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Members of an organised crime gang which smuggled up to £7bn worth of drugs into the UK from the continent have been jailed.The gang was behind what is believed to be the biggest drug smuggling operation ever detected in the UK. Judge Paul Lawton described the gang's drug smuggling operation as being "on an industrial and hitherto unprecedented scale".The defendants were separated into two trials at Manchester Crown Court with reporting restrictions lifted following the conclusion of the second trial which lasted nine months.The first trial was 23 months, the longest ever in England and Wales. The lifting of the reporting restrictions means the details of the investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) can now be revealed.The gang's ringleader Paul Green, 59, known as The Big Fella, w...

Eamon Fay has been making Irish dancing shoes for more than 40 years.He counts the Riverdance and Lord of the Dance troupes among his customers, as well as the thousands of young children who have taken up the hobby. Mr Fay, 57, is the only remaining Irish dance shoe manufacturer in Ireland. He says the economic downturn with COVID was a major hit to business."I'm kind of the last man standing at this stage," he says. Image: 'Heavy' Irish dancing shoes in Fay's shop in Dublin's city centre Mr Fay lives in the north Dublin suburb of Clontarf, with his wife and three sons, aged 27, 24 and 22. "There's quite an argument in my house because my three sons vote Sinn Fein and I vote Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, and so does my wife."...

Israel's prime minister says he will "respond with force" after Hezbollah fired towards an Israeli military post in disputed territory in Lebanon.Two projectiles fell in open areas and no injuries were reported. Israel said they had been launched toward Mount Dov, a disputed Israeli-held territory known as Shebaa Farms in Lebanon, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel meet.Hezbollah said it fired projectiles as a "defensive and warning response" after what it called "repeated violations" of the ceasefire deal by Israel. The attack was Hezbollah's first since the ceasefire was enacted last week.Lebanon has also accused Israel of violating the truce more than 50 times in recent days. The incident was "a serious violation" of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, said Israeli ...