Irish citizen among freed Americans to arrive back in US after prisoner swap with Russia
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have met Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and two other freed American prisoners, including the Irish passport holder and former US marine Paul Whelan, just hours after Washington and Moscow completed their largest prisoner exchange since the cold war.
On a muggy evening at Andrews air force Base near Washington DC, Gershkovich, Whelan and the other freed prisoner, journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, disembarked a Bombardier Jet from Turkey and were met by their families and the US president and vice-president.
Hundreds of journalists came to the base to catch their first glimpse of the freed detainees who, combined, had spent nearly a decade in Russian captivity. They were among 16 American, Russian dissident and German prisoners freed by Russia, in exchange for eight Russians freed by the US, Germany, Norway, Slovenia and Poland. Those returning to Russia included a number of undercover spies and a convicted FSB assassin whom Vladimir Putin had obsessively sought to free from German prison for years.
News in Ireland
- Neo-Nazis create propaganda posters in support of Irish anti-immigration protests: American extremists linked to a notorious neo-Nazi group have been creating propaganda material for Irish far-right activists aimed at driving support for anti-immigration protests.
- Intel to cut 15% of jobs and suspend dividend: Intel is cutting close to 17,000 jobs and suspending its dividend as the chipmaker looks to recover ground lost to rivals and restructure to compete in the field of artificial intelligence. No details of where the axe will fall on jobs was given. However, if the 15 per cent cut in headcount is applied to the company’s Irish operations in Leixlip it will mean the loss of around 735 jobs at the Co Kildare site.
- Olympics Day 7 - Irish in action: Monday: Mona McSharry. Tuesday: Daniel Wiffen. Wednesday: Kellie Harrington. Thursday: Philip Doyle/Daire Lynch. So, it’s been a medal a day this week. Will Friday prove to be just as fabulous? There’s a distinct possibility because . . . deep breath . . . we have rowers in three finals, we have Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove in the rescheduled skiff medal race and we have our showjumping team through to their final.
- Immigration lawyer no longer feels safe in Dublin after arson and violence threats: A Dublin-based immigration solicitor, who filed a complaint with gardaí after receiving online threats of violence and arson, says he no longer feels safe walking alone in the city centre.
- Weather forecast: According to Met Éireann there will be some bright spells this morning in eastern parts, it’ll be cloudy in general, but with mostly just a little light rain and drizzle in places. However, a spell of persistent rain, turning heavy at times, moving in along the west coast, will spread eastwards. The rain will become lighter as it moves across eastern parts this afternoon, while at the same time a clearance to mainly dry weather with sunshine will move into western areas. Highest temperatures 17 to 23 degrees.
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The Big Read
- The week Irish swimming came of age yet also showed a dark sordid underbelly from the past: In Paris, McSharry and Wiffen played on heart strings with career-changing efforts; in Dublin serial child rapist Derry O’Rourke apologised in court for shattering the life of a woman who was in his care, writes Johnny Watterson.
Opinion
- Ronan McGreevy: Ireland is not full. South Korea’s population is 10 times higher on a similar land area
- Gerard Howlin: If Sinn Féin recovers, it could yet claim higher ground on housing
Business
- Inside the US biomedical giant ‘down a boreen in east Clare’: On a humid Thursday in July in a warehouse in rural east Clare, a group of local and national politicians, Government officials and a smattering of reporters are waiting for the Irish man at the helm of Beckman Coulter to take the stage.
Sports
- ‘If you have eyes, you know, every round was 5-0′: Coach disgusted after Daina Moorehouse’s controversial defeat: Some Olympic boxing decisions are still too unbelievable to be true, no matter who is running the show, writes Ian O’Riordan. Thursday night produced another maddening swing in the bout result which utterly enraged anyone inside the North Paris Arena who wasn’t from host nation France; or among the judges.
World
- Trump remarks on Harris evoke a haunting and unsettling history: The audience of black journalists was prepared for a combative exchange well before Donald Trump took the stage on Wednesday for an interview at their annual gathering in Chicago. Yet when Trump, just minutes in, began questioning vice-president Kamala Harris’s racial identity, there was an instant ripple of reaction – a low rumble that grew into a roar of disapproval.
Life & Style
- Radio review: Newstalk’s Ciara Kelly left floundering as cohost Shane Coleman sidesteps Olympics duty: As Irish Olympians excel themselves in the pool, Ciara Kelly is going for gold at making awkward conversation with the relatives of medal winners, writes Mick Heaney. With the triumphant swimmers sequestered in training or otherwise unavailable, the cohost of Newstalk Breakfast (weekdays) has to make do with talking to their nearest and dearest.
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