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Hunt for Tube hero who gave blind man his shoes after he lost one through the gap The hunt is on find an ‘absolute hero’
Get you up to speed: U.S. carries out new strikes against Iranian military site, official says
The U.S. military conducted defensive strikes against Iranian forces in Bandar Abbas, targeting a ground control station and downing four drones that posed a threat near the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. official confirmed that the actions were intended to maintain a shaky ceasefire with Iran, which is still considered to be holding.
The U.S. military confirmed defensive strikes against Iranian drones in the Strait of Hormuz, with operations ongoing in response to perceived threats. Negotiations for a long-term agreement between the U.S. and Iran may take several days to formalise, and the disposal method for Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium remains unspecified.
A U.S. official described recent military strikes on Iran as “measured, purely defensive,” emphasising that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire remains intact. Meanwhile, President Trump indicated a willingness to escalate military action if a satisfactory agreement is not reached, stating that Iran has agreed in principle to dispose of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, though details on execution remain unclear.
What remains unclear — The specifics of how Iran will dispose of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium are not detailed.
US conducts strikes on Iranian military site amid ongoing ceasefire efforts
The U.S. military carried out another round of strikes on Iran, a U.S. official confirmed to WTX US News on Wednesday, another challenge to a shaky ceasefire between the two countries.
The official described the strikes as defensive, shooting down four Iranian drones and hitting a ground control station in the port city of Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth. The drones posed a threat near the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil shipping chokepoint that has been closed since the war began.
The official said the U.S.-Iran ceasefire is still considered to be holding.
“These actions were measured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire,” the official added.
Reuters was first to report on the new strikes.
The strikes came just two days after U.S. Central Command confirmed an earlier round of “self-defense strikes” on southern Iran, hitting missile launch sites and Iranian boats that allegedly sought to lay mines. CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said Monday the strikes were carried out to “protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.”
Iran condemned the earlier strikes, calling the move a “grave violation of the ceasefire” and vowing that the Iranian government “will not leave any act of hostility unanswered.”
The attacks come as President Trump presses Iran to strike a longer-term agreement with the United States — and threatens to resume a large-scale bombing campaign if Iran does not agree to his terms.
Over the weekend, the president expressed optimism, saying a peace deal had been “largely negotiated.” But by Wednesday, Mr. Trump appeared less confident, saying at a Cabinet meeting that the U.S. is “not satisfied.”
“Maybe we have to go back and finish it, maybe we don’t,” Mr. Trump said, adding that he thinks Iran wants to make a deal.
A senior Trump administration official said Sunday that Iran had agreed in principle to a template for a deal, though it could take several days to formalize and sign a final agreement. The deal under discussion would involve a two-step process. First, Iran would immediately allow the Strait of Hormuz to open in exchange for the U.S. lifting its blockade on Iranian ports. After that, the two sides would negotiate on a mechanism for Iran to give up various parts of its nuclear program.
Iran agreed in principle to dispose of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the Trump administration official said. Exactly how the nearly weapons-grade material would be disposed of is unclear. Mr. Trump wrote on social media Monday that the material could either be destroyed in the U.S. or “preferably” in Iran.
October 12, 2024
6:18 am
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says
@MahaGaza
: the real number exceeds 400,000
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides
Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate
Or far far worse
The cost-of-living crisis is far from over, yet the government’s 50% increase to the bus fare cap is a political choice, adding hundreds to annual costs.
To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.
G20 waters down support for Ukraine amid pressure for peace talks
The Tech Titan Who Led His Company From a 68-Square-Foot Jail Cell
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
November 23, 2024
8:17 am
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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