Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

"A rift has opened up between Europe and the United States. Vice President JD Vance said this very openly here in Munich a year ago," Merz said. "He was right. The culture war of the MAGA movement is not ours," Merz said, referring to US President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. "Freedom of speech ends here with us when that speech goes against human dignity and the constitution. We do not believe in tariffs and protectionism, but in free trade."

The 62nd Munich Security Conference opened on 13 February 2026 in Munich, Germany, and this year's gathering feels different from past editions. For decades, Munich was about jets, troops, and treaties. Today, cyber and AI are no longer peripheral; they are part of the architecture of security itself. Cyber risks, digital infrastructure, and emerging technologies like AI now sit alongside tanks and treaties on the agenda as European leaders try to make sense of a world where digital threats and geopolitical tensions are deeply intertwined.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reassured a nervous Europe on Saturday that Washington wants to "revitalise" the transatlantic alliance. "We do not seek to separate, but to revitalise an old friendship and renew the greatest civilisation in human history," Rubio said. "What we want is a reinvigorated alliance." Rubio stressed that the US and Europe "belong together" and must act as partners to defend shared values.

Perhaps a more telling stat is the last five meetings between the two teams. Ireland have all of them. The last time they played here they ran out 36-0 winners. The time before that it was 33-7. The time before that was 57-6. However, the Italians ran them close last season and were it not for a Dan Sheehan hat-trick, they might have lost.

We were told by the Ireland camp last week that it would be disingenuous to say the team are in decline. After they white-knuckled their way to a narrow home win against Italy, it would be disingenuous to suggest they are not.

Do you remember a time in your city in Spain when bar and restaurant terraces were not packed with locals having fun (except for during the Covid-19 lockdown, of course)? No matter how tight finances are, Spaniards always seem to have the money for eating and drinking out. Some would say this carpe diem attitude is to be admired rather than sniffed at. After all, it goes hand in hand with the much-admired Spanish lifestyle - outdoors, in the company of others, enjoying the moment.

There are infinitely more of us in every corner of the Earth who want force no longer to be the law. Who know what the word law' truly means, the letter said.

Henry McGowan killed his father John in Ballyfin Demesne after the 66-year-old had flown to Ireland to help him The son had travelled widely in Europe, his experiences transforming him into an "exhaustless mine" from which his father could draw inspiration. But as he aged, the son's health turned friable. Time spent in France to recuperate lent no lasting improvement and he found himself as an adult back in the care of his father, to whom he had always been close.

'Runaway train' is slowing down though, as bigger counties cope comfortably due to increased revenues

The American speedskating star added his second gold medal in two attempts at the Milan Cortina Olympics by sprinting to victory in the men's 500 meters on Saturday. Stolz joined Eric Heiden as the only skaters to win both the 500 and 1,000 meters at the same Olympics. Heiden did it at Lake Placid in 1980, a full 24 years before the 21-year-old Stolz was born. Racing in the penultimate pairing, the Wisconsin native's time of 33.77 seconds gave him his second Olympic record in four days.

The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are the most geographically spread out Winter Games in history, unfolding across 8,500 square miles of Northern Italy and the Dolomites. Rather than concentrating in a single host city, the competitions weave through alpine valleys, lakeside towns, the urban heartbeats of Verona and Milan, and some of the most breathtaking and iconic ski and snowboard terrains in the world. The 15 official Olympic venues are scattered across seven clusters. Instead of one Olympic Village, there are six.

"Frank, also known as Francis to some of the family members, was a lifelong bachelor and the third youngest among 15 siblings. "He was born in 1940 in East Wall in the very house where he spent his entire life. At 17, he began working at The Irish Times in 1957, and stayed there until he retired at 65. "Despite living alone, Frank was never lonely.

Russian milbloggers say the situation on the ground is unclear due to degraded communications,