Burning of migrant boat effigy in Northern Ireland triggers police investigation

LONDON (AP) — Authorities in Northern Ireland are investigating a bonfire that featured effigies of migrants in a boat and a banner reading “stop the boats’’ to determine whether it was a hate incident.

Church leaders and politicians complained about the display in Moygashel, a village in County Tyrone about 40 miles (65 miles) west of Belfast, before it was lit Thursday night. Parts of Northern Ireland were gripped by anti-immigrant rioting last month amid tensions surrounding a recent influx of people from Eastern Europe.

Police said they didn’t intervene before the bonfire was lit because they can only act “within the legislative framework that exists.”

Some 300 bonfires are set to be lit in the days ahead of July 12, when Protestant groups in Northern Ireland celebrate the victory of the Protestant King William III over the forces of the deposed Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. The battle turned the tide against James’ effort to regain the throne and cemented Protestant control of Ireland.

While many Protestants celebrate the victory as part of Northern Ireland’s history and culture, the celebrations often fuel tensions with Catholics who oppose continuing British rule in the territory.

Bonfires have sometimes been an issue due to flags, effigies or election posters that are placed on the pyres before they are ignited.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said its officers would be on the ground through the weekend and would take “firm and proportional action to keep people safe.”

“It is vital that in marking these events, we do so in a way that respects the backgrounds and cultures of everyone who share these neighborhoods,” Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said in a statement. “There is no place for hate or intimidation — only space for celebration that welcomes and celebrates not divides.”

The six counties of Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom after the rest of Ireland won its independence in 1922. The population is split between mainly Protestant unionists who support continued links to the U.K. and mainly Catholic republicans who favor reunification with the Republic of Ireland.

Effigies of migrants in a boat burn atop a bonfire at Moygashel, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, ahead of events to mark the Twelfth of July, Thursday July 10, 2025. (Niall Carson/PA via AP)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)