Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams is “as culpable” for IRA bombings on the UK mainland “as the individuals who planted and detonated the devices”, the High Court in London heard yesterday.

Three men injured in IRA attacks in the English capital are bringing a civil case against Adams (pictured above), who has long denied being a member of the IRA or participating in its operations during the Troubles. He arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice wearing a bulletproof vest.

What is the claimants’ case?
The men suing Adams, 77, were injured in the 1973 Old Bailey bombing and the attacks on London’s Docklands and Manchester’s Arndale Centre in 1996.

In her opening statement, Anne Studd, representing the claimants, told the court that Adams was “directly responsible for and complicit” in the group’s terror attacks in the UK. The claimants would make the case that Adams “was an instrumental force” in the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland, she said. And while “there is no doubt that the defendant contributed to the peace in Northern Ireland”, the claimants will allege “he also contributed to the war”.

The court heard that Bill Clinton, who was US president at the time of the Good Friday Agreement, believed there was “credible evidence” that Adams was involved at “the highest level” in the IRA in the 1990s.

What has Adams said?
In his opening submission, Adams’ lawyer, Edward Craven, said that Adams “emphatically, unequivocally and categorically” denies being involved in the attacks or being a member of the IRA, and blamed suggestions to the contrary on “people with an axe to grind”.

Adams, who will testify next week, has vowed to “robustly challenge” what he described as “unsubstantiated hearsay statements”. Speaking outside the High Court after the first day of the trial, he said: “The only thing that I am guilty of is being an Irish republican committed to ending British rule in our country and seeking to unite the people of Ireland on the basis of freedom, equality, peace and solidarity.”

As it is a civil case, the verdict will be decided by the judge “on the basis of probabilities”, rather than the higher “beyond reasonable doubt” threshold applied in a criminal court. If Adams loses, he will have to pay symbolic “vindicatory” damages of £1 each to the three claimants.

Social media is buzzing about “alpine divorce”, a horrifying practice that some experts say is a form of abuse. The term refers to when a couple explores nature, during a hike or camping trip, and “one abandons the other in the wilderness to fend for themselves”, said USA Today.

The name appears to originate from a late-1800s short story called “An Alpine Divorce” by Robert Barr, in which a man “attempts to murder his wife while the two are out hiking on a mountain”. It’s garnering renewed attention thanks to a viral TikTok video that provoked a flood of responses from women sharing experiences of similar abandonments.

The Plamberger case
The renewed interest has also been linked to a recent case in Austria that “sparked intense debates” about whether the “more skilled climber should be held liable for mountain tragedies or if responsibility rests with the individual”, said Outside.

Experienced climber Thomas Plamberger was found guilty of gross negligent manslaughter after leaving his girlfriend, Kerstin Gurtner, about 164ft from the summit of the 12,461ft Grossglockner peak during a hike. Left in “high winds without an emergency blanket”, Gurtner died of hypothermia. Plamberger was given a €9,600 fine and a five-month suspended prison sentence.

Future implications
For many, the whole concept confirms their “worst fear” of being in an environment where they “don’t have control over what’s going on” and could be “abandoned somewhere”, Stephanie Sarkis, a psychotherapist specialising in narcissistic abuse, told USA Today. This is a “real fear for people”.

There are “broader anxieties about trust, safety and power dynamics in relationships”, particularly in remote or high‑risk settings, said Newsweek. Outdoor safety experts have “long emphasised that hiking and climbing partners share responsibility for each other’s well-being”, especially when “experience levels differ”.

The Plamberger verdict could set a precedent for future cases, Karsten Delap, a professional climber, guide and rescuer, told Outside. It affirms that “if you’re more experienced than your partner, you’re responsible whether you’re a guide or not”.

A toad swims across a Sheffield pond in the top shot at this year’s British Wildlife Photography Awards. The black-and-white image, selected as overall winner from more than 12,000 entries, was taken by Paul Hobson, who built a glass box to house his camera underwater.

Paul Hobson / British Wildlife Photography Awards

Skiers from across Europe typically head to the Alps each winter. But before you “(snow)plough on with your usual ski holiday booking”, said The Times, check out the alternative destinations on offer. Here are some of the top options.

Skijöring in Switzerland
“Getting from A to B in winter has often required ingenuity” in isolated Alpine communities, said National Geographic. Enter “skijöring”, also known as “horse-powered skiing”. The sport featured in the first Winter Olympics, in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Give it a try in the Alpine resort village of Arosa, where a “horse-drawn sleigh takes riders from railway station to hotel”. The biggest highlight is skijöring across the “sparkling Lake St Moritz”.

Wolf tracking in Abruzzo, Italy
Wolves have been “making a comeback” in Italy, said The Times. As a result of rewilding drives in Abruzzo National Park, visitors have the “chance to find out more about this keystone species” and its historical links to the region. As well as making a trip to the Apennine Wolf Museum, the more adventurous can embark on “hikes, snowshoe expeditions and torchlight forays into the surrounding mountains in the hope of sightings and to listen to the howling”.

Northern Lights tours in Norway
“Watching the ethereal Northern Lights as they dance across the skies is possibly one of the most awe-inspiring activities you can enjoy on a snow holiday,” said Country Living. Alta, in the far north of Norway, is nicknamed the “Northern Lights city” for a reason. It is one of the best places in the country to see the aurora borealis.

Ian Huntley’s pointless death
Steve Gallant on UnHerd 
The prison killing of Ian Huntley “ultimately makes life less safe for everyone”, writes ex-convict and prison reform campaigner Steve Gallant. Such “vicious acts of violence” shift control of institutions “from formal rules to the unwritten codes” governing inmates, who “leave prison more dangerous than when they arrived”.  This attack goes “to the heart of what kind of penal system our society wants: one that quietly tolerates violence, or one that maintains disciplined authority over even the most hated of prisoners”.

We Need to Stop Listening to Tony Blair Once and for All
Steven Methven on Novara Media
The “apocalyptic vision of Tehran ablaze” appears nightmarish to “most of us”, writes Steven Methven. But not, apparently, to Tony Blair, who “mourned the fact that the UK was not more involved” in the Iran strikes. “Were my hands bloodied with the deaths of up to a million” Iraqis, I’d “think twice before giving my opinion on yet another illegal US adventure”. Blair’s insistence on Britain being America’s lap dog reflects “a dangerous loyalty to an old idea in a fast-changing world”.

Al fresco dining is overrated
Julie Bindel in The Spectator 
“Spring flowers” are emerging and “outdoor-eating aficionados” are “shivering through their fake smiles”, writes Julie Bindel. “It’s not just the cold” and rain that “puts me off” al fresco dining. In summer, there’s “pollen” and “insect stings”. Plus, outdoor seating is “almost always inferior”, waiters are “less attentive”, and “napkins can blow away”. And in London, “awful smells” vie “for attention with your delicious truffle-infused soup”. Just “stay indoors. That’s what restaurants were built for.”