Dawn: Last Saturday, suspected members 
of the Irish Republican Army,
a paramilitary organization that 
sought to end British rule
in Northern Ireland, hijacked 
and planted explosive devices
in a pizza delivery vehicle outside 
a courthouse in Derry, Northern Ireland.
After getting a warning that was 
made to a charity in England,
police evacuated the courthouse just 
before the vehicle exploded.
No one was injured in the incident, 
and five men have been arrested.
-Northern Ireland has been 
involved in a decades-long
guerilla war between the Irish 
nationalists who wanted
Northern Ireland to unite with 
the Republic of Ireland and
the United Kingdom unionists 
who wanted Northern Ireland to
remain a part of the UK. It 
ended in 1998, with a peace
accord. Many lawmakers rejected
 the withdrawal agreement the
British Prime Minister Theresa May 
made with the European Union
because it had a provision of a 
soft border between Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland with 
no physical checks or infrastructure.
The lawmakers want a hard 
border instead, closing off
the Irish nationalists’ free 
access to cross the soft border.
The recent car bombing brought
 fears of possible violence
returning to the country after 
twenty years of peace.
Now, let’s go to next story.
Alessio: After presidential elections 
in the Democratic Republic of Congo
last December, the government 
ordered service providers to
shut down internet service to 
stop fake results from circulating
and causing unrest. There has been 
no internet since December 31.
There had been fire that 
destroyed voting machines used
in the elections, and 1.26 
million voters were excluded
from voting due to the Ebola 
outbreak and logistical issues.
The United States ambassador 
to Congo says too much time
without internet has passed and
 is demanding service be restored.
The British ambassador says 
that it is creating problems
for hospitals, universities, 
and commerce.
Zimbabwe has also joined Congo in 
cutting off internet service as well.
Now, let’s go to next story.
Dawn: The United States government 
is now in the fifth week
of a partial shutdown since 
December 22, 2018.
Some services offered by the 
federal government have stopped
as result of disagreement 
between President Donald Trump
and members of Republican and 
Democrat political parties
having to do with funding to 
build a wall. President Trump
wants to spend $5 billion on 
building this border wall along
the U.S. - Mexico border but 
thus far lawmakers
were willing to spend $1.6 billion.
-Over 800,000 civil servants 
are working without pay and
describe their hardships in 
paying their bills. Trump has
proposed a compromise offering 
temporary immigration protections
to illegal immigrants and re-
opening government services in
exchange for support from 
Democrat party lawmakers to
finance the border wall. The 
bill would need 60 votes to pass
in the Senate and with a 53 to 47 
Republican majority, it may not pass.
Now, let’s go to next story.
Alessio: Stephanie Stoll and 
her colleagues at
the University of Surrey, 
United Kingdom are developing
a software for people to learn sign 
languages in an “automated and intuitive way”.
In the current version, the 
software analyzes Swiss-German
sign language and delivers 
feedback on handshape, location,
timing, and motion. Artificial 
Intelligence technology examines
user hands and posture, and 
compares it to database.
The goal is to create a 
software able to teach sign
languages from all over the 
world and incorporate specific
characteristics that exist only
 in sign languages.
Now, let’s go to next story.
Dawn: In an interview with the 
Press Association news agency,
American actress Jameela Jamil
 said she turned down the role
of a deaf woman that was 
offered to her, saying
“They should find a brilliant 
deaf woman to play that role.
I think you have to make those 
choices and not be too greedy
and make space rather than take
 space. I don’t want to be part
of erasure.” Jamil, who was 
born partially deaf, believed
it was inappropriate for her to
 accept the role. This interview
comes during an ongoing debate of 
acting roles for gay or disabled
character being offered to able-bodied 
and heterosexual actors.
Deaf actress Marlee Matlin 
thanked Jamil tweeting “On
behalf of Deaf actors and actors 
with disabilities, THANK YOU
for setting an example of what
 should be happening when it
comes to authenticity in 
casting in 2019.”
Jamil currently stars on the American 
television series, The Good Place.
Now, let’s go to next story.
Alessio: An article in Santa Fe
 New Mexican newspaper reports
that gene therapy to restore 
hearing in some people with
inherited hearing loss may be 
possible in the future.
In a study, scientists injected a 
type of chemical that modified
genes in mice with partial 
hearing loss and found the
technique effective in preventing 
progression in hearing loss.
They also used a tool to edit a
 defective gene that destroys
tiny hairs inside the mice’s 
ears needed for hearing.
But gene editing may have 
unintended consequences.
In another study, mice with a 
propensity for blindness had
genes edited which also caused 
1,500 unintended altered genes.
Some people may believe gene 
editing may help deaf people
and others with disabilities to
 live more “normal” lives,
but many deaf people would 
state they are not ‘damaged,’
citing language, and technology
 as ways to live their
lives as “normally” as possible.
Now, let’s go to next story.
Dawn: Masazo Nonaka in northern Japan, 
the oldest man in the world
at age 113 has recently died.
 Masazo’s granddaughter Yuko
states he died in his sleep so it 
appears he died of natural causes.
The Guinness World Records 
certified Masazo in
April 2018 as the world’s 
oldest living man.
-Masazo enjoyed eating sweets 
and taking daily soak in his
family’s hot springs inn. He 
outlived all seven of his
brothers and sisters, his wife 
and three of his five children.
His body was found by his 
granddaughter and she was the
one who realized he was no 
longer breathing.
Now, let’s go to next story.
Alessio: Theresa May, the 
British Prime Minister has
recently given Plan B to the 
British Parliament detailing on
how Britain would leave the 
European Union two months from now.
Prime Minister May’s recent 
Plan A was overwhelmingly voted
no by the Parliament, many 
people did not agree with the
proposal to make sure there 
would not be a customs check on
the border dividing E.U.-member 
Ireland and the British Northern Ireland.
-The Parliament is divided 
between a partial withdrawal
from the European Union or a 
quitting the E.U. fully
including ceasing the use of 
the Euro currency.
The Parliament is rushing to 
reach a decision before the
two-month deadline ends. If the
 Parliament is unable to solve
this disagreement by March 29,
 the country’s economy might
crash with imposed tariffs on 
any goods being sold to and
from British ports. It may also
 lead to shortages of
essential supplies going 
into Britain.
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