“We want to make our communities a hostile environment for those involved in the drugs trade and the message from this operation is clear: there is no safe place for you in North Belfast”

A police operation in North Belfast has recovered firearms, ammunition and drugs over a two-week period.

Officers took part in the operation last month in the city which involved 10 separate searches that found £15,000 of suspected cocaine and crystal meth along with £2,000 of cannabis vapes. Police also say £85,000 in assets such as cars, cash and other items were seized.

Three men were arrested as part of the operation which remains ongoing.

Speaking following the operation, Inspector Matthew Adams said: “The detection and disruption of organised criminals involved in the supply of drugs is a policing priority for police in North Belfast.

“This proactive operation shows that when we have the right information, we can take decisive action to protect our communities from the harms caused by drugs.

“We want to make our communities a hostile environment for those involved in the drugs trade and the message from this operation is clear: there is no safe place for you in North Belfast.

“Anyone with information regarding drug dealing or supply can contact local police on 101, or online at http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/

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“Reports can also be given to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. The help and assistance of the public is crucial in tackling drug supply and removing dangerous drugs from our streets.”

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Over the past month, there has been a notable increase in the intensity of the air war in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Strikes in mid- and late-May and early June have been characterised by significantly larger numbers of drones and missiles deployed by Russia in single attacks, leading to more destruction and more casualties.

At the same time, Russian territorial gains on the ground have slowed significantly, and in some cases have been reversed by successful Ukrainian counter-attacks.

The change in intensity in the air war, however, is what generates headlines, and for good reason. Two consecutive Russian attacks on May 13 and 14 were the largest in the war to date.

Ten days later, a similar strike hit Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. And a week after that, Russia launched yet another large-scale strike.

Just focusing on the Russian strikes, however, masks an important pattern of increasingly effective Ukrainian retaliation.

The first Russian attack in May was followed by Ukrainian strikes on the Moscow region. The second one saw Ukrainian strikes on St Petersburg on June 3, just before Vladimir Putin’s St Petersburg International Economic Forum was due to begin there.

At the same time, Ukraine has also intensified its strikes on Crimea and critical Russian supply lines to the peninsula, which Moscow has illegally occupied since 2014.

This series of Russian and Ukrainian airstrikes represents a high-intensity retaliation cycle. Ukraine responds to a Russian strike, which Moscow then uses to justify its massive strike, and so on.

What is new is both the scale of the Russian strikes, with larger numbers of drones and missiles compared even with the peak of attacks in late 2025, and the quickening cycle of these tit-for-tat attacks.

Ukrainian attacks deep into Russia are no longer just symbolic but highly effective – prompting Russia to accuse Ukraine of a terror campaign, in an attempt to deflect from its own systematic targeting of civilian infrastructure.

In their levels of destruction and civilian casualties, the Russian strikes also seem more effective than in the past – and Ukraine’s air defences less so. But this is only partially true. Ukraine’s intercept rate of drones remains high. However, the larger number of drones being deployed by Russia means that, in absolute numbers, more drones hit their targets.

Russia has also deployed more missiles in recent strikes, which Ukraine finds harder to intercept – not least because its stockpiles of anti-missile defences have been depleted over time, with the decrease in US support since Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025.

The recent diversion of US interceptors to the American war effort in the Middle East has also run down the stocks of these defence systems that are available to Kyiv.

Can this intensity be sustained?

Russia has thus been presented with an opportunity it is ruthlessly exploiting. But how sustainable is the current pattern?

The scale and frequency of the past four weeks is probably beyond Russia’s capacity to sustain indefinitely. While still large in scale, the strikes in late May and early June did not involve the same number of munitions as the first wave.

Russia is clearly able to mass-produce cheap attack drones, but less able to do the same for missiles. So, sustaining larger-scale attacks over time is likely to decrease their frequency, while more frequent attacks will mean a more limited scale.

A mixture of the two is most likely – a sustained campaign of frequent massed drone strikes, with intermittent spikes of large missile barrages.

While this may be a sustainable attack pattern for Russia, it does not mean the current level of effectiveness is equally sustainable. Ukrainian air defences will adapt and become more effective, including against Russian missiles.

Its defence cooperation with the EU is simultaneously improving. The lifting of Hungary’s veto on €40 billion (£34.6bn) of EU reimbursements for military support is likely to free additional funds to supply critical air defence systems to Ukraine.

Even with a sustained Russian air campaign, a manageable equilibrium is likely to set in over time. But critically, this will not merely be characterised by better Ukrainian defences against Russian attacks – but also by more effective Ukrainian strikes at Moscow’s critical war infrastructure.

The Russian air campaign, and the war against Ukraine more generally, will thus become more costly for the Kremlin – and not just on the battlefield inside Ukraine.

Whether this simply creates a different stalemate at a more costly level for both sides in their ongoing war of attrition, or prompts them to reassess their exit strategies, remains to be seen.

For Moscow, there is a hard choice to be made: towards escalation, including potential nuclear mobilisation, or towards a peace deal. The middle ground of simply continuing is quickly eroding, because none of Putin’s strategic goals in the war can be achieved this way – and the ongoing waste of resources cannot be sustained indefinitely.

On the Ukrainian side, the statement by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, that Ukraine’s recent strikes on Russia put the country on an equal footing with Moscow in negotiations, hints at Kyiv’s willingness to negotiate an end to the war with Moscow. However, it may take several more rounds in the air campaign retaliation cycle before the Kremlin reaches a similar conclusion.

A judge on Thursday dismissed a murder charge against an Arkansas man who won the GOP nomination for sheriff while awaiting trial for the shooting death of his teenage daughter’s alleged abuser.

The ruling came weeks before Aaron Spencer, who will be on the November ballot, had been set to face a jury on a second-degree murder charge. He won a March primary over the local three-term sheriff whose office had arrested Spencer in Lonoke County, which has roughly 76,000 residents and is heavily Republican.

Spencer’s attorneys do not deny that he shot and killed Michael Fosler in 2024, saying he did so to protect his child. Special Circuit Court Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. granted a motion by Spencer’s attorney to dismiss the charge over a dash camera memory card that may have captured the shooting and was lost by law enforcement.

“The court finds that conduct by law enforcement was so egregious that dismissal of this case is warranted,” Wilson wrote.

At the time of the shooting, Fosler, 67, was out on bond after being charged with dozens of sexual offenses against Spencer’s then-13-year-old daughter.

Court documents show on the night of the shooting, Spencer had woken up to find his daughter missing, and later found the girl in the passenger seat of a vehicle Fosler was driving. Spencer forced Fosler’s truck off the road and, after an altercation, called 911 to report he had shot the man.

Prosecutors said Spencer planned the killing and that he could have called police while pursuing Fosler. But Spencer pleaded not guilty and maintained he acted to protect his child from a predator.

Spencer’s attorney, Erin Cassinelli, said she is thankful for the court’s decision.

“No member of this family should ever again be forced to walk into a courtroom and relive this horror,” she said in a statement. “This father should have never been charged for protecting his child.”

Spencer said he is grateful this chapter is over and that his focus is now on his family and returning to normal life.

“There’s still work to do in Lonoke County, and I’m more committed to it than ever,” he said in a statement. “Together we can build a safer and stronger Lonoke County.”

Lonoke County Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Graham did not return messages Thursday seeking comment on the decision.

The Associated Press typically does not identify sex abuse victims, but Spencer has made his daughter’s experience with the criminal justice system a central part of his campaign for sheriff, pledging to establish a dedicated team to combat sex crimes against children.

Spencer’s attorneys filed the motion seeking to have the case dismissed, contending that video and audio of the dash camera from Fosler’s truck may have contained evidence that would have cleared Spencer of any wrongdoing. According to court records, a detective with the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office removed the dash camera from the truck when responding to the scene of the shooting.

But the camera’s internal settings were not preserved and the battery of the camera was allowed to drain, and as a result the camera went back to its default settings. When the camera was sent to the attorney general’s office for a forensic exam, the memory card that was in it when it was collected from the truck was missing. The detective who collected the camera later admitted that it was not logged into evidence right away, but was instead stored in his personal office rather than the evidence room, according to court records.

Wilson replaced the original judge handling the murder case in January after the Arkansas Supreme Court removed Judge Barbara Elmore from the case, finding she had issued an overly broad gag order that violated Spencer’s First Amendment rights.

—-

Boone reported from Boise, Idaho. Associated Press reporter Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

Durham University is home to around 21,500 students each year, meaning appropriate accommodation is in high demand. But as more proposals for new developments are lodged, residents have questioned why the city needs so much. 

Although large numbers of properties are being converted into shared housing, large blocks of flats – known as purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) – continue to take over.

And now, residents and politicians have warned that flats and co-living apartments are making the situation worse.

Data suggests Durham City currently has more student accommodation than students requiring it, challenging long-standing concerns about housing shortages linked to the university. 

The situation has been a hot topic for years, but this week, it caused Durham City county councillor David Freeman to ask: “Will we keep having applications for student beds in the city for approval when there is no demand for further beds?”

Analysis published by Durham University shows there is an 800-bed surplus across the city. 

The findings come as new PBSA developments continue to be delivered across the city. More than 4,500 PBSA beds are already in operation, with thousands more either under construction or approved through the planning system. 

Several additional schemes have been announced alongside the ongoing creation of HMOs, including new developments at Melbury Court and Hopper House. The latest city centre PBSA development includes 504 beds as part of the redevelopment of the Prince Bishops Shopping Centre. 

Cllr Freeman added: “When do officers think we will have enough qualitative need not to keep approving further student accommodation applications in the city? 

“We are getting to a point where in the city, we can no longer give any evidence that there is any quantitative need for student accommodation.”

It could also lead to several half-filled buildings throughout the city if the university experiences a downturn in overseas students, Durham County Council was warned. 

Lisa Morina, a planning officer at the local authority, responded: “In the next year, the university will be producing a new plan for growth. We will have a much better idea of the quantitative and qualitative needs. 

“Each application has to be considered on its own merits. In this particular case, the developers are targeting the international student market, and we feel there is a qualitative need in this case.”

Looking ahead, Durham University predicts the demand for student accommodation in the city is expected to increase in the 2026/27 academic year as student numbers continue to grow.

Despite the anticipated increase, the university said it currently expects there will be sufficient housing available to meet student demand.

Durham University said it continues to monitor the city’s housing development pipeline, which it described as “healthy”. 

However, it warned that changes to the private rental market, including the new Renters’ Rights Act, could create risks to student accommodation supply both locally and nationally.

Do you think there are too many student flats? Let us know in the comments

Eugenie’s rent was 50 per cent of the 2018 open market value from 2020 to 2021, and ranged from 55 per cent in 2022 to 63 per cent in 2025, while rent on Beatrice’s was 60 per cent of the 2020 market value from 2020-2021 and ranged from 62 per cent to 68 per cent between 2022-2025, the NAO said.

The drama continues in the run-up to the Makerfield by-election on June 18.

Tonight, BBC’s Question Time was broadcast live from Makerfield, where Fiona Bruce presenting a special programme from the constituency.

On the panel were: Labour mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham; Robert Kenyon of Reform UK; Michael Winstanley from the Conservatives; Jake Austin from the Lib Dems and Sarah Wakefield of the Green Party.

Other candidates running in the Makerfield by-election are Count Binface for the Count Binface Party; Dan Clarke for the Libertarian Party; Ed Gemmell for the Climate Party; Robert Pownall, an independent; and Rebecca Shepherd for Restore Britain.

Click here for our dedicated Makerfield by-election newsletter with the latest updates and analysis

Earlier today, new data revealed that Reform UK received £9 million from donors in the first quarter of the year, the largest amount given to any political party in that period.

Elsewhere, The Prime Minister accused tech billionaire Elon Musk of trying to “whip up division” over the tragic murder of Henry Nowak. The student was 18 when he was stabbed by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa in Southampton in December 2025.

Sir Keir Starmer accused Musk of “interfering in our politics”, adding: “In Britain, we are reasonable, tolerant people.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage issued a statement calling for ‘pure, cold rage’ on Tuesday morning, despite the pleas of Henry’s father not to use his son’s death to stoke further division in society.

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“I am also surprised that there is only one GAA pitch and four soccer pitches, it seems a bit low to me.”

Concerns over a NI council’s lack of planned GAA pitches have been raised ahead of a major sport budget development.

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council’s communities committee agreed to release the Draft Pitch Strategy (2026 -31) for public consultation over the summer months.

A report before the chamber has identified “support for development of one full-size GAA pitch” with in the next five to 10 years.

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A council officer said:” I suppose we would refer to this paper as our biggie. Investment in our current stock has been considered, and we know that our grass pitches require continual maintenance along with 3G pitches.”

The council paper has also identified potential for shared facilities with schools and community centres set to benefit.

The officer added: “The strategic recommendations, make a commitment to support our local clubs to develop their facilities. Finances will be attached to the strategy once the public consultation is complete with the final version presented to members in autumn 2026.”

The pitch strategy report shows just under 130 GAA teams in the district across four codes of Gaelic games with over 3,000 players.

As a comparison, football remains the highest played sport, with more than 6,000 participants.

Killultagh Sinn Fein councillor Gary McCleave said: “The paper shows that the priority over the next five years is for just one GAA pitch even though there are 3,000 members, how can that be?”

Castlereagh South Sinn Fein councillor Ryan Carlin added: “I am also surprised that there is only one GAA pitch and four soccer pitches, it seems a bit low to me.”

An equality impact assessment is due to be carried out on the strategy.

A council director responded: “We have been able to identify the need for one Gaelic pitch. The feedback we have been given shows what can be achieved.

“The big piece is around community plans and shared use of schools as we need to look at maintenance of lands.”

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

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has completed its renovation under Donald Trump’s administration and has begun to fill with water.

The president said the work to paint the shallow basin a deep “American flag blue” was finished on Wednesday, and a court filing from his administration indicated it would be filled by Sunday.

On Thursday evening, the White House announced that the water for the reflecting pool had started flowing.

“The water is ON, the Reflecting Pool is reflecting, and D.C. is looking better than ever,” the White House wrote on X. “We are so back. THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP.”

Trump has estimated the project’s cost at between $1.5 million and $2 million, yet records show that at least $14.8 million in contracts have been awarded for the work.

The president announced the project in April during an unrelated Oval Office appearance, saying he was inspired by complaints from a friend visiting from Germany who called the pool dark and disgusting.

The project is another way for Trump to leave his mark on the city, following the demolition of the White House East Wing to build a large ballroom, and plans to create an arch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

The reflecting pool, which is more than 2,000 feet (610 meters) long, was originally built in the 1920s. It sits between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument and is one of the most iconic sites in Washington. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously gave his “I Have a Dream” speech there in 1963.

The basin held about 6.5 million gallons of water — roughly as much as 10 Olympic-size swimming pools — before a 2012 renovation, according to the National Park Service.

Under that earlier renovation, the pool was reengineered with a circulation and filtration system so that instead of using the city’s drinking water, it draws river water from the nearby Tidal Basin. Washington and its surrounding states are facing drought conditions.

Critics have said the Republican president is spending too much time and attention on his pet projects and not enough on issues that voters care about, like the cost of living, in the run-up to the November elections. Others have said he wants the reflecting pool to look more like a swimming pool.

Last month, a Washington-based nonprofit called the Cultural Landscape Foundation filed a suit asking a judge to force the Trump administration to stop work on the “dark grey” Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, saying the new paint color suggested a “theme park.”

An order in the case hasn’t come yet, and on Wednesday, the Trump administration notified the court that the work was complete.

A message seeking information from the Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, wasn’t immediately answered.

Rachel Dobkin has contributed to this report.

Jay Stewart, 18, and a 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are accused of killing 16-year-old Kayden Moy.

A jury in the trial of two teenagers accused of murdering Kayden Moy on Irvine beach is set to continue its deliberations for a second day.

Jay Stewart, 18, and a 15-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons are accused of killing the 16-year-old on May 17 last year. Cole Turley, 18, has already pleaded guilty to Kayden’s murder.

It is alleged that – while acting with Turley – Stewart and the 15-year-old pursued Kayden, causing him to fall to the ground, and repeatedly stabbed him on the body with a knife, leaving him so badly injured that he died.

At the High Court in Glasgow, a jury began its deliberations in the case on Thursday, June 4, but ended the day without reaching a verdict. Deliberations are therefore set to resume on Friday.

Giving directions to the jury on Thursday morning, judge Lord Scott told them it was not in dispute that Turley murdered the 16-year-old or that the accused were present on Irvine beach that day.

He told them the “crucial issue” they had to decide was whether the accused were acting in concert with Turley when he carried out the murder. Giving his closing speech at the High Court on Wednesday, Donald Findlay KC, representing Stewart, told the jury there is “not a scrap of evidence” his client played any part in Kayden’s death.

“The one thing we know beyond a shadow of doubt is that Jay Stewart did not lay a finger on Kayden Moy,” Mr Findlay said. “He was not within yards of Kayden Moy when Kayden Moy was stabbed. He had no physical involvement whatsoever in the death of Kayden Moy.”

He added: “He did not go near him, he did not offer any kind of protection or security, there is not a single, solitary scrap of evidence that Jay Stewart played any active part in the death of Kayden Moy.”

The court previously heard Turley, Stewart and the 15-year-old were members of the Murray Boys group while Kayden and others were part of the Himshie group in East Kilbride. Mr Findlay said there had been confrontations between the groups in the past and there was nothing to suggest that day in May last year would be any different until Turley “upped the ante” and produced a knife.

He said there was a confrontation between the groups at the beach but nobody expected it to go further. Mr Findlay told the court: “There is shouting, exchanges of abuse, but at that point in time it is no more than that, and that’s as far as it should have gone till one event, and that was Cole Turley produced a knife.

“At that point, the character of this changes, but up till that point in time it is no different from any confrontation they have had previously.”

Mr Findlay also told jurors that, according to forensic evidence, there was “not a nanogram” of evidence to show Stewart ever had the knife in his possession. Ian Duguid KC, representing the 15-year-old, later pointed jurors to evidence from a witness who had told the trial he heard the 15-year-old saying “take us a box” during the initial confrontation at the beach, as in fist-fighting.

Mr Duguid said of the 15-year-old: “He was not thinking it was going to be a stabbing. He was thinking it was going to be a fist-fight, the Murrays against the Himshies, something that was not unknown to any of them.”

The lawyer urged jurors to acquit his client if they believe Kayden’s murder could not have been anticipated by the 15-year-old, who was 14 at the time of the fatal incident. Mr Duguid continued: “He’s 15, it’s important to him, his whole life is ahead of him.”

Prosecutors earlier withdrew all charges against Stewart and the 15-year-old apart from the murder charge, which they both deny. They previously lodged special defences of incrimination. The trial continues before Judge Lord Scott.

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Dr Hannah Barraclough, 38, from Durham, hopes to open Durham Wellness Space on Front Street East in Coxhoe by the end of June or July after spending 18 months transforming a former community building.

The clinical psychologist, who spent several years working in the NHS before establishing her private practice five years ago, said years of searching for suitable therapy rooms convinced her to create her own.

Dr Hannah Barraclough, 38, from Durham, is set to open Durham Wellness Space on Front Street East in Coxhoe (Image: PROVIDED)

Dr Barraclough said: “I’ve rented lots of different rooms all over the place and none of them have ever been quite right.

“Either they were cold or not welcoming and some didn’t have that safe, nice feeling that you would want with a therapy room.

“So when I decided to leave my last therapy room because it wasn’t really working anymore, I decided that I wanted to create that space for people, the space that I couldn’t find.”

The result is Durham Wellness Space, a purpose-built centre designed to bring together therapists, holistic practitioners and wellbeing professionals in what Dr Barraclough describes as a wellness community.

She added: “We developed the wellness space as a kind of community building to bring all different wellness professionals together in, like, a wellness community, in an environment that’s purpose-built.

“We want to build that community where we can work together, maybe cross-refer and collaborate, as running your own business sometimes can be isolating.”

Durham Wellness Space is set to open on Front Street East in Coxhoe in the former police station (Image: PROVIDED)

The centre will be run by self-employed practitioners who will rent rooms while working alongside one another and collaborating where appropriate.

Dr Barraclough said creating a welcoming environment was central to the project after years of working from rooms that lacked warmth and comfort.

Her own therapy room has been designed to resemble a living room rather than a traditional healthcare setting, adding: “Hopefully, the second you walk in the building, I want it to be a whole kind of experience.”

The building, which has previously been used as a police station and a dental surgery, was acquired around a year and a half ago.

Durham Wellness Space is set to open on Front Street East in Coxhoe in the former police station (Image: PROVIDED)

Dr Barraclough and her husband, Andrew Barraclough, who runs AB Home Improvements, stripped the property back to brick before carrying out a full renovation, including rewiring, replastering, a new heating system, new carpets, replacement windows and doors, security systems and external rendering.

The work was completed while the couple continued working full-time jobs and raising their two children.

Dr Barraclough added: “We’ve had the building quite a long time. It’s just obviously we’ve been juggling family life, working to fund the building and then doing it around working. It’s been quite a year and a half.”

The space will also become the home of Clear Mind Collective CIC, a non-profit organisation launched by Dr Barraclough in July 2024 to provide affordable and accessible mental health support.

She hopes to use the organisation to expand free and low-cost therapy services and provide educational support and consultancy for local businesses.

She said: “I am hoping to run more community events through the non-profit, for the community, with free or low-cost therapy so that hopefully we can provide lots of accessible treatment, as we understand that the NHS waiting lists are long, so it is about breaking down that barrier, by being able to get funding to provide either low-cost or free therapy for people.

“The other strand of it is education, consultancy, and mental health support for business owners. So, specifically, targeting other business owners as well.”

A soft launch is planned once the final stages of the project are completed, with the centre expected to open later this summer.