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Updated 3.57 pm
THE IRISH AMBASSADOR to Saudi Arabia will represent Ireland at a condolence ceremony for the late King Abdullah in Riyadh this evening.
Tony Cotter will be present for the Department of Foreign Affairs following the death of the 90-year-old head of state.
A book of condolence is also open to the public at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Dublin.
A host of world leaders are travelling to the Gulf state to offer condolences and to meet the new King Salman.
US President Barack Obama has cut short his visit to India, cancelling a planned trip to the Taj Mahal, to “pay respects”.
Obama was scheduled to go to India’s famed monument to love accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama at the end of a three-day visit to the country.
Instead, the White House said Obama would travel to Riyadh from New Delhi on Tuesday morning to meet the new monarch after the death of Salman’s half-brother King Abdullah on Friday.
President Obama is due to be a the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations on Monday.
“The president regrets that he will be unable to visit Agra during this trip,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest in a statement, referring to the town where the Taj Mahal is located.
Abdullah, a cautious reformer who led the Gulf state through a turbulent decade in a region shaken by the Arab Spring uprisings and Islamic extremism, died on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia and the United States remained staunch allies during his nearly decade-long reign, which spanned the Arab Spring and multiple wars that roiled the Middle East.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, Prince Charles and French President Francois Hollande are among other leaders expected to fly in to offer condolences.
Abdullah, a cautious reformer who led the Gulf state through a turbulent decade in a region shaken by the Arab Spring uprisings and Islamic extremism, died on Thursday aged about 90 after being hospitalised with pneumonia.
World leaders have praised the king as a key mediator between Muslims and the West, but campaigners criticised his rights record and urged Salman to do more to protect freedom of speech and women’s rights.
Gulf rulers, and leaders including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, were among those who attended Abdullah’s traditionally simple funeral at Riyadh’s Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque on Friday.
On Friday the late king’s body, wrapped in a cream-coloured shroud, was borne on a litter by members of the royal family wearing red-and-white checked headgear.
‘Valued ally’
Obama paid tribute to Abdullah as a “valued” ally as the State Department indicated cooperation between Washington and Riyadh would continue.
Salman pledged to keep the conservative, oil-rich Muslim kingdom on a steady course and moved to cement his hold on power.
In his first public statement as king, Salman, 79, vowed to “remain, with God’s strength, attached to the straight path that this state has walked since its establishment”.
He called for “unity and solidarity” among Muslims and vowed to work in “the defence of the causes of our nation”.
© – AFP 2015 with reporting from Rónán Duffy
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Would like to buy it except I’m saving up to buy a sh*t watch that has to be charged twice a day.
Got rid of my S5 for one of these. Well worth the swap.
Where can you buy one?
On their website. Only on Tuesdays without an invite.
Posting this using my OnePlus one… Just be careful what networks offer four g and make sure u get the four g version
HTC one(m8) wipes the floor with the iPhone
True but what’s that got to do with this article
Android phones are for people who are too poor to buy iPhone
Oh Rob… Pathetic troll
Agreed, if you don’t have enough money’s to buy an iPhone you needn’t bother getting an phone at all. It just looks like you’re trying to have an iPhone when I reality you’re too poor
I laughed. Android peasants.
I’m effing loaded but I still prefer Android.
Can’t afford an iphone?
Trolling really is a lost art…
The only people who buy IPhones are indoctrinated simpleton’s who feel the need to be accepted into society, image conscious, self-righteous, more money than sense…………..
Ah yes. The call of iSheep everywhere. If we can afford it we’ll buy it.
Had an iPhone for a very short period. Found myself reaching for my old Samsung almost instantly. The iPhone is a nice phone with a clever name and a bitten apple on the back (which is its most important component).
Try a galaxy note or HTC one. The difference between them and the iPhone 6 and 6+ is like night and day
John Wheelwright, u mad?
John Wheel you’re an easy one to windup aren’t you
To give you an idea of the average apple user. The $10K “gold” apple watch is actually gold plated and uses a combination of cheap alloys. Not that it matters to them.
I use a BlackBerry for work and an android Z3 compact for everything else.
I do love iPhone users though. They are so easy to make money off.
lighten up Frank ffs
Your parents buying you an iPhone doesn’t mean you are rich.
Having owned both, and liked both, I prefer android because of mobdro and I can play any downloaded files on it.
LOL, I’m a realist and just pointing out the facts really.
Buying any apple product is like unwittingly entering into a relationship someone with issues…
Had iPhone, couldn’t wait to get rid of it. As for iPhone 6 and 6s why pay so much when the same tech is on a Samsung S III.
…what are you talking about? Basically everything on the 6 and 6+ is superior to the S3. Or do you mean the numbers are the same? Because if so I have a 10 year old laptop with a 3.4GHz processor to sell you, I’ll do it for less than a brand new 3.0GHz equipped laptop, don’t worry the number is bigger so it’s better.
Why would I buy an iPhone ? It warps in ur Pocket . Shit phones
does it have a spell-check on it …. because your headline needs one !!!!
well said John , I Muppets , , more money than sense
Using oneplus one from last two months very happy with performance. This is the Best phone I ever had!
Journal – any chance of a review of the BQ Aquarius Ubuntu phone???
So now everyone in Ireland that has an Android phone is an anti-water charge layabout never worked a day in their life type.
Good lord.
Sober up 44
Might buy one. Had the iPhone for years, switched to the Galaxy S5, having trouble with that now, no one seems to be able to hear me on a call. Which is a pretty important part of a phone !
I used to be a bit weary of the Chinese products. However, I have a friend who worked for Sun Microsystems now with Oracle and he worked on a team in Sun trying to catch counterfeit products. He said the only way they could tell the difference between the Chinese models compared to the genuine Sun servers was that the Chinese ones were better, better made and better servers.
Your microphone for talking into might have some dirt/debris build up. Get a pin and carefully insert to remove anything. Blow into it after.
Also you could flash CyanogenMod onto your S5. You will get much better performance.
This will be my next device.
Have one since last summer..great phone..battery lasts all day..sim free..
I got one of the first invites had iPhones then always had the top Samsung. Will never look back. Great phone lightening fast. Can’t wait for the oneplus 2
Oneplusone avail on amazon.co.uk . Another nice one is zte razor s6. Im finished my contract and am gonna take a sim only plan from tesco 25 pm for all calls and data
have your say