A LEGENDARY TV presenter hailed for hosting a beloved children’s’ show has died aged 86.

Donald Macdonald, best known for lighting up the screen on Play School, passed away on Monday after a brave battle with cancer.

Across his stellar 40-year career, Donald starred in stage productions and TV dramas.

His credits include John McKellar’s A Cup of Tea, a Bex and a Good Lie Down.

News of the star’s death was confirmed by journalist Craig Bennett.

He penned a moving tribute on Donald’s social media which read: “One of our showbiz greats left us at 12:45am today.

“Donald Macdonald was a stalwart of stage and screen, who’d written smash-hit plays like Caravan, dazzled on London’s West End, and delighted millions over the decades with his starring turns on TV series like Play School where he was a presenter from 1966 to 1969.

“He guested on shows from Certain Women, The Box, Cop Shop and Skyways, to the raunchy Alvin Purple, and in movies like Superman Returns. Donald was a dapper delight and always great company.”

He added: “On Saturday we turned his hospital room into a party, laughs and smiles a-plenty, as Donald enjoyed some bubbly and lemon meringue pie.

“Blue was always his colour, even in a hospital gown! He gave his permission to post his last photo, saying ‘what the heck!’ Vale to a true gentleman.”

Tributes have since poured in for the much-loved presenter.

One fan, and fellow actor, wrote: “Honoured to have appeared in two of his plays. The consummate gentleman. And, no one played a High Court Judge like Donald. RIP.”

Another said: “We were VERY LUCKY to meet Donald through you both, get to know him, and be entertained by his lovely demeanor, sharp wit and of course his writing skills. What a lovely, gentle man.”

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BRYAN Kohberger was charged with committing the brutal murders of four students in November 2022.

Here’s everything we know about the case and suspect, which are featured in a new Amazon Prime docuseries.

AP

Prosecutors claim Kohberger took this selfie just hours after the alleged killings[/caption]

Instagram/kayleegoncalves

Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were murdered in November 2022[/caption]

Reuters

Kohberger leaving an extradition hearing in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, on January 3, 2023[/caption]

Who is Bryan Kohberger?

Bryan Kohberger is accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death on November 13, 2022 — Ethan Chapin (20), Madison Mogen (21), Xana Kernodle (20) and Kaylee Goncalves (21).

The crime occurred in an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho.

Kohberger was identified and arrested over six weeks after the crime was committed — he was 28 when he was arrested.

After a search involving extensive forensic and digital evidence, he was taken into custody at his parents’ home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania — 2,500 miles from the scene of the crime — on December 30, 2022.

Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary — if convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Before his arrest, Kohberger was a Ph.D. student in criminology at Washington State University, located less than 10 miles from the University of Idaho campus.

He is originally from the Pocono Mountains region in Pennsylvania.

Victims

The four victims were stabbed to death in their sleep, or shortly after waking, in the early hours of the morning.

Two other roommates survived the attack.

The attack occurred in a rental house near the University of Idaho campus.

Kohberger is being held without bond in Latah County Jail, Idaho, and has not yet entered a plea.

His trial is scheduled to begin in August 2025, with Kohberger’s lawyers maintaining his innocence, stating he was driving alone on the night of the murders.

One Night in Idaho: The College Murders

A four-part docuseries exclusively on Amazon Prime Video has been made about the tragic events of November 13, 2022.

Going beyond the crime itself, the doc focuses on the aftermath for the victims’ families and friends, who share their stories and grief on camera for the first time.

It features exclusive interviews with the parents of Ethan Chapin and Madison Mogen, as well as other loved ones and friends of the victims.

The series also explores the intense media coverage, explosion of social media sleuthing and cross-country manhunt for suspect Bryan Kohberger, as well as the ongoing impact on the community.

All four episodes of One Night in Idaho: The College Murders drop on Amazon Prime on July 11, 2025.

LOCAL authorities are failing to meet their social housing targets with Dublin City Council, Donegal, Sligo and Galway City among the worst offenders, the Cabinet will be told today.

Our city and county councils are relying significantly on Approved Housing Bodies to carry out the bulk of their building instead of building social homes directly themselves.

Brian Lawless/PA Wire

For example, Dublin City Council directly built just 35 new homes last year.

Instead, the City Council relied on approved housing bodies and other methods to obtain 937 social homes last year.

Despite this, Dublin City managed to reach less than half of the overall target for the year of 1,974.

Housing Minister James Browne will today brief Ministers on a new league table-style document analysing each local authority’s output when it comes to building homes for social housing.

The table, seen by the Irish Sun, shows that almost half of local authorities failed to hit their social housing targets over the past three years.

When 2022, 2023 and 2024 are taken together – Donegal is bottom of the table with just 248 social homes provided out of a target of 534.

Dublin City Council is the second worst performer on social housing with 2,344 social homes provided over the last three years – just 49 per cent of their target of 4,800.

Laois is top of the table for providing social housing with 670 homes built over the past three years – way above the target of 359.

Meath and Wicklow are second and third best performers when it comes to social housing providing 1,405 and 1,206 homes respectively.

In total, local authorities had a target to build 27,400 social homes over the past three years but only 5,065 were directly built by local authorities.

WORST PERFORMERS

Instead, 18,320 homes were built through approved housing bodies and other methods.

When it comes to council’s directly building their own social housing, Dublin City Council was the worst performer last year followed by Louth County Council who built just four new homes – three per cent of their 160 target.

Minister Browne will publish this league table data today as he aims to ensure transparency and accountability across all levels on housing.

This social housing data is part of a series of housing memos that the Minister will bring to Cabinet today.

The Minister will bring forward a plan to create standardised social housing with the same plans being used in different developments across the country to speed up the process.

Ministers will also be told about plans to bring a Planning and Development Bill to try to unlock developments that have been held up in the planning system and risk running out of date.

Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images

Two 17 year old boys have been apprehended by police for allegedly shooting a 33 year old man in the head, burying his body in a forest, and attempting to conceal the crime. The body was discovered when locals noticed a tattooed left arm protruding from the ground. The incident occurred in a palm plantation forest …

The story Two teens arrested for murder in Trang forest as seen on Thaiger News.

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