A London-based software developer and "hacker" has said he is under police investigation after going to Syria to fight against the Islamic State group.

Amir Taaki, 29, a leading developer of online currency Bitcoin, was once named by Forbes as one of the most influential young people in technology.
Mr Taaki told the BBC he returned to the UK from Syria in 2016 and has spent the past 12 months on police bail.
The Foreign Office warns people not to travel to Syria for any reason.
"When I discovered Rojava [the term Kurds use to refer to northern or Syrian Kurdistan] I felt I had to go there," he told the BBC.
"At first, I was completely scared - I thought I was going to die.
"I got sent to the frontline. I had no training, and I was given a Kalashnikov. I learnt how to use a gun on the way, another Western fighter showed me."
Mr Taaki says he spent three and half months fighting with the Kurdish People's Protection Units [YPG] military group and experienced several battles against IS.
He says he was not injured in the fighting, except in one incident, he tells me laughing: "I did fall into a trench."
When asked "Did you kill anyone?" he explains that his experiences in battles with IS were at long range, so it is impossible to tell.
"I found myself on the front with a gun, I had to fight. But I wanted to go elsewhere, where my skills would be useful."
Mr Taaki says he later met with the economics committee of Rojava and began helping the Kurds with local projects, such as a crowd-funding campaign which raised money and then built fertilizer factories to help farmers growing food.
The Syrian Kurds are not only fighting to defeat IS, but they have the aim of creating a new kind of socialist society.
This Kurdish vision is based on revolutionary ideas of living in a much less hierarchical way than the West - a system called "democratic confederalism".
This is what Amir Taaki says truly inspired him to travel to the conflict.
"My main goal with going to Rojava was not because I opposed Isis, it's because I support their [the Kurds'] revolution. I support their politics and their struggle.
"It is the only solution for lasting peace in the Middle East."
Bitcoin, he believes, could help the Syrian Kurds.
"They're trying to create a people's economy. To establish a decentralised economy, you need decentralised money.
"Rojava's under embargo, so there's no way to move money in or out. So we have to actually create our own Bitcoin economies.
"Now we have a technological tool for people to freely organise outside state system. Because it is a currency not controlled by central banks."
But software previously developed by Amir Taaki to allow untraceable, anonymous transactions, has been criticised by authorities because it may be used for money laundering or to fund organised terror groups.
When he returned to London in 2016, Mr Taaki says he was arrested at the airport and questioned under counter-terror legislation.
"I was not expecting it at all," he says.
"They stopped the plane, and they arrested me. They confiscated computers, phones and everything".
He says he has been told by police that he remains under investigation.
"I don't support terrorism or terrorist acts. What's the political motive in keeping an investigation open against me?"
There are no reliable figures for how many British people have gone to fight with the Kurds.
The YPG itself estimates that "hundreds" of volunteers from many countries have fought with it.
The YPG is not a banned group in the UK, but is considered a terror organisation by Turkey, which has a history of conflict with the Kurds.
Mr Taaki was once tipped to be a future billionaire.
He could work in Sillicon Valley and enjoy an incredible career. So why not, I ask?
"I could go and live on a beach in Brazil and party," he tells me. "I don't want that, though."
When challenged on why he needed to pick up a gun at all, he replies: "I'm glad about it, to be honest, it was an important experience to have."
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Everyone who returns from taking part in the conflict in Syria or Iraq must expect to be reviewed by the police to determine if they have committed criminal offences and to ensure that they do not pose a threat to our national security."
Watch a special piece with Amir Taaki on the Victoria Derbyshire Show on BBC1 on Thursday at 9am. The Daily Politics programme will discuss the government's stance on fighting in Syria on BBC2 on Friday at noon.


A 61-year-old man has appeared in court charged with murdering a pensioner whose body was found in a 4x4 vehicle in a field.

Charles Broom, of Millhead Road, Honiton in Devon is charged with the murder of Hilda Oakland, 71, on 2 December.
Her body was found in a vehicle in a field off the A30 at Fenny Bridges near Honiton.
Mr Broom was remanded in custody by a judge at Exeter Crown Court.
He will appear in court again in March, for a plea and case management hearing.


Peter Hartley says scoring the injury-time winner for Plymouth Argyle in the League Two play-off semi-final against Portsmouth is his greatest moment.

Hartley, 28, headed home from a 91st-minute corner to send the Pilgrims to Wembley for the first time in 20 years.
"I've never experienced anything like that, it's the biggest moment of my career so far," he told BBC Sport.
"I was sat in the dressing room and the boys were celebrating and I was just thinking 'what's happened?'"
Having drawn the first leg 2-2 at Fratton Park, the Pilgrims - who finished fifth in League two despite having led the league by five points in November - had almost all the chances in the second leg at Home Park.
But the game seemed to be heading for extra time until former Stevenage and Hartlepool defender Hartley came up with the winner in front of the Argyle end.
"I remember connecting with the ball and it hit the back of the boy's head and hit my head again and went in," he said. "Then I woke up and there was some big bald guy kissing me in the face.
"We set up perfectly to nullify Portsmouth's threat and I think we look like a real good outfit.
"I don't think Accrington or AFC Wimbledon will fancy playing us at Wembley."


Volunteers and community groups which have taken on services to stop Swansea council from axing them feel undervalued, a report has said.

The finding was made during a review into how the council can help residents run services in their own communities.
About 75 have been taken on by groups including community centres, recreation areas and clubs.
The report to this week's cabinet said more needs to be done to recognise their good work.
Thirty-nine community centres are run by voluntary management committees along with six bowls clubs including the main Swansea bowls centre and Swansea Bowls Association - an umbrella group for smaller clubs.
On top of that, there are about 30 "friends of parks" groups which work in partnership with the council carrying out litter picks, reporting maintenance issues and putting on events.
Talks are also taking place about the future of sports pitches as the council continues to look at ways of making savings.
"There was a consistent message from our evidence gathering that many community volunteers and community groups do not feel valued either by their communities or by the council," the councillor-led scrutiny panel report said.
"We believe that recognition for the work of volunteers is important not just because this is the right thing to do, but also because it provides encouragement and it lets them know that they have the support and backing of the council and the wider community."
The report also found some people see handing services over to communities as a "threat rather than an opportunity".
There was also "concern" raised by some about the level of service being provided if the council is not involved and the longer term sustainability of projects because of the current age of many volunteers.
Ten recommendations have been made including publicly promoting the roles of volunteers and creating an award category in the annual Lord Mayor's Awards.
In response to the report, Mark Child, cabinet member for wellbeing and healthy city, said: "Community groups and volunteers are often the lifeblood of their communities. Without them we'd all be poorer."
He added: "Community groups have a great track record of achievement.
"An important part of this is that they are often embedded in their neighbourhoods so it means they're better able to shape services so they meet the needs and expectations of local residents."


A Roman silver dish is returning to Suffolk for the first time since its discovery in 1942.

The British Museum in London is loaning the Mildenhall Great Dish to Ipswich's Christchurch Mansion, from 26 July until 31 October.
The 34-piece Mildenhall silver collection is in the British Museum's top 10 list of British treasures.
A replica set of the collection has been permanently on display at Mildenhall Museum since 2001.
The Mildenhall Treasure is believed to date from the 4th Century.
The solid silver dish, which depicts the myth of Bacchus, is 24in (60cm) in diameter.
It will be displayed with other Roman Suffolk treasures including the Wickham Market gold coin hoard, the Cavenham crowns and the Holbrook horse harness pendants.
Jayne Austin, development manager at Ipswich Museums, which runs Christchuch Mansion, said: "Treasures such as this automatically went to the British Museum but they are leading the way in making collections more accessible around the country.
"The British Museum is working with us to help support the ongoing development of Ipswich Museums.
"This is a great opportunity for people to see this beautiful item free of charge in the local area."
Norma Chapman, a trustee at Mildenhall Museum, said: "We're still not sure about its significance and mystery surrounds who owned it, although it was obviously a very important, wealthy person who had tableware like this.
"We're hoping people might be inspired to visit our collection after seeing the original."


Barcelona striker Luis Suarez says he has talked to specialists about his behaviour and insists there will be no further biting incidents.

Suarez is serving a four-month ban for biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup - his third biting offence.
"I say to fans, don't worry, because I won't do that anymore," he promised.
"I spoke to my psychologist and he said I had to face it and say sorry. I did - now I would rather focus on the present, which is Barcelona."
The 27-year-old Uruguay striker, who said he was "really depressed" after the incident in Brazil, launched an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the ban.
Following the verdict, the former Liverpool striker is still banned from playing in competitive fixtures until late October and must also serve the remaining eight games of his nine-match international ban.
But Suarez is no longer excluded from "all football-related activities", which allowed him to make his Barcelona debut as a 75th-minute substitute in the 6-0 friendly victory over Mexican side Club Leon on Monday.
Addressing a media conference on Tuesday, he said of his behavioural issues: "I am speaking to professionals - the right professionals. But it is a private matter and I don't want to comment further on that."
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Suarez spent three years with Liverpool, during which he was banned for eight matches for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra and suspended for a further 10 matches for biting Branislav Ivanovic of Chelsea.
Last month, he joined Barcelona for a reported fee of £75m but the Catalan club's vice president Jordi Mestre said on Tuesday the actual amount was significantly less.
"Negotiations started before the World Cup and we worked hard to come to a final figure of £65m. We were originally quoted over €90m (£72m).
"He had much better offers than ours financially but he wanted to come to Barcelona. He made a great effort - financially and personally - to be here."
Suarez admitted he feared for his career after the incident with Chiellini in Uruguay's 1-0 win in Natal on 24 June.
"Of course I was concerned - not just about the transfer to Barcelona but more for me as a person. But, as I've said, that's in the past now and I'm trying to concentrate on Barcelona," he said.
"Everything that happens in the past, that needs to be forgotten. If I start thinking about everything I've gone through, I wouldn't be able to sleep."


An ex-MI6 officer who is believed to have prepared a memo claiming Russia has compromising material on US President-elect Donald Trump is now in hiding, the BBC understands.

Christopher Steele, who runs a London-based intelligence firm, is believed to have left his home this week.
The memos contain unsubstantiated claims that Russian security officials have compromising material on Mr Trump.
The US president-elect said the claims were "fake news" and "phoney stuff".
Mr Steele has been widely named as the author of a memo - which has been published in some US media - that contains extensive allegations about Mr Trump's personal life and his campaign's relationship with the Russian state.
Among the allegations are that Moscow has a video recording of Mr Trump with prostitutes and damaging information about his business activities.
BBC news correspondent Paul Wood said he understood Mr Steele left his home on either Tuesday or Wednesday, before he was publicly named, and was now "in hiding".
He said he had been told Mr Steele had asked his neighbour to look after his cats.
Our correspondent said he had been shown the memos about Mr Trump in October last year, when he was told Mr Steele was "in fear of his life", having spoken out about potential Russian involvement in Mr Trump's election.
He said he had been told by members of the intelligence community that Mr Steele was "extremely, highly regarded" and was thought of as "competent".
The central allegation made in the memos was that Mr Trump was "vulnerable to blackmail", he added.
Mr Steele has not responded to the BBC's request for a comment on the revelations about Mr Trump.
By Paul Wood, BBC news correspondent
Claims about a Russian blackmail tape were made in one of a series of reports written by a former British intelligence agent.
As a member of MI6, he had been posted to the UK's embassy in Moscow and now runs a consultancy giving advice on doing business in Russia. He spoke to a number of his old contacts in the FSB, the successor to the KGB, paying some of them for information.
They told him that Mr Trump had been filmed with a group of prostitutes in the presidential suite of Moscow's Ritz-Carlton hotel.
I know this because the Washington political research company that commissioned his report showed it to me during the final week of the election campaign.
The BBC decided not to use it then, for the very good reason that without seeing the tape - if it exists - we could not know if the claims were true. The detail of the allegations were certainly lurid.
The entire series of reports has now been posted by BuzzFeed.
Read more from Paul Wood
Mr Steele, who was initially named in the US, is believed to be a former member of the Secret Intelligence Service - MI6 - and is a director of Orbis Business Intelligence - which describes itself as a leading corporate intelligence consultancy.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said he had been an intelligence officer - rather than agent - in MI6, who would have run a team of agents as an intelligence gatherer.
However, Mr Steele was now working in the private sector, our correspondent said, adding that there was "probably a fair bit of money involved" in the commissioning of the dossier.
Christopher Burrows, who is listed as a co-director of Orbis alongside Mr Steele, refused to confirm or deny whether the firm had produced the report on Mr Trump.
Founded in 2009 by former British intelligence professionals, the firm - based in Grosvenor Gardens, central London - has a "global network" of experts and "prominent business figures",, according to its website.
Orbis says it offers "strategic advice", as well as mounting "intelligence-gathering operations" and cross-border investigations.
Mr Steele reportedly spent years under diplomatic cover working for MI6 in Russia and France, as well as at the Foreign Office in London.
He is reported to have supplied the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with information on allegations of corruption at FIFA, football's world governing body.
The 35-page dossier on Mr Trump - which is believed to have been commissioned initially by Republicans opposed to Mr Trump - has been circulating in Washington for some time.
Media organisations, uncertain of its credibility, initially held back from publication. However, the entire series of reports has now been posted online, with Mr Steele named as the author.
Intelligence agencies considered the claims relevant enough to brief both Mr Trump and President Obama last week.
But the allegations have not been independently substantiated or verified and some details have been challenged as incorrect by those who are mentioned.
Mr Trump himself was briefed about the existence of the allegations by the US intelligence community last week but has since described them as fake news, accusing the US intelligence services of leaking the dossier.


Plans to tackle childhood obesity in England to be unveiled on Thursday will include aiming to cut sugar content in food and drink by 20% over four years, the BBC understands.

But measures, such as curbs on junk-food TV adverts, favoured by public health experts, are not expected to be in the strategy.
Sources say there will be more details about a tax on sugary drinks.
The document's publication has been expected for months.
Charities had called for wide-ranging measures, including:
The BBC understands the final plans will include measures to promote sport at school.
BBC health editor Hugh Pym said plans to cut sugar content by 20% over four years could be "seen as quite a radical policy".
But he added: "It is what is not there which will raise some eyebrows."
He said: "Campaigners will also say, 'Why on earth is this coming out in the parliamentary recess?'
"'The chancellor is away, the health secretary is away, the prime minister is away, does this suggest some lack of commitment to the whole plan?"
The strategy was proposed to tackle rising weights in children in England.
Meanwhile, plans for a tax on sugary drinks across the UK were announced five months ago, and sources say there will be more details on England's plans for this levy on Thursday.
The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will decide separately on how to spend their share.


A man with tetraplegia who is graduating with a first class degree says his time at university has given him a purpose.

Rob Camm, 23, from Breadstone, Gloucestershire was paralysed from the neck down in a car crash in 2013.
He used voice recognition software to write essays and used head movements to control his mouse pointer.
Mr Camm will graduate in politics and philosophy at the University of Bristol on Friday afternoon.
"Before the accident, I had always been the type of person who wanted to be the best they can be," he said.
"Getting a first has made me feel that way again."
He said he "could not believe it" when he saw his result.
"I had to keep refreshing the student information page to be sure. Not many people get a first so I'm very proud of managing to do that.
"It's been good to get out of the house and have a purpose. Meeting people and socialising has been hard, but many things are possible with some planning."
Mr Camm will now study for a law conversion course at the University of Law in Bristol, and has recently moved to the city from his family home near Berkeley in Gloucestershire.


Long-serving defender Alan Dunne is one of 18 players released by Millwall boss Neil Harris following their relegation from the Championship.

Dunne, 32, came through the south London club's academy and made a total of 388 appearances for the Lions, scoring 23 goals.
Carlos Edwards, Ricardo Fuller, Danny Shittu and Martyn Woolford are among the 17 other players leaving The Den.
Harris will offer new deals to Jimmy Abdou and John Marquis.
On the departure of Dunne, Millwall chairman John Berylson told the club website: "It is always sad when a member of your family who has lived with you for a long time leaves home.
"He has written his own chapter in Millwall's history and he will always be very welcome whenever he returns.
"While Alan will continue his playing career elsewhere, it would not surprise me to see him back here in some capacity further down the line."
Senior players Nicky Bailey, Matthew Briggs, Richard Chaplow, Magaye Gueye, Justin Hoyte, Stefan Maierhofer and Angel Martinez have all been deemed surplus to requirements by Harris, who was appointed boss last week following a spell in interim charge.
Youngsters Dylan Casey, Sofiane El-Bekri, Denzel Gerrar, Jake Goodman, Josh Siafa and Callum Webb will also depart the club.
Edwards, 36, has been sidelined with a serious knee injury since September but has been offered the chance to continue his rehabilitation with the Lions.


Rail companies should be fined for cancellations caused by staff "no shows", a Sussex MP has said.

Sir Nicholas Soames, who represents Mid Sussex, said he had spoken to Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin urging the measure.
He said: "There have been too many cases where passengers on the railway are treated extremely disrespectfully by staff simply not turning up."
A Southern Rail spokeswoman said there were "many reasons why this happens".
Sir Nicholas said: "Where the rail companies allow this to happen they should be fined for it, because I think if you consider how expensive it is to travel on the train it is a contract between the passenger and the rail operator.
"And it is one which the rail operator regularly breaks."
He added: "If you ask anyone who commutes or travels extensively on the train in the Southern region they will tell you it happens very regularly."
A Southern Rail spokeswoman said when services are disrupted it can lead to train crews being displaced and unable to crew their next scheduled service.
She said: "Sickness, annual leave, reliance on taxis and occasional rostering errors also all have an effect on the ability to crew every train every day.
"We are currently training new drivers, and as at the end of August, 60 new drivers had become qualified since the beginning of the year."


TV presenter and comedy writer Denis Norden has spoken for the first time about his "accidental" visit to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Norden, who was serving in the RAF during World War Two, went to the liberated camp in northern Germany to find lighting for a show he was putting on.
He went with fellow performers the late Eric Sykes and Ron Rich and none of them had any idea what the camp had been used for.
Norden, who hosted ITV show It'll Be Alright On The Night and appeared on BBC radio panel programmes My Word! and My Music, had formed entertainment units with the likes of Sykes to put on shows for the troops and to get off guard duty.
"We were doing a show at this particular RAF camp nearby, we were short of lighting equipment, and somebody said 'There is a kind of camp near us, which had all sorts of lights for illuminating it at night, you can take those', so we took this truck along," he said.
"We didn't know what to expect, we had not heard a word about it."
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's The Robert Peston Interview Show (with Eddie Mair), Norden said they went back to their own camp and gathered as much food as they could.
"We told everyone you've never seen anything like it, and everybody in the unit contributed whatever spare food they had, or had been sent from home, and we took it along there.
"I've always had this awful feeling that it was wrong for us to do that, people so emaciated to have this rich food poured upon them, what it did to them."
The only other mention of this visit is in Syke's autobiography. The comedian died in 2012, aged 89.
"Ron Rich, Denis Norden and I were totally unprepared for the sights that hit us between the eyes.
"Appalled, aghast, repelled - it is difficult to find words to express how we felt as we looked upon the degradation of some of the inmates not yet repatriated," he wrote.
"As far as I could see, all these pitiable wrecks had one thing in common. None was standing.
"They squatted in their thin, striped uniforms, unmoving bony structures who could have been anywhere between 30 and 60 years old, staring ahead with dead, hopeless eyes and incapable of feeling any relief at their deliverance."
The British army liberated Bergen-Belsen on 15 April 1945.
It had been used to house prisoners of war, exchange prisoners and finally Jewish evacuees from concentration camps across Europe.
While it did not contain any gas chambers, about 70,000 prisoners died mainly through starvation and disease.
One of Belsen's best-known prisoners was the young diarist Anne Frank, who died in the camp in March 1945.
Norden, who retired in 2006 due to deteriorating eyesight, said he also fed the German children.
"What was notable, was that the Germans themselves, wherever we were, were not receiving food at all really, and they were becoming very emaciated as well," he said.
"The little German kids would hang around when you're eating your food, eating your own rations, just looking at you, so everybody gave food to these kids.
"After seeing the camp, you could in theory hold it against the Germans, but you couldn't hold it against these German kids."
The Robert Peston Interview Show (with Eddie Mair) is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Mondays at 23:00 BST. The series is running for six episodes - each presenter has three episodes in which to choose a guest, whose identity is only revealed to the other presenter just before recording.


This year's Royal National Mod in Oban is estimated to have brought more than £3m to the local economy.

The nine-day festival, which celebrates Gaelic culture, officially ended on Saturday with a massed choir procession through the town.
Organisers said an estimated 8,000 people from across the UK and abroad attended the festival.
It featured 200 competitions, including traditional singing, Highland dancing, literature and piping.
John Morrison, chief executive of organisers An Comunn Gaidhealach, said: "The feedback from those who attended and competed has been excellent.
"I'm very proud as to how much people have enjoyed this year's Mod. We've seen a lot of new faces competing this year, and we hope they'll be joining us in the Western Isles next year."
The 2016 Mod will be mainly based in Stornoway next October.
The gathering was first held Oban in 1892.


A challenge to Brexit should "leapfrog" the usual legal process and go directly to the Supreme Court, Northern Ireland's top lawyer has said.

In an unprecedented move, Attorney General John Larkin QC said a case being brought by a cross-party group of MLAs should skip NI's Court of Appeal.
A British government lawyer warned it could be a "treacherous shortcut".
Two NI-related cases against Brexit were heard together and then dismissed by a Belfast judge last month.
One case was taken by victims' campaigner Raymond McCord and the other by the group of Stormont politicians, which includes Alliance MLA David Ford, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, Sinn FÃ©in MLA John O'Dowd and Steven Agnew of the Green Party.
While Mr McCord and the politicians have the right to take their cases to the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal, both are asking the judge to refer them directly to the Supreme Court, the final court of appeal in the UK for civil cases.
At the outset of Tuesday's hearing in Belfast, Mr Larkin informed the legal parties he intended to refer part of the politicians' case to the Supreme Court.
He said his powers as Stormont's chief law officer enabled him to refer devolved matters to the court.
Mr Larkin said he believed it was the "first such invocation" of the power in any of the devolved regions.
A lawyer for the government said that if the politicians' case was fast-tracked, then Mr McCord's challenge would be left to "lag behind".
He said the government did not want to arrive at the Supreme Court with other matters outstanding in other courts.
"What appears to be a shortcut could be a treacherous shortcut in terms of the overall resolution of the issues," he said.
The lawyer for Mr McCord, whose son Raymond Jr was beaten to death by the UVF in 1997, expressed concern at the attorney general's decision.
He said: "We say the case made by Mr McCord goes much further and is potentially much more significant and harmful."
The judge noted he had no power in respect of a direction by the attorney general.
However, he said he wanted to be satisfied that the referral itself was lawful. He gave parties 24 hours to lodge further written applications.
The UK voted to leave the EU by 52% to 48% in June's referendum, though Northern Ireland voted to remain by a 56% majority.
In October, the judge dismissed bids by Mr McCord and the MLAs to halt the UK's planned departure from the EU.
They argued the Good Friday Agreement and peace process meant there must be a Parliamentary vote if Northern Ireland was to leave the EU.
But the judge ruled there was nothing to prevent the government triggering Article 50, the formal legal process for leaving the EU.
However, last week the High Court in London ruled that Parliament must vote on whether the UK can start the process.
The government will appeal the decision at the Supreme Court, and the case is expected to be heard in December.


Services have resumed on the north Wales coast main line and Blaenau Ffestiniog branch line after earlier disruption on Monday when engineering work overran.

A reduced service ran between Chester and Llandudno Junction with buses supplementing services.
Buses replaced trains between Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog.
There was also a warning that services between Llandudno Junction and Holyhead could have been affected by the work.


A man charged in connection with the murder of a prison officer in Northern Ireland has failed in a bid to overturn an order for him to stand trial.

David Black was shot dead while driving to work in Maghaberry Prison in 2012.
Damien McLaughlin, 39, of Kilmascally Road in Dungannon faces four charges.
His legal team said he should not face trial as the wrong legal test was applied and he was unfairly denied the chance to cross-examine a key prosecution witness.
However, Lord Chief Justice, Sir Declan Morgan, ruled that this was not the case.
Mr McLaughlin is charged with aiding and abetting Mr Black's murder, having a Toyota Camry car for use in terrorism, preparing a terrorist act by starting and moving the vehicle which the killers used, and belonging to a proscribed organisation, namely the IRA.
Mr Black, a 52-year-old father of two, was the first Northern Ireland prison officer to be murdered in nearly 20 years.
Last June, a preliminary investigation resulted in the district judge ordering Mr McLaughlin to be returned for trial.
Mr McLaughlin's legal team began judicial review proceedings against decisions to admit hearsay evidence and to return him for trial.
Their challenge centred on statements from a man who was arrested and interviewed as a suspect in the murder plot but was not called as a witness during the preliminary investigation.
Mr McLaughlin's legal team said there is a statutory right to cross-examine witnesses before trial.
A prosecution barrister countered that the proceedings were a form of satellite litigation.
He also stressed that the district judge was not deciding on the issue of guilt or innocence.
Dismissing the application, Sir Declan said: "There were material circumstances in this case including the availability of audiovisual material, the CCTV evidence, the fact that the witness was outside the jurisdiction and that his reluctance may be related to his being interviewed as a suspect which lead us to reject the submission that the admission of the evidence was irrational or perverse."


Premiership champions Saracens have signed hooker Dave Porecki on a short-term contract.

The 22-year-old Australian will act as cover at Allianz Park during the Rugby World Cup, which takes place between 18 September and 31 October.
Sarries could potentially lose Jamie George and Schalk Brits to England and South Africa duty at the tournament.
"We felt we that we needed some more depth in the hooking position," Sarries director of rugby Mark McCall said.
"Alongside Scott Spurling and Jared Saunders, Dave will provide us with more options.
"He has been training with us since we've returned to pre-season and has fitted into the club very well."
Porecki has had a spell with Super Rugby outfit Waratahs and has been playing for Sydney side Manly Marlins.
Saracens will begin the defence of their Premiership title at home to Sale Sharks on Saturday, 17 October.


A baby grand piano donated to a charity shop in Suffolk is expected to raise thousands of pounds for the East Anglia's Children's Hospice (Each).

The 5ft (152cm) Moutrie grand piano, which is a size between a baby and full size grand, was given to the Each shop in Hadleigh by a local couple.
Retail manager Sarah Throssell said the piano had generated "a lot of interest" and should sell at "a very good price".
The charity has the Duchess of Cambridge as its patron.
It supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.
The piano, imported from Germany with many major components from Germany, England and Japan, is finished in polished ebony and has a matching piano stool.


Six Nations officials are reviewing events in the closing stages of Wales' 20-18 loss to France, including an alleged bite on wing George North.

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Wales coach Rob Howley was left to "question the integrity of our game" after France replaced Uini Atonio with Rabah Slimani 11 minutes into the 20 minutes of added time that were played.
France's team doctor said Atonio needed to go off for a head injury assessment.
North, meanwhile, said he was bitten in the build-up to France's final try.
Referee Wayne Barnes asked television match official Peter Fitzgibbon to check the incident, but he could not find any clear footage so the game resumed without action being taken.
Six Nations Rugby said an independent citing commissioner would review "all relevant incidents" and raise any issues in due course, normally within 48 hours of the end of the match.
It added it was "aware of concerns" about the head injury assessment in added time and "is looking into the matter".
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Speaking after Saturday's game, Howley said: "In terms of the process, I think we have reason to complain.
"You can hear Wayne Barnes ask him if he is OK. He said he had a sore back, but that he was OK. And then the doctor comes on, and he goes off.
"I've no issues about the result, it's just about the process."
France coach Guy Noves said his medical staff told him Atonio was injured.
He added: "We will do a medical check-up. I hope the injury is not too serious, and he will be able to play again soon."
Wales led 18-13 at the end of the 80 minutes but Damien Chouly drove over for the try that brought France level, and Camille Lopez's conversion was decisive.
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Britain's Aljaz Bedene beat Slovakia's Martin Klizan to reach the quarter-finals of the Chennai Open in India.

Bedene, ranked 101, overcame the fourth seed 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-2).
The British number four came from 5-2 down to force a tie-break and take the first set, but he was broken at the start of the second and the world number 35 went on to level the match.
Bedene broke early in the third set and, after three hours on court, prevailed in a third tie-break to win.
The Briton faces French fifth seed Benoit Paire on Friday.


South Koreans will elect a new president on Tuesday, months ahead of schedule, after a corruption scandal that felled conservative President Park Geun-hye.

The poll comes amid major tensions with North Korea, rising youth unemployment and bubbling anger among the electorate over corruption.
Liberal Moon Jae-in, a human rights lawyer, has dominated opinion polls and is the clear front-runner.  His closest rivals are Ahn Cheol-soo, a centre-left IT multi-millionaire, and Hong Joon-pyo, the ruling party candidate.
Record numbers cast their ballots in early voting last week and turn-out is expected to be high.
South Korea is still reeling from the money-for-influence scandal that engulfed the former president, who is currently awaiting trial after being impeached.
Huge crowds had protested against Ms Park, amid anger over inequality and the perceived privilege of South Korea's elite. During months of protests older voters came out in support of her, however, exposing a deep generational divide.
Whoever wins the election will have to reunite society and tackle the economic and social mobility issues that have energised the youth vote. Last year, youth unemployment stood at 9.8%, highlighting job-seeking challenges for young people.
North Korea, meanwhile, remains a pressing challenge. Pyongyang has upped the pace of missile tests in recent months and many expect a sixth nuclear test soon. US leader Donald Trump has adopted a hard-line stance and tensions are at their highest level in years.
Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic Party is out in front of his rivals.  An aide to former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun, he is trying his chances again after losing to Ms Park in 2012.
A student activist, he was expelled from law school in the 1970s after leading a protest against Ms Park's father, strongman President Park Chung-Hee. After qualifying, he worked as a human rights lawyers for years before entering politics when Mr Roh was elected president.
Domestically, he has talked of tackling the perceived untouchability of South Korea's huge family-run conglomerates and their cosy ties with the government.
On North Korea, he has called for a new vision to achieve peace, one that potentially includes economic engagement - something that critics say channels funds to Pyongyang's nuclear programme.
His position on the US missile system, Thaad, remains unclear, but he was critical of the move to roll it out last month. His spokesman called it "very inappropriate" as it stripped the next government of the right to make its own decision on the system.
Mr Moon's most prominent rival is Ahn Cheol-soo, a software tycoon and co-founder of the centre-left People's Party.
Nicknamed "Korea's Bill Gates", Mr Ahn has portrayed himself as above the corruption that has plagued the political scene.
He has described himself as a "conservative in security issues and a reformist in economic affairs". On North Korea, he advocates pressure and dialogue to bring Pyongyang to the negotiating table.
He was initially opposed to Thaad but has since said that he will respect an agreement made between countries.
A third candidate who has slowly gained popularity is Hong Joon-pyo, from the conservative Liberty Korea Party. This is the party of the impeached Ms Park, previously known as the Saenuri Party. He says national security is top of his agenda.
Though North Korea dominates dialogue on the international stage, for South Koreans it is domestic issues - jobs, transparency, good governance - where they want the new leadership to make rapid improvements.
According to a survey by RealMeter, 27.5% said the key issue for them was a candidate's willingness to resolve corruption issues, followed by economic and livelihood issues at 24.5% and national security at 18.5%.
But many commentators say the leading candidates have not provided detailed policies.
On North Korea, the incoming president will have to contend with a leader in Pyongyang committed to the development of nuclear weapons, a bullish White House that has suggested military action could be on the table if tensions escalate and an electorate that could be caught in the crossfire.
Initiating a policy of economic engagement could be very challenging amid these circumstances, analysts suggest.
Balancing ties with the US - Seoul's traditional ally - will also be made more complicated by China's furious reaction to the Thaad deployment. Seoul and Washington say the system is aimed at safeguarding against attacks from North Korea, but Beijing says the missile system infringes on its own security and has initiated a number of informal economic sanctions.
Mr Trump, meanwhile, recently suggested South Korea should pay for the system, causing consternation in the host nation. He's also threatened to scrap a "horrible" free-trade deal between the two.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on TwitterandFacebook.


Jazz Carlin has won Great Britain's first gold medal of the European Short Course Championships in Israel, taking victory in the women's 800m freestyle.

Thursday's action saw Britain add three medals to take their tally up to five.
Carlin took victory ahead of Hungary's Boglarka Kapas, while bronze went to Sharon Rouwendaal of the Netherlands.
Roberto Pavoni set a new personal best to win 400m individual medley silver, while Andrew Willis' new English record earned bronze in the 200m breaststroke.
Welsh swimmer Carlin, 25, finished in a time of eight minutes 11.01 seconds to add short-course gold to her Commonwealth Games and European titles and continue her impressive 2015 after winning bronze at the World Championships in August.
Loughborough-based Pavoni narrowly missed out on victory to Italy's David Verraszto.
In the 200m breaststroke, Bath's Willis came in behind gold-medallist Marco Koch from Germany - who set a new Championship record - and Hungary's Daniel Gyurta in silver.
On Wednesday, Britain's Adam Peaty and Hannah Miley won silver medals in the men's 50m breaststroke and the women's 400m individual medley respectively.


More than $600,000 (Â£468,000) has been raised for the families of the three US men attacked while defending a Muslim teenager and her friend on a train.

Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Ricky John Best were killed and Micah David-Cole Fletcher was severely injured in Portland, Oregon on Friday.
They all intervened after a man launched into a verbal tirade against the teens, one wearing a hijab.
The suspect, Jeremy Joseph Christian, was later arrested.
The 35-year-old is due to appear in court on Tuesday, charged with two counts of aggravated murder, attempted murder, intimidation and being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon.
The FBI said it was still unsure if Mr Christian - who allegedly said "all Muslims should die" during the attack - will face charges for hate crime.
Meanwhile, Mr Fletcher continues to recover after sustaining a knife wound to his neck that his mother said was "a millimetre" from his jugular vein.
He posted a picture from his hospital bed, alongside a poem on Saturday evening. One of the lines said: "I spat in the eye of hate and lived."
The three men have been hailed as "heroes" in their local community, not least by Destinee Mangum - the 16-year-old who was travelling with her friend, 17, when the attack took place.
"I just want to say thank you to the people who put their life on the line for me, because they didn't even know me and they lost their lives because of me and my friend and the way we look," she told local channel KPTV.
Close to 1,000 people gathered for a vigil in memory of Mr Namkai-Meche, 23, a recent college graduate, and 53-year-old army veteran Mr Best, a father-of-four, on Saturday evening.
There have also been numerous tributes online to the men.
Tributes have been paid to the men by the city's mayor, as well as Oregon governor Kate Brown and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who described their deaths as "heartbreaking".
"No one should have to endure this racist abuse," she wrote on Twitter. "No one should have to give their life to stop it."
US President Donald Trump has yet to mention the attack.
Veteran journalist Dan Rather wrote an open letter to Mr Trump, which has been shared more than 100,000 times on Facebook, imploring the president to speak out about their deaths.
Mr Rather said: "Two Americans have died leaving family and friends behind.
"They are mourned by millions more who are also deeply worried about what might come next. I hope you can find it worthy of your time to take notice."


Venus and Serena Williams will meet in a Grand Slam final for the ninth time after the American sisters came through their semi-finals in Melbourne.

Thirteenth seed Venus, 36, beat fellow American Coco Vandeweghe 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-3 to reach her first major final since 2009.
World number two Serena, 35, saw off unseeded Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2 6-1 in the second semi-final.
Serena is attempting to win an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam singles title.
It would also be a seventh Australian Open victory for the younger Williams sister, while Venus hopes to win an eighth major title, first in Melbourne and first since Wimbledon in 2008.
"It is unbelievable to watch Serena play tennis - the way she hits the ball and the competitor she is," Venus Williams said after the first semi-final.
"It would be a dream to see her on the opposite side of the net on Saturday."
Speaking after her win, Serena said: "I am really proud of Venus - she is a total inspiration. I am really happy for her and to be in the final together is a dream for us.
"She is my toughest opponent, no-one has ever beaten me as much as Venus.
"I feel no matter what that we have both won after all we have been through. I know a Williams is going to win this tournament."
Vandeweghe, 25, had played superbly in seeing off world number one Angelique Kerber and French Open champion Garbine Muguruza to reach the last four, but she could not maintain that level in the semi-final.
The world number 35 deservedly took the first set on a tie-break but it was the experience of Williams that eventually prevailed.
Williams converted four of five break points, but more importantly reduced Vandeweghe to just one from 13 as the younger American was reduced to throwing her racquet in frustration as the chances slipped by.
Two double faults handed Williams a decisive double break in the second set and the seven-time Grand Slam champion broke again at the start of the third.
Vandeweghe stayed close enough to keep the pressure on, saving three match points before finally cracking with an error on the fourth, prompting a jubilant twirl of celebration from Williams.
"Everyone has their moment in the sun. Maybe mine has gone on a little longer than other people, but I have nothing else to do," joked Williams.
Lucic-Baroni was playing her first Grand Slam semi-final for 18 years, but it only lasted 50 minutes as Serena Williams dominated in her 34th major semi-final.
It was their third meeting but their first since 1998, when the pair were teenagers.
The story of Lucic-Baroni's comeback from a series of personal issues that saw her career all but finished had captured the attention, and she ended the tournament by taking a selfie with the crowd on her way out of Rod Laver Arena.
"Mirjana is an inspiration and deserves all the credit today," said Williams. "To get so far after all she has been through inspires me and I wanted to give her all the congratulations.
"It is great to see her out here. I was rooting for her through the whole tournament."
Williams will return on Saturday to try to make history once again by surpassing Steffi Graf and winning a 23rd major singles title.
Once she broke Lucic-Baroni's serve in the third game there was only going to be one winner, runs of five straight games and six straight games bringing her each set.
"The serve was a little better today. I want it to be a little better. I knew it needed to be good because Mirjana is a great returner," added Williams.


An "indecent" novel entered into a National Eisteddfod writing competition has led to a police investigation.

North Wales Police confirmed it is investigating a piece submitted for the Daniel Owen Memorial Prize under the Obscene Communications Act.
The piece was sent to the National Eisteddfod's office in Mold, Flintshire, and officials handed it on to police in March.
Officials said the novel refers to "criminal" acts and caused "concern".
Det Ch Insp Iestyn Davies said: "The work concerned has been assessed as being offensive and indecent in its nature and is being investigated as an offence under the Obscene Communications Act."
Speaking on BBC Radio Cymru, the National Eisteddfod's chief executive Elfed Roberts said: "The novel referred to acts that  are bluntly criminal."
He added: "When you know that the work is against the law - then there was no other option but to take action."
Mr Roberts added a false name and address was supplied by the entrant.
The Daniel Owen Memorial Prize is given annually to a novel of no less than 50,000 words and carries a Â£5,000 prize.


Speedway rider Darcy Ward faces a long wait to discover "the full prognosis" of his condition after he was injured in a serious crash in Poland.

Australian Ward came off his bike during a meeting on 23 August.
The 23-year-old, on loan to Elite League Swindon from Poole Pirates, was stabilised in hospital and then flown to the UK to continue treatment.
"This is going to be a long haul for Darcy," Poole Pirates manager Neil Middleditch told BBC South Today.
Ward, who recently returned from a 10-month ban after failing a breathalyser test in August 2014, was riding for Zielona Gora against Grudziadz when he clipped the back wheel of a rider in front.
"He went over what we call the high side," Middleditch added.
"Normally, it would be a collarbone-type injury. But, the way Darcy fell was very awkward and he received spinal injuries."
He was transferred to hospital where he underwent a two-and-a-half-hour operation and Ward's parents have been at his bedside daily since he was transferred to the UK, having flown over from Australia.
The last two weeks have also been very tough for Middleditch as Ward has lived with his family since riding in the Elite League.
"It's early days with the injury. In the doctors' words, it's 'angry'," he added.
"We've got to let the bruising and the swelling settle down and then they take a better look and see exactly what the damage is."


Hundreds of thousands of households across the UK will be affected by changes to benefits from April - part of government plans for the biggest shake-up of the welfare system for decades.

Ministers argue the changes are necessary to tackle the rising cost to the taxpayer and cut the budget deficit. They also say it will simplify the system and provide greater incentives for people to work.
However, charities and opposition politicians say the moves will force families into rent arrears and increase homelessness.
What are the key changes, who will be affected and by how much?
From the end of April, the current system of working-age benefits and Tax Credits will be gradually replaced by a new benefit called universal credit. Millions of claimants will be affected.
Universal credit - which applies to England, Scotland and Wales - will replace:
The government estimates 3.1 million households will be entitled to more benefits as a result of universal credit. Some 2.8 million households will be entitled to less, but will receive a top-up payment to protect them from a drop in income. New claimants will receive the lower payment.
Across all households, ministers say there will be an average gain of £16 per month.
The transition to Universal Credit will take place in three phases over four years, between 2013 and 2017.
From 29 April 2013, it will be trialled in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, Greater Manchester, before rolling out to Oldham, Wigan and Warrington in July.
The government says the new scheme will mean people are better off in work than on benefits.
From October, more claimants will move on to universal credit as and when they have a significant change of circumstances, such as starting a new job or when a child is born.
Then, from April 2014 until October 2017, the rest of those affected will be moved onto universal credit in stages.
Universal Credit will be rolled out in Northern Ireland from April 2014, six months after rollout in the rest of the UK begins.
For more information about universal credit, visit the Department for Work and Pensions website.
From mid-April, the government will introduce a cap on the total amount of benefit that working-age people (16-64) can receive.
Set at the average earnings of a UK working household, the cap will mean that people of working age will receive up to a maximum amount, even if their full entitlement is higher.
The cap - which will apply to England, Scotland and Wales - is estimated to be £350 per week for a single adult with no children and £500 per week for a couple or lone parent, regardless of the number of children they have.
Ministers had estimated about 50,000 households would be affected by the cap, losing an average of £93 per week.
However, the Department for Work and Pensions now says the number of households affected will be 40,000. The policy was expected to save £275m a year, but will now save £110m.
The government argues the changes to the figures are down to more people finding work.
However, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research says there is "no evidence at all" that the introduction of the cap has been affecting people's behaviour.
The Department of Work and Pensions' original estimates show how lone parents are expected to be the group most affected by the changes, followed by couples with children.
The changes will not affect everyone at once. Four London boroughs - Bromley, Croydon, Enfield, Haringey - will try out the cap from April 2013. Other local authority areas will follow from 15 July, with everywhere affected by September.
The benefit cap is not yet law in Northern Ireland.
To find out how you will be affected, you can use the government's benefit cap calculator, which can be found on the benefit cap information page.
In his 2012 Autumn Statement, the chancellor announced that most working-age benefits and tax credits would be uprated by just 1% - a below-inflation cap - for three years from 2013-14.
Benefits have historically risen in line with inflation and, without any change, would have been due to go up by 2.2% in April.
But the government argues that, with public sector pay rises capped at 1%, a similar limit should apply to working-age benefits such as jobseeker's allowance, employment and support allowance and income support as well as elements of working tax credits and child tax credit.
A total of 4.1 million households will be affected by the 1% limit in 2013-14 - losing an average of £0.90 a week, according to the government.
However, 9.6 million households will be affected by 2014-15 and 2015-16 - losing on average of £3 a week.
Lone parents - who have higher unemployment rates - are most likely to be affected, followed by couples with and without children.
For more information on benefit uprating, read our full guide.
A new benefit called the personal independence payment (PIP) will be introduced from April 2013 for people of working age to replace disability living allowance (DLA).
DLA is the biggest disability benefit payment. In nine years, the numbers claiming the benefit have risen from just under 2.5 million to 3.2 million - an increase of about a third.
The changes are expected to reduce spending by about £2.2bn by 2015-16, with one fifth of current DLA claimants expected to be ineligible for PIP.
By 2015, some 170,000 people are expected to be ineligible, while 150,000 will get a higher award, according to the DWP. By 2018, 500,000 will be ineligible, while 780,000 will receive the same or more than they do currently.
The government argues PIP will be more efficient and easier to understand than DLA. However, disability groups have condemned the plans as a money-saving exercise, arguing DLA is one of the most effectively targeted benefits with an estimated fraud rate of just 0.5%.
The change to PIP will be rolled out geographically over time. From 8 April, people living in Merseyside, Cumbria, Cheshire and North East England will begin claiming for PIP.
From 10 June, all new claims for disability benefits will be for PIP and not DLA.
For more information, read the government's guide.
Families living in council or housing association accommodation whose property is deemed to be larger than they need will receive less housing benefit from the beginning of April.
The new rules allow one bedroom for each adult or couple. Up to two children under the age of 16 are expected to share, if they are the same gender. Those under 10 are expected to share whatever their gender.
Termed the single room subsidy by ministers, or the "bedroom tax" by Labour, the changes will result in £490m savings for the taxpayer in 2013-14.
The government estimates that more than 660,000 claimants will be affected, with an average loss of £14 per week. Families with severely disabled children, foster carers and families of armed services personnel will be exempt.
Couples with no children and older people - those most likely to have spare rooms - will be particularly hit by the changes. The changes will also affect different areas of the country to a lesser or greater degree.
The current system of Council Tax Benefit (CTB), which is claimed by 5.9 million low-income families in the UK, will be abolished from April 2013.
Currently the assessment of CTB is carried out by local councils on behalf of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), but the rules are nationally set, and are applied in the same way across the UK.
However, from April 2013, the government will provide funding to local authorities in England and to the Scottish and Welsh governments to design their own systems of Council Tax support, know as Council Tax Support Schemes.
This funding will only be 90% of this year's budget for CTB in each local authority area - meaning that local councils will be expected to find a 10% saving.
The Department for Communities and Local Government estimates more than three million families in England will be affected, losing an average of £2.64 a week (£137 a year).
The government believes the new system will save £420m a year in England alone, as well as give councils increased financial independence and establish stronger incentives for local authorities to get people back to work.
However, critics say the changes mean different levels of support in different parts of the country and that this will prevent people being able to move to seek work.
For more information about changes to council tax benefit, read the government's guide.


Scotland's Paul Craig fell to his first defeat in the UFC after he was stopped by Tyson Pedro in Las Vegas.

The referee brought a halt after four minutes of the first round with Craig unable to defend himself from a series of elbows from the Australian.
Pedro dominated from the first bell, trapping Craig against the cage and connecting several times with his knee.
Craig had some success with a few uppercuts but was hurt by a right hand before Pedro finished it on the floor.
Light-heavyweight Craig had defeated Henrique da Silva in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut in December.


Rightly or wrongly, most reporters getting their hands on the eight-page assessment of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland flicked through to page four and the three paragraphs dealing with the Provisional IRA.

This was not because the Provisionals present the greatest threat - the report makes clear the security services are most concerned about the danger posed by dissident republicans, such as the so-called "new" IRA, Óglaigh na hÉireann, and the Continuity IRA.
Rather, it is because the historic relationship between Sinn Féin, the second largest party in the Stormont Executive, and the Provisional IRA made anything the report had to say on this score potential political dynamite.
Would the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) find enough in the report to return to their ministerial jobs and relieve the self-inflicted pain caused by their rolling resignations?
On this score, the report's conclusions that the Provisional IRA's leadership is fully committed to the peace process and is pursuing a strategy with a "wholly political focus" could be seen as helpful.
Also helpful was the notion that nothing has changed since the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Chief Constable said he had no intelligence to suggest the Provisional IRA's leadership had sanctioned the murder of Kevin McGuigan.
However, the assessment that the Provisionals continue to have access to weapons, and that individual IRA members remain involved in crime, weighed on the other side of the balance.
Most striking was the assertion that "PIRA members" (presumably ones working for the British as agents) "believe that the Provisional army council oversees both PIRA and Sinn Féin with an overarching strategy".
In the past, this curiously-worded sentence would have had unionists running a mile from sharing power with republicans.
Both the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) seized on it as bolstering their own positions. Some commentators thought it threw the chances of the DUP returning to their ministerial jobs into serious doubt.
However, the DUP quickly confounded that view, announcing their ministers would return to their posts immediately.
DUP leader Peter Robinson argued that the arrest of senior Sinn Féin official Bobby Storey (who was subsequently released without charge) had been the straw which broke the Stormont camel's back, rather than the existence of IRA structures.
Interviewed by the BBC, Mr Robinson seemed philosophical about the police's belief that the IRA army council still sits at the top of the republican pile.
He argued that "it really is a distinction without a difference to say there's something special about the army council being involved".
"Does somebody think that the people on the army council have different fingerprints from the people who are in the leadership of Sinn Féin? I don't, never have," the DUP leader said.
Mr Robinson reckons the politicians now have a couple of weeks to save Stormont, and warns that the return of his ministers does not mean problems like dealing with paramilitarism or welfare reform have been resolved.
The DUP's decision to return to office may leave them on thin ice with some unionist voters, but continuing their "in-out" policy would not impress others.
They have decided giving the Stormont House talks another chance is a better option than collapsing the Northern Ireland Assembly and moving to an immediate election.
Whenever that election comes, the outcome of the next fortnight's inter-party negotiations and how the parties all handled this latest paramilitary assessment are likely to feature strongly at the various election hustings.


Bolton Wanderers have signed free-agent goalkeeper Mark Howard on a two-year deal following his departure from Sheffield United.

The 29-year-old was allowed to leave Bramall Lane at the end of his contract, having played 16 games last season for the Blades.
After leaving Arsenal in 2006, Howard has been with six clubs including St Mirren, Aberdeen and Blackpool.
He joined Sheffield United under then boss Danny Wilson in July 2012.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


PC Keith Blakelock's unit was attacked with a "flame-type thrower" before he was hacked to death by a mob during the Tottenham riots in 1985, a court heard.

The Old Bailey trial of Nicholas Jacobs heard that bricks, bottles and petrol bombs rained down on police officers.
The officers were trying to protect firefighters when they were attacked.
PC Alan Tappy said he became aware of a "bundle on the grass" whom the mob were "stabbing and clubbing". Mr Jacobs denies murder.
PC Tappy's comments, made two days after the riots, were read to jurors by Richard Whittam for the prosecution.
The statement said: "Keith was lying face down and I thought he was dead.
"Pengelly (the unit's sergeant) was at the front of us, kneeling down to his left.
"We grabbed hold of Keith's shoulders and made an attempt to move him but couldn't.
"I remember one side of his neck had a wound, a gaping wound."
PC Tappy realised his colleague was still alive as the unit tried to drag him to safety.
The court also heard a statement from PC Richard Coombes, who was beaten unconscious during the rioting.
The officer, already described to the jury as being "lucky to be alive", received facial injuries, cuts and missing teeth during the onslaught.
"My feeling during this riot was that those doing the rioting attacked us with such ferocity and determination that I believe they wanted to do us serious harm," he said in a statement also given days after the riots.
"It made me fear for my life."
In the mayhem, PC Coombes said he lost his truncheon, shield and helmet.
The riots, on the night of 6 October 1985, saw officers attacked by a mob of about 150 people on the Broadwater Farm estate.
Giving evidence, a firefighter described the noise made by the rioters as "equivalent to someone scoring a goal at a football match".
Assistant divisional officer Trevor Stratford said he was assisted by PC Blakelock as they tried to make their escape, which was blocked by protesters.
He said one officer screamed for the firefighters to "get the hell out of there" as between 50 and 80 rioters "charged around".
Struck several times, Mr Stratford said he wanted to go to help PC Blakelock once he saw he had fallen to the ground.
However, the officer was "enveloped" by a group of eight or nine rioters.
He also saw that PC Coombes and one other officer were under attack so he ordered his team to take PC Coombes to hospital in a fire engine with blue lights flashing.
Mr Stratford then saw 20 to 25 people had "focused on" PC Blakelock, stabbing and kicking him, he told the court.
"They were pushing each other out of the way to get into the centre of the group," he said.
Asked if he could remember any weapons being used, the witness said he saw "what appeared to be something like a sword".
Mr Stratford said he stood by a further statement he made in 2007 where he said he saw "a baseball bat, a sword and scythe-like instrument".
When defence barrister Courtenay Griffiths QC asked why it had taken him until 2007 to remember the scythe, Mr Stratford said it was "an omission on my part".
With some difficulty, Mr Stratford and another police officer managed to drag the wounded officer away, he said.
He tried to give him first aid, but said "it was like trying to do cardiac compression on a pillow; there was no bone structure there and so I shouted for an ambulance".
A written statement from fire station commander Graham Holloway, who attended the estate to deal with a fire at a supermarket inside one of the blocks, was also read in court.
Mr Holloway said that when he arrived around 25 youths shouted from the first floor: "Come on firemen, if we get our hands on you we will get you."
After coming under attack Mr Holloway ran outside and saw "about 10 machetes" being thrust towards a man who had fallen to the ground.
"I am convinced that this was a planned manoeuvre," he said in the statement.
"There was no sign of rioters when we went up to the fire other than those on the first floor level."
The trial continues.


As a serious case review is published into the death of two-year-old Keanu Williams, who was beaten to death by his mother Rebecca Shuttleworth, BBC News looks at the recent bosses of Birmingham City Council's troubled children's department.

The authority has had four strategic directors of Children, Young People and Families since 2009.
Tony Howell started as strategic director for children, young people and families in April 2006. He announced his retirement in July 2009 but stayed in post until January 2011.
During his reign there were 14 serious case reviews. Khyra Ishaq - the seven year old who was starved to death by her mother and her boyfriend in Handsworth - came to the attention of social services in March 2006 and died in 2008.
Ofsted concludes the department is "failing to protect vulnerable children" in July 2010 and brands it inadequate.
Appointed interim strategic director on a 12 month contract in 2011. The contract had an option to extend to 18 months - which it was. She was reportedly paid Â£1,000 a day.
Keanu Williams was murdered by his mother Rebecca Shuttleworth during her tenure, in January 2011.
Colin Tucker, Birmingham City Council's director of children's social care, was suspended in January and left his post by "mutual agreement" in April 2011.
A senior council source said Mr Tucker's department had not improved quickly enough.
No serious case reviews were published in 2011/2012.
Started in April 2012 but left after just 15 months. A council spokesman said this was by "mutual agreement" after taking "unplanned emergency leave to deal with private family matters".
They added: "The council is continuing with the improvement strategy for its services for children, young people and families and has asked Peter Hay CBE, strategic director for adults and communities, to take over responsibilities in the interim."
Before he left Mr Duxbury, a former social worker, said there was "little likelihood of special measures being lifted before 2015."
No serious case reviews were commissioned during his tenure.
Appointed to manage the department "in the interim". One serious case review has been commissioned so far.
Birmingham City Council leader Sir Albert Bore said in September the most urgent issue facing the council was the need to establish permanent management arrangements for children's services. He said they needed someone who could "win the loyalty and respect from staff and give confidence to the political leadership."
"We believe we have in Peter Hay, who has been asked to manage the service in the interim, such a person," he said.
He added: "It is clear that with Peter Hay we do have an officer who has all the requisite qualities to lead the service and provide assurance. In fact the last time Children's Social Care showed signs of externally accredited improvement was when he managed it."
Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood said the department would not improve until there was some continuity with the person in charge.
"There are never any results because people are always in limbo," he said.
"Every time a new person takes charge, the department is changed to suit them.
"None of the leaders ever look at the systemic failures. They come in, give out press releases, then in the end they are booted out because they have not delivered what they should have."


A three-year-old boy who died after being found in a pond at a house in Newcastle has been named.

Callum Greenwood was playing in a relative's garden in Elswick Road in the West End of the city on Thursday.
He was reported missing at about 18:45 BST and found in the water a few minutes later. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Northumbria Police said there was no third party involvement and a report was being prepared for the coroner.
Neighbour Melissa Hill said it was "pretty awful" to see all the police activity outside the house.
She said: "It's beyond words, you can't imagine how the family are feeling, it's such a tragic awful thing."


Four men have been hospitalised after taking legal highs in Greater Manchester, with one left in a life-threatening condition.

The men, aged in their 30s and 40s, collapsed in Rochdale between 15:50 and 17:50 BST on Tuesday, police said.
It is thought the man in the most serious condition took a substance known as Clockwork Orange.
It follows eight incidents in the town on Friday and Saturday in which men fell ill after taking the highs.
Police said the latest casualties had taken a variety of substances including Clockwork Orange, Pandora's Box, and Kronic.
Det Insp Lee Hopwood, of Greater Manchester Police, said the force had issued warnings about the dangers of legal highs over the past few days.
"I cannot stress enough how dangerous they are and even though they might not be illegal, please do not take the risk," he said.


A security guard in the Pakistani city of Karachi has shot dead an 11-year-old boy wearing a monster mask, police say.

The boy had sneaked up on the guard in an attempt to scare him, and the guard responded by opening fire, police said.
The boy was taken to hospital, but died of his injuries. The guard has been arrested.
Correspondents say Karachi has thousands of private security guards, but many are poorly paid and have not received proper training.
The boy's family and local residents have staged a protest over the shooting, which occurred late on Sunday.


Actor Sir Michael Gambon has returned to London's West End, one year on from his withdrawal from another stage play due to ill health.

Dame Maggie Smith, David Walliams and Tom Hollander were in the first night audience at his solo performance of Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett.
Sir Michael will perform the 52-minute play twice a night during its run.
Last year the 69-year-old pulled out of Alan Bennett's The Habit of Art after doctors advised him to rest.
His role was subsequently taken by Richard Griffiths in the National Theatre production.
Sir Michael is no stranger to Beckett's enigmatic work, having performed it at the Gate Theatre in Dublin earlier this year.
First staged in London in 1958, the play revolves around an old man listening to his younger self via taped recordings.
"I'm so used to being in the West End that I find it quite usual," said Sir Michael after Wednesday night's performance at the Duchess Theatre.
"First night is a bit frightening but you deal with it."
Reviews so far have been positive, with the Guardian's critic praising Michael Colgan's "artfully pitched" production.
The Telegraph, meanwhile, praised "the great Michael Gambon" and his "extraordinarily eloquent" voice.


Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill praised scorer Conor Washington as a 1-0 win over Slovenia set a new record of 10 games unbeaten.

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The QPR striker scored on his home debut to boost his hopes of making the squad for the Euro 2016 finals.
"Conor has strength, power and composure - he looks like he is going to be an asset for us," said O'Neill.
"It's a great achievement to go unbeaten in 10 games and now we just want to build on it."
Washington struck his first goal for Northern Ireland before the break, while Roy Carroll kept out Milivoje Novakovic's penalty in the second half.
"Scoring the goal was crazy but overall the boys played well and we deserved the win," said a delighted Washington.
"To set the new 10-game unbeaten record is brilliant and hopefully we can take this form into the next few games and into the tournament in France.
"I'm pleased to get another start and a goal, and I just have to work hard and see where it takes me."
Carroll was another Northern Ireland hero, with his fine penalty save ensuring the feel-good factor continues going into friendlies against Belarus on 27 May and Slovakia on 4 June.
"I had watched their penalties over the last couple of days so I guessed which way it was going," said Carroll.
"I've had some bad nights out there but with that save and clean sheet I really enjoyed it."


What do Tony Blair and Jeremy Corbyn have in common?

Very little, one might think, but since being elected leader of the Labour Party in 2015, Mr Corbyn has apparently come to share the view Mr Blair expressed in his memoirs that "a political party needs to be led strongly and a strong leader needs loyal supporters".
"If you think the leadership is wrong or fundamentally misguided, then change leaders; but don't have a leader and not support their leadership," he wrote.
"That way lies political debilitation."
In the event that the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) disagrees substantially with the person the members have chosen, their collective wisdom should not prevail over the judgement of the leader.
Their only option should be to go for broke and try to elect another leader.
That has not, historically, been the way the Labour Party has worked.
Before Mr Blair, decision-making was less concentrated in a small group, subject to groupthink.
It was more of a collective endeavour in which the shadow cabinet (the cabinet when the party was in government), the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) and the PLP all had their parts to play.
A leader had to retain the confidence of all of these bodies.
All three, however, have been weakened over the past two decades.
Mr Blair and his closest allies downgraded the policymaking role of the NEC and attempted to amass power in the leader's office.
As the Chilcot Report is but the latest to observe, Mr Blair too often bypassed the cabinet and, in the crucial issue of Iraq, failed to have a properly constituted Cabinet Committee, one that should have included among its members the Leader of the House and former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who would have added the penetrating scrutiny and informed judgement that was sadly lacking.
There was a partial return to more cabinet government under Gordon Brown, but Mr Brown, too, was a hoarder of power who liked to determine policy within a group of like-minded people.
However, an initiative that has inadvertently helped to land Labour in its current crisis was, ironically enough, that of Ed Miliband, the most collegial of the last three Labour leaders before Mr Corbyn.
Mr Miliband won support for a fateful decision (applauded by Mr Blair) to stop members of the Parliamentary Labour Party from electing the shadow cabinet, placing instead this power of appointment in the hands of the party leader.
Leaders and their aides tend to short-sightedly favour enhancing the leader's power while they are the beneficiaries, without thought to the same powers passing to a radically different leader and regardless of the folly of concentrating power in the hands of any one individual and his acolytes.
Had this potential weakening of a collective leadership that could command the support of the parliamentary party not been endorsed by the PLP itself and, subsequently, by the Labour Party as a whole, the present standoff between Mr Corbyn and the great majority of the PLP could have been ended with less damage to what is, after all, the country's main alternative party of government.
A shadow cabinet representative of opinion within the PLP would have remained in place and collectively taken decisions.
If a party leader differed fundamentally from the majority of such a shadow cabinet, the onus would be on him or her either to persuade colleagues that they were mistaken or to come to an accommodation with them.
If unable to do the former and unwilling to do the latter, the only alternative would be resignation.
The notion that the vote of party members (including newly enlisted associate members) for a particular leader should turn MPs into party delegates, there to do the bidding of the leader (assumed to be the very embodiment of the party), is at odds with the principle of parliamentary democracy, and the idea of the leader as boss is not part of the ethos of social democratic parties.
Moreover, it was not only the party leader, but every Labour MP who was selected, in the first instance, by party members and, subsequently, endorsed by the broader electorate.
The majority of the PLP who have already publicly expressed their lack of confidence in the current leader, triggering the leadership contest in which Mr Corbyn's post will be contested, may belatedly realise that they should never have given up their power to choose the members of the shadow cabinet.
When the party leader and the majority of the parliamentary party are utterly at odds, effective opposition to the government in the House of Commons is unsustainable.
At the same time, it has been far from unreasonable for Mr Corbyn and his supporters to point to the substantial majority he gained in the leadership election only a year ago and to the increased membership and activity of the party in the country.
There is force in the argument that the value of party membership is drastically reduced if a leader who has widespread support in the constituency parties (although, given the consequences of his election, not necessarily majority support) is prevented from contesting a new election for fear he might win.
The National Executive Committee has now ruled that Mr Corbyn is automatically entitled to a place on the ballot, even if he cannot muster the support of 51 MPs or MEPs.
Although it is unprecedented for a leader to be determined to remain in office with such modest parliamentary support, there is no doubt that the legitimacy of a new leader will be far greater if she or he has won an intra-party election in which Mr Corbyn was a candidate.
That things have reached this point is strange indeed.
In whichever manner Labour leaders have been elected - and it has been by different rules and different constituencies at various times - they have usually spent a lengthy time in that position.
The party has been far from ruthless in removing them.
It has generally been electoral failure, leading to voluntary resignation by the leader, or premature death, as in the cases of Hugh Gaitskell and John Smith, that has produced change at the top.
It is, however, unparalleled for more than three-quarters of the Parliamentary Labour Party to have publicly declared their lack of confidence in their leader - and surprising for the leader to wish to continue in office in those circumstances.
That made another leadership election unavoidable.
Archie Brown is emeritus professor of politics at Oxford University and author of The Myth of the Strong Leader: Political Leadership in the Modern Age.


At least 17 people have been killed and 160 wounded in an Israeli strike that hit a fruit and vegetable market near Gaza City, Palestinian officials say.

Hundreds of people were shopping in the market in Shejaiya, a spokesman for the Gaza health ministry said.
The attack came during a four-hour truce called by the Israeli military. Hamas, which controls Gaza, had rejected the truce as meaningless.
Meanwhile, Israel said three more of its soldiers had been killed in Gaza.
Palestinian doctors also said that another Israeli air strike after the partial humanitarian ceasefire was announced had killed seven people in Khan Younis.
Earlier, the UN said Israel had attacked a UN-run school housing refugees in Gaza, despite warnings that civilians were there. Fifteen people were killed and dozens hurt.
The White House condemned the attack and said it was "extremely concerned" that Palestinians were not safe at shelters despite being told to evacuate their homes by Israel's army.
More than 1,300 Palestinians and 58 Israelis have now died in the conflict. Most of the Palestinian deaths have been of civilians.
Fifty-six Israeli soldiers have been killed along with two civilians. A Thai worker in Israel has also died.
The Israeli military said that the three soldiers killed on Wednesday died in a booby-trapped building.
Correspondents say many people in Gaza were unaware the partial ceasefire had been called.
Witnesses at the scene of the market strike in Shejaiya spoke of smoke billowing over the site, with ambulances racing victims to hospital.
A journalist who worked for a local news agency was reported to have been killed.
One witness, Salim Qadoum, told Associated Press: "The area now is like a bloodbath, everyone is wounded or killed. People lost their limbs and were screaming for help. It's a massacre."
The Palestinian al-Aqsa satellite TV channel quoted Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum as saying that the market attack required "an earth-shattering response".
The Israeli military had said the ceasefire would last between 15:00 (12:00 GMT) and 19:00.
However, it had warned that the truce would only apply to areas where Israeli soldiers were not currently operating, and it told residents not to return to areas they had previously been asked to evacuate.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri had rejected the truce as meaningless.
"The lull which Israel announced is media exploitation and has no value because it excludes the volatile areas along the border, and we won't be able to get the wounded out from those areas," he said in a statement.
Sirens continued to sound in southern Israel after the ceasefire, to warn of militant rocket attacks.
Israel said more than 50 rockets were fired from Gaza on Wednesday.
The UN had earlier expressed outrage at the attack on the school in the Jabaliya refugee camp.
Spokesman Chris Gunness told the BBC that Israel had been told 17 times that the school was housing the displaced, saying the attack caused "universal shame".
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon later said the attack was "reprehensible, unjustifiable, and demands accountability and justice".
The Israeli military said in a statement that its "initial inquiry suggests militants fired mortars... from the vicinity of the school in Jabaliya".
It said soldiers had "responded by firing towards the origin of fire".
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after a surge in rocket fire from the territory.
It says one of its main objectives is to destroy tunnels used by militants to infiltrate Israel.
Army spokesman Sami Turgeman said on Wednesday that this mission "will be completed within a number of days".
Hamas says it will not stop fighting until a blockade, maintained by both Israel and Egypt, is lifted.
The current conflict, now in its 23rd day, is the longest between Israel and militants from Gaza.
A 2012 offensive lasted for eight days, and the 2008 conflict went on for 22 days.


A man has died and a woman is in a critical condition after a double-shooting during rush-hour in London.

Officers were called to a shooting in Lordship Lane, Wood Green, in the north of the city at about 17:45 BST.
An air ambulance crew treated the man at the scene but he was declared dead at about 19:00 BST. The woman has been taken to a hospital in east London.
No arrests have been made and Lordship Lane has been closed between Winkfield Road and Perth Road.
The male victim has yet to be officially identified and police were working with the family to inform relatives, Scotland Yard said.
A spokesman said the woman was believed to be in a critical but stable condition.


Poet Sir Andrew Motion is to leave Britain for a new job in the US, saying being known as a former poet laureate in the UK can be "suffocating".

He will become professor of the arts at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Sir Andrew said: "I feel I'm spending roughly half my time hiding in plain sight because I used to be something.
"And the other half of the time I feel still so hard pressed to the national bosom that I'm suffocating. So I'd quite like to go and live in America."
Sir Andrew, who was poet laureate between 1999-2009, was the first to retire rather than keep the title until death.
He will also stand down as president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, for which he has campaigned about issues such as litter, wind farms and building on the green belt.
Speaking at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, he told an audience his new job is "amazingly interesting".
He said: "In a nutshell, I'm 62, I love England, so I'm not going in a snarly way at all, but I sort of figure I know what's going to happen, more or less, if I stay here for the next 10 years.
"And I think I would rather go somewhere where I don't quite know what's going to happen."
Sir Andrew's successor as poet laureate was Carol Ann Duffy, who has been criticised by some in the press for not composing a poem to mark the birth of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.
Speaking about his time in the post, Sir Andrew said: "I'm not going to say this in a disrespectful way, but I did spend 10 years feeling quite often that I was being asked to write about things which I had no strong feeling about. And that's not easy.
"And I don't mean any disrespect. I signed up to do it, I was pleased to do it, [and] honoured to do it."
He will move to Baltimore in July. Quoting TS Eliot, he said: "Old men should be explorers... That's what I think."
He will follow the path taken by British synthpop pioneer Thomas Dolby, who was made Johns Hopkins University's first Homewood Professor of the Arts last year.
Sir Andrew said he had watched recent unrest in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody "very interestedly and sympathetically".
The city "did something amazing" by charging six police officers in relation to the man's death, he added.
"[That] never happened in Ferguson, and never happened New York. So I sat watching that, thinking, 'Go Baltimore.'
"Of course what happens next is incredibly important but they've started very well in this process of, I hope, putting it back together. So it's going to be very interesting."
Sir Andrew was speaking at the Imperial War Museum North after the first public reading of a new poem inspired by the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.


Hackers managed to steal $80m (£56m) from Bangladesh's central bank because it skimped on network hardware and security software, reports Reuters.

The bank had no firewall and used second-hand routers that cost $10 to connect to global financial networks.
Better security and hardware would have hampered the attackers, Reuters said, quoting an official investigator.
The hackers aimed to steal $1bn but made mistakes that led to the theft being spotted and stopped.
A firewall would have made attempts to hack the bank more "difficult", Mohammad Shah Alam, a forensic investigator who works on the Bangladesh team investigating the theft, told Reuters.
The second-hand hardware also meant that basic security steps to segregate network traffic were not taken, he said.
The cheap routers have hindered the investigation, said Mr Alam, because they collected very little network data that could be used to pinpoint the hackers and shed light on their tactics.
The hack took place in early February and involved hackers getting access to the core network of Bangladesh's central bank. They used this privileged access to transfer cash from Bangladesh's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to other banks.
A spelling mistake in one of the transfer orders alerted bank staff and meant the hackers only managed to steal $81m. This has been traced to accounts in the Philippines and to casinos in the same country. Most of the cash has yet to be recovered.
Bank security experts said the bank should have spent more time and money protecting the network for its central bank.
"You are talking about an organisation that has access to billions of dollars and they are not taking even the most basic security precautions," Jeff Wichman, a consultant with cyber firm Optiv, told Reuters.


A three-year-old girl has persuaded her community to carry out a mass litter pick.

Matilda Rusby's family posted pictures on social media of her clearing rubbish, prompting North Tyneside Council to increase the number of bins and warning signs on its streets.
Now residents have come out in force to join her campaign.
Householder Ali Conway said it was often "the children who need to give us a wake up call sometimes".
"There's times we've come out of the house and thought 'look at the rubbish' and it's a bit embarrassing," she said.
Matilda's mother, Frankie Rusby, said she had taught her dropping litter was wrong but "when she was repeatedly seeing the rubbish on the floor she couldn't understand why it was happening".
After the council offered more bins, wardens and better signage the obvious next stage was a "big spring clean", she said.
Jake Rusby, Matilda's father, said it was "nice to be doing something positive but it's a shame at the same time that she has to be the one doing it".
"She's three and she already knows that litter is wrong whereas people who are fully grown adults don't know," he said.
Ruth Beddoo came out to help because she did not want to disappoint a "little kid".
"I walk up and down and there's many a time I think I should organised a litter pick but I never do," she said.
"You get busy with other things."


Through the crackle of an ages-old wax recording, you can clearly hear the distinctive tones of a tuneful Belfast accent.

But this isn't just any old recording of another Irish traditional song.
What makes this one so remarkable is that the voice belongs to a prisoner-of-war (PoW) being held in a German camp during World War One, hundreds of miles away from his home in Ireland.
And even more than that, it tells the story of a Belfast Catholic soldier in the British army, whose wartime history has been hidden away in a Berlin university archive for almost 100 years.
Now his family have heard his voice for the very first time, moving them to tears as their grandfather's story in sound unfolds before them.
The singing soldier is John McCrory. Born in 1881 and from Conway Street in the predominantly nationalist Falls Road area of west Belfast, he was a private in the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Within days of joining the war effort, he was captured at Caudry, near Le Cateau in France, on 27 August 1914 and taken to a PoW camp in Giessen, north of Frankfurt.
More than three years later, he was still there.
That was when German linguist Wilhelm Doegen arrived at the camp.
His intention was to gather language, music and song from around the world, and preserve these for study and teaching.
Visiting German PoW camps, Doegen collected around 250 languages and dialects spoken by the prisoners, and - in some cases like that of John's - their traditional music.
On 27 September 1917, starting at precisely 10:25, he recorded John at least four times, the first as the soldier sang The Pride of Liscarroll.
As his voice sparks up amid the fuzz of the first recording, there is something haunting and aged about it, perhaps weathered by his time in the camp.
She is the pride of Liscarroll, is sweet Kitty Farrell,
Cheeks as red as roses, teeth as white as pearl.
And the neighbours all pity the colleen so pretty,
And oh, how we all love the blind Irish girl.
On another recording, he reads a Bible passage, the parable of the prodigal son.
And the father said to him: 'Dear son, you were always with me and all that I have is yours. But this, your brother, was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.'
John's grandson Dr John Simpson, who lives in Belfast, was aware of his grandfather's time in the camp, but had known precious little else about him - he was, quite simply, a "mystery".
"I'm getting choked up just thinking about it," he says.
"I know he never spoke that much about his experiences as a PoW, as I suppose most men in those days didn't.
"It's a fascinating period of history, and to find out your grandfather was in the middle of it is very emotionalâ€¦ it's a big shock."
For much of the last 98 years, the audio has been stored in the Humbold University's Lautarchiv in the German capital.
Trawling through the files there, not only can you find the recordings, but also a transcript of the lyrics to The Pride of Liscarroll, handwritten by John at the time.
For Dr Simpson, his grandfather's neat, precise, joint-up handwriting is almost every bit as stirring as the sound of his voice.
"That whole old-fashioned thing where everyone had to sing or recite something, that happened in every McCrory household.
"But the handwriting is almost as moving and emotional as the recording. His handwriting is like my mother's and like mine.
"The whole thing is bringing alive a man who we knew so little about."
Shortly before he left for war, John and his wife Mary Ann had their first child, Catherine, and another daughter, Mary Jane, was born while John was imprisoned in Giessen.
On his eventual return to Belfast, he and Mary Ann went on to have nine more children.
Dr Simpson was born shortly after his grandfather died from stomach cancer in 1947, and his only memory of him is through his mother Julia.
He heard how his grandfather had a carefree attitude to life and was intent on enjoying himself. But Mary Ann would not allow him to get carried away, regardless of his three years as a PoW.
"He was a rascal but my mother always described him with a smile on her face," he remembers.
"Granny McCrory was a very tough woman. My grandfather came home from the war and maybe floated about a bit. But my Granny McCrory didn't have time for that - there was work to be done, there were 11 kids to raise."
The significance of the recordings is not lost on Grace Toland, the director designate of the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin. She says she has never heard anything quite like it before.
"It is totally unique because of the people involved and the circumstances in which it was recorded," Ms Toland says.
"It's quite ordinary in terms of the song, but this is the first time we've heard this sung live from that period. The sheet music exists, of course, but to have the immediacy of sound adds such richness to the history."
And Fintan Vallely, a musician, writer and lecturer on traditional music, said John McCrory's choice of song was interesting.
"Liscarroll is in County Cork at the other end of Ireland, so there are lots of other songs he could've been signing, songs from closer to his home in Belfast," Mr Vallely explained.
"Sad songs and songs of comfort would've been of high value among soldiers, given the high casualty rate they were surrounded by at the time."
One of John's great-grandchildren, Moira Porter - born in Belfast but now living in Nova Scotia - also knew of John's time as a PoW. She feels his capture, ironically, may have been life-saving.
"If only his family back home could've heard that it would've given them so much comfort," she says.
"When you think of it, he was in the camp when he could've been on the frontline - his time there could actually have saved his life."
For Dr Simpson, this has been an unforgettable week in his family's history.
"You get to an age where you become aware of your own mortality, so to find something concrete which tells you so much about your family's background is so valuable.
"Fair play to the Germans for the diligence they had in keeping that stuff.
"We've got something to hold on to now, something that can be cherished."