Category: News

The High Court has heard a 19-year-old man stabbed his mother’s partner to death two weeks after he had been discharged from an emergency department without follow-up, after presenting with psychotic thoughts and an intention to kill.

The HSE today apologised to the man’s family as it settled a High Court action for €150,000.

The court was told that Fiona Nolan had taken her 19-year-old son Adam to the emergency department of Tallaght University Hospital in January 2018 because he was unwell, and was exhibiting paranoid, violent and psychotic thoughts about killing her partner Bryan Cassidy with a kitchen knife.

She was told these were irrational thoughts and her son should see a counsellor.

Senior Counsel Dr John O’Mahony told the court there was no proper examination and no history taken. He said two weeks later Ms Nolan came home to find her partner in the garden having been stabbed in the eye and six times in the abdomen.

Dr O’Mahony said it should have been clear to the hospital that Mr Nolan was suffering from psychosis which was unrelated to any medication. This he said was “the fundamental flaw”.

Mr Nolan, of Buirg an Ri Walk, Balgaddy, Lucan was later found not guilty by reason of insanity of the murder of Mr Cassidy, 52.

In a letter of apology read to the court the HSE unreservedly apologised to Ms Nolan for what it described as the deficits in care given to her son by HSE psychiatric services at Tallaght University Hospital on 25 January 2018 and for the “distress and the grief caused to you by the said deficits in care”.

The letter also said the HSE had “reviewed this tragic event and has implemented key learning.”

Ms Nolan, 53, had sued the HSE and Tallaght University Hospital, claiming she was advised Mr Nolan should see a counsellor and there was no further follow-up. Mr Nolan continued to suffer from severe psychotic thoughts and behaviour before killing Mr Cassidy on 7 February 2018.

It was claimed there was failure to admit Mr Nolan to the hospital and a failure to diagnose his symptoms which indicated probable paranoid schizophrenia.

It was also claimed there was failure to have regard for the potential risks in failing to admit and detain the young man who had described “clear murderous intentions”.

It had been noted in the emergency department that he had expressed a desire to kill people, specifically Mr Cassidy and there was a failure to prevent the killing by either admitting him to hospital, sedating him or referring him to an urgent care psychiatric unit.

A breach of duty of care was admitted in the case.

Mr Justice Paul Coffey noted the settlement and said it was a very sad and tragic case.

TikTok has announced several new features launching today for teens and parents to help “build balanced digital habits.” Here’s what that means.

For parents of TikTok teens

A big part of today’s new batch of features is giving new tools to parents for monitoring their teen’s use of TikTok.

To that end, there are two new features launching:

• Time Away: “Today, we’re enhancing Family Pairing by launching a way for parents to block their teens from being on TikTok during times that they control…caregivers can use our new Time Away feature to decide when it’s best for their teens to take a break. Parents can also set a reoccurring schedule to best suit their family life. If plans change, teens can request extra time, but parents make the final decision.”
• Following Transparency: “We’re also adding a Family Pairing feature that can allow parents to see who their teen is following on TikTok, and who follows them, along with accounts their teen has blocked.”

These updates join the list of ~15 existing ways parents and caregivers can manage their teen’s TikTok experience.

For teens: Wind down and reporting

The updates today aren’t limited to parent-facing features. TikTok is also offering new capabilities directly for teens, designed to help them achieve healthier digital habits.

There are two additions specifically for teens:

• Wind Down: If a teen under 16 is on TikTok after 10pm, their For You feed will be interrupted with our new wind down feature. At launch, this is a full-screen takeover with calming music to help teens relax and be mindful of the time. If a teen decides to spend additional time on TikTok after the first reminder, we show a second, harder to dismiss, full-screen prompt.
• Reporting: We also hear that parents want to know more about the content their teens engage with on our app. In response, in the coming months, when a teen reports a video they think may be against TikTok’s rules, they can choose to alert a parent, caregiver, or other trusted adult at the same time, even if they aren’t using Family Pairing.

For wind down specifically, TikTok adds: ”In the coming weeks, we’ll also test adding meditation exercises to the wind down reminder, as research shows that mindful meditation can improve sleep quality.”

9to5Mac’s Take

It’s good to see TikTok give parents and teens more tools to engage in healthier ways with the app and each other. Though Apple offers systemwide features like Screen Time, for social media apps like TikTok that can prove so addictive, I think the more available tools the better.

What do you think of TikTok’s new teen and parents features? Let us know in the comments.

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Robert Irwin’s childhood memory about his late father, Steve Irwin, has gone viral online.

Nicknamed “The Crocodile Hunter,” Steve Irwin was an Australian conservationist and television personality who unexpectedly died following an unprovoked attack by a stingray in 2006. He was survived by his wife, Terri Irwin, and their two children: Robert Irwin, then two years old, and Bindi Irwin, then eight years old.

On Sunday, Robert Irwin took to TikTok, Instagram and X to share an anecdote about his childhood. The video showed the now-21-year-old harvesting food around the Australia Zoo for his lunch, but he said walking wasn’t the most efficient way to get the task done.

“Business is not fast enough for me, so let’s get the motorbike,” Robert Irwin told his followers, before sharing a sweet story about his father. “It’s also very nostalgic, this bike. Dad used to take my sister and I around the zoo. He used to go around, and we’d pick fruit and macadamia nuts.”

“As a kid, I used to sneak down here to the sugar cane, just absolutely go to town,” the zookeeper added in the next part of the clip. “Don’t tell my mom.”

Newsweek reached out to Robert Irwin’s representative via email for comment.

At the time of publication, the TikTok video had racked up more than 3.8 million views, the Instagram clip had garnered 1.6 million views and the X post had an additional 168,000 views.

In the comments, fans praised the Australia native and the similarities to his famous father.

“The more you grow up, the more we see your Dad ♥️,” TikTok user @zuzuskonkgonk wrote in a message with more than 16,800 likes.

“Your dad would’ve made this exact same video 😭,” @whitneyjurgelevich added in a separate note with over 8,500 likes.

“Knowing that Robert Irwin enjoys foraging for his own girl dinner brings me a LOT of joy,” Instagram user @dashofjones wrote in a comment with upwards of 3,400 likes.

“Our gardens are magical!” the Australia Zoo’s official Instagram account said.

In an interview on the Enough Rope television series one year after Steve Irwin’s death, Terri Irwin said her husband believed he would die young.

“He wasn’t morbid about it, or awful about it, he was open and earnest about it,” she said in 2007, per Reuters. “We’ve got to accomplish everything we can.”

“Steve had a real sixth sense about so many things. He had an odd connection with wildlife. He was extraordinarily intuitive with people,” she added. “I found it all very, I don’t know if ‘eerie’ is the word, but remarkable, certainly.”

Robert Irwin was previously linked to girlfriend Rorie Buckey, but the pair announced their split last year. Bindi Irwin, meanwhile, is married to husband Chandler Powell and they share one child together, daughter Grace Warrior Irwin Powell.

Cat Deeley did not attend her mother-in-law’s funeral as her husband Patrick Kielty bravely went without her to say his final goodbyes to his mum Mary Kielty

This Morning’s Cat Deeley was unable to attend her mother-in-law’s funeral, leaving her husband, Patrick Kielty, to mourn bravely on his own.

Cat, aged 48, was conspicuously missing from Monday’s service in County Down, Northern Ireland, with the sad reason behind her absence now coming to light.

Patrick, 54, grieved deeply as he bid a final goodbye to his dear mother, Mary Kielty, taking on the solemn duty of carrying her coffin to its resting place.

An outpouring of support was visible as hundreds gathered to pay their respects, lining the streets while friends and family joined for the rites held at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Dundrum.

Dressed in a grey suit, Patrick was among the pallbearers escorting his mother’s casket into the church.

When she passed away, she was said to be in her 80s, and an obituary paid tribute to her as a “loving mother” and “devoted grandmother,” deeply missed and affectionately remembered by family, neighbours, and friends. Mary was also the cherished mother to Patrick’s brothers, John and Cahal.

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Cat was regrettably absent from the 1pm service yesterday. The couple tied the knot in 2012 and have two sons together, Milo, nine, and James, six, reports the Mirror.

Cat stayed at home to support their young children as they dealt with the loss of a loved one. A representative shared with The Mirror: “Cat remained at home to be there for her two young children before and after school on this very sad day.”

Back in 1988, during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Patrick’s father Jack Keilty was tragically taken from them, which left Mary to single-handedly raise Patrick and his two siblings.

Despite Patrick and Cat having high-profile positions as television hosts, Mary preferred to keep a lower profile. In 2012, however, she made an exception and joined Patrick in carrying the Olympic torch in the lead-up to the London Games that year.

Patrick has been at the helm of programmes across ITV, the BBC, Channel 4, and America’s ABC. It wasn’t until 2023 that he secured a high-profile presenting role in Ireland, announced as the host of the Late Late Show.

On assuming the role, Patrick joked: “Mary Kielty is secretly delighted but not making any real public statements.”

Reinforcing his position as a true family man, Patrick divulged during a recent appearance at the Amgen Irish Open that despite his age, his mother still offers to do his laundry. He explained: “I think Irish mummies never really understand what age their youngsters actually are. So you do get a lot of offers like ‘Do you have any washing’ and I would be like ‘Well no, no that’s done, I’m 53 mum.”

Cat has been at the helm of This Morning since the previous year, following the exits of Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby. Nonetheless, Cat has made it clear that she wouldn’t think twice about stepping down from her role on the enduring ITV daytime program if it started to take a toll on her well-being.

In a conversation with Grazia magazine, she expressed: “I don’t feel particularly vulnerable [taking over from Holly and Phil]. And I’d always think about my own mental health. If something was affecting me, or I hated going into work, I’d walk away. It’s more important that I enjoy what I do.”

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1

In August, beloved Peloton instructor Emma Lovewell welcomed her first baby with fiancé Dave Clark. And now, the first-time parents have reached the point where they are embracing baby-led weaning. If you’re not familiar with BLW, let me give you the TL;DR. After around 4-6 months of solely drinking milk and/or formula, babies are ready to start solid foods, per the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

BLW is a way of slowly making that transition by offering infants small portions of whatever Mom and Dad are having for dinner and letting them eat what they want with their hands (or with a baby-safe utensil) while everyone sits around the table.

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“They learn by doing,” the AAP said. “When your baby bites off too much, the extra will spill out of their mouth, helping them discover what fits (or doesn’t).”

The whole process, though perhaps unsettling and emotional (they grow up so fast!), promotes independence, improves their motor skills, and more. It’s even believed that offering a variety of flavors and textures at an early age leads to less picky eaters later on.

At the SHE Media Co-Lab at SXSW, Lovewell shared that she and Clark are in full BLW mode with their daughter Skylar, who they let “grasp food and shove it in her mouth.” That morning, she even ate a lemon. (A LEMON!)

“It was very cute,” Lovewell said, and we are dying to know what baby Skylar’s face looked like after eating the sour fruit. I know my reaction to a bite of lemon is anything but cute.

“My thought on the whole process is I’m trying to give her nutritious vegetables first, because we all know that kids don’t like their vegetables,” the fitness instructor continued.

And though she might have high hopes for this process, she also has a refreshing take.

“And who knows,” she said, “she could end up being the pickiest eater, but I’m just doing what I have.”

We love how laid back Lovewell seems. She’s taking the pressure off of ensuring Skylar isn’t a picky kid because, let’s face it, there are no guarantees. So why should new parents drive themselves crazy trying to create the perfect BLW menu?

So far, Lovewell and Clark have learned that Skylar does not like avocado, but she does have an affinity for another green.

“She loved [overcooked] string bean,” Lovewell said. ” … Her chubby little hands grab onto the string. That’s really cute.”

What else is really cute, you ask? The fact that Lovewell and her little string bean-loving cutie reached a special milestone at SXSW. Lovewell taught a class during SHE Media’s Co-Lab, and Skylar got to watch.

“This is her first time seeing mama at work!” Lovewell excitedly told the class. ” … My baby’s dancing with her dad!”

The father and daughter were standing off to the side, bouncing and enjoying the family’s first “Bring Your Kid To Work Day.” It must have been such a special core memory for Lovewell. Just like the first time she saw her daughter’s “chubby little hands” grab a string bean and love the veggie.

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen made history together as teammates on the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s, but the pair have a strained relationship.

Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest NBA player of all time, with five Most Valuable Player awards, six Finals MVPs and an unprecedented 10 scoring titles to his name.

But Pippen is an NBA icon in his own right, considered one of the best defensive players the league has ever seen and Jordan’s co-star for six title triumphs, comprised of a ‘three-peat’ between 1991 and 1993 and a second back-to-back-to-back championship run from 1996 to 1998.

Yet for all they have achieved together on the court, they are not always complimentary of one another in retirement. And some of the resentment between the two superstars seems to stem from Pippen’s conduct after Jordan’s father was murdered in 1993.

In his autobiography, Pippen detailed his regret and not having reached out to offer his support after his teammate’s father’s death.

“I feel horrible every time I think about it,” Pippen wrote. “Michael’s father, James Jordan, had been murdered.

“The two were inseparable. When I heard the news, I should have reached out to Michael right away. Having lost my own dad three years before, I might have been able to offer Michael some comfort. To this day, he and I haven’t spoken about his father’s death.”

And outspoken ESPN journalist Stephen A Smith claims Jordan felt ‘betrayed’ by Pippen after his dad’s tragic murder.

“When it comes to Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan feels betrayed,” Smith said on the Valuetainment podcast with Patrick Bet-David

“When Scottie revealed in his book his feelings for Michael Jordan and how he didn’t even give his condolences in person to Michael Jordan (when his father died), I was on the phone to him that day talking about something else.

“We had heard about what Scottie Pippen had said. Michael Jordan was under the impression it was busy, it was chaotic and that’s why he never thought anything of it.

“But all of these years later, when Scottie had alluded to his father being murdered and he didn’t give his condolences on purpose, Michael Jordan’s words were ‘I hope it’s worth it. I hope it’s worth it for him.’

“He literally said, ‘I have nothing else to say.” And I know Michael Jordan well enough to know what that means.’

For years, the exact details of the murder of James Jordan remained a mystery. But in 2022, one of the perpetrators made a harrowing confession.

“On the night we crossed paths with Michael Jordan’s dad, we had already robbed a convenience store and a couple outside a motel. There are motels right by Highway 95, the interstate that runs through North Carolina,” Larry Demery, who was 17 at the time, told the What it Was Like podcast.

“So we were hanging around outside, creeping around, waiting for people to pop out. But not much was happening and we noticed a car sitting not far from the motel, right beside the highway.

“Daniel actually mentioned it first. He said, ‘man, you know what? That’s a Lexus.’ At the time I didn’t know what a Lexus was because they’d only been out for like a year or two. But we decided to go check it out.

“There in the front seat, we found a guy asleep, laying there with gold rings on his fingers and a gold watch. We actually thought the guy was a dope dealer to be in a ride like that, sitting beside the road asleep.

“So we just walked by a couple of times and checked it out. Then we decided to rob the guy.

“The plan was to drive him down the road and just put him out, then drive off with his stuff. But it didn’t work out that way.

“There was only one pistol. Daniel had it. He tried to hand it to me but I was like ‘no man, no’. I’m not trying to make myself sound like an innocent person or anything. I was right there and down with the program, but nobody was supposed to have gotten hurt. The man was laying there asleep.

“So I remember he took it, and then there was a shot. That was it. Just one shot, while the man lay there asleep. When he was hit, he just moved around a little bit, made a noise – like a moaning noise – then sat up real quick. There was a moment and he laid back again, and that was it. Just a few seconds and he stopped moving.”

In a country where language barriers have long hindered access to critical services, the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) recent celebration of International Mother Language Day marked a significant milestone. The event on Thursday, 27 February, not only served as a platform to announce UCT’s new language policy, approved by Council in December 2024, but also reinforced the university’s commitment to multilingualism.

While International Mother Language Day is globally observed on 21 February, UCT scheduled its event later to avoid competing with national celebrations, which many university members are required to attend. According to Associate Professor Lolie Makhubu-Badenhorst, the director of the Multilingualism Education Project (MEP), this timing ensured broader participation and engagement.

Grounded in constitutional and institutional commitments

The adoption of the new language policy aligns with the South African Constitution, which guarantees the right to education in one’s preferred language where reasonably practicable. It also complies with the Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET) New Language Policy Framework, which mandates universities to develop strategies for multilingualism in teaching, learning, research, and communication, Associate Professor Makhubu-Badenhorst explained.

Furthermore, the policy supports UCT’s Vision 2030, which embraces linguistic and cultural diversity to make meaningful contributions to the African continent. Under this framework, UCT has officially adopted English, isiXhosa, and Afrikaans as its three primary languages, while also recognising the importance of Kaaps, South African Sign Language (SASL), Khoekhoe, and other languages. Institutional funding and resources will be allocated to developing these languages and integrating them into various aspects of university life.

 

“It was not easy to finalise the policy; it felt almost impossible at times.”

The policy and its implementation come as a perfect response from UCT to the United Nations General Assembly declaration of the period between 2022 and 2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages. This draws attention to the critical status of many indigenous languages across the world and encourages action for their preservation, revitalisation and promotion.

While Makhubu-Badenhorst and her team will be lending a helping hand to the university community for the implementation of policy at faculty levels in teaching and learning, as well as in professional, administrative and support service levels, she advised that the process should be undertaken in baby steps.

A step-by-step implementation approach

Makhubu-Badenhorst said that while the policy’s approval was a significant achievement, its implementation must be gradual and inclusive.

“It was not easy to finalise the policy; it felt almost impossible at times. In fact, the first submission to Council was sent back for revision. But I’m pleased to announce that it was unanimously accepted.”

In his welcome address, Professor Brandon Collier-Reed, UCT’s deputy vice-chancellor for Teaching and Learning, congratulated and commended Makhubu-Badenhorst for working tirelessly to ensure that the policy gets approved. “You can see why it so important for the university to finalise this policy. It gives us the licence to implement multilingualism across the university and make the change that we so desperately need to recognise multi cultures available on our campus. Multilingualism is the strength to harness diversity.”

Departments leading the way

While the university is gearing up for full implementation, several departments have already made strides in embracing multilingualism. Professor Carolyn McKinney from the School of Education highlighted them:

• The Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies students are writing and performing in isiXhosa
• African Languages students have to contribute to isiXhosa Wikipedia by write entries of famous intellectuals
• Sociology students are introduced to relevant concepts in isiXhosa and isiXhosa text written in the late 1800s, and conducted isiXhosa intellectual research project
• Historical Studies use of historic texts written in isiXhosa with English translations in a range of courses.
• the Umthombo Centre make use of multilingual essay writing and glossary of terms while guest speaker facilitating multilingualism in class and course reading
• The South African College of Music opera with libretto written in isiXhosa and postgraduate students encouraged to write their dissertation partly in an African language
• In the Centre for Film and Media Studies, Professor Adam Haupt is collaborating with the Centre for Multilingualism and Diversity Research at the University of the Western Cape on the first trilingual dictionary of Kaaps, and
• School of Education’s language-for-learning research project on bi/multilingual strategies for teaching science, mathematics and English in isiXhosa and English.

“We are doing it but not every day. The challenge to implement multilingual policy is to think about our need to ‘demono-langulising’ the space. We often talk about multilingual, but we don’t talk about what is it against; the power dynamics involved. It’s not about the policy or the senior executive but it’s about everyone in the university community embracing diversity and making multilingualism happen.”

As the university looks to embark on the implementation phase of the new language policy, the process sparked vibrant discussions, with panellists and audience members offering practical solutions.

Among them was Juan Steyn of the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLAR) – a national centre that supports research and development in the domains of language technologies and language-related studies in the humanities and social sciences. The centre supports the creation, management and distribution of digital language resources.

Disability Advocacy specialist Lesego Modutle and Sign Language interpreter Asanda Katshwa warned that multilingualism will not be complete if Sign Language users are left behind. They said although Sign Language was made the 12th official language in South Africa last year, education for Deaf people is still a huge challenge.

“There are Sign Language interpreters that you can tap into,” Modutle noted. “Teach yourselves how to work with them and understand that they are there as a way of communication and not to replace a hearing person. I’m sure many of us could know people in our communities that are Deaf, but we are too scared to approach them because the unknown is scary. Approach that person and they will teach you. The best way to learn a language is by learning it from the user themselves. I’m so proud of UCT because we are moving towards the right direction.”

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TikTok announced on Tuesday that it’s rolling out new features to protect teens on its app. The social network is giving parents the ability to block their teen from using TikTok during certain hours and see their teen’s following and followers lists through new Family Pairing features. TikTok is also going to encourage young users to put their phones away at night and go to sleep.

With the new “Time Away” feature, parents can block their teens from accessing TikTok during times that they control.

For instance, they can choose to block access during family time, school, at night, or a weekend away. Parents can also use the feature to set a recurring schedule for when they want to block access to the app. While teens can request extra time, parents can decide if they want to grant access.

In addition, parents can now see who their teen is following, and who follows them. They can also see who their teen has blocked. TikTok says this will allow parents to help their teens develop digital literacy skills and have ongoing conversations with them around safety.

In the coming months, when a teen reports a video they think may be against TikTok’s rules, they can choose to alert a parent, even if they aren’t using Family Pairing.

The social network is also adding customizable daily screen time limits. For example, parents can choose to give their teens 30 minutes of TikTok usage on weekdays, but an hour on the weekend.

Parents can now switch their teen’s account back to the default private setting if their teen has made it public. Plus, TikTok is also going to re-enable its STEM feed for teens who have turned it off.

As for the new “wind down” feature that encourages young users to switch off their phone at night, TikTok believes that it will help teens build balanced digital habits. Now, when a teen under 16 is on TikTok after 10 pm, their For You feed will display a full-screen takeover with calming music to encourage them to relax and be mindful of the time. If a teen dismisses the message, TikTok will show a second full-screen prompt. 

In the coming weeks, TikTok is going to test adding meditation exercises to the wind down feature, as well.

TikTok has been introducing new teen safety features over the past few years in response to concerns over the app’s impact on its youngest users. TikTok, and other social networks, have faced questions from lawmakers during congressional hearings over how their platforms can negatively impact young users. The new features announced today are part of the company’s efforts to appease lawmakers.

These latest features come as TikTok’s fate in the U.S. remains uncertain, as President Donald Trump extended the TikTok ban’s deadline by 75 days back in January.