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A horrible video circulated on social media of a man on the ground in a Belfast street being stabbed in the head. His life was saved by bystanders, one with a hurling stick; a Sudanese man, aged 30, who had arrived from Dublin and been granted leave to remain, was charged with attempted murder. In reaction, houses were set on fire and a bus and cars were burnt; in east Belfast, 100 masked men kicked in doors and broke windows, saying they were ‘getting the foreigners out’. J.D. Vance, the American Vice-President, blamed the death in Southampton of Henry Nowak on ‘the mass invasion of migrants’. David Lammy, the Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, said he had phoned Mr Vance and told him he was wrong. A suppressed Cabinet Office report commissioned in 2023 found that £28 billion of taxpayers’ money had gone to gangsters, terrorists and hostile states between 2015 and 2021, according to the Telegraph. President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany joined President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in 10 Downing Street at the invitation of Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, to issue conditions for a peace agreement in the war with Russia. RSPB Scotland bought Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, the world’s largest colony of northern gannets.
Sir Keir Starmer told technology companies to prevent children from taking, sending or viewing sexually explicit images on their phones and other devices. David Sullivan, 77, resigned as joint chairman of West Ham United as allegations were made by seven women of his preying on them for sex; he categorically denied all claims. Norman Balon, the former landlord of the Coach and Horses pub in Soho, died aged 99. Lady Pamela Hicks, the daughter of Earl Mountbatten of Burma and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth II at her accession, died aged 97. The Princess Royal wore a 45-year-old yellow hat for the wedding of her son, Peter Phillips. The Royal Mint issued 50p pieces depicting Wallace and Gromit.
Tate & Lyle agreed to a £2.7 billion takeover by its US rival Ingredion. Production ended at the Denby Pottery, founded in 1809. The British Heart Foundation is to close 150 charity shops. Marks and Spencer is to launch a training scheme for 1,000 people aged 16-24. Morrisons and Waitrose said they would continue to sell brown eggs after Sainsbury’s said it would stop.
Abroad
President Vladimir Putin of Russia rejected an invitation in a long open letter to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr Putin was speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, on the eve of which black smoke was plainly visible from an oil terminal hit by Ukrainian drones. On the last day of the forum, the city’s governor, Alexander Beglov, urged residents to stay indoors in the face of Ukrainian drone attacks. Ukraine also struck five Russian ships in the Sea of Azov. On the same day Russia killed 13 in aerial attacks on Ukraine. On one night, 41,000 people sheltered in the Kyiv metro. Germany and France dropped their joint fighter jet programme. In Armenia, the party of the Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, which seeks closer relations with western Europe, won the general election.
Iran and Israel fired missiles at each other for the first time since a ceasefire in April, but after a day or so both stopped again. President Donald Trump said he had phoned Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and told him not to strike back. American forces struck Iranian radar sites, and Iran fired missiles at American bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. After a US helicopter was brought down over the Strait of Hormuz, America struck Iran again. Houthi rebels in Yemen said they would attack Israeli-affiliated ships in the Red Sea. The price of oil rose sharply. The Nasdaq index had its biggest one-day fall since April last year. High ticket prices for the World Cup left thousands unsold.
At least 49 people returning from Eid al-Adha celebrations in Mali died of thirst in the Sahara when their lorry broke down 50 miles from Assamaka, a crossing between Niger and Algeria; two survived by walking to Assamaka. Malawians, Ghanaians, Nigerians and Zimbabweans were repatriated by their governments from South Africa, where there had been anti-migrant violence in Western Cape province. Visiting Spain, Pope Leo led half a million young people in worship at the Plaza de Lima in Madrid and next day said Mass for a million at the Plaza de Cibeles. CSH
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