Latest news with #shepherd
BBC News
15-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
How an orphaned Devon lamb changed estate agent's life
Flashy cars, a prestige job and plenty of money - high-flying estate Stephen Keighley had it all. Underneath, he knew "something was badly wrong"."One morning I was driving to work, and tears started coming down my face," he said."I pulled over, rang into work and said, 'I'm not coming in' and they said, 'will you be back tomorrow' and I said, 'No I'm never coming back' and that was it."Mr Keighley left his London life of 25 years and moved back to Cornwall, where he had grown up. Despite being back home, he still struggled. That was until five years ago when a friend gave him an orphaned lamb named Benny to care for - giving him a purpose that "changed his life". "Having to care for Benny 24/7 and help him survive gave me a motivation and a purpose in life that perhaps I had been missing for a few years," Mr Keighley explained."My mental health wasn't in the greatest place in the world and perhaps Benny came along at the right time for me."Mr Keighley, who grew up in Launceston, then bought two more sheep to keep Benny company and soon realised he had found his calling - to be a shepherd. He now has a flock of 38 rare breed sheep having swapped his office for fields near Vixen Tor on Dartmoor, in Devon. "It's a complete and utter contrast from what I was doing and what I did for the majority of my life," he said."I used to drag myself out of bed when the alarm went off, put on a sharp suit and go to work."Now I spend my days in tatty clothes covered in sheep poo, but I no longer need an alarm - as soon as the sun comes up, I can't wait to get out here."He said he would not change a thing."I've learnt a lot from sheep in terms of life experience," he said."They've taught me how to just 'be'."Just to stand back and watch their social interactions, the way they happily spend their days happily grazing and lying around, that taught me life doesn't have to be as fast-paced as mine had been."It's given me time to reflect and to work out what's important in life." As for Benny, he is now a fully grown ram. Mr Keighley, who kept him as a pet, said he was definitely not for sale.
BreakingNews.ie
10-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Pope Leo XIV described as 'man with the smell of sheep' by Peru bishop
The current bishop of the Peruvian city of Chiclayo where polyglot Pope Leo XIV used to live and work has said he is certain the new head of the Catholic Church will continue in the footsteps of his predecessor and described him as a 'man with the smell of sheep.' US-born Robert Prevost, an American who also has Peruvian nationality and did years of missionary work in the South American country, was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo on September 26th, 2015 by Pope Francis. Advertisement He left the city in north-west Peru after being called to Rome in January 2023. Chiclayo's current Bishop, Monsignor Edinson Edgardo Farfan Cordova, used the sheep analogy to describe the new Pope as a 'shepherd among people' in his glowing appraisal of the 69-year-old who is the 267th occupant of the throne of St Peter. Reacting to the news of his election, he said: 'I am convinced Pope Leo XIV will continue the line of communion and closeness to the poor that marked the pontificate of Francis. 'I am certain the new Pope will give continuity to this work in his preferential option for the poor. He has been marked by the reality of our peripheries and by the synodal spirit promoted by Francis. Advertisement Speaking after photos were published in Peruvian newspapers overnight showing Robert Prevost as a younger man on horseback during his time in the South American country, he added: 'There are photos of him crossing the Piura hills. 'He was a shepherd among people, a man with the smell of sheep. 'Leo XIV is not only a pope for the world, he is also a spiritual son of Peru, a shepherd who knows our mountains, our parishes, our hopes.' Peru's president has described Pope Leo XIV as Peruvian 'by choice and conviction' despite the fact he was born in Chicago to a United States Navy World War II veteran of Italian and French descent and a mum who was the daughter of Louisiana Creole parents of African, French and Spanish descent. Advertisement She said: 'He chose to be one of us, to live among us and to carry in his heart the faith, culture and dreams of this country' before adding: 'The pope is Peruvian; God loves Peru.' In his first appearance from the Vatican balcony, Leo XIV briefly switched from Italian to Spanish to address the faithful 'from my beloved diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru', where he served as bishop for nearly a decade.
The National
10-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Palestinians and Israeli activists hit by increasing settler attacks in Jordan Valley
In the same week that Israeli ministers voted unanimously to occupy the Gaza Strip after 19 months of war, a Palestinian shepherding family about 120km away in the Hamra area of the occupied West Bank suffered a devastating attack at the hands of Israeli settlers. Amid all the carnage in the region, be it Gaza or the northern West Bank cities that are more than 100 days into an unprecedented Israeli military operation, the attack on this normally quiet patch of land in the Jordan Valley barely registered on more than a few Palestinian social media channels. 'They're mad. Five days ago they came and broke everything, scared away the sheep and beat my father in the face, who is still in the hospital in Tubas,' a shepherd of the Abu Seif family told The National. He pointed to a vandalised window on one of simple structures used by the family and livestock, as two children ran around his feet. 'Thank God he's getting better. He's coming back today.' The shepherd's flock, originally numbering 300, is almost certainly not coming back. On the day of the latest attack it was down to 75, after other incidents of violent intimidation by settlers in which animals fled or were probably stolen. Now the Abu Seif family have none and, therefore, no income. 'It's all I know how to do to make a living,' the shepherd explained, as a female relative handed out fresh bread to guests under a thin metal roof as rain pummelled down. There has been a sharp increase in settler violence across the West Bank since the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas. Global attention is elsewhere and perpetrators, many of them carrying arms and dressed in military uniforms after laws were relaxed by Israel's far-right coalition, feel emboldened. Only a small group of activists have been with the family since its catastrophic loss. Some are from abroad, but the ones that know the Abu Seifs best are Jewish Israelis. They are part of a tiny group who sign up for 'protective presence' missions in the region. Their primary purpose is to be present at the time of attacks, because authorities are far more likely to act against violent settlers if other Israelis are there. It is dangerous work and clashes happen very often. Elie Avidor, one of the most experienced activists, said even successful court action against the Abu Seif family's chief tormentor, settler Moshe Sharvit, was proving ineffective. 'He comes and drives into the herd with his ATV. He had a drone, big speakers, all to drive the sheep crazy. If they were pregnant they would lose their babies,' Mr Avidor explained. Last year Sharvit was sanctioned by the UK, Canada the EU and the Biden administration in the US, until President Donald Trump lifted the sanctions. Many of the outposts such as Sharvit's are illegal even under Israeli law, although legalising them is a key priority of some members of Israel's ultra-nationalist coalition. 'We managed successfully to get two restriction orders against him and another guy. He's not allowed to get 30 metres close to this compound, but he doesn't listen,' Mr Avidor added. 'See how he's expanded,' he said, pointing down the hill to a series of white structures. 'His place used to be one caravan, now it is a tourism site, where other settlers come for the holidays to be with him in the 'Land of Israel'.' As he spoke, Sharvit's ATV was spotted moving towards the community. 'He might be coming,' Mr Avidor said. 'Turn the cars around so it is easy to get out and escape.' Members of the Abu Seif family present, including the children, barely registered the potential arrival of the armed settler. Speaking from a nearby hilltop, Jewish Israeli activist Peretz Gan, an Arabic speaker who barrels around the occupied West Bank in a beaten up four-by-four, said: 'It is important to realise that this is all orchestrated from the top. 'One lunatic on a hilltop with a few psychopathic, sadistic youngsters to help him take over is all supported by the government. Only a few weeks ago [far-right Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich was giving these outposts ATVs. He was so proud of himself.' Indeed, just a day after The National visited the region, Mr Smotrich spoke at a right-wing conference about how he was advancing plans to 'kill the Palestinian state de facto' through the use of the settlements, including the newer sort of outposts and farms seen in the Jordan Valley. While traditional, residential settlements tend to be more densely populated enclaves close to the border with sovereign Israel, farming outposts allow the most radical settlers to place themselves anywhere. They can extend Israeli presence over vast tracts of land, through grazing, fencing and planting crops, with very little manpower. They get a willing workforce by advertising themselves as places to host teenage school drop-outs and delinquents, widely called the Hilltop Youth. Activists say that young men with such profiles make for particularly violent attacks. 'The system they've found only two or three years ago is very successful. They're taking over huge amounts of land,' Mr Gan added. Mr Smotrich said at the conference that "each of these farms will eventually need to be legalised and some will likely become settlements'. He also said that 86 such farms covered more than 50,000 hectares. At the same conference, President Isaac Herzog, seen by many in Israel as a political moderate, said 'the settlement project is Israel's shield', calling the communities 'essential, glorious and flourishing'. The vast majority of the international community, including many of Israel's most important allies, say all settlements in occupied territory are illegal. Trudging up a dusty hill adorned with Israel flags next to another frequently targeted shepherd just down the road, Eszter Koranyi, of Israeli NGO Combatants for Peace, spoke to The National. She talked about the painful feelings that come with her work at a time when the settlers, who used to attack her and her Palestinian friends, have never had so much wind in their sails. She no longer engages in protective presence, saying the commitment to rise so early and spend so much time away from home in dangerous places is not possible now that she has a family. Instead, she organises tours of the area to spread the word about what is going on and to show 'that not all Israelis are like this'. 'I feel so embarrassed as an Israeli that the flag that is supposed somehow to represent my country is used for this. It's just terrible,' she said.
