In a statement he made, the injured party set out the extensive surgeries he has undergone, the continued difficulties he faces and that he may have to have his knee replaced.

A Co Antrim man who “clearly has a serious problem with temper” was jailed for 16 months today for assaulting another man in Carrickfergus Bowling Club.

David Hilditch will spend an additional 16 months on a supervised licence when he is released from custody.

From West Street in Carrick, the 43-year old admitted a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm on the injured party and was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court by Judge Patrick Lynch KC.

The charge arising from an incident in Carrick Bowling Club on January 15, 2023 where both Hilditch and the injured party were socialising.

The two men did not know each other and during the course of the evening Hilditch approached the other male, who was sitting with his son.

Words were exchanged between the injured party and Hilditch, who walked away.

Hilditch then returned to where the father and son were sitting and after further words were exchanged, the injured party stood up and grabbed Hilditch.

Hilditch responded by punching the injured party in this face, which caused him to fall backwards into his seat and resulted in a fracture injury to his right leg which required multiple surgeries.

The incident was captured on the Club’s CCTV and Hilditch was identified from the footage.

During a police interview, whilst he gave a largely ‘no comment’ response he did confirm it was him on the footage.

The father-of-two said he had been drinking and claimed he struck out after being grabbed as he was in fear for his life, but did not intend to cause the injury to the other man.

In a statement he made, the injured party set out the extensive surgeries he has undergone, the continued difficulties he faces and that he may have to have his knee replaced.

Branding the injury sustained as “long-lasting”, Judge Lynch said it was “particularly poignant” that the injured party’s wife passed away whilst he was undergoing rehabilitation.

Regarding Hilditch, Judge Lynch noted he was in full-time employment with a self-reported history of depression and social drinking.

The Judge added that whilst Hilditch is now taking steps to deal with his “alcohol difficulties”, he has accepted he becomes “unpredictable when intoxicated.”

Defence submissions by barrister Luke Curran set out that his client’s plea spared the injured party the ordeal of coming to court and giving evidence.

Mr Curran also pointed out this was a ‘single punch’ case as opposed to a sustained assault and that the nature of the leg injury was unforeseen.

Also noted by the Judge was Hilditch’s criminal record, “which does not speak well for him,” and which includes prior serious assaults that resulted in prison sentences.

Judge Lynch said Hilditch was the “instigator of the whole unfortunate situation” in the bowling club.

The Judge added: “The defendant clearly has a serious problem with temper and this is particularly exacerbated by the use of alcohol.

“He has failed to learn his lesson from three serious assault charges for which he was convicted and for which he served sentences of imprisonment of varying lengths.”

Following this, the 32-month sentence was imposed.

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The world sighed in relief when Donald Trump agreed to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to finally end the conflict with Iran on June 17. But there is now a palpable feeling that hostilities are far from over. The agreement between Washington and Tehran, signed at Versailles on June 18, is better understood as a deferred crisis – one whose contradictions are already visible.

Iran’s closure of the waterway since February has caused one of the largest supply disruptions in the history of global energy markets, driving inflation across the western world and aggravating American motorists at the gas station. It was this economic stranglehold that brought Trump to the table.

The payoff for the US is unclear. As former US president Barack Obama recently said, it is “doubtful that any agreement that arises is going to be significantly different, or represent a significant improvement from the deal” that Obama himself oversaw in 2015.

Iran’s closure of the strait gave it the leverage to secure concessions from Trump – potentially exceeding the Obama-era nuclear deal – without offering more on the nuclear question than it had tabled in Geneva days before the war began in February. Even senior Republicans such as Senator Bill Cassidy have lamented the deal for its financial incentives to the Iranian regime.

Within 72 hours of the MoU, Iran’s military command claimed to have closed the Strait of Hormuz once again. This was no surprise. It is indicative of an emboldened Iran that is flexing its leverage – leverage Trump’s deal has inadvertently produced.

Iran has absorbed enormous punishment, survived and is now dictating the terms of the ceasefire by dangling the constant threat of economic misery in front of Trump’s face. This is not a foundation for a stable settlement. In fact, it signals a serious loss of control for both the US and Israel.

Iran’s justification – Israeli strikes against Hezbollah – for wreaking economic havoc and holding global energy markets hostage illustrates the structural flaw at the heart of Trump’s approach to deal-making. Iranian officials have explicitly said that the “most important item” on their agenda is preventing further Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

Iran’s strategic logic is unambiguous. Every time Israel retaliates against Hezbollah, which it is both legally entitled and politically compelled to do, Iran holds the global economy hostage via the Strait of Hormuz.

This places Israel in an impossible position. It cannot permanently suspend its right to self-defence as a condition of a US diplomatic agreement. It is hard to see Israel’s security cabinet accepting a framework in which Iranian-backed forces in Lebanon can attack their territory with impunity, because the consequences of retaliation lead to increased pressure on global oil markets and American inflation figures.

As Israel’s minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir put it: “Israel is not subject to the United States, and we are an independent and sovereign nation.”

This is not a viable and sustainable strategy of deterrence. It is brass-necked coercion dressed up as diplomacy.

For Trump, the domestic arithmetic is equally unstable. While he insists that his deal has delivered everything it set out to achieve, by his own admission, he also stated at the recent G7 summit in France that he “didn’t want to see an economic catastrophe”. It would certainly not improve his party’s prospects in the upcoming midterm elections in November.

It is a frank acknowledgement that his decision-making was driven by the perception that continued military pressure was producing diminishing returns. The decision to stop fighting had ceased to be a strategic choice. It was the result of an American president who no longer believed he could act with complete control.

The problem is that the deal does not restore that agency in a meaningful way. Iran has now demonstrated to itself, to its regional partners, and to the world that it can act belligerently and still negotiate from a position of strength.

Vicious cycle

What is currently happening can be best described as a cycle: Israeli military action in Lebanon, Iranian threats to close the strait, US pressure on Israel to stand down, and Israeli resistance to doing so. Each iteration of this cycle will intensify the narrative that restraint is no longer a viable course of action – for Israel, for Trump’s domestic base, and for the Gulf states who have felt the brunt of Iranian drone attacks.

Despite the destruction of most of Iran’s military capabilities, infrastructure and political leadership, Iran remains determined to change the order of things in its region. Its foreign policy behaviour is driven by a combination of revolutionary ideology, a deep mistrust of the US, and a religiously guided identity as a self-appointed protector of the Shia Islamic world.

Nothing in the last four months has given Tehran reason to revise that worldview. Quite the contrary.

Lebanon has become the fault line on which this deal will either hold or break. Israel has understood this from the start. Trump is catching up. His threat to “blow the shit out of them” if Iran does not comply suggests a president whose patience with his own agreement is already fraying.

The memorandum of understanding is a ceasefire with a built-in detonator. When political actors come to believe that restraint no longer allows them to act meaningfully – as both Trump and Israel increasingly do – escalation ceases to be a choice. It may come to be the only available logic.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has warned that “draconian” measures, including locking overhead bins, may be necessary to prevent travellers from retrieving luggage during evacuations.

Efforts to collect bags during emergencies can delay evacuations and risk passenger safety, the organisation said.

Aircraft must be capable of being evacuated within 90 seconds, according to IATA.

IATA has launched a campaign called “Save A Life, Not A Bag” urging travellers to leave belongings behind during evacuations.

The campaign was created in response to an increasing number of incidents where passengers attempted to retrieve bags during emergencies, or even stopped to take photos.

Nick Careen, senior vice president of operations, safety, and security at IATA, said: “If we do not see the type of behaviour changes that we’re expecting, then we will have to be a little more draconian which could be penalties and could be something as simple as a hard locking mechanism on the overhead bin.

“Penalties are somewhat effective but unless they are implemented on a consistent basis then they lose their effectiveness.”

IATA’s campaign is supported by safety bodies including the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The group also commissioned a survey of passengers in the UK, US, UAE and Singapore, which found that while 80% believed they knew what to do in an emergency evacuation, only 61% correctly identified that they should leave all personal items behind.

The issue has real and potentially deadly consequences, said IATA’s director general Willie Walsh.

Mr Walsh said: “Taking bags during an evacuation is not a minor issue.

“Every second matters.

“Even taking one bag can affect the safe evacuation of everyone onboard.

“Crew instructions are clear and simple: leave everything behind and move quickly.

“‘Save A Life, Not A Bag’, is a message that passengers need to understand and act upon.”

EASA’s executive director Florian Guillermet explained why rapid, unobstructed evacuation is essential.

Mr Guillermet said: “Rapid evacuation in an emergency situation saves lives.

“Aircraft are certified to stringent evacuation standards and crews are trained extensively for emergency situations, to make sure every single passenger has the best possible chance of survival in an acute situation.

“For this to work in a real emergency, all passengers must play their part too.

“And it is very simple: follow crew instructions, leave all baggage behind and move quickly to the nearest usable exit.

“Not only will this save your life, but you will have done your very best to allow everyone to get out of danger.”

FAA administrator Bryan Bedford highlighted the rise in non-compliance during emergencies.

Mr Bedford said: “We’re seeing an increasing number of passengers not following flight crew instructions during emergencies.

“In those moments, compliance is critical.

“Passengers must act quickly, follow instructions without hesitation, and leave all belongings behind.

“Safety is a shared responsibility, and informed, attentive passengers help ensure a faster, safer evacuation for everyone on board.”

Mr Careen believes that while most people have some understanding of evacuation protocol, it is often incomplete.

He said: “The majority of passengers know what to do in an accident.

“There is, however, a significant gap in knowledge among some travellers that could result in disaster.

“Even just a passenger or two taking a few extra seconds to gather personal items can endanger lives.

“That is why it’s essential to build good habits for all travellers, like paying attention to safety demonstrations each time and keeping essential items, such as passport, money, and medication on person.

“It is also important that passengers understand the consequences of not listening to the crew.

“‘Save A Life, Not A Bag’, is meant to be a blunt reminder of what is at stake for everyone in the rare event of an evacuation.”

Neighbourhood police officers in Bolton carried out the hour-long operation on Trinity Street in response to concerns from residents and businesses about road safety.

Of the 31 vehicles stopped, one was seized for having no insurance, three drivers were summonsed to court for driving offences, and one traffic offence report was issued.

Advice was also given to several motorists during the checks.

The operation was run by the Bolton Town Centre Neighbourhood Team and took place within a single hour on Trinity Street.

A spokesperson for Bolton Police said: “The vast majority of road users were driving safely and legally, but we are committed to making our roads safer.”

Officers said the operation was organised in direct response to community feedback and encouraged residents to continue raising concerns.

This can be done through monthly neighbourhood drop-in sessions or by contacting their local policing team.

They can also use the Bee In The Loop community messaging service.

Greater Manchester Police said it will continue to carry out similar proactive operations across Bolton to improve road safety and tackle driving offences.

The Government-backed scheme, dubbed “Great British Summer Savings”, launches on Thursday, June 25 and promises lower prices on everything from theme park tickets and children’s meals to family cinema trips.

Major attractions, including Alton Towers, Legoland and Peppa Pig World, are among those taking part, while restaurant giants including McDonald’s, Wetherspoons and Nando’s are also passing on savings to customers.

Which attractions are offering discounts?

Some of Britain’s best-known family attractions have already cut prices.

Merlin Entertainments, which owns attractions including Alton Towers and Legoland, has introduced “summer VAT savings” on tickets.

Advance tickets for both parks now start from £29.75, down from £34.

Longleat Safari Park has also reduced prices, with a family of four now able to buy advance tickets for £122.30, representing a saving of £17.50.

Cinema tickets are getting cheaper too

Families planning a trip to the cinema this summer could also see savings.

Major chains including Odeon, Vue and Cineworld have signed up to the scheme.

Odeon says a family ticket for two adults and two children will fall from £32 to £28.50 while the discount is in place.

Children’s meals slashed at major restaurant chains

The VAT cut is also being passed on by some of Britain’s biggest restaurant and pub groups.

Among those taking part are:

• McDonald’s
• Wetherspoons
• Nando’s
• Greene King pubs

Nando’s has reduced the price of its children’s “Nandino” meals from £6.95 to £6.08.

At Wetherspoons, a children’s meal costing £5.75 has fallen to £5.03.

Meanwhile, McDonald’s says a typical Happy Meal will cost £2.99, representing a reduction of around 27%.

Who qualifies?

The scheme applies across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and runs until September 1.

There is no legal requirement for businesses to participate, meaning discounts may vary between venues and locations.

Not every ticket qualifies, either.

Season passes and annual passes are generally excluded, meaning popular Merlin annual passes are not included in the savings programme.

Why is the Government doing this?

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the package as part of measures designed to ease pressure on household finances.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said many families have found everyday treats increasingly difficult to afford.

He said trips to the seaside, attractions and family days out should not feel out of reach for ordinary households.

The Treasury estimates the package will cost around £300 million. Alongside discounted attractions and meals, the initiative will also provide free bus travel for children aged five to 15 in England during August, potentially delivering further savings for families.

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How much could families save?

The exact savings depend on where families choose to visit.

However, households combining discounted attraction tickets, cheaper children’s meals and reduced cinema prices could save tens of pounds over a single day out.

For families planning multiple outings during the six-week summer holiday, the savings could quickly add up.

With millions preparing for the school break, the scheme offers a rare piece of good news for parents looking to keep children entertained without breaking the bank.

Will you be making the most of the cut? Tell us in the comments below.

While they do not enter the competition just yet, Manchester City will be aiming to retain their title with the extra incentive of having nobody with more League Cup wins.

They have won the competition nine times, one short of Liverpool’s record 10 titles. Manchester United have six wins, and Chelsea and Aston Villa have five.

The transfer window is stepping up a gear as Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham all work on completing huge deals in what is set to a huge summer. The Gunners are closing in on the signing of Morgan Rogers in a deal worth at least £80million, and continue to be linked with an audacious swap deal for Julian Alvarez. A fee has been agreed for wonderkid Jeremy Monga, and remain interested in Ayyoub Bouaddi, Bradley Barcola, Eli Junior Kroupi, Christos Tzolis and Andria Bartishvili.

NEW YORK (AP) — Humans and great apes have been giggling in similar ways since branching off the evolutionary tree, a new study suggests.

How do we know this? Researchers tickled 13 captive apes — including gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos — and recorded the results. The new research reexamined those decades-old recordings and compared them with the newly captured giggles of four young children while they were being tickled and playing at home.

It turns out that the chuckles of humans and great apes follow similar rhythms, with regular timing between their laughs, a uniting thread that likely reflects their ties to a common ancestor, researchers said.

“In a way, we are very similar to other great apes because we’ve been laughing in a similar way for 15 million years,” said study author Chiara De Gregorio, a primatologist at the University of Warwick in England.

Laughter communicates a playful, happy feeling without using words. Many animals can laugh too, but the giggles don’t follow human patterns as closely. When researchers tickle rats, for example, they respond with ultrasonic squeaks.

Scientists trying to uncover how laughter evolved have picked apart animals’ facial expressions, but less work has been done on how laughs sound. And compared with apes, human laughter has become faster and more complex. For one, our laughs sound different based on context — from a polite chuckle among colleagues to a full-bodied guffaw with close friends.

“We are like the masters of laughter, I would say,” said De Gregorio, whose findings were published Thursday in the journal Communications Biology.

These giggles evolved to best suit animals’ different social lives, said Brittany Florkiewicz, who studies animal communication at Lyon College and had no role in the new research. She said the study’s findings make sense, and point to a need for more investigation.

Florkiewicz said she’d like to hear comparable recordings of other animals with playful facial expressions, like dogs, horses and cats. That could tell us more about how laughter evolved, so we can “understand what makes us uniquely human, but also what is similar between humans and other animals.”

Studying the origins of laughter may seem corny, but it’s one aspect of human communication that can help us understand others — including how we learned to speak. Because sounds don’t fossilize, scientists are using the evidence we do have to trace things back, one chuckle at a time.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Parts of the UK will stop seeing the sunshine and start experiencing thunder, lightning and rain

This week has seen some crazy temperatures with highs of almost 40C across the UK. While some parts of the UK, like London, are still seeing sunshine, other areas are now experiencing thunder and lightning. But why is it that we experience thunderstorms after hot weather?

According to the BBC, “thunderstorms start inside a cloud when it’s high up in the atmosphere where the air is cooler than the air below it. Bits of ice move up and down and bump into each other inside the cloud. This builds up an electric charge.

“If the charge builds up enough it can suddenly flow as a huge current of electricity – either between the cloud and the ground, or between different clouds. We see this as a really big spark and it’s what we call lightning.”

When lightning flashes, it heats the air around it to about 10,000C – almost twice as hot as the surface of the Sun. The air gets hot so quickly that it expands with a bang, creating a huge vibration in the air. That vibration is what we hear as thunder.

You may think that thunder and lightning happen at the same time. But it does not. In fact, because light travels around a million times faster than sound, you will always see lightning before you hear thunder.

Why does thunder and lightning happen after a heatwave?

The experts explain that thunderstorms begin with warm air. This often happens after a long spell of hot weather, such as a heatwave, when the Sun has heated both the ground and the air above it.

As the warm air rises through the atmosphere, it cools and condenses into tiny water droplets. These droplets start moving in the cloud, and if the atmosphere is cold, they will start rising even further up into the atmosphere.

When the atmosphere is unstable, thunderstorm clouds, known as cumulonimbus clouds, develop. Cumulonimbus clouds are the only type of cloud capable of producing thunder, lightning and hail.

Met Office thunderstorm tips

The Met Office has forecast thunderstorms across parts of the UK, bringing thunder, lightning and heavy rainfall. In response, experts are urging people to take precautionary measures to protect both themselves and their property from potential damage and disruption.

It advises:

• Check if your property is at risk. If you are at risk, prepare a flood plan and prepare an emergency flood kit
• Check the flood advice in your area to know when and where flooding will happen
• Charge mobile phone devices
• Park your car outside the flood zone
• Prepare a flood kit to help you cope in the event of flooding to your home and business
• Store valuables up high, including electrical devices, important documents and furniture
• Turn off gas water and electricity supplies
• It is safer not to drive in thunderstorms but if you must drive you can do this more safely by slowing down, using main roads and dipped headlights, giving yourself more time to react on slippery surfaces and keeping a bigger gap between vehicles
• Prepare for powercuts
• Protect your property and your neighbour’s too by checking for loose items outside your home and if you can, secure them. Items you should think about include bins, plant pots, garden furniture (bring inside or secure in place) , trampolines (turn upside down or secure with tent pegs) and sheds (ensure doors are locked).

The Met Office warns: “Don’t go outside to repair any damage during the storm.”

For more tips on how to stay safe during a thunderstorm, visit the Met Office website.