Rabu, 12 Mei 2021

Blackpool lightning strike: Tributes paid to killed boy - BBC News

Tributes to boy at field

Tributes have been paid to a nine-year-old boy who died after apparently being struck by lightning during a football coaching session.

The child was injured when a thunderstorm hit as he was on a playing field in Blackpool on Tuesday evening.

Flowers have been laid and messages of condolence have been written on football shirts placed at the site.

Blackpool South's MP Scott Benton said he was "incredibly sorry to hear this tragic and heartbreaking news".

"I'm sure I speak for the whole community when I say that everybody in Blackpool will be thinking of the boy's family and friends at this sad time," he said.

Spirit of Youth Junior FC, which uses the field at the end of School Road in South Shore, said the boy was understood to have been taking part in a private coaching session.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the club said the youngster did not play for Spirit of Youth.

"We are entrenched in the local community, and we will give whatever support is required to both the family and to those that were with him at the time," it added.

Police officers and vehicles next to the playing field
Dave Nelson

Lancashire Police said officers were called at about 17:00 BST and the boy was taken to hospital but did not survive.

They said that although inquiries were still ongoing it was believed he was struck by lightning.

The head teacher of a nearby school paid his respects on Twitter, saying: "The thoughts of everyone @UnityBlackpool are with the family of the young boy who sadly lost his life after being struck by lightning in Blackpool last night.

"Such sad news for the whole Blackpool community."

Local church Parish of Christ the King and St Kentigern said it would be holding two masses for the boy later today.

"Today we especially remember the young boy who was tragically struck by lightning," a spokesman said.

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2021-05-12 07:31:39Z
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Tech firms could face fines over harmful content in government's new online safety bill - Sky News

The government says its new internet laws will help keep children safe and combat racism and other abuse.

The draft Online Safety Bill includes:

  • Ofcom, the new online regulator, being able to fine companies up to £18m or 10% of their annual global turnover (whichever is higher) if they fail to take down harmful content
  • Ofcom having the power to block access to sites
  • New duty of care rules requiring tech companies to take action not only against dangerous content but also against content that is lawful but harmful, such as information about suicide and self-harm
  • The threat of criminal action against senior managers if tech companies fail to live up to their responsibilities, with the new rules being reviewed every two years
  • Tech firms will have to take responsibility for fraudulent user-generated content, including financial fraud such as romance scams or fake investment opportunities
  • The protection of "democratic content", meaning platforms will not be able to discriminate against political viewpoints and otherwise banned content will be allowed if it is "democratically important"

The pressure has been growing on the government for years to act against online abuse.

The issue was brought into focus after a large group of sports, athletes and organisations recently took part in a social media boycott, protesting against the lack of action taken against online abuse.

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said the "ground-breaking laws" would "usher in a new age of accountability for tech and bring fairness and accountability to the online world".

"We will protect children on the internet, crack down on racist abuse on social media and through new measures to safeguard our liberties, create a truly democratic digital age," he said.

Home Secretary Priti Patel added: "It's time for tech companies to be held to account and to protect the British people from harm. If they fail to do so, they will face penalties."

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Not everyone thinks the new rules are enough, however, with the NSPCC warning that they fail to offer the comprehensive protection that children need on social media.

Sir Peter Wanless, chief executive of the children's charity, said: "Government has the opportunity to deliver a transformative online safety bill if they choose to make it work for children and families, not just what's palatable to tech firms.

"The ambition to achieve safety by design is the right one. But this landmark piece of legislation risks falling short if Oliver Dowden does not tackle the complexities of online abuse and fails to learn the lessons from other regulated sectors."

Labour's shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens said: "There is little to incentivise companies to prevent their platforms from being used for harmful practices.

"The bill, which will have taken the government more than five years from its first promise to act to be published, is a wasted opportunity to put into place future proofed legislation to provide an effective and all-encompassing regulatory framework to keep people safe online."

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2021-05-12 03:20:31Z
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Selasa, 11 Mei 2021

Boris Johnson sets out 'levelling up' agenda - BBC Newsnight - BBC News

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2021-05-11 23:24:08Z
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Queen's Speech: PM's plans familiar but confirm Tories’ changed priorities - BBC News

Boris Johnson during the debate on the Queen's speech
UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor

After a year when usual politics has been frozen, this Queen's Speech is a sign of it coming back to life.

Ministers hope they can start making progress beyond the pandemic, and the opposition parties are only now perhaps starting to confront the reality of a government with the brute force of a huge majority behind them.

Given how so much of the last 12 months has been spent coping with an emergency, you won't be surprised that the speech didn't yield many surprises - rather laws that ministers ran out of time to push through, laws to make manifesto promises real.

Many areas where action was promised are extremely familiar - planning reforms, action to make further education as much of a priority as university education, commitments to help the NHS and school kids catch up with the after-effects of lockdown.

But if you were looking for a huge radical programme, this was not it.

Despite raising lawyers' eyebrows over the intention to look at the scope of the courts and constitution, even the plans for voter ID to be compulsory - which have been branded by some as evidence of Boris Johnson's government's particular political brand - originate from a review of voter fraud which David Cameron requested back in 2015.

And, what's also familiar by now, is that there was no specific plan for solving the problems of the social care system, just a repetition of the commitments to sort it that have previously been made.

Just because the speech was not full of shocks, however, it is not to say that the speech was not significant.

As Westminster, alongside the country, starts to emerge from the bizarre stress of the pandemic, the speech contents confirm that Boris Johnson is leading a Conservative government that is - at least for now - intent on big spending, at ease with a big state, but in line with traditional values.

It's what some pundits identify as leaning leftwards on economics, but towards the right when it comes to culture.

There is of course a vigorous political argument about the realities of the government's actions.

'Conjuring trick'

The Tories may now be big spenders, but that doesn't remove the impact of the very real squeeze on some parts of the public purse in recent years.

Yet when David Cameron's coalition set out, they'd have been more likely to be described the other way round - leaning right on economics, and left when it came to values and how we live our lives.

So love them or loathe them, what the Conservative Party has done is something of a conjuring trick - changed its priorities, and changed the geography of its support while in office.

In more than a decade in charge, it's changed its leader twice, survived a near-death experience over Brexit and ended up at the tail end of a mammoth national emergency consolidating its grip on power.

But after every other of those 10 Queen's Speeches, Tory leaders perhaps had convenient justifications for not being able to keep their commitments - having to mollify the Lib Dems in coalition, having only a scrap of a majority, having the daily drama of Brexit to contend with, or then the pandemic.

Now the Covid risk is fading, the prime minister will be all too aware that he has no such excuse.

The opportunity is vast, the ambition of the rhetoric is huge too, but to use a phrase the prime minister himself has been known to employ on the odd occasion, that's not the same as "getting it done".

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2021-05-11 20:13:12Z
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Fred West police search Gloucester cafe for Mary Bastholm - BBC News

Mary Bastholm
PA Media

Police are searching for a body at a cafe in Gloucester linked to a girl feared to have been murdered by serial killer Fred West.

Mary Bastholm, 15, went missing on 6 January 1968 and has not been found.

Officers were called to The Clean Plate by filmmakers working on a documentary. West was a regular customer when the teenager worked at the cafe.

The film crew told police on Friday they had found evidence that a body could be buried within the property.

Officers could be at the site "for a number of weeks" and excavation work is yet to begin, Gloucestershire Police said.

cafe in Gloucester

Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden said: "This could be a significant development on a case which has gained a lot of public interest over the years.

"On the basis of the information provided to us, we consider this to be new and potentially important evidence in the case of Mary Bastholm, however further detailed assessments will take place over the following few days to determine the extent of excavation needed.

"First and foremost our thoughts are with Mary's family and we would ask that their privacy is respected at this difficult time."

In a statement released via the force, Miss Bastholm's family said: "We are aware of the ongoing developments around Mary's disappearance and are being kept up to date and supported by Gloucestershire Police family liaison officers.

"At this time please may we ask for privacy so we can grieve for Mary."

Police carrying evidence bags outside the cafe
PA Media

A white tent has been set up outside the building in Southgate Street and officers are stationed at the scene.

The cafe is close to Cromwell Street, where officers found the bodies of West's victims at the home he shared with his wife Rosemary.

A spokesperson for The Nelson Trust, a women's charity that owns The Clean Plate, said: "As soon as we were made aware of the situation, we have done everything we can to accommodate the investigation.

"The Clean Plate will remain closed until all necessary activity is complete. "It is an extraordinary twist of fate that this building, now associated with a story as tragic as that of the victims of Fred and Rosemary West, is part of a charity working to support women at risk from violence."

Police activity near the Clean Plate cafe
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At the scene

By Andrew Plant, BBC News

Mary Bastholm disappeared at a bus stop on her way to meet her boyfriend.

There has been no trace of her since. It's been a mystery for 53 years.

The cafe has been there for decades and has been under several different names.

One of its waitresses was Mary, who was 15 at the time when Fred West was a regular customer and was known to him.

It was also known he was a builder at the time renovation was needed on the cellar and the toilets at the cafe - work he was believed to have carried out in 1968.

A lot of people locally put two and two together and suggested that perhaps he was responsible for her disappearance and that was where she ended up.

Police say their activity will take place over a number of weeks and there will be disruption for some time.

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Fred West

In 2012, a petition was set up calling for a fresh investigation into Miss Bastholm's disappearance but it was rejected by then Chief Constable Tony Melville.

In 1994, West admitted murdering his daughter Heather.

The confession came as police began to search 25 Cromwell Street, where they found the bodies of nine girls and young women.

He and his wife Rose were jointly charged with nine murders and he was charged with a further three.

West took his own life while awaiting the murder trial the following year.

25 Cromwell Street (now knocked down)

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2021-05-11 15:27:13Z
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Ballymurphy inquest: 10 innocent people killed without justification, coroner finds - Sky News

Ten people shot dead at Ballymurphy, west Belfast, in 1971 were innocent and their deaths were without justification, a coroner has ruled.

Relatives of the nine men and one woman who were killed applauded when Mrs Justice Keegan exonerated them and found there had been a disproportionate use of force.

The coroner attributed nine of the 10 shootings to the British Army, saying there was not enough evidence to determine where the shot that killed the 10th victim, John McKerr, came from.

Victims of the Ballymurphy shooting
Image: The people killed at Ballymurphy - including an 11th victim who died later and was not included in the inquest

She ruled out paramilitary involvement by any of those killed, and described them as "entirely innocent of any wrongdoing on the day in question".

Following the ruling, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister Michelle O'Neill described the killings as "British state murder".

"The victims and the families of the Ballymurphy Massacre have been vindicated and the truth laid bare," she tweeted.

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said the findings will come as "an immense relief and vindication for the families who have maintained for decades that their loved ones were innocent and their killings unjustified".

He added: "Every family bereaved in the conflict must have access to an effective investigation and to a process of justice regardless of the perpetrator."

The fresh inquests - which began in November 2018 - did not include an 11th victim, Paddy McCarthy, who was shot in the hand at a community centre at Ballymurphy and later died of a heart attack.

Those killed included a Roman Catholic priest, 38-year-old Father Hugh Mullan, and Francis Quinn, 44, who was shot when he went to the churchman's aid.

Where the first six victims were shot at Ballymurphy
Image: Where the first six victims were shot at Ballymurphy

Four people died in a second incident - Noel Phillips, 19; Joan Connolly, a 44-year-old mother of eight children; Daniel Teggart, 44, and Joseph Murray, 41.

Edward Doherty, 43, John Laverty, 20, and Joseph Corr, 43, were the last three victims of what residents of the community call "the Ballymurphy massacre".

Where Eddie Doherty was killed

The shootings occurred over three days in August 1971 during serious civil unrest in Belfast when the government moved to detain IRA suspects without trial.

The British Army reported a gun battle with terrorists at Ballymurphy and while there was evidence of some paramilitary activity, the dead were not armed.

Where four more of the Ballymurphy victims died

Horrified that they had been labelled terrorists, their families rejected the outcome of an inquest and demanded a fresh one.

In Tuesday's ruling, the coroner said Fr Mullan and Mr Quinn were killed by shots fired by soldiers and that the force used was not justified.

She said she was satisfied both entered the field to assist an injured man.

While the coroner said there was evidence of a small number of IRA gunmen in the wider area on the day, she said this did not apply to the waste ground when the men were shot.

The family of Frank Quinn, who was killed in Ballymurphy, outside the International Convention Centre in Belfast
Image: The family of Frank Quinn arrive at the inquest

She said neither man was armed and they were not in the vicinity of someone with a gun.

Mrs Justice Keegan said there was evidence that the priest had been waving a white item, either a handkerchief or T-shirt.

She also rejected a suggestion from the Ministry of Defence that the men may have been shot by a sniper from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) loyalist paramilitary group.

However, the coroner said she had been unable to identify which soldiers fired the fatal shots.

She rejected claims that Mr Doherty had been throwing petrol bombs at the time he was shot, adding: "He was an innocent man who posed no threat."

The scene in Ballymurphy where the shootings happened in August 1971
Image: The scene in Ballymurphy where the shootings happened in August 1971

Mr McKerr, a former soldier, was shot as he took a break from maintenance work and died of his injuries.

Mrs Justice Keegan said he was an entirely innocent man but there was not enough evidence for her to determine where the shot that killed him came from, or whether it was fired by the military or paramilitaries.

She noted that Mr McKerr was a "proud military man" and claims that he was associated with the IRA had caused great pain for his family in the five decades since.

"I can allay that rumour and suspicion once and for all," she said.

Following the ruling, Mrs Connolly's daughter Briege Voyle told Sky News the coroner said "exactly what we knew".

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'My dad can rest now'

"Now the world knows - my mummy was an innocent woman. She wasn't a gunwoman," Ms Voyle said.

"She was an innocent woman who came out of a place of safety to help a child."

Ms Voyle said the "soldiers didn't cooperate with the courts so that meant we're left with a lot of questions".

Mrs Justice Keegan described the inquests as the longest running to date in Northern Ireland.

She said the shootings had been a violation of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights - the right to life protected by law.

The findings mark a watershed moment in a campaign that has lasted nearly half a century.

But they come on the very day the government confirmed plans to introduce legislation to address Northern Ireland's past.

That is likely to mean an end to historical prosecutions, an effective amnesty that would apply to both soldiers and terrorists.

Victims on all sides say any statute of limitations on offences before the Good Friday Agreement would deny them justice.

Mrs Voyle told Sky News the British government had been "very disrespectful".

"They're talking about veterans who've had a life - they came here and killed our loved ones and they went home and carried on having a life," she said.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said the coroner's findings were "vindication" of a long campaign by the victims' families.

But she added: "Today will be bittersweet as the British government confirms that they will now attempt to block the families from getting justice, in defiance of an international agreement signed with the Irish government on dealing with the past."

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2021-05-11 14:37:30Z
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The Queen's Speech begins The State Opening of Parliament BBC - BBC

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2021-05-11 11:27:20Z
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