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LONDON (AP) — An Irish law student was charged Friday with possessing explosives after being arrested with what police called an “extremely significant” car bomb they intercepted near the Northern Ireland border during an investigation of dissident republicans.

Isobella Perrie Sullivan, 25, was stopped while driving Wednesday on a highway near Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, police said. They discovered plastic explosives and a detonator in a bag in the back of the car.

“What we found was an extremely significant seizure,” Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said. “This was an explosive device.”

An Irish military bomb disposal team was called to examine the car, though no details were provided on how they disposed of the ordnance.

Defense lawyer Gavin Booth said Sullivan had been manipulated and was unaware of the contents of a bag she was asked to take to the north. She was freed on 15,000 euro ($17,054) bail after her appearance in Trim District Court.

While it’s unclear where the car was headed, there have been two car bomb incidents this year in Northern Ireland that police have blamed on dissident republicans, including one that exploded outside a police station on the outskirts of Belfast in April. No one was injured and an earlier attempted bombing at a police station was thwarted by officers who detonated the bomb in a controlled explosion.

The incidents are reminders of the decades of violence known as “The Troubles.” The conflict involving Irish Republican and British Loyalist militants and U.K. security forces left almost 3,600 people dead before the 1998 Good Friday peace accord.

“We certainly know that there are a small minority of dissident republicans who did not agree with the Good Friday Agreement,” Kelly said. “There’s a small minority of these individuals, I would describe them as radicalized republicans, and this is a threat that we’re going to continue to face for some time.”

Republicans want to reunify Ireland by ending British rule of Northern Ireland.

Police requested as a condition of release that Sullivan not contact anyone with Saoradh, the Irish republican revolutionary party, or the New Irish Republican Army.

The brother of Madeleine McCann is set to swim for Commonwealth gold today, some two decades after his older sister vanished.

Sean McCann, 21, took to the pool in Glasgow for the 400m freestyle heats this morning in his major competition debut.

His parents Kate and Gerry and twin sister Amelie looked on proudly as they arrived early on Saturday morning to cheer on their son – and the rest of the Scotland team. 

Sean hoped to use the home crowd behind him to progress to the final tonight, ahead of his other events later this week, the 800m and 1500m freestyle.

Almost two decades on from the infamous Portugal family holiday which saw Madeleine abducted, the McCann family’s unimaginable tragedy still haunts Sean and his twin sister, Amelie, wherever they go.

But today, the family could finally see themselves talked about for a different reason as their son’s remarkable story takes centre-stage.

Sean’s mother Kate has previously told how he ‘hated’ the water when he was first taken swimming – and yet he soon found his drive, attending up to nine two-hour training sessions every week, many requiring 4am starts.

Inspired by his sporting family – Kate and father Gerry even went on a run on their first date – Sean’s dedication has paid off as he sets his sights on success in his first major international meet.

Sean came fourth in his heat and was cheered on today by both parents, as well as his sister Amelie, who herself competes regularly in triathlons.

The family sat with other Scottish fans as they supported Sean at a home Commonwealth Games

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Scotland’s Sean McCann competes in the Men’s 400m Freestyle heats during the swimming event at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre in Glasgow

Sean McCann of Scotland goes through his final preparations before the race

He is the younger brother of missing Madeleine McCann and was in the room when she was abducted from her family’s holiday villa in Portugal in 2007

The elite distance swimmer is eligible to represent Scotland through his father, who was born in Glasgow.

This week a former member of Sean’s coaching team told the Daily Mail that the combination of a young man who was ‘really driven and never one to take the easiest route’, and parents who willed him on, had made him a powerhouse and his story an inspiration. 

In his teenage years Sean’s parents would ferry him to training sessions at Braunstone Leisure Centre, a 20-minute drive from the family home in Rothley, Leicestershire, where he would clock up eight or nine two-hour swim sessions a week, plus two or three punishing gym workouts.

Kate and Gerry ‘encouraged their children, but didn’t push them’ said the insider, who coached Sean as a youngster.

He remembered the young man being focused on the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad in 2023 and then deciding he wanted to race for Scotland and for GB in open-water events – so for swimming competitively he changed his nationality to Scottish.

‘For the Commonwealth Games, I was lucky enough to be at the trials in London when he was racing. It was great to watch him and talk to him between prep, to be a part of it and see his journey unfold,’ he said.

What a journey, too, for Sean, who is studying chemical engineering at Loughborough University – chosen for its unrivalled sports facilities.

Distance swimming is an unforgiving sport. Yet those who know Sean’s career describe a steady, determined progression, even during the pandemic lockdown when he would train out of the pool, at home with Amelie, who is also a keen swimmer.

Sean McCann, 21, after finishing fourth in his heat of the 400m freestyle – he will go later this week in the 800m and 1500m

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McCann dives from the starting block at the beginning of his heat at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre

Amelie, Kate and Gerry McCann applaud as they watch the programme at Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games on Saturday morning

Amelie, Kate and Gerry McCann in the stands at Tollcross International Swimming Centre in Glasgow ahead of Sean’s heat on Saturday morning 

The family were in the stands early on Saturday to support the rest of Britain’s swimmers before their son takes to the pool 

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For almost two decades Kate and Gerry McCann have been known as the parents of missing Madeleine, (bottom right) the toddler who disappeared on a family holiday to Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007 – now the family will be known for something else

In the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games, he reached the finals of the 400m and 1500m freestyle, and has since qualified for the European Open Water Championships representing Great Britain.

Sean himself said this week that he was ‘very excited’ about the challenges ahead. ‘It’s the pinnacle really – of representing Scotland in the Commonwealth Games, and especially at a home games.

‘I’ve got lots of family up in Glasgow so that makes it even more special. I was there in 2014 watching as a kid, so to make it now, 12 years later, is really a full circle moment.

‘It’s my first senior games, so I’m just looking forward to be representing Scotland and doing my absolute best. I always tend to go out quite slow and build my way into a race. That’s just how I like to pace it.’

It’s quite the change from what Sean has been known for by many until now, solely for his close proximity to Madeleine’s disappearance.

He was, after all, in the same room when she was abducted from the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in 2007 when he was just two.

Although he might not remember the international fallout, both siblings have grown up in the shadow of the mystery surrounding their older sister, who would now be 23. 

For Sean, and by extension his whole family, this is his opportunity to step into the light of something new. 

The driver of the car was pronounced dead at the scene

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A girl is in a critical condition in hospital and a woman has died after a crash in Co Cavan.

The incident, involving a car and a truck, took place on the R162 at Corclare, Shercock, after 5pm on Friday.

The girl, who was a passenger in the car, was taken to Temple Street Hospital where she remains in a critical condition.

The driver of the car, a woman in her 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A number of other people in the vehicles received medical treatment at the scene by ambulance staff.

The road was closed overnight for examination by forensic collision investigators and local diversions are in place.

An appeal for witnesses and those with camera footage of the incident has been made.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

It is well past midnight at Jantar Mantar, and the crowd shows no sign of thinning. Music drifts across the humid air, tabla beats mixing with snatches of Bollywood songs, as new arrivals keep streaming in on foot — students, labourers, parents — even at this hour.

Somewhere near the stage, a spokesperson is trying, and failing, to keep the swelling numbers from tipping into a stampede. On walls near the protest site, fresh graffiti is still wet. “Modiji, return us our bad days,” one pleads, a jab at the prime minister’s campaign slogan “Achhe Din”, the promised good days that many say never came.

In the crowd is Mohan Yadav, 43, a man who doesn’t fit the profile that the government’s supporters imagine when they picture these protests. He is not, he insists, an opposition plant, or a professional agitator. He voted for Narendra Modi’s BJP party. He voted for its ally Nitish Kumar in Bihar state. Yet, he’s standing at Jantar Mantar, trying to explain why the government he once trusted has, in his eyes, turned on people like him.

“I have a son and a daughter,” he says. “And I can understand that pain of a parent. Because I know how much sacrifice it takes to raise a child and then to lose them like this.”

He is far from alone.

What started out as a joke by a group of students is now one of the most sustained waves of public dissent against Modi’s government.

On Saturday, India’s education ⁠minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned, handing a major victory to the youth protesters.

With millions of followers online and clear displays of support on the ground, the Cockroach Janta Party had said it would not stop protesting until Modi’s education minister – the powerful veteran politician Dharmendra Pradhan – resigned

The protesters said Pradhan must take responsibility for the shambolic handling of a key university entrance exam for would-be medical students, the cancellation of which affected 2.3 million young people. Activists said at least 21 students died by suicide during the debacle.

Nitesh Aryan, 26, from the northern city of Lucknow, has been at the protest site daily since 19 July. He says he is driven by the fact “that exam papers are repeatedly leaked. And when we demand our rights, the government responds by baton-charging the students, cracking our skulls, breaking legs and back.”

Akanksha, 31, who has lived in Delhi her whole life, frames her motivation as a slow, cumulative betrayal rather than a single scandal. “I’m a victim of the education system,” she says. “I know how rigged the system is, how messed up our schools are. Teachers are demotivated. Nobody is studying in a government institution.”

For Muskaan, 40, leaving the protest site with her two children close to midnight, the stakes are more immediate. She’s a labourer and her husband drives an autorickshaw. “There are poor people who with great difficulty manage to educate their children,” she says. “My children will also study with as much hard work. Right now they are young. My son is in 8th standard and daughter is in 11th standard. It is about their future as well.”

When papers leak, she argues, “the future of my children is being ruined. I’m here to protect their future and prevent it from being ruined.”

What turned a grievance into a full-blown anti-government movement was the events of 20 July, the day police moved against the protesters at Jantar Mantar as they prepared to march towards parliament, using batons and teargas against them and leaving scores injured.

Birku Yadav, 26, who joined the movement after learning about it on 18 July, describes what happened to her two days later. “I was charged with baton by a male police officer who did not even have his name tag on,” she says. “I feel like they were not wearing name tags because they were not police officers but supporters of the ruling regime.”

Ashutosh Ranka, 30, a spokesperson for the Cockroach Janta Party, says the scale of the crackdown caught even the organisers off guard. “The kind of brutality meted out against the students, young protesters and our own volunteers who were helping them manage the crowd crossed all levels of brutality,” he said. “Crossed all levels of shamelessness.”

It’s this moment – the baton-charge against unarmed students demanding accountability – that Mohan Yadav can’t reconcile with the government he voted for. “I still don’t know why we were assaulted by the police,” he says. “It was only about the resignation of one person. The government should have just conceded to the demands of the public, ‘my constituents and voters are asking for this, we should give them.’ We would have been so much happier.”

There is a striking gap between the government’s public posture and what protesters describe living through. Modi has floated a proposal for fast-track courts to try paper-leak cases, a move Saurav Das, another Cockroach Janta Party spokesperson, dismisses as cosmetic.

“It’s an eyewash,” he says, noting that a 2024 law against organised exam-paper mafias is already meant to solve this, with little visible effect. “That law wasn’t implemented properly, that’s why you have these kinds of instances again.”

That disconnect between official reassurance and street anger runs through nearly every conversation.

Where the government speaks of isolated lapses and administrative fixes, the protesters describe something closer to institutional collapse, and a chain of accountability that never seems to reach anyone at the top. “Post-2014, the government takes great arrogance in not sacking its minister,” Das says. “It was automatic before 2014.”

For Mohan Yadav, the gap is personal, not political. He frames his disillusionment as stemming not from ideology but a broken bargain.

“If we brought Modiji to power and he is the head of the country, then he should have taken care of our well-being and happiness,” he says. “But instead he went against 65 per cent of the youth of the country. In front of my eyes, so many women and children were beaten up. I felt really sad.”

Nitesh Aryan’s demand is starker still: “My demand is that those responsible for it are duly punished. And all the people who were at their posts at the time this happened, resign.”

Ranka insists the movement will not fold under pressure even as he acknowledges the personal risk protesters are taking on. “We expect police action but we don’t fear it,” he says. “This is a fight much bigger than one person and we are ready to pay the price.” Asked how far organisers are prepared to go if the government refuses to budge, he allowed himself a rare smile. “The government has to concede. They don’t have a choice this time.”

Mohan Yadav says he still does not fully understand how he ended up here, holding a grievance against a government he helped elect. He’s careful to say he isn’t asking for anything extraordinary. “I’m not asking for a plot of land in Delhi,” he says. “I am not asking Modi to transfer 1.5 million rupees to my account. I am asking for accountability.”

Britt Apgar was born with a limb difference. She had a small right forearm, half of a palm and no fingers on her right hand.

On her way to 12 surgeries by the age of 4, she was taught two lessons by her parents that never left her. Two principles that she carried all the way to the Women’s Professional Baseball League.

“My mom said I am never allowed to use my hand as an excuse,” Apgar said. “Like if I wanted to do the monkey bars, we were out there figuring out how to do the monkey bars, and they taught me how to tie my shoes before I even went to preschool. So that way I was never, like I never felt weird or different around the kids. And my dad … if I wanted to do anything, he wanted me to put my heart into it like 100 percent.”

Family is at the center of Apgar’s journey to the WPBL’s inaugural season this summer in Springfield, Illinois, pitching and playing the outfield for the Los Angeles Queens. The family she was born into — her parents, Tommie and Tom, and her older brother, Zach — and the family she picked up along the way.

“I have always and will probably forever describe her like this: She is sunshine,” said Courtney Jamison, one of Apgar’s closest friends.

Baseball, softball and dropping out of college

Apgar bats right-handed, resting the bat on the flat part of the nub on her right arm. She uses her left hand and arm to pull the bat on a swing while the nub guides it through the zone.

When she pitches, Apgar rests her glove on her nub and keeps it down near her waist so she can quickly move it to her left hand after she finishes her motion. When she catches a ball in the outfield, she turns her glove inside before taking it off and grabbing the ball to throw it.

“It sounds like a lot, but it’s really quick, I swear,” Apgar said.

It’s a process she practiced and perfected in the sunshine of North Carolina. Apgar, 22, was born in Farmville near East Carolina University, and she grew up playing in the fields near her home.

Her father and brother would throw in the yard, and she fell in love with the pop of the baseball landing in their gloves.

“I wanted to make that sound, too,” she said.

While Zach was content to just play catch, Britt wanted to do everything. Tom studied former major league pitcher Jim Abbott, who was born without a right hand, and taught his daughter how Abbott fielded his position.

When the family moved to Greensboro, Britt continued to play. She made the junior varsity squad as a freshman in high school, but the coach told her he couldn’t keep her on the team.

“He pulled me to the side and said, ‘Hey listen, I think you’re a great player, but you’re just never going to be big and strong enough to play with my guys. And we get changed on the bus, we get changed behind dugouts at the field, and I just can’t have that interfering with the team chemistry and stuff,’” Apgar recalled.

Apgar started crying and walked off the field. She switched to softball, and she played all the way through one full season at Greensboro College.

A couple of weeks into her sophomore year, she quit. She liked playing softball, but she didn’t like the atmosphere around the team, and it wasn’t baseball.

She transferred to North Carolina-Greensboro and got a job at a gym. When Tommie — a factory worker — broke both of her legs in an accident at home, she dropped out of college and started working full-time.

“Put my head down, worked a lot,” she said.

Apgar thought she was done with baseball. But it turned out baseball wasn’t done with her.

Finding a solution to a big problem

When Apgar hits, the nub catches the impact of contact while the left hand finishes the swing. That becomes an issue when she faces velocity in the upper 70s and low 80s, like what she is going to see this summer in Springfield.

Apgar attended a WPBL camp in March at the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox. Facing left-hander Niki Eckert, she hit a grounder to second — and knew almost immediately something was wrong.

“Swung for it, just busted my nub open completely,” Apgar said.

Apgar’s grounder was the third out of the inning, so she was bleeding when she ran out to left field. Wearing a white uniform and concerned about the implications of what happened, she used the back of her glove, her black belt and a sock to hide the blood.

Looking for a solution to her problem against high velocity, Apgar went on Instagram and asked for help. She was flooded with responses, including suggestions for foam and prosthetics.

“Even when people didn’t have helpful hints or like tips or tricks, they would just say, ‘Protect the nub,’” she said.

Using a batting glove, foam and a hollowed-out part of an old prosthetic, Apgar developed a prototype with some help from Jeff Gardner, a WPBL investor. Gardner, a former scientist who works in generic drugs, became friends with Apgar after they met at the March camp in Florida.

Gardner went a step further, reaching out to Chrysta Irolla, the director of prosthetics and orthotics at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

“When you get a personality like Brittany’s, it’s easy to want to help somebody like her,” Gardner said.

Irolla and the hospital are building a prosthetic for Apgar with a gel liner and a hook extension that is designed to fit around the bat and provide a more secure attachment. Doctors used some of the bones in Apgar’s left leg and foot to help strengthen her arm when she was a kid, so the hospital also is creating custom foot orthotics for her with built-in rigid plates.

“She’s very open to trying new things. She just wants to perform at the highest level and everything that she can do to get there,” Irolla said. “It’s really nice to have somebody be that open and creative and motivated.”

Apgar has no feeling in her nub. During one visit with Irolla, she tried on a prosthetic that mimicked the sensation of touch.

“It was the first time that I had held a bat and it felt like I was holding it with two hands. So I started tearing up,” she said. “It was such a mind-blowing feeling.”

The WPBL opportunity, and the training

Baseball moved back into Apgar’s life more than two years ago, when she saw a post on social media about WPBL tryouts. She put her name in and then forgot about it.

In April 2025, she got an email inviting her to try out at Nationals Park that August.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Apgar said. “I was like, there’s no way this is actually happening.”

Then, reality set in. She was about to face the best of the best, and she hadn’t played competitive baseball for years.

Following her father’s advice, she went all out with a challenging daily schedule.

She got up at 6 a.m. so she could run and do footwork drills before going to work at 9 a.m. At 3 p.m., she took her lunch break and joined a friend for another run with a weighted vest. She drove to her parents’ home after work, and Tom threw batting practice to her until the sun went down.

Jamison’s boyfriend, Logan Vacharasin, played baseball at Greensboro, and he got Apgar into the college’s facility for more baseball activities at night. Then Apgar would go back to her gym for grueling sessions with Isaiah Manning, a college wrestler.

“There were nights that he would make me cry in that gym,” Apgar said. “I would be bawling, crying, thinking I couldn’t do it. And he would be like, you’re not leaving until you can do this.”

As Apgar trained almost around the clock, she was backed by constant support from her parents. And Jamison, who brought her food and told her how proud she was of her. And her girlfriend, Natalie Brewer, who encouraged her to keep going when she was ready to give up. And Vacharasin and Manning. The list goes on and on.

There were more than 600 players at tryouts, but Apgar made enough of an impression that she was selected by Los Angeles in the third round of the league’s six-round draft in November. The Queens play their first game of the season on Aug. 1 against New York.

On the day of the draft, Apgar was surrounded by friends and family at Jamison’s apartment.

“They had all invested time and effort and energy into me making it and we had all made it at that very moment,” she said, “and so that whole night was just us on top of the world celebrating together. It was so great.”

___

AP Sports: https://apnews.com/sports

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin, appointed during the rule of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned Friday halfway through his term following years of political turbulence in the South Asian country.

A new government headed by Tarique Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and Hasina’s archrival, came to power with a landslide victory in February after 18 months of interim rule under Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. Hasina stepped down and fled to India in August 2024 following an anti-government movement that ended her 15-year rule.

Hasina fiercely criticized the interim administration led by Yunus.

Shahabuddin submitted his resignation on Friday to Parliament Speaker ⁠Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, citing medical reasons. The resignation letter was seen by The Associated Press. The speaker told a news briefing later on Friday that he accepted the resignation.

But local media reported that Shahabuddin had to resign under pressure from the current government as he allegedly talked to Hasina by phone when he visited London for medical treatment in May. The AP could not confirm the incident independently.

Shahabuddin was known to be a trusted follower of Hasina. Following her ouster, he faced strong opposition from a student group that led the uprising against Hasina. The protesters branded him a collaborator of Hasina and took to the streets demanding his resignation and arrest.

A new political party formed by the student leaders of the uprising, the National Citizen Party, has long been campaigning against Shahabuddin.

According to Bangladesh’s constitution, if the president resigns, the speaker of Parliament automatically takes over the post on an interim basis until a new president is elected by lawmakers. The NCP joined an election alliance led by the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party, the largest Islamist party in the country.

The president is the head of state and primarily a figurehead but also has a constitutional role during a political crisis. The president also acts as the commander-in-chief of Bangladesh’s armed forces.

Shahabuddin was sworn in as the 22nd president of Bangladesh on April 24, 2023. Hasina won a fourth consecutive term in a January 2024 election that was boycotted by major opposition parties including Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami.

In November, a special tribunal on Bangladesh sentenced Hasina to death in absentia for ordering a crackdown on the uprising. The United Nations in a report said nearly 1,400 people were killed in the crackdown. Hasina denied the charges against her from exile.

SEATTLE (AP) — The pilot of a float plane that crashed on a remote island near Washington’s border with Canada, injuring all 11 people on board, changed course to avoid a thunderstorm before it went down, the company that operated the flight said Friday. But it remained unclear what caused the crash.

The Kenmore Air seaplane struck a rocky shore along Sucia Island, a state park north of the main San Juan Islands, on Thursday evening after veering past sailboats and other vessels. A swift rescue by nearby boats and a helicopter got everyone safely to hospitals.

As of Friday afternoon, three passengers remained hospitalized, all in satisfactory condition. The pilot was among those released. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said the people had head injuries, broken bones and cuts.

The crash came less than three weeks after a seaplane carrying eight people made a rough landing in New York City’s East River, causing minor injuries.

Videos posted on social media showed the aircraft turning to one side as it flies low over the water near several boats and the shore. The plane makes a hard landing, at first touching down on just one float, then briefly skips into the air before hitting land.

The San Juans are a rugged archipelago between Washington and British Columbia. They are a popular summer vacation spot known for ferries, whale watching and hiking.

First responders and witnesses race to the scene

Dave Eastman was in a dinghy on the water when the plane approached. At first he was worried it was going to hit his boat, he said, but then he saw it flying low toward the island. There were six or seven boats in the area and everyone raced to help, he said.

In the videos, passengers can be seen exiting the plane as black smoke rises. Soon bright orange flames engulf the fuselage, which came to rest partially submerged against a large rock.

“It kind of just shook us up a little bit,” he said. “Knowing everyone’s OK, at least that everyone is alive at this point, that kind of helps ease the concern.”

Eastman, of Lynnwood, Washington, said Thursday started off with nice weather, but a lightning storm hit the area around the time of the crash. Heavy rain began falling as the plane was burning, he said.

Several agencies scrambled to respond. The U.S. Coast Guard sent a helicopter while their Canadian counterparts mobilized a hovercraft, according to a recording of San Juan County dispatch audio posted by Broadcastify.

A video released by the U.S. Coast Guard showed a person being hoisted from a vessel below into an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, his right leg immobilized in a splint.

Sucia Island features a maze of coves, beaches and rocky points. The plane went down near Shallow Bay, which cuts a wide crescent into the island near a campground.

The plane’s operator said it was a DHC-3 Otter made by de Havilland Aircraft of Canada. That is the same model of floatplane as one that plunged into the waters of Puget Sound northwest of Seattle in 2022, killing 10 people.

Federal regulators ordered seaplanes to be inspected afterward, and investigators found a single component of a critical flight control system had failed.

The plane that crashed Thursday was operated by Kenmore Air, a tourism airline based near Seattle, which is a different company than the one involved in the 2022 crash. Founded in 1946, Kenmore Air bills itself as the largest seaplane operator in the U.S.

The Otter is a workhorse seaplane model that has been used widely for decades, said aviation safety expert John Cox.

The cause of the crash will be investigated

The National Transportation Safety Board may be able to quickly get an idea of what happened because investigators will be able to interview the pilot and witnesses and watch videos of the crash, Cox said.

The wreckage was recovered and placed on a barge by Friday afternoon. The agency will publish a preliminary report in about a month.

In a statement, the airline said it would not speculate about why the plane went down. According to the flight tracking website Flightradar24, the seaplane made an abrupt 180-degree turn about three minutes before the crash, heading back toward Sucia Island, which it had just passed on its path west.

“There was a weather system in the area at the time, and the pilot adjusted the flight path in response to that weather,” Kenmore Air said.

The plane was up to date on its maintenance, with its last 100-hour inspection completed June 25, the airline said.

“We are grateful that everyone aboard has been accounted for,” Kenmore CEO David Gudgel said. He said the company canceled all scheduled flights for Friday and was cooperating with investigators.

The aircraft took off from Lake Union in Seattle, which is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Sucia Island, and was headed to Roche Harbor, the site of a historic hotel, marina and resort on San Juan Island.

___

McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire, and Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut. Associated Press transportation reporter Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed.

The Bolton News visited the Performance Unit in Breightmet on Saturday morning (July 25), where participants had just completed their second five-kilometre loop of the morning.

Having started at 7am, runners were in high spirits as they prepared to head back out for the next lap.

Around 100 people are expected to take part in the fundraiser throughout the day, organised by Performance Unit owner Joel Cooper.

Joel had been at the Performance Unit since 5am making the final preparations before runners set off.

Organiser Joel Cooper (middle) with his girlfriend Olivia Bell (left) and participant Craig Choda (Image: NQ)

He said that organising the event had been stressful, but he had plenty of support.

He said: “Luckily I’ve got a lot of people who have helped.

“Staff, my mum and my girlfriend are all here with me.”

With the sun shining, Joel said the conditions were perfect for the challenge.

Performance Unit members all smiles after completing 10K so far (Image: NQ)

“Hopefully the blue sky stays out when the barbecue and DJ are here.”

The music is being provided by NoPlan, a DJ trio that includes Joel’s younger brother, Sam Cooper.

The group offered to perform free of charge to help keep spirits high throughout the day.

Ready for the third 5K of the morning (Image: NQ)

Participants set off together at the start of every hour to complete a five-kilometre loop, with anyone completing all 10 laps covering a total of 50 kilometres.

“We’re 10k in and 40 to go and we’ve done a nice easy route to start with,” said Joel.

“I think I’ll surprise everyone this afternoon with a more challenging route, to throw a spanner in the works.

“Some of these runners are absolutely unbelievable, so I’ll really put them to the test.

“We’re all here to push ourselves to the limit.”

Family and friends from across Bolton have come together for the fundraiser (Image: NQ)

The money raised will support families affected by the tragic collision on Wigan Road in January, which claimed the lives of four people.

Taxi driver Masrob Ali, 54, from Blackburn, died after his vehicle was involved in a head-on collision.

Muhammad Danyaal Asghar Ali, 19, of Knutshaw Crescent, Bolton, Farhan Patel, 18, of Briercliffe Road, Bolton, and Mohammed Jibrael Mukhtar, 18, of Junction Road, Bolton, who were travelling in the speeding car that struck the taxi, also died.

Four passengers travelling in the taxi also suffered serious injuries.

Residents around Breightmet can expect to see groups of runners taking on the challenge throughout the day (Image: NQ)

Joel said the tragedy had a personal connection for some members of the gym, who knew those travelling in the taxi.

Fundraising stalls, homemade bakes and live music are continuing throughout the day as organisers aim to raise £20,000 for the families affected by the tragedy.

To donate, visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/performance-unit

Activities will include guided reserve walks, pond dipping, a theatre production, crafts, and more.

Askham Bog is Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s inaugural reserve, as the Trust was founded to care for it in 1946.

Sir David Attenborough being shown round Asham Bog by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Prof Alastair Fitter in 2016. (Image: The Press)

A fragment of ancient peatland banded by road and railway line, the reserve is home to extensive rare wildlife from centuries-old royal ferns to hundreds of different moth species, as well as more common and beloved robins, roe deer, and dragonflies.

The reserve is a deeply-loved urban green space lauded as a ‘cathedral of nature conservation’ by Sir David Attenborough when he visited in 2017, and the Trust hopes to inspire more people and visitors to enjoy its peace and quiet on the edge of York.

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Yorkshire poet Ian McMillan has written a celebratory poem about Yorkshire’s wildlife to mark the occasion and the Trust’s 80th anniversary.

The poem is in two halves, with the second part remaining secret and buried in a time capsule within the reserve, along with other Trust memorabilia, to be reopened in 70 years’ time for the Trust’s 150th anniversary.

Ian said: “I wanted this poem to be my birdsong, my splash of a fish in a river, my breeze whispering through the trees.

“I wanted my poem to be true to the ideals of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and to inspire future generations to enjoy our wildlife – and, of course, to write poems about it!”

Askham Bog is located a 10-minute walk from Askham Bar and includes a 1 km boardwalk loop, which takes in some of the reserve’s best wildlife and the popular main pond.

First installed in the early 2000s by a team of dedicated reserve volunteers, the original boardwalk has now been replaced with sustainably-sourced materials that have better longevity and durability, with an improved route layout and wider sections with smoother surfacing for improved accessibility.

New signage has been installed on-site, and the Trust has also undertaken some vital management work in areas usually obscured by the boardwalk.

David Craven, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s head of operations in East Yorkshire, said: “Caring for Askham Bog has always been an honour, but it has been particularly lovely to see and hear just how much Askham Bog means to York’s local community whilst the reserve has been closed.

“From stories about visiting after school as a child and returning decades later with children and grandchildren, to the difference having a peaceful green oasis has made to people’s mental health, we are so pleased to be able to open the reserve again in time for school holidays and welcome visitors back to enjoy Yorkshire’s ‘cathedral of nature conservation’ again.”

To celebrate the reserve reopening, the Trust is hosting an opening event on-site at the reserve on July 25 and 26.

This will include guided walks of the reserve by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust staff, with all the best information on what wildlife to spot where as well as the opportunity to purchase limited-edition linocut prints of the reserve by local York artist Jon Haste.

There will also be the opportunity to purchase memorial plaques to be installed on the new boardwalk – the first ten purchased will be at a discount.

Rusticus Walking Theatre Company will be performing Ditzy the Dragonfly.

Thread and Press will be running family willow-weaving workshops creating 2D bugs, birds, and butterflies; there will be pond dipping sessions; and there will be a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust members-only moth spotting event with @garden. Of moths on Sunday, July 26th.

On-site catering, self-led wildlife spotter guides, and nature-journalling opportunities will also be available.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust president Alastair Fitter will give a talk at Pike Hill Golf Club York on Friday, July 24, about the reserve’s captivating history.

As part of its 80th anniversary celebrations, the Trust has also been running an appeal to raise money for further vital work needed at the reserve.

Askham Bog has struggled in recent years with increasingly unpredictable dry periods that risk damaging its vital peat habitat.

The Trust is raising money to manage scrub and invasive Himalayan balsam on-site, create new ponds for wildlife like great-crested newts, and survey how wildlife has responded on-site to the hotter weather.

To find out more about the reopening event and appeal to safeguard Askham Bog’s future, go to https://www.ywt.org.uk/appeals/action-for-askham-bog.

The Trust is grateful to contractors Bison Bridges for supplying the new boardwalk, Elms Solutions Ltd for their careful management of the boardwalk removal and reinstallation, and Piers Edsall of Environmental Art for supplying the time capsule.