NI paper review: Germany jailing and terrorist snowman
- Published
The jailing of an IRA man in Germany, racist attacks on Syrian refugees in Belfast and a terrorist snowman all feature in Thursday's papers.
The News Letter, Irish News, Belfast Telegraph and Daily Mirror all have a picture of Belfast doctor Declan O'Neill on their front pages.
Mr O'Neill is charged with the murder of his mother, 51-year-old Anne O'Neill at the weekend.
Mrs O'Neill was killed at her parents' home in south Belfast's Finaghy area.
Declan Kevin O'Neill, 27, denies murdering his mother
Three of the papers feature pictures of a smiling Mr O'Neill pictured with the woman he is accused of murdering.
The lead story in the Irish News, external is a plea from a family who fled war-torn Syria four years ago for racist attacks to stop.
Nabeha Arnous and her husband, Feras, who have four daughters, say their home on Iris Street off the Springfield Road has been targeted by stone and bottle throwing youths in the past eight months.
On one occasion youths entered the house to shout insults, Mrs Arnous says, while in the latest incident stones were thrown at it on Friday night.
"I would say please don't hurt anyone. Please stop it," she says.
"Germany can jail IRA men, so why can't we" is the front page headline in the News Letter, external.
Oliver Corry was jailed over an IRA mortar attack in Germany
Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie was reacting to the four-year sentence handed down to James Anthony Oliver Corry over a 1996 mortar attack on a UK military barracks in Germany.
Mr Beattie described himself "staggered" and "astounded" by the "scandalous" sentence, but congratulated the German government on having at least persevered in pursuing justice through the courts.
He added that it should stand as an example to the British government, who, he said, should "stop being so weak and do similar".
The pace of the planning process in Belfast leads in the Belfast Telegraph.
It reports that an expert from Scotland has been brought in to sort out "Belfast's planning mess".
Jim Mackinnon has "been parachuted in to write a high-level review of the city council's operations after complaints from developers who are understood to be frustrated with how long it takes city hall to process applications", it says.
An expert has been brought in over the slow pace of the planning process in Belfast
With winter approaching, Christmas decorations are already appearing in many shops.
However, those displayed in a building used by dissident republican groups in Londonderry - and pictured in the Belfast Telegraph - have been branded "obscene" by a DUP MP.
A snowman armed with a rocket launcher and the message "wishing you an explosive Christmas" is in the window of Junior McDaid House in the city, where the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association is based.
"Most people look on Christmas as a family time and republicans are equating it with terrorism," the DUP's Gregory Campbell tells the paper.
Both the Irish News and Daily Mirror report that convicted double killer Hazel Stewart has been been ordered by the High Court to hand back insurance money she claimed after murdering her husband.
Hazel Stewart has been been ordered to hand back insurance money
The move, which will see her current family home sold, comes after an investigation by the National Crime Agency.
Rarely a week seems to go by without another auction of Titanic memorabilia, but few of them show the iceberg that caused the tragedy.
However, hundreds of photographs of the aftermath of the tragedy - some showing the iceberg - are part of a collection being sold at the Remarkable Rarities auction in Boston.
The pictures were taken by socialite Louis M Ogden who was on the RMS Carpathia as the tragedy unfolded.
The story also appears in the Belfast Telegraph, external.
Finally, an opportunity not to be sneezed at for the sharp dressers among you.
The Belfast Telegraph says that some of Northern Ireland's best-known landmarks are being recreated in a range of new silk pocket squares.
The Dark Hedges are among the images to appear on the silk hankies
It's a joint venture between tailor Christopher Suitor and artist Stephen Whalley.
Images include the Dark Hedges, the Harland and Wolff cranes and Portballintrae.
If your loved one gets you one as a Christmas present, don't turn your nose up.