Latest news with #Lucan
Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Everything we know about the upcoming Invincible VS release
(Image via Invincible fans, get ready, as the Invincible VS is now officially on the way. Skybound Games and Quarter Up at Summer Game Fest officially pulled back the curtain on this 3v3 tag-team fighter game. The title is about to bring the blood-soaked, brutal action of Robert Kirkman 's comic and animated series to the world of gaming. The available trailer even promises intense superhero combat, cinematic storytelling, a roster of some fan-favorite characters, and more. Here is all we know so far about the upcoming game. Invincible 3v3 tag fighter to bring core gameplay and brutal combat Invincible VS got confirmed as the 3v3 fighting game. It draws clear inspiration from beloved classics like Marvel vs. Capcom, but it doesn't forget the graphic violence for which the series is popularly known. The players in the game will assemble teams of the 3 powerful characters from the universe of Robert Kirkman. Its core mechanics revolve around tagging fighters, in and out, during the frenetic battles filled with some ultimate and bone-crunching moves. They create opportunities for strategic switches and extended combos. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Thị trường có dấu hiệu suy thoái không? IC Markets Đăng ký Undo Invincible VS - Official Gameplay Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2025 The initial gameplay trailer released shows brutal clashes featuring Lucan, Omni-Man, and Thula taking on Invincible. Atom Eye and Rex Splode also joined the fray. The tag mechanics are central within the game, but the specifics, like the character assists, are still unconfirmed. For now, expect aerial, fast-paced combat, where mastering team synergy would be the key to your victory. The combat in the game isn't flashy, but it's visceral. Characters show brutal finishers, complete with a kind of gore that made the Invincible series infamous. Additionally, the developers, including the ex-Killer Instinct members, have aimed here for a competitive yet accessible fighter that stays true to the game's source material. Invincible storyline, style, and signature savagery The original narrative of the game is penned by the creator of Invincible, Robert Kirkman himself, and it is expected to drive the captivating cinematic story mode. It even promises to deliver character depth and the dramatic stakes that the fans expect. Much more beyond the storyline, there are some confirmed modes for Invincible too. They include arcade battles, online multiplayer to test the skills globally, and dedicated training to hone the devastating combos. True to the source material, the upcoming Invincible VS doesn't seem to shy away from the graphic violence. The trailer highlights a series of trademark bloody battles with brutal ultimate finishers and super moves. So, expect the visible battle damage and, of course, impactful combat that would capture the hit animated series and comics essence. Invincible Development and platform availability To add further credibility, the game is being developed by the former key members of a very critically acclaimed 2013 Killer Instinct team. Their expertise in crafting deep and satisfying fighting systems bodes well, with Invincible VS becoming the standout competitive title. The voice talent from animated series like J.K. Simmons and Steven Yeun is strongly recommended by trailer release. Invincible VS is slated to be released across some major platforms in 2026. The players can look forward to unleashing chaos on PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and even Xbox Series X/S. With the Mortal Kombat Omni-Man guest appearance, the game is already a hit and has some big shoes to fill. But truthfully, it's the fighting game expertise of the game and the direct involvement of Kirkman that sets it apart. If it is executed right, it can be a superhero fighter fans have been waiting for—relentless, packed with personality, and raw.
Times
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Labubu dolls: why adults are queuing up for these exclusive toys
This summer you may see a peculiar sight in the Arnotts store in Dublin. Queues will be forming, not for the latest Kylie make-up launch or iPhone release, but for a vending machine dispensing the must-have soft toy, Labubu dolls. And it's adults, not kids, who are trying to get their hands on the strange, yet exclusive, plush figures. Depriving yourself of sleep for more than two weeks is the stuff of nightmares for so many of us. For Noor Hadi, however, a 22-year-old computer science graduate in Dublin, the self-inflicted act was entirely worth it. Hadi, who lives in Lucan, is crazy about Labubu dolls, the round, furry, elf-like toys manufactured in China that are high in demand and short in supply. The dolls retail for about €20, but the problem is their exclusivity. Limited stock is drip-sold across different world markets at any one time, meaning securing one — let alone an entire collection — is often the stuff of dreams and can lead to competitive auctions. 'It was the Labubu Tasty Macaron Version 1, the first Labubu plush pendant series, and I had to stay up during the night for two whole weeks just to catch a restock and then as soon as I did, they went out of stock,' Hadi explains. 'As collectors, we like to source these things properly and I've always believed these collectibles are a way to express yourself. To some people it would be seen as a waste of money but it's really not that. For me, each character has its own story and how you connect to it makes you want to continue collecting them.' Hadi, and many others' obsession with the toys, which are designed to hang off handbags or luggage, began when the Thai rapper and K-pop star Lalisa Manobal shared a post of herself in April last year clutching the toy. In one post, she single-handedly launched a Gen Z global fixation with the cuddly monster. The star, better known as Lisa from Blackpink, a South Korean group and one of the world's biggest-selling music acts — they have amassed 40 billion streams and sold 20 million records worldwide — immediately became a meme with TikTok followers hitching themselves to the Labubu bandwagon. Like most trends, the dolls, introduced in 2019 by the Chinese toymaker Pop Mart — its 38-year-old chief executive, Wang Ning, is now worth $17.4 billion (€15.4 billion) — and based on characters created in 2015 by Kasing Lung, a Hong Kong-born artist, sell like hot cakes with western consumers left to fight over limited stocks after the Asian market has had its fill. In Ireland the only place to secure them currently is through a handful of niche stores selling merchandise and graphic novels, leaving a plethora of disappointed fans who don't manage to land one during a limited sale, or to wait for Pop Mart to open its TikTok shop solely for European buyers — a staggered affair that is likened to trying to get a ticket for a Taylor Swift concert. And yet the craze continues to grow with posts and videos from Labubu converts pleading for help to source the elusive toys. Many more share their 'fails', where a purchase from an unreliable seller has delivered a dud or a fake but costing the same or more as the real deal. These knock-off buys are commonly described as a 'Lafufu'. The mystery of these purchases isn't helped by the fact that the toys come in cutesy sealed plastic packaging called a 'blind box' so what's inside remains a hit or miss until opened, unless bought from a certified seller from Pop Mart. Kevin Lyons, manager of Forbidden Planet in Dublin, one of the few shops in Ireland that sells the dolls, says the store is completely sold out. 'It's honestly one of the most popular things right now,' he says. 'We don't have any stock and that's due to demand. The problem is that we place our orders, but they're allocated so we won't get the full order and that means less stock coming in for something that is in demand.' And it's not just Labubu breaking hearts and wallets. Lyons is seeing a spike in interest for Smiski, small Japanese figurines famous for a glow-in-the-dark range, and Sonny Angel, another Japanese creation of tiny cherub winged boys with the slogan 'He may bring you happiness'. • Why nostalgia beats living in the moment What all three have in common is they are sold as blind packaging, with collectors eagerly stocking up until they have full sets of the toys. 'None of these are in stock either,' adds Lyons, who, having worked at the store since the 1990s, credits the pandemic and the rise of TikTok for these growing fascinations. 'When we had the pandemic and we were in behind the scenes doing our mail orders a lot of people were doing TikToks with lightsabers and prop replicas from Star Wars, and you had all these things going viral and it generated more of an interest, particularly for a certain demographic, kind of mid to late teens upwards. But Sonny Angels, Smiskis and Labubus, most of them are blind boxes, so you won't know what's in the box until you open them. And those are all the rage right now.' Plushie popularity shows no signs of slowing down. In July Arnotts will open a Pop Mart Robo Shop, a vending machine stocked with Labubu in their trademark blind boxes, already a quirky feature in Selfridges in London. • Jellycat fans get fuzzy feeling in plushie phenomenon 'We've seen how powerful nostalgia is among our customers like with Jellycat, for example, where we had people travel from abroad to buy one of these plush toys,' says Edel Woods, head of home and lifestyle at Brown Thomas/Arnotts. 'The arrival of Labubu in July takes that even further, bringing a whole new wave of playful, collectible characters that spark real emotional connection.' It's not just furry charms and trinkets selling big, however, as the adult toy market, which exploded in 2020 when people were stuck in their homes, switched from buying out of boredom to chasing nostalgia, finding comfort in brands synonymous with their childhoods. Global Insights, a research company, estimated the global toy market was worth $114.4 billion last year, with growth expectations from $120.5 billion in 2025 to $203.1 billion in 2034. Circana, another market research and analytics firm, found in a study of toy sales across 12 global markets in 2024, including the US, Australia, France and Germany, that licensed toy sales grew 8 per cent and accounted for 34 per cent of the total toy market. Pokémon was the top-selling toy property globally, followed by familiar classics such as Barbie, Marvel Universe, Hot Wheels and Star Wars. • Can't keep plants alive? Try the Lego versions instead 'Lego Botanicals emerged as the top gaining property, reflecting the trend towards toys targeted at adult consumers, tapping into the mindfulness trend and toys for better mental health,' the Circana research noted. According to Statista, the global data platform, the toys and games market in Ireland is expected to be in the region of $313.64 million this year. The market is dominated by Hasbro, Mattel, Lego and Spin Master, with action figures, dolls and emerging niche toys among the big sellers. Jason Flood, 48, from Dublin's city centre, who owns Heroes and Villains, an online store selling comics and toys, has seen nostalgia fuel adult demand for collectibles in recent years. 'I'm a 1980s kid that never grew out of my love for comics and toys from that time,' he says. 'Now nostalgia is my business and I sell comics and toys from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and I see people relive moments from their childhoods all the time whether it's a dad pointing out action figures he had to his children or a family now collecting GI Joes or He-Man characters together. I basically turned my hobby into a career.' Flood's own unabashed appreciation of older toys and comics stems from what he calls 'a time travel effect', where you relive moments of your childhood triggered by the reference of a cartoon character or even the sight of a boxed doll that you had longed for but never owned. Suddenly, as an adult, and with money of your own, that happy childhood memory is once again within reach. 'Although I sell online I try to put on displays at shows so I can meet people and my customers face to face,' he explains. 'When I attended Comic Con last year, I put on a display to celebrate 40 years of Transformers and recreated battle scenes like I saw as a child in Arnotts and Switzers at Christmas time. Two things happened: people either went 'I'm so old' because the toys were 40 years old, or would gather their kids and go 'I had that one, and I had that one …' And you see that kind of family interest growing now with, say, a display of He-Man figures, and the kids would say, 'Dad, we don't have She-Ra or that version of Bear Man.' So it's the next generation appreciating what was really important to us as children and sort of history repeating itself.' Why is there such a want to hark back to days of old? Shane O'Mara, professor of experimental brain research at Trinity College Dublin, says nostalgia often presents as a 'bittersweet blend of affectionate exaggeration and genuine longing'. 'It is a multifaceted psychological phenomenon, deeply rooted in our biology and culture,' he says. 'Once diagnosed as a potentially fatal 'homesickness' among 17th-century Swiss mercenaries, nostalgia is now seen as an adaptive emotion that bolsters wellbeing, forges social bonds and sustains a coherent sense of narrative self. 'By bringing past and present together, nostalgia reveals itself as a wonderful, if dangerous, emotion — by longing for that which has gone, it traps you in something that can never be again, but by merging nostalgia with thinking about the future, it can help shape how you approach tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow — what you might yet become.' For Lyons, however, what nostalgia has done for the toy buying world is something far more important by making a niche market once derided and dismissed as more mainstream, accessible and acceptable. Yes, there are transient trends such as Labubu that come and go, but Funko Pop!, Ninja Turtles, Pokémon, Star Wars, anime and manga show no signs of slowing decades on. 'It's no longer just a niche thing where people would be criticised for buying stuff like that with terminology such as 'nerd' and 'geek',' Lyons says. 'That doesn't tend to be the case any more. You know, the world is more of an open place, which is great for everybody.' Hadi agrees. With 30 Labubu dolls displayed in her room alongside an impressive collection (she has 145) of another popular Chinese character called Hirono, a small boy figurine seen to represent human emotions, she says their power lies in self-expression. 'We're so caught up with everything that's going on in the world at the moment and there's just so many negative things,' she says. 'But there's also positive things like collecting these figures, and if you feel even an ounce of happiness from doing this, then go ahead and do it. It's not a waste of money for a little plastic toy and there's nothing wrong with it. I think everyone has an outlet for self-expression and this is mine.'
Buzz Feed
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
13 Famous People Who Disappeared Without A Trace
Richey Edwards was the intense, brilliant lyricist for the Manic Street Preachers, penning most of the lyrics of their iconic 1994 album The Holy Bible. Just before a U.S. promo tour, the 27-year-old vanished. WHAT HAPPENED: Just one day before he was scheduled to fly to the U.S., on Feb. 1, 1995, the 27-year-old Edwards went missing. He was reportedly seen by fans and a cab driver in the following days, but his car was eventually found near the Severn Bridge, a known suicide site. At the time, Edwards was struggling with depression, self-harm, anorexia, and alcoholism. Still, no body was ever found. In 2008, over a decade later, his family had him legally presumed dead, but as their lawyer explained, it was more a move to get his affairs in order, saying, "That's not the same as an acceptance that he is dead." WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: In the years since, people have claimed to spot the musician all over the world — Goa, the Canary Islands — always under a new name, always just out of reach. Some point to his fascination with disappearing as a concept. Before he vanished, he reportedly gave the book Novel with Cocaine to a friend and asked them to read the introduction, where the author wrote about vanishing from society. A 2019 book on Edwards entitled Withdrawn Traces, written with the cooperation of his sister Rachel Edwards, echoes this, saying that he'd shown interest in the idea of faking one's death in the years before he was last Rachel told GQ, 'We know no more now than we did 25 years ago.' Lord Richard John Bingham, aka Lord Lucan, was a charming, wealthy, and scandal-ridden British aristocrat. A professional gambler and regular at London's poshest clubs, Lucan was known for living lavishly, despite a crumbling marriage and big-time money problems (he was a gambler, remember). WHAT HAPPENED: On the night of November 7, 1974, Lucan's children's nanny, 29-year-old Sandra Rivett, was bludgeoned to death in the family home. That same night Lucan's estranged wife Veronica stumbled into a pub, covered in blood. She said she too had been attacked and identified her husband as the assailant. Lucan fled the scene, abandoned his car near a port, and was never seen again. WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: Is this a tale as old as time, of a rich guy escaping accountability for his wrongdoing thanks to big bucks and friends in high places? Maybe. Theories abound. Some believe his aristocratic friends helped him escape to Africa or South America. Over the years, there have been dozens of alleged sightings — in New Zealand, Australia, and even India — but none confirmed. Others, however, say he died by by jumping into the water near the port?He was declared legally dead in 1999, but rumors have persisted that he lived under a new identity for decades. Wildly, just last year, Sandra's son Neil and an investigator tracked down a 90-year-old man in Australia they believe to be Lucan living in secret, but have yet to convince local authorities. Whatever the truth, Lord Lucan remains Britain's most famous fugitive. Barbara Newhall Follett came from a family of very bright people (her sister, for example, was the first woman graduate student at Princeton), but she was the brightest of them all. She wrote poetry at age 4 and in 1927, and at just 12, she published her first book, The House Without Windows, to critical acclaim (The Saturday Review of Literature called the book 'almost unbearably beautiful'). Her next novel came out two years later to more critical acclaim. But fame faded, her father (and champion) left the family, and her life slowly unraveled. WHAT HAPPENED: In 1939, at age 25, after a fight with her husband (whom she suspected of an affair), Barbara walked out of their apartment with the equivalent of just under $700 in today's dollars. She left no note. No trace. Her husband didn't report her missing for two weeks. She was never seen again. WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: Some believe Barbara died by suicide. Others think she was murdered — possibly by her husband, who acted strangely and avoided questioning. Of course, a pretty young woman walking alone at night with a decent chunk of change in her pocket was at risk from other threats, years, her mother tried to reopen the case but got nowhere. She also was very suspicious of Barbara's husband, and wrote to him, "All of this silence on your part looks as if you had something to hide concerning Barbara's disappearance ... You cannot believe that I shall sit idle during my last few years and not make whatever effort I can to find out whether Bar is alive or dead, whether, perhaps, she is in some institution suffering from amnesia or nervous breakdown."In 2019, writer Daniel Mills published his theory that police did find Barbara's body in 1946, but misidentified it as someone else. If he's right, and Barbara did indeed die by suicide, then a life that began with such incredible promise ended in a deeply sad way. Michael Rockefeller was American royalty. The 23-year-old son of New York Governor and future Vice President of the United States Nelson Rockefeller (who would die while having sex, as described in this post), was an art collector, anthropologist, and heir to one of the richest families in U.S. history. To his credit, he often turned his back on a life of luxury to seek out adventure. WHAT HAPPENED: In 1961, Michael and a colleague were on an expedition in Papua New Guinea to collect Indigenous art when their pontoon boat capsized, stranding them miles from shore in a catamaran. After drifting a while, Michael tired of waiting to be rescued and reportedly said, "I think I can make it," then paddled off toward land using empty gas cans as flotation. His colleague watched him until he disappeared on the horizon. He was never seen again. WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: Despite a two-week search for Rockefeller involving ships, airplanes, helicopters, and thousands of locals scouring the coasts and swamps, no trace of the heir was found. At first, it was assumed he drowned, was eaten by a shark or 15-foot crocodile, or died from exposure (after all, he was 14 miles from shore when he set out for it). But New Guinea's coastal tribes had a complex history with outsiders, including brutal colonial violence. Rumors quickly spread that Michael had made it to shore… only to be killed and cannibalized by members of the Asmat tribe, with his bones being turned into weapons and fishing the decades, several documentaries and books — including Savage Harvest — have explored this theory. One even claims Michael assimilated into tribal life and lived in secret. But despite deep dives by journalists and even the Rockefeller family (using their deep pockets to try to get to the bottom of what happened), no definitive proof has ever emerged. Dorothy Arnold was everything you'd expect from a New York socialite: elegant, well-educated, extravagantly rich, and constantly in the public eye. She dreamed of being a writer, but kept her failed publishing attempts a secret from her disapproving parents. And then — one day — she was WHAT HAPPENED: On Dec. 12, 1910, the 25-year-old left her family's Upper East Side home to buy a new evening gown. She stopped by a bookstore and bought a copy of the short-story collection Engaged Girl Sketches, then chatted briefly with a friend on Fifth Avenue. That was around 2 p.m. And then…nothing. She vanished in broad daylight, on one of Manhattan's busiest streets, never to be seen again. Her family waited a full day before going to the police — not because they weren't worried, but because they were embarrassed. Her father even hired Pinkerton detectives to look for her in secret, worried that a public scandal could hurt her reputation. But weeks passed. Then months. No body, no note, no confirmed sightings. WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: Over the years, countless theories emerged. Some believed Dorothy died by suicide over her failed writing career or an unrequited love (could the book she bought about engagements be a clue?). Others suggested she died during a botched abortion, and her body had been quietly disposed of. A few speculated she was murdered in Central Park or kidnapped right off the popular theory? She faked her own death and fled (perhaps to Europe) to start over. She had, after all, bristled against her parents' protectiveness (her father, for example, had refused to let her get an apartment of her own). But despite alleged sightings of her everywhere from Philadelphia to Texas (later discredited), and at least two women who claimed to be Dorothy (all proven to be impostors), there simply was no proof of heartbroken mother died in 1928, still hoping for answers, while her father, who dismissed the idea that his daughter would ever "disgrace" the family by sneaking off without a trace, passed away a few years later. In one of his final interviews, he declared, "After all these years, I am convinced that Dorothy is dead." Jim Sullivan was a folk-rock musician in the style of Gram Parsons or Nick Drake who appeared in the classic film Easy Rider. His 1969 debut album U.F.O. was filled with lyrics about desert roads, aliens, and leaving Earth behind — the kind of stuff that didn't exactly scream "chart-topper," lol — but it built a cult following years later. Above, Jim appears in the 1968 film The Pickup. WHAT HAPPENED: In March 1975, Sullivan left L.A. to drive to Nashville in hopes of kickstarting his music career. En route, he checked into a motel in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, then bought a bottle of vodka and drove out of town. He was spotted 26 miles away at a then never again. His car was later found abandoned with his wallet, ID, guitar, and belongings still inside. WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: Locals said he seemed disoriented in the days before he vanished. Theories ranged from dehydration or a mental health crisis to foul play (perhaps by the mafia). But no remains were ever found, and no one reported seeing him after that surreal part is how closely Sullivan's real-life disappearance mirrors the themes of his music. His album U.F.O. opens with a track about a man who drives into the desert and disappears. The eerie coincidence made fans wonder: was Jim trying to vanish? Did he have a breakdown? Or — as some like to joke — was he actually abducted by aliens (hey, it's as good a guess as any)? Nearly 50 years later, there are still zero clues about what happened. His old friend Al Dobbs told the New York Times, 'I think he stumbled into something or someone that was unforgiving. It's kind of poetic to picture him still walking out there somewhere. But something happened.' Connie Converse was writing and recording deeply personal songs in the '50s — way, way before the singer-songwriter era made that cool. Her voice was intimate and her lyrics literary, but her life became increasingly complicated as the years rolled by. WHAT HAPPENED: After years of struggling to find an audience, Connie left New York in the early '60s, moved in with family, and fell into a depression. In August 1974, she wrote letters to friends and family saying she needed to "make a new life," packed up her Volkswagen Beetle, and drove away. She was 50. No one has heard from her since. WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: In the decades since, a new generation fell in love with her melancholy brilliance. But what happened to her remains unknown. The letters she left behind could be interpreted as suicide notes, but they also mentioned returning to New York and her music career. And, if they were suicide notes, why was her body never found? Or her car, for that matter? Ten years later, her brother contacted a private investigator about searching for her, but decided to let it be; if she wanted to start a new life, that was her right. Here's hoping that is what happened, and there's not a darker explanation. Percy Fawcett was the real-life inspiration for Indiana Jones — a British explorer obsessed with the uncharted Amazon and the belief that a lost ancient civilization was hidden within it. He called it the City of "Z." WHAT HAPPENED: In 1925, the 57-year-old Fawcett set out into the Brazilian jungle with his 21-year-old son Jack and Jack's best friend Raleigh with big plans to finally locate the city he'd spent decades theorizing about. 'We shall return,' Fawcett told reporters ahead of the trip, 'and we shall bring back what we seek.' However, after sending a final message via courier from a remote outpost, the entire party vanished. No confirmed trace of any of them was ever found. WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: Over 100 would-be rescuers and adventurers followed in Fawcett's footsteps in the years that followed. Some vanished themselves. Others were killed by tribes in the region. A few came back convinced Fawcett had died, or with wild stories of seeing him alive and living among Indigenous people, but none of these accounts could be what DID happen? Well, let's be real for a second — dying was easy in the jungle. Between piranha-infested waters, dangerous jaguars, and the risk of malaria, parasitic infection, and starvation, there were all kinds of potential tragic ends for the group. Some believe hostile tribes killed him. That's possible. In 2005, Kalapalo Indians claimed that their oral history passed down that Fawcett made the mistake of crossing into the land of the warlike tribe, the Kalapalos. And then there are the diehards who still believe he found the mythical city... and stayed there. You know what? Let's go with that happy explanation, especially because it sounds the most like the ending of an Indiana Jones adventure. Amelia Earhart was already a global icon when, in 1937, she set out to become the first woman to fly around the world. Smart, daring, and fiercely independent, she was the face of American aviation — and one of the most famous people in the world. But she's on this list, so you already know the trip didn't end well. WHAT HAPPENED: On July 2, 1937, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean near Howland Island, contact with Earhart's plane was lost. She and navigator Fred Noonan were never seen again. Despite one of the largest and most expensive search efforts ever launched at the time, neither wreckage nor bodies were recovered. WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: There are, of course, lots of theories about what happened. Some say she ran out of fuel and crashed into the sea. Others believe she crash-landed on a nearby island and died as a castaway. Then there's the theory that she was captured and killed by the Japanese after accidentally flying into territory they thing is, no matter how hard people try, no one ever seems able to crack the mystery (recently, an ocean exploration company claimed to have found her plane turned out to be a rock formation, lol). This year, there will supposedly be an expedition to Nikumaroro Island, based on a theory that Earhart's plane landed on the island's reef and later sank. The team plans to investigate an underwater anomaly, dubbed the "Taraia Object," which may be the missing aircraft. Hmm. I'll believe it when I see it. Harold Holt was Prime Minister of Australia and a close ally of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson when he went for a swim and vanished into the ocean. WHAT HAPPENED: On December 17, 1967, Holt went for a swim at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria. It wasn't a great idea — the conditions were rough and the currents strong. Holt swam out to sea and then disappeared from The government launched one of the largest search operations in Australian history, but no body ever washed ashore; nothing turned up. WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: Sure, it's most likely he drowned. But Holt said he knew the swimming spot like the back of his hand (in fact, the above photo is of him in the water at the same spot where he disappeared), so conspiracy theories quickly piled up. Some believe he faked his death to run off with a lover. Others claimed he was a Chinese spy who was picked up by a submarine (don't bet your life savings on that one being true).More grounded theories point to the rough conditions and strong the fact that Holt had a history of heart issues. But still — how does the leader of a country vanish during a casual swim with zero trace? Glenn Miller was one of the world's biggest stars, famous as the bandleader whose swing music defined a generation. But when World War II began, he enlisted as a captain in the U.S. Army Air Forces and led the Army Air Forces Band with a mission to boost morale. "This was a lot of hard work, a lot of hard times, a lot of bad, dangerous traveling," according to NPR's Noah Adams. It worked, though, and Miller was promoted to General just a few months before he was last seen. WHAT HAPPENED: On December 15, 1944, Miller boarded a small aircraft in England headed for Paris, where his band was scheduled to perform. Somewhere over the English Channel, the plane vanished. No mayday call. No crash site. No bodies. Just gone. WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: In truth, this one is probably the least mysterious disappearance on the list, as bad weather most likely brought down the plane. But no wreckage was ever found, and wartime secrecy muddied the records. One of the most famous people in the world did flew in the aftermath: some said the plane was hit by friendly fire, while others spread a very far-fetched conspiracy theory that he died in a Paris brothel and the plane story was a cover-up. (That one has zero evidence, but it's out there.) Officially, Glenn Miller was lost in a wartime accident, and we can only guess at exactly how he met his demise. Sadly, his fans learned of his tragic fate on Christmas Day, 1944. Ambrose Bierce was one of America's greatest writers, a journalist and author who survived the Civil War and wrote the classic The Devil's Dictionary, which defines "peace" as "a period of cheating between two periods of fighting." WHAT HAPPENED: In 1913, at age 71, Bierce joined Pancho Villa's rebel army in Mexico as a war correspondent. He wrote a few letters from the front — one ending with the line "To be a gringo in Mexico — ah, that is euthanasia!" — and then stopped writing. Completely. There were no confirmed sightings, no remains, and no definitive reports of his fate. WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: An official investigation by U.S. consular officials was conducted, but it only confused things further. Some say he was killed during battle (most likely the siege of Ojinaga in January 1914). Others think Villa's men executed him. And some believe he was never in Mexico at all — that his letters from Mexico were subterfuge to allow him to secretly die by suicide at the Grand Canyon. The truth will likely never be known. Oscar Zeta Acosta was a larger-than-life figure: a Chicano activist, lawyer, novelist, and the real-life inspiration for Dr. Gonzo in Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (played by Benicio Del Toro in the movie). A firebrand in every sense, this dude was always in the middle of something intense. Above, Denver artist Adolfo Romero paints a mural of Oscar Zeta Acosta in 2018. WHAT HAPPENED: In 1974, Acosta — who had become increasingly erratic and involved with drugs — traveled to Mexico where he called his son and told him he was "about to board a boat full of white snow." That was the last anyone ever heard from him. WHY IT'S SO MYSTERIOUS: What does "about to board a boat full of white snow" mean? Cocaine? His buddy Hunter S. Thompson seemed to think it was something like that, saying Acosta probably "ate too much peyote and walked off a cliff." Later, though, he investigated his friend's disappearance and speculated he might have been killed by drug dealers or was the target of a political assassination. But no one really knows. Some think he faked his death to escape his mounting legal troubles and public burnout. His son Marco said, "The body was never found, but we surmise that, probably, knowing the people he was involved with, he ended up mouthing off, getting into a fight, and getting killed."Maybe it is as simple as his son says. But like all of these stories, there just isn't a definitive answer as to what the heck happened.
BreakingNews.ie
15-05-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Charges dismissed in case of identifying Ana Kriégel murderers
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has dismissed charges against two people accused of identifying two teenage boys convicted of the murder of 14-year-old Ana Kriégel. The two were accused of a breach under the Children Act 2001, which contains provisions that prohibit the identification of children who have been accused or convicted of a criminal offence. Advertisement Defence counsel for Jamie Shannon (30) from Empress Place in Dublin and Edel Doherty (51) of Rory O'Connor House, Hardwicke Street, Dublin 1, made the application to have the charges faced by their clients dismissed under the Criminal Procedure Act. This application was made under Section 4E of the Criminal Justice Act 1999, which prohibits reporting of the hearing, including any evidence submitted and arguments made. Judge Martin Nolan delivered the court's judgement on Thursday after the hearing on Wednesday. Reporting restrictions in relation to Section 4E applications mean that only the fact that a case was taken and the court's decision can be reported, unless an accused person requests that details be reported and the judge sanctions it. Two teenage boys were convicted of Ms Kriégel's murder in June 2019 following a trial at the Central Criminal Court during which they were referred to as 'Boy A' and 'Boy B'. 'Boy A' was also convicted of aggravated sexual assault. The two boys, then aged 13, lured Ms Kriégel to a derelict farmhouse in Lucan, Co Dublin on May 14th, 2018, where she was beaten to death. Neither boy can be identified by order of the trial judge, and under the Children Act.
Irish Times
15-05-2025
- Irish Times
Charges against pair accused of identifying boys in Kriégel case dismissed
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has dismissed charges against two people accused of identifying two teenage boys convicted of the murder of 14-year-old Ana Kriégel. The two were accused of a breach under the Children Act 2001, which contains provisions that prohibit the identification of children who have been accused or convicted of a criminal offence. Defence counsel for Jamie Shannon (30) from Empress Place in Dublin and Edel Doherty (51) of Rory O'Connor House, Hardwicke Street, Dublin 1 made the application to have the charges faced by their clients dismissed under the Criminal Procedure Act. This application was made under Section 4E of the Criminal Justice Act 1999 which prohibits reporting of the hearing, including any evidence submitted and arguments made. READ MORE Judge Martin Nolan delivered the court's judgement on Thursday following a hearing on Wednesday. . Reporting restrictions in relation to Section 4E applications mean that only the fact a case was taken and the court's decision can be reported, unless an accused person requests that details be reported and the judge sanctions it. Two teenage boys were convicted of Ms Kriégel's murder in June 2019 following a trial at the Central Criminal Court during which they were referred to as 'Boy A' and 'Boy B'. 'Boy A' was also convicted of aggravated sexual assault. The two boys, then aged 13, lured Ms Kriégel to a derelict farmhouse in Lucan, Co Dublin on May 14, 2018, where she was beaten to death. Neither boy can be identified by order of the trial judge and under the Children Act.
