Coroner says none of the five civilians killed in incident in Belfast during Troubles should have been shotBritish army soldiers “lost control” and used force that was “not reasonable” in the killing of five civilians in Northern Ireland in 1972, an inquest judge has ruled.Four of the victims – two teenagers, a father of six and a Catholic priest – posed no risk when they were shot in the Springhill and Westrock areas of west Belfast on 9 July 1972, Mr Justice Scoffield said on Thursday. Continue reading...
In 2022, Aneil Karia won an Academy Award for his short starring Riz Ahmed. Now, he’s skewering Reform-style parliamentary candidates with the help of Jack Lowden and an unlikely online platformSome film-makers have unrealistic expectations for their work; Aneil Karia is not one of them. “I’m not deluded enough to think that it’s going to bring down the government,” he says of his new film, Vote Gavin Lyle – but you never know, it just might. A funny, clever, superbly acted, small-but-perfectly-formed satire, Vote Gavin Lyle stars Jack Lowden as a wannabe Reform-style parliamentary candidate for the fictional middle-England constituency of Fletcham and Wold. At just 16 minutes long, it absolutely skewers the far-right mindset; not the minority-bashing, flag-hoisting street thugs, but the cannier, well-spoken Farageists who dominate the tendency’s leadership.Without wanting to give away the film’s final flourish, it’s fair to say that there’s an element of empathy, even sympathy for its central character. Karia says: “I don’t think it’s interesting or useful to look at these people – far-right politicians, councillors, prospective candidates, whoever – and just say what nasty bastards they are. I think what strikes me about them is they’re just as vulnerable and scared as the rest of us. Continue reading...
Amber Davidson-Orozco said the family had lost Dodger, their cat, during their move out of CaliforniaA family cat who got lost amid a move from California across the US is said to be settling back into his old ways with his humans at their new home in Georgia after experiencing an unlikely – but long hoped for – reunion more than seven years in the making.As owner Amber Davidson-Orozco put in an interview Wednesday, her cat Dodger still responds to his name and allows her sons to flip him playfully over their shoulders despite an absence from them that to the cat lasted the equivalent of roughly 24 years. Continue reading...
Dublin scholars find 1,200-year-old manuscript of Caedmon’s Hymn composed by Northumbrian cattle herderA lost copy of a poem composed in the seventh century by a Northumbrian cattle herder – the earliest surviving poem in the English language – has been discovered in Rome.Scholars from Trinity College Dublin (TCD) uncovered the manuscript that contains Caedmon’s Hymn at the National Central Library of Rome. Continue reading...
Mark Young battled dehydration and killed a rattlesnake while his children and others looked for him for daysA Vietnam war veteran says he is a living “miracle” after getting lost in Arizona’s wilderness for four days with precious few supplies – and ultimately being rescued by his own son.“I’ve never felt so loved,” Mark Young said in an interview aired on Phoenix’s KNXV news station about the moment he realized it was his son who had delivered him from his plight. “My gratitude is inexpressible.” Continue reading...
Christina Snow was one of two women injured when gunman opened fire on a family in Shreveport, killing eightSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe mother of three children killed over the weekend in a mass shooting in Louisiana is reportedly recovering in hospital with a bullet still lodged in her face.Jamarckus Snow told NBC News that his cousin, Christina Snow, was one of the two women who were shot and injured early Sunday when a gunman opened fire on his family in Shreveport. Police described the shooting as a “violent domestic incident” in which 31-year-old Shamar Elkins fatally shot eight children – including seven of his children and a cousin. Continue reading...
Exclusive: George Robertson calls on officials to identify the ‘fit and willing’ in UK’s 95,000-strong strategic reserveThe Ministry of Defence has lost track of military veterans they intend to recall at a time of national danger, according to a key government adviser.About 95,000 former soldiers and officers are in the strategic reserve but it is claimed that officials have failed to maintain a full record of their contact details. Continue reading...
US vice-president defends pre-election visit to Hungary with fresh barbs against EU in first comments since Orbán’s lossHungarian election winner Péter Magyar has been invited to meet with the Hungarian president, Tamás Sulyok, on Wednesday to discuss the government-formation process following the stunning win over Viktor Orbán in Sunday’s election.The meeting could be a bit awkward, given Magyar’s repeated calls for Sulyok, an Orbán loyalist, to resign from the office.“He’s one of the few European leaders we’ve seen who’s been willing to stand up to the bureaucracy in Brussels that has been very, very bad for the United States. So for example, when you see a European bureaucrat go after an American company, sometimes the only vote ‘no,’ the only vote to protect that American interest, has been Viktor Orbán.”“I think that his legacy in Hungary is transformational, 16 years, fundamentally changing that country.” Continue reading...
Woman tells court ‘I lost my teenage self’ from abuse by teacher William ‘Rob’ Gilfillan, already in prison for offences against daughter Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA woman who was repeatedly sexually assaulted in the 1980s by her high school PE teacher has told a court how the man’s actions resulted in her life being changed “negatively for decades”.In December, William “Rob” Gilfillan was found guilty of indecent assault of a person under 16 and sexual penetration of a child under 16. The five counts against two victims took place at Traralgon high school in Gippsland. Continue reading...
