Latest from The Journal
The Journal
2 hours ago
- Business
- The Journal
Ban on short-term lets under 90 days being considered by EU commission
A BAN ON short-term lets under 90 days is being considered by the EU in its response to the housing crisis. The proposal may be included in the report by the EU to enforce a minimum letting period on homes, vice chair of the European Parliament's committee on housing and MEP Ciaran Mullooly has said. It is understood that the European Commission, which is seeking to tackle the affordability crisis in Europe, is taking a cautious approach to making any changes to short term let regulations due to the EU's lucrative tourism sector. New regulations with short-term lets will soon come into effect in Europe, which will force platforms such as Airbnb and to register properties in order to establish the number of active listings. The data will be used by the Commission to determine if European intervention is needed, a senior source said, but the EU is concerned that any interventions could have a harsh impact on the tourism industry. Advertisement Similar concerns have been highlighted in Ireland following the announcement of a potential ban on planning permissions for short-term lets in towns with populations of more than 10,000 . Independent Ireland's Mullooly believes a limit on the length of terms allowed for listings will be proposed by the European Parliament's housing committee report later this year. He told The Journal in Brussels that while the committee is 'limited' in what it is able to propose, it is seeking to take some action to address short-term lets, and their impact on the local housing supply. Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, a substitute member of the committee, said there is nothing that should be counted out by politicians when drafting the final report. He added that there is also a need to standardise tenants' rights in Europe. The Commission is of the view that it is the role of the Irish government to regulate the local housing market, while its housing policy will explore methods to boost financing and delivery of housing. It has already conceded that state aid rules for local authorities will be relaxed to increase the construction of social homes. It is understood that it will also seek to guarantee money from lenders so firms building new housing have security in their funding. The EU cannot directly set housing targets and does not have the power to regulate the property market in individual member states. However, it is possible for the commission to provide better access to funds and underwrite loans to improve delivery . Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Journal
9 hours ago
- The Journal
Commuter traffic stops for whales on Australia's humpback highway
THE FERRY WAS late, but not because of the usual traffic. Sydney commuters watched from an idling boat this month as humpback whales the size of buses surfaced nearby, halting the vessel's passage across the harbour. The curious mammals seemed to be watching them back. In June and July, it is not uncommon for whales to stop water traffic in Sydney. Winter heralds the opening of the so-called humpback highway, a migratory corridor along Australia's east coast used by about 40,000 of the massive creatures as they travel from feeding grounds in freezing Antarctica to tropical breeding areas off Queensland state. Two humpback whales breach off the coast of Port Stephens, north of Sydney. Mark Baker / Alamy Mark Baker / Alamy / Alamy 'It's blubber to blubber,' said Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife scientist at Macquarie University in Sydney and author of the book Humpback Highway. During peak traffic periods the bustling coastal city of 5.5 million people becomes one of the world's few urban centres where you might see a breaching whale on your morning walk, while buying a coffee, or waiting at a bus stop – any place you can see the sea. The reason humpbacks on the highway are so visible is because of their size – adults can be 52ft to 56ft long and weigh 40 tonnes – and their proximity to people. On their 6,000 mile journey from icy to balmy waters, one of the world's longest mammal migrations, the creatures stay close to shore. 'They are incredibly curious,' said Ms Pirotta. 'There's been times where there's been whales in the harbour this year where they've literally halted traffic.' Advertisement Australians get so close to the creatures that some have attracted fans. Among them are Migaloo, an all-white humpback whose sightings spanned 1991 to 2020, and Blade Runner, named for her tussle with a boat propeller that created her long, distinctive scars. Some keen whale watchers seek a closer look. On a recent morning, Ben Armstrong, a veteran skipper of a whale-watching boat in Port Stephens, a scenic harbour north of Sydney, slowed the engine as two humpbacks breached nearby. He encouraged passengers to put down their phones and enjoy the spectacle. Mr Armstrong keeps his tourist boat at distances mandated by Australia's state laws, but inquisitive whales often go off-script. Whale cruise boat captain Ben Armstrong speaks to his guests during a whale watching cruise off the coast of Port Stephens. Mark Baker / Alamy Stock Photo Mark Baker / Alamy Stock Photo / Alamy Stock Photo Once, the skipper let his boat drift for an hour while four or five humpbacks treated the vessel 'like a bath toy', playfully preventing it from moving forward or back. Vincent Kelly, who travelled from Geelong, Victoria, to witness the migration was a recent passenger. Over two hours, he watched half a dozen humpbacks perform breath-taking aerial manoeuvres. 'It was unbelievable to me,' Mr Kelly said. 'I didn't expect to actually see a whale. But they were everywhere.' The humpback gridlock marks a sharp reversal of fortune for the whales. They were once hunted for meat and oil, and numbers dwindled to a few hundred before humpbacks became a protected species in the southern hemisphere in 1963. The humpback boom to about 40,000 since has brought the creatures into more frequent contact with people than before. The population is still growing steadily, amplifying concerns about how humans and giants of the sea can safely share the coastline. But it also puts millions of Australians a short walk and a little luck away from encountering one of the largest mammals on the planet.
The Journal
9 hours ago
- The Journal
Gardaí rush to seize 3D-printed guns made for the price of a box of cigarettes
GARDAÍ FEAR DRUG gangs in Ireland have made connections with a gun supplier who's providing criminals with lethal 'throw away' 3D-printed plastic guns, The Journal has learned. It comes after gardaí seized at least five of the guns, known as Harlot 22LR or Derringer break-action pistols, in recent days. It's believed the guns, which have a distinctive green colouring, were printed from a file that's downloadable online. The seizures happened in Dublin, Tipperary and in Shannon. The Shannon incident happened on Friday morning and it was part of a broader intelligence led operation targeting organised crime in the area. We have discovered a large number of websites, apparently hosted in the US, which permit a member of the public in Ireland to get the blueprints to enable a DIY version of the gun to be produced at home. The devices can only be constructed with 3D printers which cost between €300 to €2,000 for basic models. Gardaí are investigating the proliferation of these 3D-printed guns, however sources said that at this stage of their probe it's not year clear whether they're being produced abroad or being manufactured in Ireland. One of the websites advertising the print file for a gun similar to the ones seized in Ireland offers the plans for less than the price of a box of cigarettes in Ireland – less than $20 US. The website describes it as a 'throw away' gun. A stock image of a gun printing device. Shutterstock Shutterstock 3D-printed guns became more widely available in the mid-2010s, with Texas-based 'crypto-anarchist' Cody Wilson playing a central role by offering the digital schematics needed to make a weapon. Advertisement Europol have also issued warnings about Far Right extremists obtaining printed guns. Dissident Republican groups, such as Óglaigh na hÉireann (OnH), have been spotted at events wielding 9mm 3D printed FGC sub-machine (FCG stands for 'Fuck Gun Control'). It is understood Far Right groups in the UK have also been spotted with the same guns. Mark Wolf was jailed for 10 years in 2023 . Gardaí found child sexual abuse imagery on his phones and footage of a massacre of Muslim worshipers by a white supremacist in New Zealand. In 2022 a man, who is originally from the UK, was arrested by gardaí in possession of homemade guns in Dublin – he was a Far Right sympathiser, and was later jailed. Ghost guns The US has been gripped in an epidemic of so-called 'ghost guns' – which is a term that broadly describes firearms that are bought as incomplete frames and receivers. These components are being purchased across the US as they bypass US Law Enforcement. The 'ghost guns' are then turned into functional guns by assembling them with other parts that can be ordered separately. Brian Thompson, CEO of US health insurer UnitedHealthcare , was allegedly shot dead by Luigi Mangione using a ghost gun. Sources have said that ghost guns of this type have have not appeared in Ireland as yet. In the past illegal firearms were either stolen from legitimate owners such as farmers or were shipped into Ireland in drug shipments or attained from stocks of weapons formerly held by the IRA. A statement has been requested from An Garda Síochána. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Journal
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Journal
Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' lawyer mocks sex trafficking case in closing arguments
SEAN 'DIDDY' COMBS was portrayed in his lawyer's closing argument today as the victim of an overzealous prosecution, which tried to turn the recreational use of drugs and a swinger lifestyle into a racketeering conspiracy that could put the music mogul behind bars for life. Marc Agnifilo mocked the government's case against Combs and belittled the agents who seized hundreds of bottles of Astroglide lubricant and baby oil at his properties, as he began a presentation expected to last several hours. 'Way to go, fellas,' he said of the agents. He said prosecutors had 'badly exaggerated' evidence of the swinger lifestyle and threesomes, to combine it with recreational drug use and call it a racketeering conspiracy. 'He did not do the things he's charged with. He didn't do racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking,' the lawyer said. Agnifilo also called Combs' prosecution a 'fake trial' and ridiculed the notion that he engaged in racketeering. 'Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?' Agnifilo asked. 'Did any witness get on that witness stand and say yes, I was part of a racketeering enterprise, I engaged in racketeering?' No, Agnifilo argued, telling jurors that those accusations were a figment of the prosecution's imagination. Combs' family, including six of his children and his mother, were in the public gallery in the New York court for the closing arguments. All his life Combs has taken care of people, Agnifilo said, including the ex-girlfriend who gave evidence under the pseudonym Jane, whose rent he is paying. 'I don't know what Jane is doing today,' Agnifilo said. 'But she's doing it in a house he's paying for.' Advertisement Referring to lawsuits filed by Combs' accusers, he said: 'This isn't about crime. It's about money. This is about money.' He noted that Combs' girlfriend of nearly 11 years, Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, sued him in a lawsuit that was settled for 20 million dollars in a day in November 2023, triggering a federal probe the following day. 'If you had to pick a winner in this whole thing, it's hard not to pick Cassie,' Agnifilo said. Cassie and Jane both gave evidence during the trial that they were coerced repeatedly by Combs to perform in drug-fuelled days-long sex marathons with male sex workers, while Combs watched, directed, masturbated and sometimes filmed the encounters. Prosecutors, he argued, have invaded Combs' bedroom and his most intimate personal affairs. 'Where's the crime scene? It's your sex life,' Mr Agnifilo said. He also mocked the prosecution's assertion that Combs and his underlings had engaged in hundreds of racketeering acts and their suggestion that many of his so-called freak-offs and 'hotel nights' were crimes. If that is so, he said, 'we need a bigger roll of crime scene tape', a reference to a line from the movie Jaws. Mr Agnifilo reiterated that the defence 'owns' the fact that Combs was violent, but he argued that behaviour does not justify the grave charges he faces. He said Combs and Cassie had a 'loving, beautiful relationship', albeit a 'complicated' one. 'If racketeering conspiracy had an opposite, it would be their relationship, they were deeply in love with each other,' Mr Agnifilo said. If convicted, Combs could face a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life. He did not give evidence during the trial, which is in its seventh week. After Mr Agnifilo completes his closing, assistant US attorney Maurene Comey was expected to deliver a rebuttal summation before the judge reads the law to the jury, which is not expected to begin deliberations until Monday.
The Journal
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Journal
Ballymena to host first ever Pride Parade weeks after headline grabbing riots
THE ORGANISER OF the first ever Pride Parade in Ballymena has said he never considered cancelling the event, despite wide-scale rioting in the Co Antrim town earlier this month. Ballymena made headlines around the world after three nights of rioting earlier this month in which over 40 PSNI officers were injured. PSNI said the rioting erupted after a vigil to protest the alleged sexual assault in the town was 'hijacked' by 'racist thuggery'. Curtis Lee, the organiser of the first ever Pride Parade in Ballymena which will take place tomorrow, told The Journal: 'The committee's opinion was that, no matter what, we're going ahead with this because to cancel would be to give into fear. 'The theme of our event is 'love over fear' so to give into fear would have went against everything that Pride stands for.' He added that it 'didn't make any sense to us to cancel it because of the actions of a few individuals' and said that 'a lot of the people that caused damage were actually bused in to Ballymena'. During a visit to Ballymena by The Journal in the aftermath of the rioting, a member of a 'local regeneration group' remarked that there were 'definitely elements of the protest on Monday night that weren't local'. Lee told The Journal that while 'there is definitely racism in the town, to tarnish the whole town with the same brush is unfair'. He added that 'Pride will exist here to present an alternative vision of Ballymena'. Advertisement There will, however, be protests tomorrow from four evangelical Christian groups and Lee said this was something they expected would happen. 'Ballymena is the birthplace of Ian Paisley so it was always to be expected that there was going to be counter protests.' One of the four groups protesting is United Christian Witness, and the other three are local church groups. Lee said he is 'disappointed but not surprised' by the planned protests. Meanwhile, in one social media thread on the upcoming parade, someone commented that as a gay person, they 'couldn't wait to leave Ballymena'. 'I never thought I'd see the day there would be a Pride event there,' they added. Lee said that messages like these are 'the entire reason of why we're doing this'. 'Just that one day of visibility in the town can be life saving,' said Lee. 'I've had messages from parents of young people fearful for child's safety and who struggle with their mental health and they're excluded. 'To give a platform to make them feel welcome and to be seen is so important.' Lee added that he has spoke to many older people who said they never could have imagined that a Pride Parade could take place in Ballymena. Related Reads 'Bricks instead of beer': Stark images from NI photographer tell story of the Ballymena riots I went to talk to people in Ballymena, and was told to make myself 'scarce' or there'd be trouble 'Racist thuggery': How a peaceful vigil in Ballymena turned into anti-immigration violence 'As much as Pride has taken off around the world,' said Lee, 'I think there was always the expectation of, 'oh, that'll never happen here'.' But while there have been many messages of support, Lee acknowledged that some of the responses have taken him by 'surprise' and have been 'incredibly toxic'. Lee said he has been informed of an individual who is 'putting leaflets into local shops and businesses, asking them not to support Pride'. 'He's telling them that if they support pride, he will encourage local Christians to boycott their business.' Lee said many local business owners 'have been fearful of publicly supporting what we're doing'. 'We would never judge any business, because there is some uncertainty of what the response will be and things could escalate, especially after the riots,' said Lee. 'I would never expect any business to put themselves at risk. 'As much as I would like every business in the town to have rainbow flags, I can't expect everyone to scream from the rooftops about it. 'I hope we can get to that place down the line, but with this being our first parade, we expected this.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
