An appeal aimed at stopping the large-scale dumping of plastic bottles containing Bible verses in the River Bann in Northern Ireland appears to have worked. In the past few years, thousands of bottles with religious messages tucked inside had been thrown into the water, ending up in the reed beds, mud and paths alongside the river in Coleraine. The environmental group Sea2it, which in the springtime issued a public request for the mystery messaging to cease, says it has not seen any new-looking bottles in at least two months.
Derry Now (Anthony Kennedy)
A very good fall
A 102-year-old woman who celebrated her recent birthday by throwing herself out a plane said it’s “mission accomplished”. Manette Baillie, from Suffolk, undertook the skydiving feat to raise money for charity. Speaking after her momentous jump, Ms Baillie said: “When the door opened I thought, there is nothing more I can do or say. Just jump… We seemed to travel at a very fast speed.”
Burnley Express (Steve Morley)
What we’ve bin waiting for
Maddie, a one-year-old golden retriever is brightening up the lives of bin workers by waiting to greet them on their weekly collections in east Belfast. And videos of the dog being petted by the workers when they arrive have gone viral on social media. Some dogs do not like people in uniforms or hi-vis jackets,
but Maddie loves them. “It’s not just her tail that wags – it’s her whole bum that goes,” says Maddie’s owner, Katelin Fiddis.
BBC News (Amanda Welles)
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This article appears in the 11 Sep 2024 issue of the New Statesman, The Iron Chancellor’s gamble