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This news item from Yn Commeeys Celtiagh - Celtic League Mannin reports on those Irish soldiers who survived the Siege of Jadotville and were awarded with a special medal on 2nd December 2017 honouring their service. The Siege of Jadotville took place in September 1961, during the United Nations intervention in the Katanga conflict in Congo-Léopoldville, in Central Africa. The lightly armed and heavily outnumbered Irish soldiers fought bravely during the UN peaceckeeping mission until their ammunition and supplies were exhausted.

The Cornish kept Christmas when the rest of Britain had given up on it.

Christmas (Nadelik) was celebrated in Cornwall when it had become unfashionable to do so across the rest of Britain.

In fact many of the customs we now think of as Christmas traditions were collected in places like Cornwall in the early 19th Century.

Numerous distinctive traditions and practices are associated with this time of year in Cornwall including:

• The Cornish Christmas Bunch

• Cornish church towers being illuminated on Christmas Eve

The Aran Islands (Irish: Oileáin Árann) are a group of three islands, Inishmore (Árainn Mhór/Inis Mór), Inishmaan (Inis Meáin/Inis Meadhóin) and Inisheer (Inis Thiar/Inis Oírr/Inis Oirthir), located at the mouth of Galway Bay, on the west coast of Ireland. Residents on the Aran Islands have raised concerns over recent years about the provision of transport services to and from the islands, with some services even facing threatened suspension. Now a new five year contract will guarantee daily ferry services to each of the three islands. 

News from the Irish Branch of the Celtic League:

"Misneach stands with Cork Street Names Campaign"

"Councillor Diarmaid Ó Cadhla, and two colleagues, Tom O’Connor and Tony Walsh, will appear before the courts in Cork for the second time next week due to a direct action taken by them in relation to street signage last February. The three are members of Cork Street Names Campaign who damaged signs with Queen Victoria’s name on them at the beginning of the year. The state has charged the men with criminal damage. 

St. Andrew's Day (Scottish Gaelic: Là Naomh Aindrea) is Scotland's official national day celebrated on 30th November. St Andrew has been the patron saint of Scotland from at least the mid tenth century and legend says long before. He was born in the village of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee in the early 1st century and is the brother of St Peter. According to the Gospel of St John, Andrew was a follower of the preacher John the Baptist and then became a disciple of Jesus who he recognised as the Messiah. The name Andrew is Greek in origin.

The Wales Coast Path (Welsh: Llwybr Arfordir Cymru) is  a 870-mile (1,400 km) walking route that follows or runs close to the coastline of Wales from Chepstow (Welsh: Cas-gwent) in the south to Queensferry in Flintshire (Sir y Fflint) in the north.  The Wales Coast Path is recognised as having national importance for its outstanding scenery, wildlife and historic features.

News from the Gaelic league:

A dog named Kobe that had been lost for days in snow and freezing conditions in Glen Coe (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Comhann) in the Highlands of Scotland has been found. His owner, David Parry from Glasgow (Glaschu), had been with friends in the glen along with Kobe and another dog, Echo, when Kobe went missing. They are part of Scotland's Team AKobE Marathon Community. This a group that encourages and provides access to free marathons for solo runners and canicross teams. Canicross is a sport involving cross country running with dogs, which are attached to a person and run in a team.

Celebrated synth pop artist, Gwenno, will be performing her new album at The Poly, Falmouth on Saturday December 2nd, 2017.

Gwenno's new album, Le Kov, is sung entirely in Cornish.

The supporting act is 'Hanterhir' the Cornish language folk - rock band.

Robert Maynard Jones (20 May 1929 – 22 November 2017), generally known as Bobi Jones, was a Welsh Christian academic and one of the most prolific writers in the history of the Welsh language. 

A versatile master of poetry, fictional prose and criticism, he was born in Cardiff in 1929, educated at the University of Wales, Cardiff (now Cardiff University) and University College Dublin. Jones held the chair in Welsh language at Aberystwyth from 1980 until his retirement.