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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
At least 63 arrests at Palestine Action ban protests
Dozens of people have been arrested at protests across the UK against the decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terror group. Arrests have been reported in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and Truro, all places where demonstrations in support of the pro-Palestine action group took place on Saturday. The Met Police said 55 people were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences in Westminster for displaying placards in support of Palestine Action. Eight were arrested in Truro in Cornwall. The government proscribed the group earlier this month under the Terrorism Act of 2000, making membership of or support for the group a criminal offence, following a break-in at an RAF base. Across the country, protesters held placards with the words: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action." In London, arrests were made near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square, where as many as 20 police vans attended. Officers moved in swiftly to arrest those holding the placards, many of whom appeared to be over the age of 60. One woman claimed to be in her 80s and was walking with a stick. Some were led away while others had to be carried. Devon and Cornwall Police said two men and six women were arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after protesters gathered near Truro Cathedral. The force said around 30 people were involved in the peaceful demonstration, organised by campaign group Defend Our Juries. Earlier, the campaign group said that one of those arrested near the cathedral was an 81-year-old former magistrate. It also said 16 people were arrested in Manchester. Police forces in the other locations where protests took place have not yet confirmed the number of arrests they made. Saturday's protests came ahead of a High Court hearing on Monday at which the co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, will ask for permission to challenge the decision to ban the group. Last Saturday, 71 arrests were made across the UK at similar protests against the decision. Palestine Action has engaged in activities that have predominantly targeted arms companies since the start of the current war in Gaza. MPs voted to proscribe the group after activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in June, spraying two Voyager aircraft with red paint and causing £7m worth of damage. Palestine Action took responsibility for the incident at the time. Four people have since been remanded in custody, charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage and conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK. The incident also prompted a security review across all UK military bases.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Red Arrows team using vegetable oil to fly
The Red Arrows have been flying at a popular air show with fuel made of vegetable oil. The RIAT event at the Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Fairford, Gloucestershire, is currently under way and celebrating its 40th anniversary, with planes showcased from across Europe. The RAF's Red Arrows are flying on all three days, with 35% of their fuel being sustainable, which includes hydrotreated vegetable oil. Discussing the use of sustainable fuel, senior engineering officer of the RAF Red Arrows Andy King, said: "As we scale production and that increases, what you actually get is the costs come down and you become more self-sufficient as a country." He added that using the fuel could provide an "added operational resilience" if the UK entered into conflict with "countries to the east". "We'd be no longer be reliant on their fuel," he said. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to visit the major aviation event, which started on Friday and ends on Sunday evening. Kate McKinley, people and sustainability director of RIAT, said the carbon footprint of the air show would be monitored and it would find out the results later this year. Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. More on this story Sneak peek at this year's RIAT aircraft RIAT 2025: Everything you need to know Related internet links Royal International Air Tattoo
Irish Times
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Barry Lyndon turns 50: Is Kubrick's epic, filmed in Ireland, a folly or a masterpiece?
Some 20 years ago, I was invited round to Sir Ken Adam's house in Knightsbridge for a conversation about a new book on his work as a production designer. I knew I was in the right place when I saw his Rolls-Royce parked outside the grand stucco porch. One of only three German-born airmen to fly for the RAF in the second World War, Adam had long been recognised as a legend of the industry. Over a 50-year career, he worked on every variety of picture – from Addams Family Values to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – but Adam was, by then, resigned to the awareness that, in any interview, the conversation would quickly touch upon James Bond and Stanley Kubrick . He made seven Bond films. The two pictures he made with Kubrick were among the most striking looking ever made: Dr Strangelove and Barry Lyndon. I remember approaching the subject of the latter film with some caution. Half a century after its release, Barry Lyndon, much of which was shot in Ireland, remains shrouded in myth and controversy. Is the lavish 18th-century epic a folly or a masterpiece? Did the IRA really chase Kubrick away? Was the pressure on the crew so great? It was said the stress of dealing with Kubrick's obsessions on that film – shooting by candlelight, replicating 19th-century paintings – accelerated this former fighter pilot towards (as we then still said) a nervous breakdown. Stanley Kubrick on the set of Barry Lyndon. Photograph: Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images Adam, who died in 2016, did not balk when I used those words. 'Oh yes, a terrible breakdown,' he told me. 'We were working these incredibly long hours. And there was the closeness to Stanley, who was so completely disorganised. We didn't have a script as such. He had just [photocopied] pages from [William Makepeace] Thackeray's novel and then discovered that didn't work; I could have told him that at the beginning.' [ One of Stanley Kubrick's greatest films was made free to watch on YouTube. It's a sign of the trouble movie studios are in Opens in new window ] This gets at an often-overlooked aspect of Kubrick's approach. Yes, he was meticulous. But, according to Adam (who would know), that perfectionism was at odds with a lack of structural discipline. 'We were chasing around all day looking for a location and then shooting all night,' Adam told me. 'If a scene didn't work it was, of course, the fault of the location.' Marisa Berenson in Barry Lyndon Adam ended up in the care of 'a famous Scottish psychiatrist' who told him that, to get well, he would have to 'cut the umbilical cord' with Kubrick. When he emerged from care he got a phone call from the director. Kubrick noted how pleased he was that Adam was better and explained that he now wanted the production designer to shoot a second-unit sequence in Potsdam. 'That gave me such a shock that the next day I was back in the clinic!' he told Sir Christopher Frayling. Adam could, reasonably enough, have concluded, on the film's release in 1975, that it was not worth the effort or the strain on his mental health. Barry Lyndon, adaptation of a short novel by Thackeray, received mixed reviews and was not a financial success. [ Reissue of the Week: Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon - terribly beautiful, relentlessly authentic Opens in new window ] Pauline Kael, then in her pomp as film critic of the New Yorker, greatly enjoyed revealing her disappointment. 'Kubrick has taken a quick-witted story, full of vaudeville turns ... and he's controlled it so meticulously that he's drained the blood out of it,' she wrote. 'He suppresses most of the active elements that make movies pleasurable.' Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times thought it 'the motion picture equivalent of one of those very large, very heavy, very expensive, very elegant and very dull books that exist solely to be seen on coffee tables'. The great Derek Malcolm, writing in the Guardian, turned to a cricketing analogy. 'It's half a film,' he wrote. 'He is like a batsman trying to score a century without anybody noticing.' Many were unconvinced by Ryan O'Neal's deadened performance in the title role (domestic viewers still wince a little at his so-so Irish accent). Huntington Castle's yew tree walk, made famous when a scene in Barry Lyndon was filmed there. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw It would be wrong to suggest the whole world was against it. There were good reviews from Gene Siskel in the Chicago Tribune and Vincent Canby in the New York Times. The Irish Times, on first glance, also caught its brilliance. In his review, Fergus Linehan railed against negative criticism 'that misunderstood both the film's method and purpose'. Linehan went on to place it alongside the likes of The Godfather Part II and Badlands among his 12 best films (on Irish release dates) of 1975. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated Barry Lyndon as best picture in what now seems a contender for the finest line-up in the Oscars' history. It competed opposite Dog Day Afternoon, Nashville, Jaws and eventual winner One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Adam won his second Oscar (an award he thought 'ironic' for a film largely set on already existing locations). Yet there was still a sense the film was a grand extravagance that failed to repay the effort demanded of any viewer. Kubrick's films often take a long time to settle in with critics and viewers. 2001: A Space Odyssey divided opinion on release in 1968. It is said Rock Hudson sloped out early grumbling 'What is this bullsh**t?' as Discovery One made its glacial way towards Jupiter. On Sight and Sound's 2022 poll to find the greatest films of all time, 2001 landed in sixth place. [Kubrick] was not a designer, but he knew every technical job: editing, sound, photography. Nobody could say: 'This couldn't be done.' They would have been fired immediately. — Sir Ken Adam Kubrick was famously nominated as worst director in the first ever (admittedly idiotic) Golden Raspberry Awards for The Shining in 1980. It was also trashed by Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert before going on to establish itself as one of the greatest of all horror pictures. As a crisp new 4K restoration of Barry Lyndon arrives in cinemas for the golden jubilee, the early sceptical responses seem as distant and eccentric as the riots at the first night of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. It was the second highest rated Kubrick film on that recent Sight and Sound poll. Five years ago, this newspaper, enjoying itself in the pandemic summer, named it as the best Irish film of all time. The troubled history of its production only adds to the legend. By the time Kubrick, a middle-class Bronx boy who had begun as a still photographer, came to shoot Barry Lyndon, his forbidding reputation was already in place. Dr Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange, his three previous films, had all kicked up different degrees of furore. The controversy around that last film (talk of copycat violence eventually led to the director withdrawing A Clockwork Orange in the UK) heaped sombre mystique on overcooked intimations of heroic genius. The director had originally wanted to follow up A Clockwork Orange with a film on Napoleon, but financing fell through after the failure of Sergei Bondarchuk's bombastic Waterloo. He then considered a take on Thackeray's Vanity Fair, but, deciding that book was too huge, settled instead on the same author's more compact The Luck of Barry Lyndon. O'Neal, huge in the aftermath of Love Story, secured the title role – an Irish rogue who romances a rich widow after conning his way through the Seven Years' War – when Robert Redford turned it down. Supermodel Marisa Berenson was to play the moneyed Lady Lyndon. Ryan O'Neill, photographed in 2015, 40 years after filming Barry Lyndon In 1973 the Warner Bros charabanc arrived to an Ireland which was less accustomed to huge American productions than is now the case. Ardmore Studios accommodated some of the shooting, but it is the location work that really sticks in the brain. Powerscourt House in County Wicklow provided elegant backdrops just a few months before its destruction in a fire. One can also spot Kells Priory in Co Kilkenny, Huntingdon Castle in Co Carlow and Castletown House in Co Kildare. Not everywhere is representing a domestic location. Dublin Castle stands in for the Prussian retreat of Chevalier de Balibari, a grifter (actually Irish) played with majestic oddness by the untouchable Patrick Magee. Reasonably enough, much attention has gone the way of the technical innovations that characterised a complex production. If you know anything about Barry Lyndon you probably know that John Alcott, who won that year's Oscar for best cinematography, was required to shoot some scenes solely by candlelight. This ultimately required the adaptation of superfast 50mm Zeiss lenses that had originally been designed by Nasa for use on the moon. 'I was very good friends with Stanley,' Adam told me. 'He was not a designer, but he knew every technical job: editing, sound, photography. Nobody could say: 'This couldn't be done.' They would have been fired immediately.' Adam argued that Kubrick enjoyed his time in Ireland, but he wasn't sufficiently enamoured to ignore an apparent phone call from the IRA demanding that he leave the country within 24 hours. He was gone in 12. 'Whether the threat was a hoax or it was real, almost doesn't matter,' Jan Harlan, a producer on the film, later told the Irish Independent. 'Stanley was not willing to take the risk. He was threatened, and he packed his bag and went home. And the whole crew went with him.' Fifty years later, the reputation of Barry Lyndon could hardly be more secure. Elevated by music from The Chieftains , subverted by an ironic voiceover from Michael Hordern, the film winds a sinister mordancy around its overwhelmingly beautiful images. There is a sense throughout of impending loss. None of this can last. I can't say if Adam felt it was all worthwhile. It was then 30 years after the fact, but the mental stress clearly still rankled. 'I took all Stanley's problems on my shoulders,' he said. 'And ended up apologising for things that were nothing to do with me.' The 4K restoration of Barry Lyndon is on limited release from July 18th
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Glasgow Man charged under Terrorism Act for city centre Palestine sign
Police Scotland said he had been arrested and charged "for displaying a sign expressing support for a proscribed organisation" The arrest follows that of a 38-year-old man in Shawlands on Wednesday, who allegedly had a poster showing support for the group in his window. The man arrested in the city centre is expected to appear at court at a later date, as is the man in Shawlands. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "A 64-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with an offence under the Terrorism Act for displaying a sign expressing support for a proscribed organisation." Officers were called to a protest at Nelson Mandela Place in Glasgow at around 9.50am on Friday, 18 July, 2025. "The man is expected to appear in court at a later date." The group was outlawed after claiming responsibility after two Voyager aircraft were sprayed with paint inside RAF Brize Norton in June. The government said the group had a long history of criminal damage, with its activities increasing in frequency and severity. A man was previously arrested at the TRNSMT festival in Glasgow for wearing a T-shirt which allegedly showed support for the group. It is claimed the words "Palestine" and "action" were in larger typeface than the rest of the text. Police Scotland said the 55-year-old had been charged in connection with an offence under the Terrorism Act, for wearing a T-shirt expressing support for a proscribed organisation. T-shirts with the message have been produced by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign. In a post on Facebook, the campaign said one of its Glasgow members had been "charged at the roadside" at TRNSMT and the T-shirt had been confiscated. At the time of the ban, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the government would "not tolerate" those who put the UK's national security "at risk."
Powys County Times
a day ago
- Powys County Times
Four face 2027 trial over alleged Palestine Action aircraft damage
Four people accused of plotting to damage two Voyager aircraft at RAF Brize Norton in a demonstration allegedly carried out by members of Palestine Action face trial in 2027. About £7 million worth of damage was caused to the aircraft at the airbase in Oxfordshire on June 20 in an incident alleged to have a 'terrorist connection', the Old Bailey heard. Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewis Chiaramello, 22, are charged with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place 'knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom', and conspiracy to commit criminal damage. It has previously been alleged the defendants had been heavily involved in Palestine Action at the time. On the same day they were charged, MPs backed the Government's move to ban the direct action group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. On Friday, the defendants appeared at the Old Bailey for a hearing to set a timetable for the case amid heightened security outside the central London court. The two female defendants appeared by video-link from Bronzefield jail with the two male defendants in the dock in court. Watched by members of the public in a packed public gallery, the defendants spoke only to confirm their identities. Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay KC said the case related to 'criminal damage to two aircraft at RAF Brize Norton in the early hours of June 20 which caused extensive damage to the aircraft'. He said the case was being heard in the terrorism list before Mrs Justice Cheema- Grubb, 'the prosecution submission being this case has a terrorist connection'. Mr Polnay said a provisional trial fixture of six to eight weeks had been identified from January 18 2027. He accepted that was 'obviously a considerable distance away' and there was uncertainty at this stage how long any trial would take. He added the length of the trial would depend on whether the defendants accepted being involved in the 'physical acts undoubtedly taken'. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the 2027 trial date meant an 'inordinately long time' for the four young people to wait in custody. She said: 'The sooner the real issues in this case are identified the better for everyone, particularly in fixing the trial date.' The senior judge confirmed the 2027 trial date at the Old Bailey but said she would review it at a plea hearing on January 16 next year. Gardiner-Gibson, Jony Cink, both of no fixed address, Jeronymides-Norie, of Barnet, north London, and Chiaramello, of Brent, north London, were remanded into custody.
