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The New IRA has admitted responsibility for the murder of journalist Lyra McKee, according to the Irish News.

In a statement given to the paper the group offered “full and sincere apologies” to her family and friends.

Ms McKee, 29, was shot in the head on Thursday night while observing rioting in Londonderry’s Creggan estate. On Tuesday police confirmed the arrest of a 57-year-old woman in connection with Ms McKee’s death.

The woman was arrested under the Terrorism Act.

Police say there has been a “massive response” to her killing and have urged more members of the public to come forward.

The statement from the New IRA comes after the hard-left republican political party Saoradh – which has the support of the New IRA – had previously sought to justify the use of violence on Thursday.

Susan McKay, journalist and friend of Ms McKee, said that there is no apology capable of covering the appalling action.

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Police are being diverted from “core local duties” that keep London safe by the Extinction Rebellion protesters, Scotland Yard has said.

More than 460 people have been arrested since Monday, including three charged with gluing themselves to a train.

Police rest days have been cancelled over the bank holiday, as more than 1,000 officers are deployed in London.

Sajid Javid said the climate activists had “no right to cause misery” and the Met Police “must take a firm stance”. Officers have also been asked to work 12-hour shifts, while the Violent Crime Task Force has had leave cancelled.

“This will have implications in the weeks and months beyond this protest as officers take back leave and the cost of overtime,” a Met Police spokesman said.
British Transport Police said it “continues to deploy additional officers throughout the London rail network to deter and disrupt further protest activity”.

Heathrow Airport said it was “working with the authorities” following threats protesters may try to disrupt flights over the Easter weekend.

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Former Peruvian President Alan García has died after shooting himself as police arrived at his home to arrest him over bribery allegations.

Mr García was rushed to hospital in the capital, Lima. His death was confirmed by current President Martín Vizcarra. A crowd of supporters gathered outside the hospital and were held back by a line of police.

Mr García was accused of taking bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht – claims he denied. Officers had been sent to arrest him in connection with the allegations.

Interior Minister Carlos Morán told reporters that when police arrived, Mr García asked to make a phone call and went into a room and closed the door. Minutes later, a shot rang out, Mr Morán said. Police forced the door open and found Mr García sitting on a chair with a bullet wound to his head.

Mr García underwent emergency surgery in the Casimiro Ulloa hospital in Lima, but to no avail.

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The number of times specialist prison officers were deployed to prisons in England and Wales in 2018 increased by nearly 60% since 2014.

The National Tactical Response Group handles potentially serious incidents.

The Prison Officers’ Association blamed the rise on a lack of staff, increasing violence, drugs, access to mobile phones and overcrowding. However, the Ministry of Justice said the majority of deployments were for non-violent incidents.

The figures, obtained by BBC Radio 5 Live, show that the NTRG was called out 640 times in 2018, compared with 402 deployments in 2014. The figure has mostly risen in each of the last four years, with 467 deployments in 2015, 585 in 2016 and 547 in 2017.

The NTRG is called to prisons to deal with potentially serious incidents, such as prisoners climbing onto roofs or safety netting, hostage-taking, and where two or more prisoners are disobeying instructions.

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A reward of up to £10,000 has been offered in a bid to catch the killer of a man who was shot in the head at a set of traffic lights in Glasgow.

Kenny Reilly, 29, was targeted as he sat in the passenger seat of a silver BMW at a junction in Maryhill. He died in the city’s Royal Infirmary two days later but, despite a series of appeals, the murder remains unsolved.

The charity Crimestoppers has now put up a reward on the first anniversary of the shooting. Mr Reilly was critically injured at about 22:20 on 16 April last year at the junction of Maryhill Road and Bilsland Drive. Police said a man wearing a black balaclava, who was a passenger in a people carrier, got out and fired several shots at him.

The burnt out black Ford S-Max was discovered later that night in Craigieburn Gardens, Glasgow. Police later established the Ford had been stolen from Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, the previous month.

Det Chief Insp Stevie Wallace, of the Major Investigation Team, said: “Despite the passage of time, I am determined to trace those responsible for this murder. “My thoughts remain with Kenny’s family who have been through enough over the past year.” He said hundreds of people had been interviewed and thousands of hours of CCTV footage examined in the past year of the investigation.

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