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Van Morrison has described the British government as “fascist bullies disturbing our peace” in one of three new tracks he has written to protest against safety measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. On No More Lockdown, Morrison sings: “No more lockdown / No more government overreach / No more fascist bullies / Disturbing our peace … No more taking of our freedom / And our God-given rights / Pretending it’s for our safety / When it’s really to enslave …” The song also condemns “celebrities telling us what we’re supposed to feel”, although the 75-year-old Northern Irish songwriter denied...

Boris Johnson has revived plans to build a £20 billion bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland — with engineers looking to copy the link between Sweden and Denmark which featured in a hit “Scandi noir” crime drama. The Prime Minister, who is keen to sanction a series of grand infrastructure projects as a legacy of his rule, is about to receive the results of a feasibility study into the construction of a combined bridge and tunnel connection at the narrowest, 20-mile gap between Northern Ireland and the British mainland. One version of the plan would be modeled on the Öresund...

Same-sex marriage is legally recognized in Northern Ireland from today. Following a legal change last autumn, same-sex couples can now register to marry and the first ceremonies will take place next month. Those who are already married will have their marriage legally recognized in Northern Ireland. Heterosexual couples will also be able to enter into civil partnerships from today. But same sex couples in a civil partnership will not yet be able to convert it to a marriage in the province — the Northern Ireland Office is set to begin a consultation on the matter later this year. The status...

Iran is now saying thata Ukrainian airliner was shot down by accident..... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now saying she will send the articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate for a trial.... Three Republicans joined the Democrats in voting for the war powers resolution symbolically limiting President Trumps power to make war against Iran.... Islamic State issuing a statement in support of the death of Iranian General Qassem Soliemani.... The United States announcing sanctions on Iran in retaliation for the missile attacks on US forces in Iraq Tuesday night..... Eight reported dead in eastern Syria after an...

Hillary Clinton is to be the new chancellor of Queen's University, Belfast (QUB). She is the university's 11th chancellor and first woman to take up the post. In a statement, Mrs Clinton said it was a "great privilege" to become the chancellor of QUB. She takes up her role immediately and will serve for a period of five years. Mrs Clinton succeeds Dr Tom Moran - who died last year. While the role of chancellor is mainly a ceremonial one, securing Mrs Clinton will be seen as a coup for Queen's. The chancellor often presides at graduation ceremonies and is...

WITH ALL OF the results declared in the North’s 18 constituencies, the DUP has emerged as the biggest casualty of the election. The DUP now has 8 MPs, down from 10 MPs in the last election. Sinn Féin stay the same on 7, a result they’ll be happy with. The SDLP now has two MPs, and the Alliance Party has one in Lady Sylvia Hermon’s former constituency. Yet while other parties enjoyed major successes – Alliance and the SDLP in particular – the prospect of a Boris Johnson majority means that the Northern Irish MPs can no longer hold the...

A comfortable majority for Boris Johnson means his Brexit will happen. That will have profound implications for Northern Ireland. It will likely mean a new "Irish Sea border" in operation in little over a year's time. Mr Johnson is expected to bring his withdrawal deal back to Parliament next week, beginning a process that will take the UK out of the EU by 31 January. The UK will then enter a transition period, effectively a standstill arrangement where EU rules still apply. That transition could continue until the end of 2022 but the prime minister is adamant he will only...

Live Updates: U.K. Votes in General Election Britain’s voters head to the polls to choose their next government on Thursday in a deeply divided moment for the country that has left the outcome unpredictable. RIGHT NOW Voting has begun in the British general election, the second since the country’s landmark Brexit referendum.

An attempt to thwart the liberalisation of abortion law in Northern Ireland fell at the first hurdle on Monday when the Northern Assembly, sitting for the first time in more than a thousand days, was unable to complete the first item of business – the election of a speaker. The appointment of a new speaker required a cross-community vote but as Sinn Féin and the SDLP boycotted the vote this parliamentary obligation could not be met. The DUP had supported the attempt to have a motion passed that would mean that any changes to abortion legislation or same sex marriage...

LONDON—British lawmakers voted Saturday to postpone a decisive Brexit vote, likely forcing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to request a further delay of the U.K.’s departure from the European Union. Parliament said it needed more time to review a deal Mr. Johnson concluded this week with European leaders that sets out citizens’ rights, a financial settlement with the EU and a special arrangement for Northern Ireland that would require customs checks on goods arriving there from elsewhere in the U.K. The move was backed by opposition lawmakers, along with some who have recently left or been expelled from the ruling Conservative...

Much of the discussion has seemed like an egg-centered debate: soft or hard, but it won't be over easy. A soft Brexit means staying closely aligned with the EU on trade, and is favored by Britons who oppose leaving. Hard means a clean break, and that could cost an estimated 9% of GDP cumulatively, along with 450,000 jobs. Pro tip: If a Brexit discussion gets too detailed, scare the other party off by insisting that a hard exit would "force the BOE back to the ZLB with more QE." Just in case your bluff is called, that's Bank of England,...

Michel Barnier has set Boris Johnson a midnight deadline to concede to EU demands and agree to a customs border in the Irish Sea or be left with nothing to take to the Commons.

Boris Johnson appears to be on the brink of reaching a Brexit deal after making major concessions to EU demands over the Irish border. A draft text of the agreement could now be published on Wednesday if Downing Street gives the final green light, according to senior EU and British sources. It is understood that the negotiating teams have agreed in principle that there will be a customs border down the Irish Sea. A similar arrangement was rejected by Theresa May as a deal that no British prime minister could accept. Johnson will still have to win over parliament –...

Baby Ella's termination, the catalyst for the rulingBELFAST, Northern Ireland (ChurchMilitant.com) - Northern Ireland's High Court of Justice ruled Thursday that the region's current law that prohibits abortion in most cases is a human rights violation. In 2013, Sarah Ewart sought to abort her child, Ella, after doctors told her the child would not survive outside the womb. Ewart went to London to terminate her child after she was denied an abortion in Northern Ireland, since Northern Irish law only permits abortion for the life of the mother or to prevent permanent physical or mental damage. Ewart joined her abortion...

NORTHERN IRELAND & LONDON — "I'm starting to hear things that I haven't heard in a long time," Eileen Weir told Business Insider. "There was a republican funeral here yesterday and they shot over the coffin. I know that's a matter of honour for that fallen comrade, but at the same time, the IRA said all of there guns were out of use, so where did they get that gun?" Weir runs a cross-community women's centre in Shankill, west Belfast. Shankill was a focus of violence during The Troubles. Irish republican and unionist paramilitaries carried out lethal bomb attacks and...

Archbishop of Canterbury Hosts Muslim Gabfest as Peers Push Abortion on Northern Ireland Truant archbishop marks World Emoji Day as babies are slaughtered LONDON (ChurchMilitant.com) - The archbishop of Canterbury and his fellow bishops in the Church of England are being slammed for skipping the critical House of Lords vote that resulted in the imposition of abortion on Northern Ireland. None of the 26 bishops who serve as voting members of Parliament were present or voted during the debate on July 17 and 18

A case involving a Belfast bakery, that refused to make a cake with a pro-same-sex marriage slogan for a customer, has been referred to the European Court of Human Rights. Ashers Baking was found guilty of discrimination in 2015 for refusing to make a cake for Gareth Lee. Mr. Lee requested a cake with the words “Support Gay Marriage” iced on top, but the owners of the bakery refused due to their Christian beliefs. The bakery has said its objection was to the message on the cake, not the customer. Mr. Lee’s legal bid in Europe’s highest court will argue...

Think the IRA has stepped off the world stage? Their role is closer to that of ringleader. One of America’s most influential terrorist enemies traces its lineage back some thirty years — and it isn’t a Muslim organization.In splinter groups like the Continuity IRA and more recently the Real IRA, Irish terrorists have positioned themselves at the center of a network connecting revolutionary FARC rebels in Colombia, Hezbollah in the Middle East, al-Qaeda in Iraq, and Taliban forces in Afghanistan currently fighting and killing American troops. The IRA and PFLP have trained together and coordinated attacks, weapons smuggling, and other...

London (AFP) – A no-deal Brexit could lead to a united Ireland as more people in Northern Ireland would “come to question the Union” with Great Britain, Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar has said. His comments came after new British prime minister Boris Johnson said the current Brexit deal was unacceptable and set preparations for leaving the EU without an agreement as a “top priority” for his right-wing government. Tension around the withdrawal deal centres on the so-called Irish backstop — a mechanism designed to keep Northern Ireland in the bloc’s Single Market and prevent a customs border between it...

British M.P.s passed amendments Tuesday to legalize abortion and homosexual “marriage” in Northern Ireland if the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont is not restored by October 21. The British parliament voted 332-99 on Labour M.P. Stella Creasy’s amendment to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill to legalize abortion in Northern Ireland, the BBC reported. British M.P.s also voted 383-73 in favour of an amendment by Labour M.P. Conor McGinn to legalize homosexual “marriage” in the region, according to Extra.ie. Abortion is allowed in the United Kingdom up to 24 weeks but is illegal in Northern Ireland, allowed “only when...