Bereaved relatives suing over alleged collusion in six loyalist killings to discuss potential settlement

Bereaved relatives suing over alleged security force collusion with loyalist paramilitary killers are to enter mediation in a bid to resolve their actions, the High Court has heard.
Discussions aimed at reaching potential settlements were announced in cases related to six murders during the Troubles.

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Wales Online

16 minutes ago

• Wales Online

Multiple reports of man exposing himself in popular park

Multiple reports of man exposing himself in popular park There is an increased police presence in the area On each occasion the suspect left the scene before police officers arrived (Image: Google ) Police are investigating a series of reports of a man exposing himself around a popular Swansea park. Officers say the most recent incident happened on Thursday this week, and they say there will be an increased police presence in the area as part of their investigation. Detectives say members of the public have reported multiple incidents of a man exposing himself around Singleton Park throughout June, but they say on each occasion the suspect had left the scene before officers arrived. Enquiries are ongoing to identify the male. ‌ Police are appealing for anyone with information about the incidents to come forward. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here ‌ A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "We have received reports in recent weeks of indecent exposure involving a man around the Singleton Park area. The most recent report was received on Thursday, June 19. "Enquiries are currently ongoing to identify the man, who has departed the scene prior to officers' arrival. There will be an increased policing presence in the area while this investigation is taking place. Article continues below "We would ask anyone who witnessed an incident or who has any information to contact us." Can you help? Call South Wales Police in Swansea on 101 quoting reference 2500194125 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111. In an emergency call 999

Daily Mail​

17 minutes ago

• Daily Mail​

Pentagon insider: Trump's only option to obliterate Iran's deadly labs

Only a tactical nuclear warhead would be certain to destroy Iran's key uranium enrichment base hidden inside a mountain, a military official has told the Daily Mail. It comes amid doubts that 30,000-pound 'bunker buster' bombs would be enough to destroy the secretive facility at Fordo, 60 miles south of Tehran. Tactical nukes are meant for battlefield use and do not carry the same devastating payloads as strategic nukes, which are used to topple cities. In this case, the warhead selected could be sized for the Fordo site, though no tactical nuclear weapon has ever been used in combat before. Israeli officials have urged American forces to deploy multiple GBU-57 bunker busters to cripple Fordo, a plant being used to enrich uranium hundreds of feet underground - the depth shields the lab from airstrikes. On Thursday, Trump gave Iran a two-week reprieve to negotiate a settlement that would see it give up on its quest to develop nuclear weapons. But as the crisis drags on, some military officials have expressed practical concerns that the bunker busters might not be enough. One official said, practically, a nuclear warhead would be the only way to be sure of success. 'The nuclear warhead has to happen, whether it's the first strike, second strike or 17th strike... given the location, from what I've read and for what I've seen, it's a difficult spot,' a military official told the Daily Mail. 'In order to be successful with the least amount of casualties, and to be able to get that target and do what we want to do, which is destroy them, it would have to involve a nuclear warhead.' 'Our bombers are the only ones that could get in there,' the official added. When reached for comment about the use of tactical nuclear weapons in the Middle East, the Pentagon passed along statements from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. 'Over the weekend, I directed the deployment of additional capabilities to the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility,' Hegseth's Monday statement read. 'Protecting US forces is our top priority and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region.' Taking flight late at night, the US stealth planes along with massive refueling planes would take hours to reach Iran's nuclear sites, likely in the early hours between 2 and 4 am Ahead of them would likely fly stealth US fighter jets such as the F-35 to disable or absorb fire from any final defenses awaiting the bombers. Once the B-2s arrive, they'd drop their payloads from up to seven miles above their targets. The weapons they drop are generally guided by satellites to ensure direct hits. The B-2s can carry up to two bunker busters each or they can carry up to 16 B61 or B83 nuclear weapons. However, using bunker busters does not ensure success. The Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) reportedly found in a study of GBU-57s that a strike on Fordo likely would not be able to completely wipe out Iran's nuclear site. Instead, it would be disabled for years, according to the Guardian. 'It would not be a one and done,' former DTRA deputy director Randy Manner told the outlet. 'It might set the program back six months to a year. It sounds good for TV but it's not real.' Israeli officials, on the other hand, are confident that multiple strikes with GBU-57s would take out Fordo. However, US officials say the architecture of the Iranian lab makes it difficult to destroy - threatening to protract any potential conflict involving the US. They are also concerned about Iranian retaliation with drones. 'If they do strike US military bases, then there's going to be a lot more pressure to go in there, and that's also what I'm worried about,' the US official told the Daily Mail. With the recent use of drone warfare in Iran and Ukraine, drone strikes should be a top concern, the official shared. 'It doesn't have to be a missile, it could just be a drone carrying a bomb that could detonate part of the base,' the official continued. 'We're not thinking about this right now.'

Daily Mail​

17 minutes ago

• Daily Mail​

Opinion: I know why Trump has decided to destroy Iran's threat

I am safely back on US soil after a harrowing trip to the Middle East last week, when I witnessed the first days of Israel 's justified war against the Islamic Republic of Iran , the wellspring of worldwide terrorism. The experience solidified my belief, more than ever before, that President Donald J Trump's commitment to preventing the mullahs of Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is not only critical for peace in the region but for the preservation of Western Civilization. We win… or else. From Tiberias on the shore of the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem, I watched dozens of Iranian missiles in Israeli skies, triggering the Iron Dome missile defense system, which picked off and destroyed many of the missiles before they could strike their targets. But a few bombs did get through, killing at least 24 people and wounding many more. This week, an Iranian missile struck a hospital in southern Israel that had, thankfully, largely been evacuated. Iran's response to Israel's strikes on its nuclear facilities, military and leadership is sinister in one telling way: Israel targets Tehran's military. Tehran targets Israel's civilians. And with every Iranian missile I saw, I thought: 'Boy, I'm glad that thing doesn't have a nuclear warhead on it.' In those observations lie the great question for President Trump: Should the United States allow a radical dictatorship that seeks to kill innocents, fund terrorism and lead its followers in chants of 'Death to America' possess a nuclear weapon? The answer is quite obviously 'Hell no!' Does any sane person doubt that the Iranian regime, which refers to Israel as the 'Little Satan' and the US as the 'Great Satan,' would kill Americans? Indeed, they have for decades, targeting US soldiers and citizens through their various terrorist proxies. Over one thousand American deaths, in fact, are attributable to the brutal regime. And we must never forget that while the Iranian nuclear weapons program is clandestine, their intercontinental ballistic missile program is not. The regime parades these long-range weapons through their streets, and these missiles are designed to reach the American homeland. 'For 40 years they've been saying death to America, death to Israel, death to anybody else that they didn't like,' President Trump said on Wednesday, 'They were schoolyard bullies… This is just not a threat you can have, and we've been threatened by Iran for many years.' Amen. President Trump has long held this position, consistently and unequivocally – and it's one of the many reasons that I voted for him three times. Now, I am of course aware of the voices on the right arguing against any intervention. The sentiments range from pure isolationism to some bizarre sympathy for Iran and hate for Israel. Many have exposed their ignorance by asking: 'What has Iran ever done to us?' proving that there is such a thing as a stupid question. But Trump, and Trump alone, decides what it means to be 'America First.' And the vast majority of the MAGA movement will support the president if he decides to move against Iran, which does not have to include putting 'boots on the ground' in Iran. Trump is not an isolationist, despite some of his supporters trying to impute this idea to him in desperate social media posts. The president has always been for smart engagement, but that doesn't mean no engagement. What's more, public opinion firmly supports Trump intervening in this situation. Polling explored by CNN this week tells the tale: 83 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Democrats oppose Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. Nearly 7 in 10 Americans support U.S. airstrikes to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions. For decades, Western leaders have tried to bribe (looking at you, President Obama), coax, or flatter the Iranian mullahs into abandoning their nuclear ambitions. All that failed, because they are fundamentalist radicals who aren't motivated by conventional diplomacy. What did work? Israel's ruthless post-October 7 dismantling of Iran's terrorist infrastructure in the Middle East. Today, the Iranian terror network — from Hamas to Hezbollah to the Houthis — has been decimated. This provides the opportunity to confront Iran without having to simultaneously fight a multi-front war against its terrorist proxies. And President Trump's strategic posture has made this moment possible. Let's be honest – he was cheated out of the Nobel Peace Prize following the signing of the 2020 Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. And in the five years since, America has courted Saudi Arabia to join the agreement. It was the most significant step towards defusing the Middle East powder keg in decades. Just imagine today's conflict without such alliances? Also in 2020, President Trump ordered the US military to kill the 'Butcher of Iran' Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, which is responsible for operating their terrorist minions. President Trump reinstated sanctions on Iran when others begged for lenience. And he has backed Israel unequivocally while social media's keyboard warriors argued for him to abandon our special partner (we'll have to explore the thinly veiled hatred for Israel and the Jewish people in another column but my goodness is it ugly). Trump's 'America First' foreign policy rests on a simple moral premise: peace through strength, deterrence through certainty. This is now a once-in-a-generation chance to finish this fight by striking Iran's Fordow nuclear enrichment facility, which is a fortress buried deep in the mountains, designed precisely to survive such a strike while enriching uranium to weapons-grade. Destroying Fordow would not be an unprovoked escalation — it is self-defense, a clear signal that there is a price for threatening the civilized world and plotting genocide while crying victim to journalists. It is a righteous act that would protect millions of innocent lives from future war and weaken every tentacle of Iran's terror empire. This is a chance not just to make the region safer, but to restore true American deterrence — the kind that makes bad actors think twice before threatening our citizens and our friends.