Northern Ireland Leaders Condemn Recent Violence
Voice of America
Northern Ireland political leaders from all sides united Thursday to call for calm after at least four nights of street violence prompted by Brexit-induced trade barriers between the region and the rest of Britain.
The latest violence late Wednesday involved crowds of youths in the pro-British area of Belfast setting a hijacked bus on fire and throwing gasoline bombs, bricks and fireworks at police. Members of Northern Ireland’s legislative assembly returned early from their Easter break to address the violence. While politicians from all sides previously condemned the clashes, the nationalists and unionists who lead its compulsory power-sharing coalition initially blamed each other. But Thursday, there was a unified call for an end to the violence. Naomi Long, leader of the centrist Alliance Party, described the violence as "nothing short of disgraceful."A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks to reporters in Colombo, July 29, 2023. FILE - A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year with an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.