The Irish Question: The Country’s Presidential Election Could Revive an Old Crisis
NEED TO KNOW
The Irish Question: The Country’s Presidential Election Could Revive an Old Crisis
IRELAND
Surprises have shaken up the presidential election in Ireland in the run-up to voting on Oct. 24.
Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor withdrew from the race last month after he faced an uphill battle to appear on the ballot, ESPN reported. Still, he has vowed to run again, saying the electoral process was undemocratic.
Then Jim Gavin, a former Dublin soccer team manager who was the nominee for the ruling centrist Fianna Fáil political party, pulled out of the race after revelations that he owed one of his tenants nearly $4,000 in overpaid rent, as Ireland’s Journal explained.
Because he decided to leave so late in the process, Gavin will still appear on the ballot. But he has said he won’t serve, setting the stage for a constitutional crisis, Politico added.
In the meantime, Gavin’s move has become a political headache for Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, who fought with other Fianna Fáil party leaders to back Gavin, a relative unknown, but now appears weak given how his pick was a dud.
One of the two remaining candidates is Catherine Connolly, a former lawmaker and political independent who has the support of leftwing parties like Sinn Féin, the Labor Party, and the Greens. The other is Heather Humphreys, a former lawmaker and cabinet minister, of the center-right Fine Gael party that is part of Martin’s coalition government, according to Irish public broadcaster RTÉ.
Both could be considered controversial.
Irish politicians routinely express their desire to unite the southern, republican part of the island that is Ireland, a European Union member, with the northern section, which is part of the United Kingdom. But unity advocates leaders are pushing Connolly to use her presidential power to force a referendum on the issue if she wins, noted Anphoblacht, a news outlet affiliated with Sinn Féin, traditionally the political arm of the Irish Republican Army, a group – commonly described as terrorists – that opposes British presence on the island.
At the same time, Humphreys is a Presbyterian from one of three northern Irish counties that are not part of British Northern Ireland, Queen’s University Belfast politics lecturer Peter John McLoughlin explained in the Conversation. She also backs unity, but her grandfather signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912, where Protestant leaders pledged to resist Irish rule at all costs. Some signers inked their names in blood.
A referendum to unify Ireland would surely create a crisis in the UK and perhaps Europe at large, especially at a time when governments like Spain are fighting independence movements within their borders (read: Catalonia) and Russia is seeking to revive its imperial control in Ukraine and elsewhere, the Guardian argued.
“Ireland’s new president will have to help guide the country into the 2030s,”
it wrote. “The path through those years is not looking easy. The outcome of this contest will matter.”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Pakistan and Afghanistan Agree to Ceasefire After Deadliest Border Clashes in Years
PAKISTAN
Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to an immediate ceasefire Sunday following more than a week of intense cross-border fighting that has killed dozens and injured hundreds, marking the deadliest confrontation between the neighbors since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, CNN reported.
The truce followed 13 hours of negotiations in the Qatari capital of Doha over the weekend, mediated by Qatar and Turkey.
In a statement, the two neighbors pledged to halt hostilities and respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the agreement committed both countries to “refrain from targeting each other’s security forces, civilians or critical infrastructure,” and to stop supporting groups carrying out attacks against the other.
Under the deal, delegations from both countries will meet again in Turkey later this month to discuss how to implement the ceasefire and establish a review process.
Fighting erupted on Oct. 10 along the disputed 1,600-mile border after Afghanistan accused Pakistan of conducting airstrikes in the Afghan border province of Paktika that killed eight, including civilians. Pakistani officials countered that its military targeted “verified” militant camps, denying it had hit civilians and claiming more than 100 fighters were killed.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said at least three dozen civilians have been killed and hundreds injured since the violence began, the Associated Press wrote. Thousands of residents fled their homes as fighting disrupted trade and blocked major crossings.
The recent clashes have strained already fragile relations between the two governments, which soured after the Taliban returned to power following the withdrawal of US-led forces four years ago.
Pakistan has accused Kabul of harboring the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has carried out more than 600 attacks in the past year, while Afghanistan denies providing a safe haven to militants.
Bosnian Serb Parliament Appoints Leader After Former President Banned
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
The parliament of Republika Srpska appointed Ana Trišić-Babić as interim president, formally acknowledging the removal of longtime nationalist leader Milorad Dodik months after a court removed him from office, Reuters reported.
Trišić-Babić – a former deputy foreign minister and close adviser to Dodik for 15 years – will serve as the president of Republika Srpska, the autonomous Bosnian Serb region, for one month until early presidential elections are held next month.
Bosnia’s Central Election Commission confirmed that the winner of the Nov. 23 vote will serve until the next scheduled general election in October 2026, with Trišić-Babić expected to remain as acting president in the interim.
Saturday’s appointment effectively ends Dodik’s mandate as president of Republika Srpska, though he remains a dominant political figure in the region.
It comes after a court in Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted Dodik in February for defying decisions by Christian Schmidt, the international envoy who is charged with enforcing a peace deal that ended the country’s 1992-1995 war, according to Agence France-Presse.
He has been banned from holding office for six years.
Parliament also repealed several separatist laws passed under Dodik’s administration after he was indicted.
The Bosnian Serb leader brought Bosnia’s fragile central government to the brink over recent months with his threats of secession.
A pro-Russian nationalist sanctioned by the US and other countries since 2017, he has maintained close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been accused by Western governments of undermining the 1995 Dayton peace accord.
Dodik has denounced the case against him as a “political trial” and is appealing the conviction.
Following Saturday’s vote, Dodik insisted that Republika Srpska would not alter its political course, reiterating his long-standing goal of eventual secession from Bosnia and unification with Serbia.
The US State Department welcomed Saturday’s appointment, describing it as a result of US-led efforts “to defuse the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina” and a step toward renewed stability and cooperation.
On Friday, the US Treasury Department also lifted sanctions on four Dodik allies, a development Dodik praised while continuing to seek the removal of those against him.
Mongolian Leader Removed Four Months After Taking Office
MONGOLIA
Mongolia’s parliament voted over the weekend to remove Prime Minister Zandanshatar Gombojav from office after only four months in power, marking the second time in less than a year that a Mongolian leader has been forced out amid corruption scandals and public discontent, Al Jazeera reported.
On Friday, lawmakers approved Zandanshatar’s dismissal after 50 legislators had submitted a motion accusing him of constitutional violations and poor governance.
The lawmakers said the prime minister appointed a new justice and home affairs minister without parliamentary approval, accusing him of violating the separation of powers.
They also criticized him for comments seen as interfering in an ongoing investigation, and for economic reforms that allegedly distorted competition among mineral exporters.
Zandanshatar’s removal came around the same time lawmakers accepted the resignation of parliamentary speaker Amarbayasgalan Dashzegve. The speaker had offered to resign a day earlier after members of the Mongolian People’s Party – of which Zandanshatar and Amarbayasgalan are both members – called for a probe into the speaker, Reuters added.
President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa is expected to nominate a new prime minister, whose appointment must be approved by parliament.
Zandanshatar’s tenure as Mongolia’s 32nd prime minister began in June, shortly after the resignation of his predecessor Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai.
Luvsannamsrai resigned in June after also losing parliamentary support amid mass protests sparked by corruption allegations and public anger over elite privilege.
Observers warned that the back-to-back removal of two prime ministers could deepen political instability in the resource-rich country.
Mongolia – a landlocked nation of 3.3 million people sandwiched between China and Russia – has long struggled with corruption, economic inequality, and overreliance on coal exports.
The World Bank this month cut its 2025 growth forecast to 5.9 percent from 6.3 percent, citing falling coal prices and global trade uncertainty.
Last year, Mongolia’s gross domestic product grew 4.9 percent.
DISCOVERIES
The Human Factor
Since the Middle Ages, domesticated animals have been getting larger, while their wild relatives have been shrinking.
That wasn’t the case more than 1,000 years ago, according to a new study.
Instead, over most of the past 8,000 years, both wild and domesticated species evolved in synchronous and similar ways, underscoring how environmental and climatic changes played a huge role in shaping animal morphology, the French National Center for Scientific Research explained.
Scientists say this change is due to humans.
To arrive at this conclusion, researchers examined more than 80,000 bones and teeth from 311 archeological sites across southern France, spanning 8,000 years, recording their length, width, and depth, New Atlas added.
The bones were from wild species such as foxes, rabbits, and deer, and domesticated animals like goats, pigs, cattle, sheep, and chickens.
Researchers found a steady divergence over time, which sped up over the past 1,000 years.
Wild species such as deer and foxes are believed to have gotten smaller due to an increase in hunting and the shrinking of their natural habitats.
Meanwhile, the growing size of domesticated animals is linked to a significant human impact on environments, active efforts to increase productivity, and the development of selective breeding. Animals that could produce more meat, milk, wool, strength, or offer companionship were favored.
These trends became especially evident around 1,000 years ago, when agriculture, urbanization, and trade networks were rapidly expanding.
“From the Early Neolithic to the Roman period, environmental conditions exerted comparable effects on wild and domestic species, though the magnitude and timing of changes varied, reflecting species-specific interactions with humans,” wrote the researchers.
Meanwhile, researchers said climate change is now accelerating these changes.
A 2024 study published in Nature Communications predicted that by 2050, tropical fish species will be 14 to 39 percent smaller.
New Atlas said the results of the study are a warning: “This French study demonstrates that today’s shrinking wild species and ballooning livestock aren’t isolated quirks – they’re part of a long trajectory of human-driven change. Body size is a master trait that affects everything from reproduction to food webs, so consistent shrinkage in the wild is a warning signal for biodiversity and ecosystem stability.”