

Lawmakers investigating last year’s deadly assault on the US Capitol are set to vote at their final public meeting Monday on whether to recommend criminal charges against former president Donald Trump.

The decision will be the culmination of an 18-month probe by a House of Representatives select committee that interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses and held explosive public hearings on the storming of Congress on January 6, 2021.

At least five people died after a mob whipped up by Trump’s false claims of a stolen election and directed to march on Congress by the defeated president ransacked the seat of US democracy in a thwarted bid to prevent the transfer of power to President Joe Biden.

The committee is expected to urge the Justice Department to pursue Trump on at least three charges related to the violence — inciting an insurrection, obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring to defraud the United States.

The referrals would be largely symbolic, as the panel has no control over charging decisions, which rest with the Justice Department.

Jack Smith, a largely independent special prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, is leading his own investigation into Trump related to the 2020 election.

But the lawmakers’ move would nevertheless be historic, as Congress has never made a criminal referral against a current or former president. 

It would also be a major blow to Trump amid a series of missteps in the weeks since he announced a comeback bid for the White House.

Charges could eventually result in prison time and a ban from public office for the 76-year-old tycoon, who still wields considerable power in the Republican Party. 

“I think that the evidence is there that Donald Trump committed criminal offenses in connection with his efforts to overturn the election,” Democratic committee member Adam Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, told CNN on Sunday.

– ‘Congress cannot remain silent’ –

The seven Democratic and two Republican panel members are winding down their work before the end of the year, and have compiled their findings into an eight-chapter report set to be released on Wednesday. 

The executive summary is expected to be issued Monday.

The committee maintains that Trump “oversaw and coordinated a sophisticated seven-part plan to overturn the presidential election and prevent the transfer of presidential power.”

Investigators say the plot began with Trump’s campaign to spread allegations that the election was marred by widespread fraud.

He is accused of trying to corrupt the Justice Department and of pressuring his vice president Mike Pence, state election officials and legislators to help overturn the election by violating the Constitution and the law.

Trump is also accused of summoning and assembling the mob in Washington, and directing it toward the Capitol despite knowing it was armed with assault rifles, handguns and numerous other weapons. 

And he ignored pleas from his team to take action to stop the violence, lawmakers say.

The committee’s case was bolstered by a federal judge in California who found it “more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6.” 

Lawmakers are also mulling criminal referrals of other figures in Trump’s inner circle, including lawyer John Eastman, one of the key architects of the defeated president’s bid to cling to power.

“We’re focused on key players… where there is sufficient evidence or abundant evidence that they committed crimes,” committee member Jamie Raskin told reporters last week. 

“And we’re focused on crimes that go right to the heart of the constitutional order such that the Congress cannot remain silent.”

Authorities say some 140 officers were assaulted during the riot. Around 900 people have been arrested on suspicion of taking part in the attack and more than 800 have been charged with crimes ranging from trespass and assaulting police to seditious conspiracy.

Trump has repeatedly disparaged the House panel on his own Truth Social platform, calling the members “Democrats, misfits and thugs.”

President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday named Joe Kennedy III, a scion of the Irish American political dynasty, as an envoy on Northern Ireland.

Kennedy was given a title of special envoy to Northern Ireland for economic affairs with a focus on promoting investment and development.

The United States previously had a broader position of special envoy for Northern Ireland that started with former senator George Mitchell, who help negotiate the landmark 1998 Good Friday agreement that largely ended decades of violence in the British-administered region.

Kennedy will look to promote development “to the benefit of all communities” in Northern Ireland, historically divided between Protestants and Catholics, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

“His role builds on the long-standing US commitment to supporting peace, prosperity and stability in Northern Ireland and the peace dividends of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement,” Blinken said in a statement.

Blinken said that other US diplomats will work on political efforts on Northern Ireland, where tensions have grown since Britain left the European Union, effectively restoring a border with EU member Ireland.

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin voiced hope for progress on Northern Ireland ahead of next year’s 25th anniversary of the agreement.

Biden’s appointment of Kennedy “is a clear demonstration of the president’s direct engagement with Ireland as well as the enduring US commitment to supporting peace in, and building the prosperity of, Northern Ireland,” Martin said in a statement.

Kennedy, the grandson of assassinated senator Robert F. Kennedy, served in the House of Representatives until unsuccessfully seeking the Democratic nomination for a Senate seat in 2020.

His great-uncle John F. Kennedy was the first Catholic president and a hero of Biden, the second Catholic president, who often speaks fondly of his own Irish heritage.

The Kennedys remain active in Democratic politics with the late president’s daughter Caroline Kennedy serving under Biden as ambassador to Australia.

The new envoy’s great-grandfather, Joseph Kennedy, was ambassador to London at the start of World War II when he faced wide accusations of anti-British sentiment.

CORRECTS 9th paragraph to say Robert Kennedy sted of Ted Kennedy