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A people smuggler who helped migrants cross the Channel on small boats and posted videos from successful customers has been jailed for 17 years for immigration offences.Amanj Hasan Zada, 34, from Preston, advertised on social media and shared clips of people thanking him for his services. The National Crime Agency (NCA) linked him to three separate crossings from France to the UK in November and December last year involving Kurdish migrants. Image: One clip showed migrants on a boat thanking and clapping Zada. Pic: NCA Image: A group who made it to Macedonia also paid tribute to him. Pic: NCA The groups had travelled through Eastern Europe into Germany, Be...

Ireland's prime minister has set a date for a general election and will ask the president to dissolve parliament ahead of voting.Simon Harris announced the polling date as 29 November, saying the "time is now right" to ask the Irish people for a new mandate. It means a relatively short campaign of just three weeks will be run ahead of polling day, bringing to an end the four-and-a-half-year lifespan of the historic Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Green Party coalition government.After the 2020 general election delivered an inconclusive result, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, two parties forged from opposing sides of Ireland's Civil War of the 1920s, agreed to set aside almost a century of animosity and share power.The Green Party joined the administration as a junior partner. This breaking news stor...

A film festival in Istanbul has been scrapped in protest at a reported ban on their opening film, Queer, starring Daniel Craig.Streaming service Mubi say they decided to pull Mubi Fest Istanbul 2024 after local authorities said the movie could not be shown "for security reasons". Image: Pic: BFF via Getty Mubi say local authorities claimed the "provocative content" in Queer would "endanger public peace".In the historical drama, Bond star Craig plays a drug-addicted American living in 1950s Mexico.Directed by Luca Guadagnino, it's based on the 1985 semi-autobiographical novel by Beat Generation author William Burroughs and explores the colourful nightlife of Mexico City. Mubi said Turkish authorities told them just hours be...