Court of Appeal to hear residents' parade challenge over Drumcree dispute A challenge to the decision to allow a controversial Orange Order parade to go down a predominantly nationalist road is due to be heard in court later. The deadlock over the proposed march in Portadown - opposed by residents of the Garvaghy Road - has lasted since last Sunday morning. The stalemate has reopened what was once the most bitter parading dispute in Northern Ireland, with stand-offs in the mid-to-late 90s accompanied by riots, roadblocks and killings. The fresh Court of Appeal application argues that the Parades Commission, the organisation that approved the march, had materially misdirected itself on the police assessment of the potential for disorder. The application also said the commission had not given an accurate representation of PSNI evidence in its decision.

An inquiry into allegations British Special Forces murdered unarmed Afghan civilians has cost UK taxpayers £58m, figures from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) show. When the inquiry was launched in 2023, its chair Lord Justice Haddon-Cave said it would aim to report, at least on an interim basis, within 12-18 months. However, the inquiry has now been running for more than three and a half years, and has yet to publish any findings. In a statement, the inquiry said its work was greater and more complex than it originally envisaged. It added that delays by the MoD in disclosing information had also affected the timetable.

Northern Ireland's top judge has explained a court's decision to grant convicted killer Gary Anderson temporary release to attend his father's funeral, despite opposition from prison authorities. Anderson, 29, who is one of two brothers jailed for life in 2023 for the murder of Karol Kelly in Londonderry in 2018, failed to return to Maghaberry prison on Monday. The prison service had refused to grant Anderson compassionate temporary release (CTR) to attend the funeral, but that was overturned by a court on Sunday. The Office of the Lady Chief Justice (LCJ) said the court had held that the governor's decision not to grant CTR was not substantiated by the evidence provided to the court. This was an individual judicial decision, and it is not appropriate for this office to make any further comment, the Office of LCJ said.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland leaders issued a joint declaration for constitutional change that could lead to the United Kingdom breakup.

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Trump's comments on a united Ireland may have targeted audience across the Atlantic When another world leader meets US President Donald Trump the only certainty about what might happen is the uncertainty about what might happen. This was exactly the case ahead of President Trump's two-day visit to Ireland. Nobody could have predicted that by the end of the first day, the main global headline would be his desire to see a unified Ireland . As the shockwaves of his remarks rippled through this island and Great Britain, it was unclear whether this represented a new US administration policy, or an off-the-cuff remark from a president who likes to take questions from reporters, and likes to give answers. Former Republican Congressman Mick Mulvaney was Trump's special envoy to Northern Ireland in his first term in office. He cautioned against anyone reading too much into the president's remarks.

'I was beating adults at chess when I was eight' When I was eight or nine I was beating adults at chess and they were raging when they lost, like'I just lost to a little kid'. Ethan first became interested in chess when he was six years old after he spotted someone else playing. Now 13, he plays for Strand Chess Club in east Belfast and has represented Ireland through all his age groups. Last week he became the youngest Ulster chess champion in history - not just in his age category but across all ages. I was really surprised because I've never won any of the big tournaments before, I've always got so close and I managed to win it in the end, Ethan told BBC News NI.

'I was blown away' - the fans who heard Phoebe Bridgers' unreleased album in a planetarium Image caption, Lost Weekend is Phoebe Bridgers' first solo album in six years What happens when a Grammy Award-winning artist, one of the most anticipated albums of the year and a planetarium collide? This week the small city of Armagh found out. It's been six years since songwriter Phoebe Bridgers last released an album, so the release of Lost Weekend on Friday marks, as The Guardian says, a long-awaited return, external . Since her last record, the critically acclaimed Punisher, she's recorded and toured with Grammy Award-winning supergroup boygenius, as well as navigating grief after the death of her father. And now, in the days leading up to Lost Weekend's release, she's giving a handful of fans an immersive audio-visual experience at planetariums across the world. Only two venues in the UK - Glasgow and Armagh - were chosen to take part.

How a singer's chance encounter led to an alien experience in Hollywood Would you like to be in my film? It's a question any singer songwriter dreams of being asked by a big movie director, and when the question was put to Winnie Ama after performing in a bar one night, she couldn't believe her luck. But there was a catch. As part of her role in the new Supergirl movie, her original song What Are We needed to be translated into an alien language. Two weeks after the Belfast singer's chance encounter with the film's director, she and her pianist were invited for an official audition.

New photograph marks Queen's 79th birthday A new photograph of Queen Camilla has been released to celebrate her 79th birthday. The picture, showing the Queen in a long blue dress, was taken last month in the state drawing room of Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland. Buckingham Palace said the Queen was marking her birthday with a renewed commitment to supporting children's literacy, with the announcement that every year 6 and P6 child across the UK will be gifted a special edition of the book Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell this Christmas. Much of the Queen's public work supports reading and literacy, including the creation of the Reading Room charity designed to promote the benefits of reading. Rundell's book will be distributed to children through schools and libraries.