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It's mind-boggling, it's political stupidity - these guys must have lost their minds."Sinn Fein has repeatedly said it supports the McCartney family, who have laid down the goal that the killers should be brought before a court.Party president Gerry Adams has suspended seven members of his party, said to have been in the bar where the McCartney incident began. Yet the IRA last night voluntarily provided irrefutable evidence of a violent mindset, just months after it had said it was prepared to go into "a new mode" which was taken as meaning an end to violence.One of its nationalist political opponents said last night: "Gerry Adams could not have approved of this. But the notion of an organisation, which has been on a declared ceasefire since 1997, confirming that it had offered to carry out such crimes in such a public way was received with something close to disbelief.Sinn Fein and the IRA have been struggling desperately to get away from damaging associations with criminality, including the McCartney killing, the Belfast bank robbery and a large-scale money-laundering operation. The idea of killing - or even wounding - four men, three of them IRA members, is seen as remarkable.
Such a bloodbath would answer the accusation that the IRA is involved in a cover-up to protect its people. But yesterday's offer was seen as another sign that the IRA is in turmoil and is making a series of ill-advised steps. The saga of the killing of the Belfast man Robert McCartney has taken another extraordinary turn with an IRA announcement that it was prepared to shoot those involved. The latest discovery suggests that Salcombe's impressive natural harbour was much more important in prehistoric times than previously thought.The finds have been brought up from the seabed over the past six months and were reported to English Heritage and declared to the Receiver of Wreck at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.The South West Maritime archaeologists found the shipwreck site while they were investigating another wreck site dating from the 17th century which has already yielded the largest collection of 17th century Moroccan gold coins found in Europe, together with numerous items of jewellery and personal effects.. The evidence suggests that there were a number of major trading centres along the south coast of Britain. It might not have sunk, but merely broken up or capsized.There is a dangerous reef 600 metres to the west and this may conceivably have been responsible for the vessel's demise.During the Bronze Age thousands of tons of bronze - and lots of gold as well - were imported into mainland Britain from France and Ireland. The brother of the alleged victim in the Michael Jackson child molestation case said yesterday that the pop star had sworn them both to secrecy over illicit activities at his Neverland ranch in central California, urging them "not to tell anybody what happened, not even if they put a gun to your head". This latest testimony followed on the heels of Star Arvizo's descriptions on Monday of finding Mr Jackson on two occasions with one hand in his brother's underpants and the other rubbing his own genitals.
"I would just like Senator [Hillary Rodham] Clinton to make sure he takes it easy for a while," joked Dianne Feinstein, Mrs Clinton's Democratic colleague from California.. Mr Clinton went out on the campaign trail for the Democratic nominee John Kerry, and then presided over the opening of his presidential library in Little Rock, Arkansas.This year, along with the former President Bush, he has helped co-ordinate private sector tsunami relief in the US. Six months after his quadruple heart bypass, Bill Clinton will be back in hospital in New York tomorrow for surgery to remove scar tissue and excess fluid from his left chest. Both former presidents have just returned from a trip to the region.Mr Clinton's condition, where the lining of the heart becomes inflamed and fluid builds up around it, is a relatively rare consequence of heart surgery. Gucci is an international brand, and Ms Facchinetti's vision is a small-frame one."Cathy Horyn, The New York Times, 25 February"Despite being womenswear director for four years under Ford, Facchinetti will always suffer from comparisons to her former boss.
