Crowds gather at sites across Belfast after Sudanese man charged with attempted murder

• Full report: Man seriously injured in Belfast stabbing Starmer describes as ‘sickening’

Badenoch said, after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, it was right that people wanted to ensure this did not happen again.

It led to the Macpherson report, she said.

[It] wanted to put right what went wrong with policing in the 1990s.

However, in attempting to do so, it also enshrined a principle which I believe is wrong that a racist incident is racist if it is perceived as racist by the victim or any other person.

Equality law, properly designed, should protect us all in the same way. It should be a shield, not a sword.

It should protect people from discrimination. It should protect people from being treated differently because of their race, sex, religion, sexuality, disability or age.

LILLE, June 9 — France coach Didier Deschamps challenged forward Michael Olise to make his mark at the World Cup after he hit a hat-trick in a 3-1 World Cup warm-up win over Northern Ireland in Lille yesterday. 

The Bayern Munich winger and Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe were joined in a fearsome attack by Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele. The Paris Saint-Germain pair had been rested for the previous friendly—a loss to Ivory Coast—after winning the Champions League.

But Olise shone brightest, drilling home rebounds just before and just after half-time before curling in a superb shot from outside the area to finish off the visitors after Patrick Kelly had pulled a goal back.

“We’ll need a Michel Olise at that level,” Deschamps said. “Michael stands out because of the season he has had at Bayern and with us.”

“He has achieved some really great things, he is full of confidence. He also has the ability to put in the effort, which is remarkable,” Deschamps said.

Another Champions League finalist, William Saliba of losers Arsenal, showed he has shaken off an injury scare as he returned to give France a look similar to how they could line up for their World Cup opener against Senegal in New Jersey on June 16.

The French though were frequently disjointed in attack, with skipper Mbappe, who needs one goal to equal Olivier Giroud’s team scoring record, often lacklustre.

Yet they still pressed the packed Northern Irish defence, forcing desperate blocks and loose clearances.

Although the Lille stadium roof was kept closed on a chilly and damp evening, play was stopped for drinks breaks in the middle of each half to help Les Bleus prepare in every detail for the World Cup.

France, who leave for their training base near Boston on Wednesday, will also face Iraq in Philadelphia and Norway in Foxborough outside Boston in Group I. — AFP

After nights of violence across Belfast this week, politicians continue to call for calm, but what else can be done to stop the violence spreading? Plus, Jessica Elgot has been to Makerfield and spoken to undecided voters on the doorstep

The full list of candidates for the Makerfield byelection:

Any official reprimand will come from regulator Ofcom, but not for at least two months

• UK politics live – latest updates

Elon Musk’s X will face no action to remove a mass of posts inciting violence in Northern Ireland for at least two months, despite widespread condemnation of the platform and its billionaire owner.

Concern over the role social media played in spreading disturbing images and fuelling anger continued to grow on Wednesday as police and community leaders urged calm.

Tories, SNP, Reform and Lib Dems all turn fire on PM with as Labour figures also call for greater defence spending

Ryan Henderson, assistant chief constable for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, is about to hold a press conference about last night’s rioting.

Andy Burnham is facing criticism after saying that he thinks the Waspi women should be entitled to “some” compensation.

I’ll stick by the Waspi women because they deserve some recompense for the unfairness.

One government figure decried Burnham’s intervention as “pathetic”, adding: “He can’t say no to anyone.”

An ally of Sir Keir Starmer likened Burnham’s economic agenda to that of hard-left former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and argued that the mayor’s intervention would harm his chances of manoeuvring the prime minister out of Downing Street.

Andy Burnham’s continued support for Waspi women is both welcome and hugely refreshing. While some politicians have broken their promises, it takes real courage to speak out and say what millions of people across the country and hundreds of MPs from all parties already know - that 1950s-born women deserve justice.

Andy has always recognised the unfair way in which state pension equalisation was introduced.

As mayor of Greater Manchester, he supported Waspi women in the city-region with early access to concessionary travel, providing some recompense to them within affordability limits.

Exclusive: Former minister calls for urgent action against companies such as X that allow incitement to violence

Wes Streeting has called for Keir Starmer to take urgent action against X and other online platforms that have helped whip up social tensions, suggesting they should be forced to contribute to rebuilding costs after the riots in Belfast.

The intervention by the former health secretary, who is seen as a likely challenger to Keir Starmer in any leadership contest, comes after Downing Street said any response would be left to Ofcom, the media regulator, meaning no action is likely for at least two months.

Claims of two-tier policing and uncontrolled immigration may not be borne out by the facts, but that has not stopped them being played up for political ends

As the people of Glengormley, on the northern edge of Belfast, tidied up and prepared for more violence in the midst of what has been described as a modern-day pogrom, a court 500 miles away in Southampton, on the south coast of England, started to deal with its own outbreak of thuggery.

The trigger for this week’s riots in the Northern Irish capital had been the image of a black assailant who appeared to be stabbing and slashing his supine white victim in the face and neck while shouting in Arabic. The suspect was later revealed to be a refugee from Sudan.

Figures suggest common travel area being used in both directions, but particularly UK to Ireland

Up to 90% of asylum seekers in Ireland may have entered the country via the Northern Ireland land border in the last three years, figures suggest.

Irish government data shows the common travel area (CTA) is being exploited in both directions but suggests it may be more popular for those seeking asylum in Ireland than in the UK.

GLENGORMLEY, June 11 — Police used water cannon yesterday to disperse small crowds who had gathered for a second night in Northern Ireland as UK authorities blamed far-right activists for stoking anger on social media following a brutal Belfast stabbing.

Police boosted their presence on the city streets, but while the main flashpoints of 24 hours earlier appeared quiet, dozens of men confronted police in one area, throwing missiles like rocks and bottles and setting fires in the middle of the road.

“Crowds have gathered & missiles are being thrown at officers who have now deployed the water cannon in an attempt to maintain public order,” the police said in a statement.

The centre of Belfast was largely deserted by late afternoon, with restaurants and businesses shuttered, schools closed and public transport shut down amid fears of a repeat of Tuesday night’s riots.

Earlier, a Sudanese man appeared in court charged with the knife attack that triggered the overnight unrest, which also spread to the Scottish city Glasgow.

In Belfast on Tuesday, masked rioters torched vehicles and buildings and forced families to flee their homes.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the scenes as “shocking and completely unacceptable”.

The family of Stephen Ogilvie, the victim of Monday night’s horrific stabbing appealed for calm and warned against using the “terrible tragedy” to “divide people or fuel hostility”.

The family said Ogilvie was in a stable condition despite losing an eye, adding: “We have been left feeling disgusted by the scenes that unfolded yesterday across Northern Ireland in the wake of what happened”.

Tensions were already high across the UK. There were skirmishes in southern England last week over the police handling of the murder of a white student by a British Sikh man.

Anselme Shima, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and who has lived in Northern Ireland since 2013, called the situation “terrifying”.

Another local resident, 28, who asked not to give her name said she had helped evacuate her neighbours. “It’s just sad, this is a really close knit community,” she told AFP.

Court appearance 

At Belfast Magistrates’ Court yesterday morning, Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old refugee from Sudan, appeared briefly to face attempted murder and other charges following Monday’s stabbing.

He was remanded in custody and the case was adjourned to July 8.

Footage of the stabbing—which showed several people intervening, one wielding a hurling stick—sparked widespread condemnation alongside anger.

Numerous accounts linked to so-called “patriots” shared the footage, urging people to “protest against mass immigration into their communities”.

In Glasgow, there were also three arrests as two police officers and three members of the public were injured, Scotland’s police force said. Worshippers at Glasgow’s largest mosque were reportedly locked in as tensions flared.

As calls for more protests circulated yesterday, Northern Ireland police chief Jon Boutcher said his force was looking to add a further 200 officers to the streets.

Officers had to take a family that included a two-month-old baby to safety during Tuesday’s violence, which he branded “a huge act of self-harm by mindless idiots”.

Twenty-seven people were made homeless “because people went door-to-door to try and target foreign nationals”, a UK minister Ruth Anderson said.

‘Bad faith actors’ 

Anna Turley, the chairwoman of Britain’s ruling Labour party, said online platforms were “playing a role in driving” the unrest. She suggested X owner Elon Musk was one of the “bad faith actors” inflaming tensions.

Musk had retweeted a post by anti-immigration activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon—also known as Tommy Robinson—adding: “Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!”

Alodid is a Sudanese refugee with a residence permit valid until 2028, according to the UK interior ministry.

Immigration is a hot-button issue in Britain, and has helped fuel the rise of the hard-right Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage.

The country has seen frequent anti-immigration protests in recent years, some turning violent. — AFP

The Guardian reporter Hannah Al-Othman on the anti-immigrant rioting in Northern Ireland and the residents afraid for their lives

Stella and Sumayah are housemates. Both care workers and students from Uganda, they live together in west Belfast.

On Tuesday night, the riots across the city came to their street. The neighbouring houses were set on fire, smoke was coming through the door, masked men were outside.