
One of Europe's strongest floating cranes to recover Mike Lynch's sunken yacht
Simon Graves, a principal investigator for the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) told an inquest hearing into the deaths of the four British nationals who were on board that the agency will be at the scene when the vessel is brought to shore.

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Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
'Ballymena riots are not noble acts to protect women - they are racist attacks'
Riots broke out this week in Ballymena, a small Northern Irish town following the arrest of two 14-year-old boys following an alleged sexual assault on June 7. The Mirror reported that 2,500 people amassed in the Harryville area of the town on Tuesday evening, a day after both of the youths denied charges of attempted oral sexual assault at a magistrates court. Further protests were seen on June 11 spreading across Ballymena, and other towns Larne and Coleraine. This may seem noble on the surface: locals taking to the streets to protect women and girls. If this was the case, these same rioters would be out on the streets week on week, as violence against women is endemic in Northern Ireland. The riots, however, are a veneer for the racism that lurks beneath. These men have not taken to the streets out of the goodness of their hearts to ensure safe passage for everyone to live happy, harmonious lives. June 11 marked the third night of unrest in the town, with 17 police officers injured. The Police Service of Northern Ireland in a statement said of June 10's violence that they 'sustained attack over a number of hours with multiple petrol bombs, heavy masonry, bricks and fireworks' thrown at officers. Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said: 'The mindless violence witnessed over the past two nights in Ballymena is deeply concerning and utterly unacceptable. These criminal acts not only endanger lives but also risk undermining the ongoing criminal justice process led by the PSNI in support of a victim who deserves truth, justice, and protection.' In a statement to Belfast Live, Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson added that the 'violence was clearly racially motivated and targeted at our minority ethnic community and police.' This, to me, is reminiscent of the stoked racist hatred that erupted in the wake of the Southport attacks of July 2024. Of these attacks, CNN reported that: 'far-right agitators [had] mobilized around online misinformation and hateful, anti-migrant and anti-Muslim narratives.' It is no secret that far-right extremists exploit the pain of horrendous crimes or allegations of crime, like the Southport murders of three girls and the recent alleged sexual assault in Ballymena, for their own gain. It is right out of their playbook to turn this hurt into rage against a targeted group. In the Ballymena unrest, two properties were set alight, one on Bridge Street while the other is a home on Queen Street. Windows were smashed on other homes, as residents took to putting up signs displaying their nationality of the occupiers. 'British household' one reads, while another says "Filipino lives here". This is abhorrent. No society can achieve equality, in any respect, through fear. It is a relief to see that the political leaders of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom stand against this hatred. First Minister Michele O'Neill has called the attacks 'abhorrent', while Prime Minister Keir Starmer 'utterly condemns the violence'. But this condemnation is not totally universal, nor without caveats. TUV MP for North Antrim, Jim Alister, said on BBC Radio Ulster: 'It would be foolish to ignore the fact that there is a racial connotation to this matter. 'Violence wherever it comes from is wrong, but the context of this situation needs to be addressed. The context is that there has been unhindered migration, particularly from the Republic [of Ireland], of people of Roma extraction into Ballymena. That has been building tension for years.' Women deserve safety, security, and respect. Nothing short of total equality. That applies no matter your background. There is no room for racism in any society. We must not accept these attacks as anything but what they are: racist attacks.


Wales Online
2 hours ago
- Wales Online
Violence erupts for third night in UK town as rioters set leisure centre on fire
Violence erupts for third night in UK town as rioters set leisure centre on fire Homes have been evacuated and a leisure centre housing migrants has been set alight A third night of civil unrest has unfolded in Ballymena, NI (Image: Getty Images ) A third night of violence has ensued in a UK town in what has been described as "anti-immigration riots." Videos circulating online show a number of projectiles being launched at police in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, including petrol bombs and fireworks in another night of rioting which has seen violence, arrests and a number of people injured. The riots began on Monday after two teenage boys appeared in court accused of attempted rape. They had confirmed their names and ages through a Romanian interpreter and denied the charges against them. By Monday afternoon, a social media post advertising a planned protest at 7.30pm that evening had been widely circulated and despite it being planned as peaceful, violent attacks were launched on places known to house migrants. Since then there have been three nights of violence and vandalism with people reportedly afraid to leave their homes, multiple arrests and dozens of police officers injured. On Wednesday masked youths attacked Larne Leisure Centre by smashing windows and setting fires. They are believed to have targeted the building after social media posts had suggested that those moved out of Ballymena homes were being housed there. Article continues below It is understood that there was no one inside the Leisure Centre during the attack. Emergency services created blockades with vehicles and a water cannon was also used in an effort to disperse the crowds that gathered close to Clonavon Terrace. Police used water jets to disperse the crowds (Image: Getty Images ) DUP politician Gordon Lyons posted a message to Facebook on Wednesday: "A number of individuals were temporarily moved to Larne Lesiure Centre... following disturbances in Ballymena. "It has now been confirmed to us by the PSNI and Council that all these individuals are in the care of the Housing Executive and have been moved out of Larne. "Protesting is of course a legitimate right but violence is not and I would encourage everyone to remain peaceful." The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the 'mindless attacks which has been described by senior police officers as "racist thuggery." Article continues below Some Ballymena residents have put British and Irish flags in their windows so that their homes are not targeted. Many locals have said they are too afraid to leave their homes.


Spectator
10 hours ago
- Spectator
Has deporting illegals become illegal?
The circus around Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia – whose full name the New York Times likes to trot out as if citing an old-school English aristocrat – speaks volumes about the immigration battle roiling the US. Our friend Kilmar is what we fuddy-duddies insist on calling an illegal immigrant. The Salvadoran crossed clandestinely into the US in 2012. As for what he's done since, that depends on whom you ask. According to his GoFundMe page, Kilmar is a 'husband, union worker and father of a disabled five-year-old'. Left-wing media portray 'the Maryland man' – a tag akin to Axel Rudakubana's 'a Welshman' – as an industrious metalworker devoted to his family. His wife has rowed back on the temporary protective order she once requested, claiming she'd been over-cautious. Yet according to the Trump administration, Kilmar is a member of the notoriously violent street gang MS-13 who's derived his primary source of income from smuggling hundreds of illegals over the southern border for several years. Choose A or B. In 2019, Kilmar was arrested for loitering along with three other men, one a suspected MS-13 member. He was carrying marijuana, for which (of course) he wasn't charged. From his clothing, tattoos and, more persuasively, a 'past proven and reliable' confidential source who verified he was an active gang member using the moniker 'Chele', police adjudged that Kilmar was a gangbanger, for which (of course) he wasn't charged. He was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement – whose acronym, ICE, reinforces its rep as cold-hearted – which moved to deport him. Kilmar (of course) contested his removal. The immigration judge hearing Kilmar's case concurred that the defendant was indeed a gang member and deportable; the Salvadoran (of course) appealed the decision, which nevertheless was upheld. Kilmar (of course) then filed for asylum, as well as for a 'withholding of removal'. A subsequent immigration judge stayed his deportation to his home country, where his wellbeing might be endangered by local gangs. Now, you might suppose that putting yourself in the way of other famously rivalrous gangs would come with the territory when you join one yourself. Like, inter-gang violence seems a natural hazard of this line of work. But it's not only British immigration judges who are soft touches. Only mass round-ups and swift group trials could effectively address the millions of gate-crashers Kilmar (of course) remained in the US. In 2022, he was pulled over for speeding while driving eight other Hispanic men of uncertain immigration status in an SUV altered to add a third row of seats for extra passengers. The officers suspected human-trafficking; Kilmar's driving licence had expired; a run of his number plate through the database turned up a federal note on likely membership of MS-13. Yet when the patrolmen contacted the feds, ICE (of course) declined to pick him up. So Kilmar was (of course) released without charge. Even so, his claim that he was merely transporting construction workers between jobs did not, under investigation, hold up. Fast-forward to 2025 and why this otherwise obscure Salvadoran who is or is not a thug merits such a detailed lowdown. Meaning (of course) that this case has to do with Donald Trump – whose evil minions in March flew more than 230 purported criminals to a Salvadoran prison, including none other than Kilmar, whom ICE did finally pick up (no 'of course' there). The flights' timing was judicially dodgy. The planes did or didn't take off after a federal judge ruled that the flights could not proceed until the deportees were given the opportunity to challenge their removal. The administration appealed to the Supreme Court, which directed Trump to 'facilitate' Kilmar's return to the US. Because, remember, there was only one country to which he could not be deported because of that credulous 2019 decision: his own. Hence the Justice Department's acceptance that Kilmar's deportation was an 'administrative error'. During this proxy war with Trump, Democrats have pretended to hair-tear over poor Kilmar, mouldering away in a nasty foreign prison and deprived of due process. But the story I just laid out has due process, not to mention leniency or even dereliction on the part of the authorities, up the wazoo. Meanwhile, after slyly getting their jurisprudential ducks in a row, last week Trump and co finally got Kilmar flown back to the US, only to arrest him immediately for human-trafficking – with every intention of convicting the guy and then deporting him right back to El Salvador. What do we make of this farce? The American commentariat has focused on a potential showdown between Trump and the judiciary, claiming to fear a flat-out executive refusal to follow court orders but secretly rather hoping that Trump does defy the courts and thus reveals himself as an unconstitutional tyrant. I view this absurd tale through a different lens. All these trials and flights for a lone illegal alien are expensive. The amount of 'due process' the American justice system affords every single illegal makes deportation at any scale impossible. There isn't enough time and money and there aren't nearly enough judges to make any but a token gesture toward the mass deportation of illegals that Trump has promised. That amounts to a victory not just for Democrats but also for disorder. I'd assess the odds that Kilmar is a thug at about 90 per cent. But proving membership of unofficial allegiances in court is a bastard. If every individual deportation case must be adjudicated according to exacting evidentiary rules and appeal procedures, America's drastic, undemocratic demographic change will proceed inexorably. Only mass round-ups and swift group trials could effectively address the staggering ten million gate-crashers during the Biden administration alone. What are the chances of that? In New York at the weekend, ICE raids were impeded by LA-style crowds of righteously indignant protestors screaming: 'Let them go! Let them go!' The officers just doing their jobs looked beleaguered, tired, numb and pre-defeated. After all the ICE agents' thankless labours, what proportion of their detainees will still get to stay in the country in the end? I'll take another stab at 90 per cent.