New theories surrounding Diana’s & Dodi’s death
The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, nearly 16 years ago shocked the world and led to controversial theories about what had caused the crash.
Mohamed al Fayed, Dodi’s father, was perhaps the most outspoken, claiming the couple had been murdered by security services. For more than a decade, he kept up a legal quest to prove their deaths had not been an accident.
He never accepted that his employee Henri Paul, who was driving the Mercedes that slammed into the 13th pillar of the Alma Tunnel in Paris on August 31, 1997, was under the influence of alcohol – despite blood samples showing he had been three times over the French drink-drive limit.
Instead, he claimed that the crash had been orchestrated by MI6 at the behest of the Duke of Edinburgh, to kill Diana so that she would not marry Dodi, a Muslim, and bear his child. During the inquest into the deaths however, he admitted he lacked evidence.
Other claims made by Mr al Fayed that came to light during the inquest were that Diana had been pregnant at the time she died, which was dismissed by a pathologist, and that she and Dodi had planned to announce their engagement, but there was no evidence that was the case.
The hearing into the deaths was also told that in 1995, Diana told several people that she believed the brakes on her car had been tampered with and that her life could be in danger. The coroner said that despite her claims, there was “no evidence” to suggest she had then had her car checked for such tampering.
Ultimately, the inquest jury found that it had been Mr Paul’s negligent driving and that of the pursuing paparazzi that had led to the deaths.
Mr al Fayed abandoned his cause a day after the inquest returned the verdicts of unlawful killing. At the time, the then-Harrods owner said he was making his decision for the sake of Princes William and Harry but admitted he still had “reservations” about what had happened on that fateful night in France.
Speaking in 2008, Mr al Fayed said he was “tired” of the fight, but added: “I’m leaving the rest for God to get my revenge.”
Malala Yousafzai coming to Ireland next week to receive peace award
PAKISTANI STUDENT MALALA YOUSAFZAI, THE GIRL WHO WAS SHOT IN THE HEAD BY THE TALIBAN FOR CAMPAIGNING GIRLS’ RIGHTS TO AN EDUCATION, IS SET TO VISIT IRELAND NEXT WEEK TO RECEIVE THE TIPPERARY INTERNATIONAL PEACE PRIZE.
In January it was announced that she been nominated for the prize, which she will now accept at a ceremony next Tuesday at the Ballykisteen Hotel.
On 9 October Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck at close range as she was leaving school in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, northwest of the country’s capital Islamabad. She had been campaigning against the Taliban efforts to deny women access to education.
The Taliban subsequently claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt on Malala, calling her efforts pro-Western.
The Tipperary Peace convention said Malala was chosen because of her courage, determination and perseverance, as well as the impact she had on so many across the world.
An advocate of Plan’s global Raise Your Hand campaign, Malala Yousafzai will accept her award and give an address on the evening.
Mike Mansfield of Plan Ireland said:
“Malala’s story has struck a chord across the world. This young campaigner has become an inspiration to millions. This is an extraordinary, brave young woman who, when faced with death refused to give up and refused to be silent.”
Ryanair cutting costs with an issue of iPads to pilots
THE ONCE ANTICIPATED PAPERLESS OFFICE NEVER HAPPENED, BUT RYANAIR AIRCRAFT COULD HAVE PAPERLESS COCKPITS UNDER A NEW PLAN BEING CONSIDERED BY THE LOW-COST CARRIER.
Always seeking new ways to cut costs and streamline work practices, the airline is evaluating the introduction of computer tablets, such as iPads, for its more than 2,600 pilots, in a bid to eliminate paper document use and save money.
A spokesman for Ryanair confirmed to the Irish Independent that the airline is currently evaluating the potential for using computer tabletsin cockpits with a view to eliminating paper.
However, he said that while the proposal is being looked at, no trials have yet commenced and no date has been set for a possible introduction of the technology.
Ridding cockpits of paper would potentially save the airline money by reducing weight and possibly increasing the efficiency of pilots.
In June, American Airlines completed the roll-out of a so-called ‘electronic flight bag’ to thousands of its pilots.
That made it the first major airline to use computer tablets in cockpits on all flights.
The airline has estimated that removing what were heavy pilot document bags from aircraft will save it at least 400,000 US gallons of fuel a year, eliminating about $1.2m (€900,000) of fuel costs at current prices.
Ryanair has recently told its pilots to slow down their takeoffs, descents, and to increase all flight times by the equivalent of one minute per hour by reducing speed, in order to cut fuel costs.
With a fleet of more than 300 aircraft, fuel is the single biggest element of Ryanair’s cost base.
Last year, its fuel bill rose 18pc to €1.88bn, while in the latest quarter it was up 6pc to €577m.
American Airlines has issued 8,000 iPads to its pilots and says it has so far eliminated the use of 24 million paper pages. The iPads are used by the pilots to access aviation regulations, manuals and other traditional paperwork.
The airline is also planning to roll out Samsung Galaxy Note computers (pictured) to 16,000 of its cabin crew, so that they can access customer information during flights and use them for all in-flight transactions.
Other airlines have also been rolling out computer tablets to staff.
British Airways, owned by airline group IAG, has handed out thousands of iPads to cabin crew, enabling them to access information regarding VIP passengers, for instance, so they can provide a more individual service.
In June, US carrier JetBlue also began handing out iPads to more than 2,000 of its pilots. They’ll use the devices to access data and manuals that would have traditionally been in paper form.
Terrorist group INLA to announce disbandment finally
The one time extreme republican terror group, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), is finally set to announce its disbandment. It’s seven years after the Provisional IRA said it was had done so.
The group is notorious for its internal feuding and it is believed disagreements prevented a previous announced disbandment in 2009.
But the Sunday Independent has learned that remaining members of the group have finally managed some consensus and are heading towards a disbandment announcement. It is not known if it is accompanying such a statement with the surrender of weapons, which could lead to earlyrelease for its remaining six prisoners in the Republic and the North.
The organisation, formed by Republican socialist figure Seamus Costello, from Bray, Co Wicklow, in 1974, achieved something of a footnote in history for the assassination of Margaret Thatcher’s close aide, Airey Neave, who was killed by a bomb which exploded under his car as he was driving out of the underground carpark in the House of Commons in March 1979.
It was also responsible for one of the worst atrocities in the Troubles when it detonated a bomb inside the Droppin’ Well pub in Ballykelly, Co Derry, in December 1982. Seventeen people, 11 of them off-duty British soldiers, were killed. Five of the six civilians killed were young women.
Seamus Costello was murdered during a feud with the Official IRA, from which he had split to form the new organisation, in October 1977 in Dublin.
In its early years, the group established links with extreme leftist groups in Europe including the Baader Meinhof group in Germany and a similar group in France, Action Directe, who supplied the INLA with arms. The INLA’s contact figure with Action Directe, Seamus Ruddy, was murdered in Paris in October 1977 by other INLA members. His body was secretly buried and has never been found.
Towards the end of the Troubles, the INLA broke up amid bloody feuding, with 15 of its own members killed in tit-for-tat assassinations.
Since the ending of the conflict in the North, the organisation has been largely involved in criminality in Dublin, extorting money from publicans and small-time criminals. It carried out three murders in revenge for the death of one of its members, Anthony Campbell, 22, who was killed during a fracas with a criminal gang in Ballymount, Dublin, in October 1999.
The organisation has continued to be involved in extortion rackets. Last month, it came under garda investigation after demands with threats were issued to the owner of a children’s bouncy- castle-for-hire company.
Gardai also suspect the remains of the organisation – it is said to have had around 20 members in Dublin – was also involved in manufacturing pipe bombs and selling them to criminal gangs. During 2006-2007, it was involved in a series of attacks and violent incidents with south inner city Dublin drugs gangs including the one led by Freddie Thompson.
It is understood older members of the organisation in the North, embarrassed by the group in Dublin, have combined with the remaining prisoners to push for the disbandment and possible decommissioning move.
Its remaining prisoners are mostly nearing the end of their terms though one, Eugene Kelly, 47, received a 10-year sentence in July 2009 for possession of a gun and ammunition. Kelly had previously served 15 years of a life sentence for the murder of Dundalk publican Cecil Black, who died from injuries he received during a robbery in April 1992.
The INLA’s most notorious figure was Dominic ‘Mad Dog’ McGlinchey, who joined the group after leaving the Provisional IRA in 1982.
He was arrested after a shoot-out with gardai at a safehouse at Newmarket on Fergus, Co Clare, in January 1987. While he was in prison his wife, Mary, was shot dead while bathing her young children at the family home in Dundalk. McGlinchey was shot dead by the same south Armagh gang in Drogheda in February 1994.
The Dublin INLA also had close associations with Dublin criminal John Traynor and through him became involved with the John Gilligan-led gang which carried out the murder of Sunday Independent journalist Veronica Guerin.
Gardai believe Gilligan contracted the INLA, paying them €30,000 to murder Dublin gang figure Martin Cahill in August 1994. Gilligan owed Cahill money and decided to have him murdered rather than pay the debt.
It is not certain when exactly the group intends disbanding. Weapons decommissioning, as happened with the IRA, may also be a token affair. The only group to fully decommission all weapons was the Official IRA.
Medical marijuana passes the drugs test for prescription service
If we treat recreational drugs in the same way as we treat prescription ones, we might be in a better state.
Medical marijuana is soon to be added to your local GP’s prescription list. But don’t all of us go rushing down asking for a couple of spiffs’ every time you’ve got a stomach ache.
The drug will be available for therapeutic purposes only, initially for treatment of spacisity in Multiple Sclerosis.
However, it has clinical applications for an array of ailments, including seizures and to improve cancer patients’ tolerance for treatments such as chemotherapy.
The pro-legalisation lobby might be forgiven for treating this as a small victory. But we’d be wrong to see this as an ideological step towards a more liberal era.
In amongst the minefield of drugs legislation debate and the extreme emotions it inevitably provokes, this is one area in which sane empirical evidence can prevail.
There will be many people celebrating this development. The case for legalising medical cannabis has, thank God, nothing really to do with the wider war on drugs, nor is it about gratifying the liberal values of the post-dinner party spliff-smoking set, whose support of legalising pot is as much an identity issue as an ideological one.
Instead it’s simple pragmatism. Medical cannabis has been evaluated according to the same method by which we test the benefits and efficacy of any other new medicine.
An empirical cost/benefit calculation has been made and it has been deemed useful.
I have an aunt with MS, who has for years, been declaring her interest in testing out medical cannabis. For her, it’s not about declaring a liberal, live-and-let-live political agenda.
She’s simply a person grasping at any opportunity for some measure of reprieve from the daily struggles her condition entails.
The case in support of therapeutic cannabis is overwhelmingly strong.
Last week, the well-known academic and physician Dr Sanjay Gupta wrote a long, heartfelt public apology, renouncing his former scepticism about the benefits of the drug, and endorsing it for a range of conditions.
This idea isn’t new. Before weed was herbal rebellion, it was widely used as a remedy.
It was the great counter-cultural wave of the Sixties that led to its classification as a schedule 1 drug in America. Before then, it was available on prescription.
How we make the distinction between those drugs considered recreational and those considered therapeutic is almost scarily arbitrary.
The chemical difference between heroin, scourge of the streets and most destructive of social ills, and morphine, the widely used painkiller, is pretty slight.
Indeed, heroin itself is a legally prescribed drug in the UK, often administered in place of morphine because it causes fewer side-effects.
Of course, this doesn’t apply to all addictive drugs. Some are just rotten. There is, as far as I’m aware, no current constructive application for, say, crystal meth.
But the division of psychoactive substances into those that are harmful and those that are beneficial is rarely that cut and dried.
The example of legislating for cannabis use as a therapeutic drug might be instructive. If we approach recreational drugs in the same way we treat prescription ones, we might be in a better state.
Sure, there are plenty of people who abuse prescription drugs. But the vast majority of us take them sensibly, in carefully limited and regulated doses, with the aim of achieving exactly the desired effect; no more and no less.
And yet, when it comes to alcohol, or ecstasy, or cocaine, the approach of those of us who take them seems to be to neck them with impunity and hope for the best. Cannabis can do many positive things.
But like many drugs, it has significant and sometime serious side-effects. Growing evidence links its prolonged use to psychosis. Those who have to take it for medical reasons, will no doubt do so with caution and care and with attention to proper dosing in order to limit any possible harm.
Perhaps those who do it just for fun should aspire to do the same?
Drones used in Peru, to monitor agriculture & study archaeology
Drones are most often associated with assassinations in remote regions of Pakistan and Yemen but in Peru unmanned aircraft are being used to monitor crops and study ancient ruins.
Forget Reapers and Predators — the drones used here are hand-held contraptions that look like they were assembled in a garage with gear from a hardware store.
They are equipped with a microcomputer, a GPS tracker, a compass, cameras and an altimeter, and can be easily programmed by using Google Maps to fly autonomously and return to base with vital data.
“These aircraft are small in size, are equipped with high-precision video or photo cameras and go virtually unnoticed in the sky,” said Andres Flores, an electrical engineer in charge of the UAV program at Peru’s Catholic University.
Flores heads a multidisciplinary team brainstorming the best ways to use drones for civilian purposes.
“Up to now we have managed to use them for agricultural purposes, where they gather information on the health of the plants, and in archeology, to better understand the characteristics of each site and their extensions,” Flores said.
One UAV model built by Catholic University engineers is made with light balsa wood and carbon fiber. At a glance the devices look like souped-up hand-held glider.
One limitation is that these drones must fly below the clouds. If not their instruments, especially the cameras, could fail, said Aurelio Rodriguez, who is both an aerial model-maker and archeologist.
Mapping Ancient Cities: Some of the earliest human settlements in the Americas are found in Peru.
There are thousands of archeological sites, many unexplored, dotting the Peruvian landscape, most of them pre-dating the Incas, a major civilization which was defeated by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.
Along the dry coastline, where the main construction material was adobe brick, whole societies flourished.
After centuries of abandon some of these ancient cities have deteriorated to the point that they are hard to distinguish in the sandy, hilly region.
Archeologist Luis Jaime Castillo is using drones to help map the 1,300 year-old Moche civilization around San Idelfonso and San Jose del Moro, two sites on the Peruvian coast north of Lima.
“We can convert the images that the drones provide into topographical and photogrammetry data to build three-dimensional models,” Castillo told AFP.
“By using the pictures taken by drones we can see walls, patios, the fabric of the city.”
Separately, Hildo Loayza, a physicist with the Lima-based International Potato Center, is perfecting ways to apply drone technology to agriculture.
“The drones allow us to resolve problems objectively, while people do it subjectively,
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