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A Royal Marine from County Antrim made 14 pipe bombs which were to be used by dissident republicans to attack police.

A court hearing to decide how long Ciarán Maxwell will serve in prison is taking place at the Old Bailey. The court heard that four of the pipe bombs were used in Northern Ireland – and two detonated.

In February, Maxwell, 31, admitted a number of offences, including bomb-making and storing stolen military weapons. The Larne man also pleaded guilty to drugs and fraud charges. The sentencing hearing is expected to take up to three days. Maxwell is not in court, but is appearing via video link from Woodhill Prison in Milton Keynes.

According to the charge details, he had a stash of explosives in 12 purpose-built hides in England and Northern Ireland. DNA evidence found at one of the County Antrim hides led to Maxwell’s arrest.

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Teenagers caught carrying out hacking and cyber-attacks could soon be attending a rehab camp that aims to divert them away from a life of crime.

The first weekend camp for offenders was held in Bristol this month as part of the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) work with young computer criminals. Attendees learned about responsible use of cyber-skills and got advice about careers in computer security.

If the trial proves successful, it will be rolled out across the UK.

The people picked to attend the residential weekend were known to police because they had been caught carrying out one or more computer crimes, said Ethan Thomas, an operations officer in the NCA’s Prevent team, which engages with young cyber-offenders.

Hundreds of fledgling cyber-criminals have been contacted by the NCA as part of its Prevent work. Some received letters warning them that their online activity had been spotted and some were visited at home by officers.

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The new US special representative for Ukraine says Washington is actively reviewing whether to send weapons to help those fighting against Russian-backed rebels.

Kurt Volker said that arming Ukrainian government forces could change Moscow’s approach. He said he did not think the move would be provocative.

Last week, the US State Department urged both sides to observe the fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.
“Defensive weapons, ones that would allow Ukraine to defend itself, and to take out tanks for example, would actually to help” to stop Russia threatening Ukraine, Mr Volker said in an interview. “I’m not again predicting where we go on this, that’s a matter for further discussion and decision, but I think that argument that it would be provocative to Russia or emboldening of Ukraine is just getting it backwards,” he added.

He said success in establishing peace in eastern Ukraine would require what he called a new strategic dialogue with Russia.

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A 16-year-old boy has been arrested at Stansted Airport on suspicion of terrorism offences.

The teenager, from the Kent area, was due on a flight leaving the UK, and was arrested on Sunday afternoon.

He was arrested on suspicion of the collection of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

He is currently in police custody and was detained under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE).

He was arrested by officers from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit, working in collaboration with Counter Terrorism Policing South East.

A suicide car bomb has exploded in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing at least 30 people.

At least 42 people were injured in the blast and there are fears the number of casualties could rise.

The blast in the west of the city, in a mainly Shia district, struck a bus carrying government employees from the ministry of mines, officials said. The Taliban said they had carried out the attack and were targeting intelligence service officials.

Kabul has seen a number of deadly attacks this year blamed on the Taliban or so-called Islamic State.

Security forces cordoned off the area of Monday’s blast, which took place during the rush hour. Images showed the burned out shell of the bus being removed. Three vehicles and 15 shops were damaged or destroyed.

The district where the blast occurred is home to many of the minority Shia Hazara community. The blast was close to the home of deputy government Chief Executive Mohammad Mohaqiq, a leader of the Hazara community.

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