World News

A friend of a mum who died after vanishing during a hen party has said she was “blessed” to call her a pal. Ruth Maguire's body was found on Monday. The 30-year-old had been celebrating at a hen party in the Co Louth coastal village on Saturday night. Michelle McCabe said she was lucky to have known the mum of three, reports the Irish Mirror . Posting a photo of herself alongside the 30-year-old and her sister Rachel, Ms McCabe said: “Ruth was a very special girl who touched a lot of hearts. “I feel blessed to have had her as a friend. Heart is breaking for you all.” Another pal wrote: “You look so alike. It’s just devastating, incomprehensible and so unfair.” It is believed Ruth, who was originally from Belfast but lived in Newcastle, Co Down, fell into the water and drowned after leaving Taaffe’s Bar. Her body was discovered close to Haulbowline Lighthouse at the entrance to the lough. A friend raised the alarm after arriving … [Read more...] about Friend of mum who died on hen night says she was ‘blessed’ to call her a pal

First funerals held today New Zealand police commissioner Mike Bush said this morning that 21 bodies had been formally identified last night and were ready to be released to families. Six more will be ready by midday, the “majority” by the end of the day. He says in some cases the identification “will take longer”. Bush said that while experts wanted to release bodies quickly for the sake of families and because they were aware of the cultural reasons for swift burial, that they needed to identify bodies up to a standard that could go to the coroner. … [Read more...] about New Zealand shooting: Jacinda Ardern visits Christchurch to pay tribute to victims

The UK is to start issuing official threat-level warnings for far-right terrorism amid rising concerns about white supremacist murder attempts, the Guardian has learned. The threat levels will be issued following assessments by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), an elite Whitehall unit that already produces similar warnings for Islamist and Ireland-related terror. Friday’s attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, when 50 Muslims were murdered as they prayed, allegedly by a white supremacist gunman, have triggered fresh concerns about whether the threat from the extreme right is being taken seriously enough. Combating far-right violence was once the responsibility of the police but top-level plots and suspects are now being tackled by Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5. Public order issues and hate crime will remain with the police, and JTAC’s formal assessment of the far-right threat is expected to start this year. There have been 18 terrorist plots … [Read more...] about UK to start issuing far-right terrorism alerts

Brenton Tarrant was spotted staking out the two mosques he targeted a week before the attacks, it is claimed. Worshippers said he was disguised as a builder and one claimed he gave them a “death stare” during “recces” on the Al Noor and Linwood sites. Nasin Khan, 59, claimed he spotted Tarrant acting suspiciously while observing Friday prayers on March 8 at Al Noor. He said he was dressed in “construction clothes”, adding: “I didn’t think much about it. But when I saw his photo I knew straight away it was him. He must have been watching.” Nasreen Khanam, 46, said she saw Tarrant the same day, near Linwood mosque, while picking up her daughter up from her McDonald’s job nearby. She said: “He was looking at me really angrily for no reason as I walked into the restaurant, like a death stare. I was so scared I ran back to my husband’s car and told him. He told me not to get back out of the car and he went and got our … [Read more...] about Terror suspect ‘staked out target mosques disguised as a builder’