Armoured & Luxury
Chauffeur Driven Cars

Discreet Professional Protection

Former Sinn Fein Leader Wins Court Appeal

Gerry Adams has won his appeal to have two convictions for attempting to escape from prison in the 1970s overturned.

The Supreme Court said the former Sinn Féin president’s convictions were quashed because Mr Adams’ detention was unlawful.

He attempted to escape from the Maze Prison, also known as Long Kesh internment camp, in 1973 and 1974. He was later sentenced to a total of four-and-a-half years in jail.

Mr Adams was in jail because he had been interned without trial, a practice that was introduced in Northern Ireland amid spiralling violence in the early 1970s.

More than 1,900 people suspected of being members of paramilitary organisations were detained, but many were arrested based on flawed intelligence.

Read More

Militant Attack At Afghan Hospital Kills At Least Four

At least four people have been killed in a militant attack taking place at a hospital in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Locals heard two blasts, then gunfire. About 140 staff were inside at the time. Many are still trapped and children are among the injured.

Part of the hospital is run by the international medical charity, Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), and some of those working there are foreigners. Meanwhile, in the east, an attack at a police funeral has killed at least 21.

Dozens more were injured in that bomb blast and casualty numbers in both attacks could rise. It is not clear who carried out either attack.

In Kabul, special forces and other security personnel have brought 80 people, including women and children, to safety. At least five people have been injured, including two children, the Interior Ministry said.

Images from the scene of the attack showed soldiers carrying one newborn baby to safety, swaddled in a blood-stained blanket. It is not clear if the infant had been injured.

Read More

Iranian Missile Test Kills Nineteen Sailors

Nineteen sailors have been killed and 15 others wounded in a «friendly fire» incident involving two Iranian naval vessels, the navy has said.

Iranian state media reported that a new anti-ship missile being tested by the frigate Jamaran hit the light support ship Konarak on Sunday in the Gulf of Oman. The accident happened during a training exercise near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s armed forces regularly hold exercises in the strategic waterway.

The «Konarak vessel was struck with a missile yesterday [Sunday] afternoon during a military exercise in the waters of Bandar-e Jask» off Iran’s south coast, state TV said on its website. «The vessel was hit after moving a practice target to its destination and not creating enough distance between itself and the target,» it added.

The incident happened near the port of Jask, some 1,270km (790 miles) south-east of Tehran, in the Gulf of Oman, state TV said.

The Jamaran and Konarak are said to belong to naval forces of the Iranian military.

IS Used Gorge As Dumping Ground For Bodies

The jihadist group Islamic State used a gorge in north-eastern Syria to dump the bodies of people it had abducted or detained, Human Rights Watch says.

Researchers began an investigation after being sent a video in 2014 showing militants throwing corpses into the 50m (164ft) deep al-Hota gorge. HRW also believes bodies continued to be dumped there following IS rule.

It wants local authorities to secure the site, remove human remains, and preserve evidence for prosecutions. More than 20 mass graves containing thousands of bodies have been found in areas of Syria formerly held by IS.

Among those missing and believed to have been killed are activists, humanitarian workers, journalists, and residents who ran afoul of the jihadists.

IS once controlled 88,000 sq km (34,000 sq miles) of land stretching from western Syria to eastern Iraq, and imposed its brutal rule on almost eight million people.

Read More

Gunfire Exchanged By North And South Korea

North and South Korea have exchanged gunfire in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) which divides the two countries.

Seoul’s military said shots from the North hit a guard post in the central border town of Cheorwon. It said it returned fire and delivered a warning announcement. Such incidents across the world’s most heavily fortified border are rare.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told US media the shots from the North were believed to be «accidental». Meanwhile South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted a government official as saying the shots were not likely to have been intentional.

No injuries were reported in the incident. Military officials in the South say there was no sign of unusual troop movements.
The last time the North opened fire on the South happened in 2017 when a North Korean soldier made a dash across the military demarcation line to defect.The demilitarised zone (DMZ) was set up after the Korean War in 1953 in order to create a buffer zone between the two countries.

Read More