Journalist shot dead in Northern Ireland in ‘terrorist incident’

DERRY, United Kingdom  - A journalist was shot dead during riots in Northern Ireland in what police Friday were treating as a terrorist incident following the latest upsurge in violence to shake the troubled region.

"Lyra McKee was murdered during orchestrated violence in Creggan last night," Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said in a statement.

McKee, 29, had earlier posted an image that appeared to be from the riots in the Creggan housing estate in the city of Londonderry, also known as Derry, accompanied by the words "Derry tonight. Absolute madness."

Images of the unrest posted on social media showed a car and van ablaze and hooded individuals throwing petrol bombs and fireworks at police vehicles.

"A single gunman fired shots in a residential area of the city and as a result wounded Ms McKee," said Hamilton, adding that police believed the gunman was a "violent dissident republican".

"We are treating this as a terrorist incident and we have launched a murder inquiry," he added.

McKee had written for The Atlantic magazine and Buzzfeed News and was named by Forbes Magazine in 2016 as one of their "30 under 30" outstanding figures in media, according to her literary agent Janklow & Nesbit.

Leona O'Neill, a reporter with the Belfast Telegraph, said she saw McKee get hurt.

"I was standing beside this young woman when she fell beside a police Land Rover tonight in Creggan #Derry. I called an ambulance for her but police put her in the back of their vehicle and rushed her to hospital where she died. Just 29 years old. Sick to my stomach tonight," she tweeted.

'TRULY SENSELESS'

Thursday's unrest raised memories of past decades of violence in Northern Ireland.

Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar warned that "we cannot allow those who want to propagate violence, fear and hate to drag us back to the past".

His British counterpart Theresa May said the killing was "shocking and truly senseless".

In Brussels, a European Commission spokesman condemned the "terrible incident".

"We condemn such violence, and we are confident that the UK authorities will ascertain the exact circumstances of this tragic event," he said.

Visiting US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined in a minute's silence for McKee, saying it was "especially poignant", being held on Good Friday.

The violence came in the run-up to the Easter weekend, when Republicans opposed to the British presence in Northern Ireland mark the anniversary of a 1916 uprising against British rule.

A car-bombing and the hijacking of two vans in Londonderry earlier this year were also blamed on a dissident paramilitary group.

Michelle O'Neill, the deputy leader of Irish republican party Sinn Fein, condemned the killing.

"My heart goes out to the family of the young woman shot dead by so-called dissidents," she wrote on Twitter.

"This was an attack on the community, an attack on the peace process and an attack on the Good Friday Agreement," the peace deal that largely brought an end to violence on the island exactly 21 years ago, she added, calling for calm.

Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Union Party, which is in favor of Britain's presence in Northern Ireland, described the death as "heartbreaking news".

"A senseless act. A family has been torn apart. Those who brought guns onto our streets in the 70s, 80s & 90s were wrong. It is equally wrong in 2019. No one wants to go back," she wrote on Twitter.

HISTORY OF TROUBLES

The Good Friday Agreement in 1998 largely brought an end to three decades of sectarian bloodshed in Northern Ireland between republican and unionist paramilitaries, as well as British armed forces, in a period known as "the Troubles".

Some 3,500 people were killed in the conflict -- many at the hands of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Police have blamed a group called the New IRA for the flare-up in violence in recent months.

Some have expressed fears that recent attacks could be a sign that paramilitaries are seeking to exploit the current political turbulence over Northern Ireland and its border with the Republic of Ireland caused by Brexit.

Londonderry was the scene of one of the darkest episodes in the Troubles in 1972, known as Bloody Sunday, when British troops opened fire on a civil rights demonstration and killed 13 people. A 14th victim later died of his wounds.

A former British soldier was charged with murder last month over the killings.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Nina Corpuz recalls 'difficult' pregnancy

MANILA, Philippines -- For ABS-CBN reporter Nina Corpuz, giving birth was a breeze compared to the pain she had to endure days before she welcomed her first child.

In her column published on The Philippine Star on Sunday, Corpuz recalled that she had been warned of a "difficult" pregnancy when she met a healing priest, two months before she was set to give birth.


"He touched my very pregnant tummy, kept quiet for a moment, then told me in a serious tone, 'You will have a difficult pregnancy, you take care of that baby,'" she said.

According to Corpuz, the priest opted to pray over her belly instead, when she asked him to explain what he meant.

The warning prompted her to undergo a number of medical tests to ensure she is in good condition in time for her delivery. The tests, she recalled, yielded no worrying results.

Corpuz said her family had convinced her that the priest's warning may have simply referred to an earlier phase in her pregnancy -- during her fourth month, she had food poisoning and was hospitalized for four days.

"After what I had been through, I thought my family must be right that the priest meant it in the past tense," she said.

On her eighth month of pregnancy, however, Corpuz said she experienced severe stomach pain, prompting her husband to bring her to the hospital.

Her doctor, Dr. Jose Moran, suspected that it may be due to appendicitis. But aside from addressing the pain that "grew by the hour," Corpuz and her doctors also had to consider her pregnancy.

"When I was wheeled into the operating room, there were more people than usual since aside from the surgical staff, the delivery room staff was also there, just in case I go into pre-mature labor during the operation.

"I only remember that I was in extreme pain before the anesthesia knocked me out. Next thing I know, I was waking up in the recovery room. The surgeon told me that Dr. Moran’s hunch was right, and that my appendix was already gangrenous and about to rupture," Corpuz narrated.

But the worst was still ahead for Corpuz.

Only days after her operation, the Kapamilya reporter recalled "[waking up] in the he middle of the night shivering in cold sweat." She was rushed to the hospital by her husband at 3 a.m. due to high fever.

She recalled: "Doctors discovered that my wound from the operation was infected! Doctors had to re-open the wound right then and there to drain the infection, without anesthesia!"

Corpuz explained that due to her pregnancy, the doctors could not risk giving her aggressive antibiotics and painkillers.

"They had to keep my wound open, so they could drain the wound every few hours. For someone who turns clammy at the sight of an injection, I cannot begin to describe how painful it was! I imagine that’s what it would feel like to get stabbed, with the knife being given an extra twist inside," she said.

"My days were divided into sleep and pain. But even sleep wasn’t an escape, as my baby would start moving inside my belly and place a well-aimed kick right at my open wound! I would literally wake up screaming after she did that, many, many, many times in the three weeks we were waiting for her to be ready to come out," she said.

The infection slowly got better, Corpuz said, with her doctors eventually deciding that she was in good enough condition to deliver the baby.

On May 1, 2012, the Kapamilya reporter and her husband welcomed Stella, their first child, at 7:02 a.m.

According to Corpuz, giving birth via C-secion paled in comparison to her experience nursing appendicitis and the infection that followed.

"I remember that while I was pregnant, I prayed to God saying sorry for being afraid of giving birth to another human being. I prayed that I would take any pain, as long as Stella turns out okay," Corpuz said.

She added: "When Stella came, I was amazed that I was capable of so much love and sacrifice. My needs, my wants, my life are no longer as important. I’m willing to cry her tears, feel her pain, take all of life’s cruelties for her even if I know I can’t shield her from these things forever. My daughter reminds me that I’m no longer the same. I am a mother."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com