{"id":644728,"date":"2026-10-04T18:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T18:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/644728\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T18:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T18:20:16","slug":"sitdown-sunday-her-bones-were-picked-clean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/644728\/","title":{"rendered":"Sitdown Sunday: Her bones were picked clean"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>IT\u2019S A DAY of rest, and you may be in the mood for a quiet corner and a comfy chair.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve hand-picked some of the week\u2019s best reads for you to savour.\n<\/p>\n<p>1. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/article\/82f86307-6983-421f-8f14-e8ac7220c17c?shareToken=925b77468372508d489e36ae4ac8cdf9\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The double life of Jeffrey Donaldson<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791138014_315_.jpeg\"  alt=\"sir-jeffrey-donaldson-arrives-at-newry-crown-court-where-the-jury-will-continue-to-consider-its-verdict-in-his-trial-alongside-his-wife-lady-eleanor-donaldson-on-charges-of-historical-sexual-offences\" class=\"alignnone inline-image\" \/><br \/>\n            Jeffrey Donaldson arrives at Newry Crown Court.                    Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n<p>    Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This summer, former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson was convicted of one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency, which he committed against two women when they were children, on dates between 1985 and 2008.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/article\/82f86307-6983-421f-8f14-e8ac7220c17c?shareToken=925b77468372508d489e36ae4ac8cdf9\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Times<\/a>, approx. 19 mins reading time)<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cAt 6am on March 28, 2024, 11 days after his meeting with Biden, police knocked at the door of Donaldson\u2019s home on a hill near Dromore, Co Down. Later that day he was charged with child rape and a string of historical sexual offences. He resigned the DUP leadership the following day, promising to contest every charge.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>2. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/24\/style\/ex-tradwife-influencer-bernadine-bluntly.html?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-ca\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">An ex-tradwife is warning other women<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bernadine Bluntly was married at 21. She went on to have six children and was a successful tradwife content creator. But her life and marriage were not as they seemed. Now she\u2019s warning others about the dangers of the movement \u2013 and how hard it can be to escape.<\/p>\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/24\/style\/ex-tradwife-influencer-bernadine-bluntly.html?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-ca\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The New York Times<\/a>, approx. 15 mins reading time)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe felt trapped, she said, in a psychological and spiritual cage. Traditional wives who try to leave \u2018are not just feeling that they\u2019re disappointing their husbands,\u2019 Bluntly said, adding: \u2018It\u2019s worse than that. They are directly disobeying God.\u2019 And the expectation to have as many children as possible keeps them physically in the home, and the movement. \u2018If you get pregnant, you\u2019re less likely to leave, less likely to fight back,\u2019 she said. \u2018You\u2019re a lot more vulnerable.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>3. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2026\/sep\/24\/furnace-book-east-sussex-fishing-lake\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Almost every fish in a UK lake died overnight. Why?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791138015_727_.jpeg\"  alt=\"dead-fish-and-dead-branches-with-fallen-leaves-floating-on-the-surface-of-a-pond\" class=\"alignnone inline-image\" \/><br \/>\n            File photo of a dead fish.                    Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n<p>    Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n<p>A lake in East Sussex experienced a mass fish mortality event almost overnight. The couple who run the lake initially blamed themselves, then discovered pollution had entered the lake from a nearby stream.<\/p>\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2026\/sep\/24\/furnace-book-east-sussex-fishing-lake\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Guardian<\/a>, approx. 23 mins reading time)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn the morning of 20 June 2024, Alistair and Simon walked down to the lake and noticed dead fish floating on the surface. \u2018We looked at it and thought: \u2018This is a bit odd,\u201d says Alistair. On further inspection, almost everything in the 2.4-hectare lake was dead. \u2018It brings tears to my eyes,\u2019 says Diane. There were at least 15 species of fish in the lake, she adds: carp, tench, bream, roach, trout and some large eels. \u2018You get a sort of relationship with them, as living beings.\u2019 The larger fish even had names.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>4. <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2026\/09\/28\/politics\/texas-immigration-court-minors\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Toddlers are facing immigration judges in Texas<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791138015_653_.jpeg\"  alt=\"judge-gavel-on-wooden-court-desk-blur-female-crossed-hands-close-up-view-justice-and-law-concept-lawyer-office\" class=\"alignnone inline-image\" \/><br \/>\n                                Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n<p>    Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n<p>This article looks inside a Texas courtroom where children as young as two are making their cases to stay in the US before immigration judges.<\/p>\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2026\/09\/28\/politics\/texas-immigration-court-minors\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">CNN<\/a>, approx. 10 mins reading time)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMateo, a 3-year-old in a blue jacket with neatly combed hair, was in court for an initial appearance. When called to the defence table, he tested the microphone, drawing laughter from some in the audience. As the judge spoke with Mateo\u2019s attorney, who appeared remotely, the 3-year-old talked and played with the microphone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>5.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/magazine.atavist.com\/2026\/the-bleeding-hearts-austria-robbery\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The man who wanted to be Robin Hood<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A former police officer pulled off a huge armed robbery of a bank in Austria. He said he planned to give the money to people in disadvantaged situations.<\/p>\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/magazine.atavist.com\/2026\/the-bleeding-hearts-austria-robbery\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Atavist<\/a>, approx. 30 mins reading time)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe next day, a team that included some of Gabriel\u2019s former colleagues raided his upscale apartment and placed him under arrest. Unlike Tamara, Gabriel confessed right away. When detectives asked why he had committed such an audacious crime, he replied that he hadn\u2019t stolen the money for himself. He\u2019d done it for the children of Africa; he planned to build an orphanage there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>6.<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/portugal-decriminalized-drugs-25-years-ago-but-the-real-lesson-is-what-it-built-around-this-policy-289572\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Does drug decriminalisation work?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791138016_617_.jpeg\"  alt=\"drug-use-harm-reduction\" class=\"alignnone inline-image\" \/><br \/>\n                                Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n<p>    Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This thoughtful article analyses Portugal\u2019s drug decriminalisation policy for personal use to see if such policies can reduce drug harm.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">(<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/portugal-decriminalized-drugs-25-years-ago-but-the-real-lesson-is-what-it-built-around-this-policy-289572\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Conversation<\/a>, approx. six mins reading time)<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cPortugal embraced this approach during a devastating heroin crisis in the late 1990s. Injection drug use was fuelling one of Europe\u2019s worst HIV epidemics, while problematic drug use was felt in Portuguese communities across social and economic lines.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2026AND A CLASSIC FROM THE ARCHIVES\u2026<br \/>\n7. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/exploration-survival\/what-killed-bear-lady\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">What killed Kay Grayson?<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/cities\/2019\/feb\/25\/concrete-the-most-destructive-material-on-earth\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791138016_802_.jpeg\"  alt=\"black-bear-ursus-americanus-great-smoky-mountains-national-park-spring-tn-usa-by-dominique-brauddembinsky-photo-assoc\" class=\"alignnone inline-image\" \/><br \/>\n            Kay lived with around 20 black bears at one point.                    Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n<p>    Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n<p>A woman lived alongside black bears for 22 years in a swampy US forest. But when hunters killed most of her bears, her life began to spiral. Then, aged 73, she went missing, and the authorities found her bones picked clean in the forest. Authorities said the bears hadn\u2019t killed her. This 2022 article from Outside looks into the mysterious life and death of Kay Grayson.<\/p>\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/exploration-survival\/what-killed-bear-lady\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Outside<\/a>, approx. 20 mins reading time)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u201dVisitors would hear grunts and huffs and the rustle of big creatures moving through brush. And then, out from the forest, black bears would lumber toward her. She called them by name. Munchka. Susan. Highway 64. Betty Sue. David. \u2018Stand up,\u2019 she would tell them, and they\u2019d stand, and then she\u2019d feed them peanuts out of her hand.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IT\u2019S A DAY of rest, and you may be in the mood for a quiet corner and a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[35373,45761,246,61,1629,60,14062,30891,209607,35376,2443,82,35377,273797,263],"class_list":["post-644728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-7-deadly-reads","tag-drug-policy","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-immigration","tag-ireland","tag-jeffrey-donaldson","tag-long-reads","tag-longform-content","tag-longreads","tag-northern-ireland","tag-science","tag-sitdown-sunday","tag-tradwives","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}