JOHNNY MERCER

Relatives of people killed during Northern Ireland’s decades of violence have protested in London and Belfast.

Taliban fighters took control of Kabul on Monday, bringing an end to a period of almost 20 years when the country was run by a national government supported by the United States. The rout of the Afghan army came just weeks after the last U.S. troops exited the country. Most British troops exited alongside American soldiers in July, after the U.K. government decided it did not want to remain in the country without U.S. support.

Confirmation that the Taliban captured the capital of Afghanistan's Helmand province has particular resonance in Britain.

Police in southwest England say six people were killed, including the suspected shooter, in the city of Plymouth in a “serious firearms incident” that wasn’t terror-related.

Boris Johnson's plan to give Northern Ireland veterans a legal exemption from prosecution is to be unveiled this week, and will also protect republican paramilitaries, The Telegraph understands. Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, is preparing to set out proposals for a statute of limitations on prosecutions for crimes committed during the Troubles. The new cap on historic prosecutions is expected to apply to combatants on both sides of the conflict. Mr Lewis had pledged to deliver pl

A new law to protect former British troops from prosecution over killings in Northern Ireland has been delayed again, prompting a furious backlash against the “completely hopeless” Cabinet minister in charge. Conservative MPs were privately told that the new Legacy Bill would be brought forward before the summer break. However, a letter sent by Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, to party leaders in the province reveals that legislation will not be introduced until the end of autumn a

A former paratrooper faces prosecution over the Ballymurphy “massacre” after a coroner ruled yesterday that 10 “entirely innocent” victims were shot dead by the British Army in Belfast almost 50 years ago. A judge presiding over the inquest concluded that the soldier – who can be identified only as M3 – killed Edward Doherty, a builder, during three days of violence in August 1971. The ruling came on the day the Government promised it would introduce legislation to protect veterans of the Northern Ireland conflict from being dragged to court. The commitment made in the Queen’s Speech was immediately questioned by Johnny Mercer, the former veterans’ minister, who was sacked before he could resign, who said: “I just cannot be part of an administration that is going to promise these people things and then not make almost any effort to deliver on them.” Theresa May also expressed her doubt over the Government’s ability to introduce a statute of limitations for soldiers that did not give equivalent protection for terrorists. The shootings in the Republican stronghold of Ballymurphy occurred during an operation to arrest and detain suspected members of the IRA, immediately following the introduction of internment. Two years after the inquest began in 2018, Mrs Justice Keegan concluded all the victims – including a Catholic priest and a mother-of-eight – were “entirely innocent of any wrongdoing on the day in question” and that the deaths between August 9 and August 11 1971 were “unjustified”. She added: “The Army had a duty to protect lives and minimise harm, and the use of force was clearly disproportionate.”

FILE - Singer Kris Kristofferson performs at the Glastonbury music festival at Worthy Farm, in Somerset, England, on June 23, 2017. Kristofferson has retired after five decades. A statement from his publicist said the Country Music Hall of Famer and Grammy winner retired in 2020. The Texas-born Oxford scholar brought introspective and poetic lyrics to country music with songs like Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down and Me and Bobby McGee. He has starred in 70 films and earned a Golden Globe for his performance in “A Star is Born.”He was inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame and was awarded the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriter Hall of Fame.

"This market refuses to traffic in everything that's going wrong and instead focuses on what could go right," he said. "The futures just can't seem to drag this market down," Cramer said. Twitter stock plunged more than 6% Monday after the social media company permanently banned Trump from the platform. He said it's a sign that Twitter investors are "latching on to the affirmative." "If you're wondering how long the Johnny Mercerization of this market can last, I say stop right there," Cramer said.

FILE - Johnny Mandel appears at the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Awards Ceremony and Concert in New York on Jan. 11, 2011. Mandel, the Oscar- and Grammy- winning composer, arranger and musician, died Monday, June 29, 2020, of a cardiac ailment at his home in Ojai, Calif. There are many ways to describe the legendary composer Johnny Mandel. I just work with whats there and try to do the best with whats there.As an arranger, Mandel worked with some of the greatest singers of his time. Why didnt you write the lyrics to The Shadow of Your Smile? Mandel told the NEA.

Sometimes it seems journalistic practice is diametrically opposed to the message we all should be singing, as expressed in the lyrics of that long-ago masterpiece. We waited and waited and waited and looked around. I never went back.QWERTY: I recently wrote about switching from a QWERTY keyboard layout to first Dvorak, then Colemak, a process that is still underway. McIntoshs Ken Gibson wrote: Hey Emory Why change from the QWERTY keyboard? When I first learned to type 55 years ago in the Navy, it was on a QWERTY keyboard.