Jawad Iqbal is a broadcaster and ex-television news executive. Jawad is a former Visiting Senior Fellow in the Institute of Global Affairs at the LSE
After more than two weeks showcasing a series of extraordinary sporting feats, Paris brought the curtain down on the 2024 Olympics with a star-studded closing ceremony at the Stade de France last night. Billie Eilish, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snoop Dog were just some of those to feature across the evening. Tom Cruise,
Sir Keir Starmer is turning out to be something of a lucky general. The Prime Minister appears to have passed his first big test in government by quelling the violent and ugly unrest that has marred towns and cities across Britain in recent days. His tough stance on law and order – hundreds of arrests,
There were ugly scenes in Birmingham last night after hundreds of men, some wearing masks, gathered in the Alum Rock and Bordesley Green areas of the city, following false reports that far-right protesters planned to march there. Rumours of a far-right gathering had been circulating all day and were the subject of discussions in a
Hundreds of angry protestors have attacked a hotel in South Yorkshire that has been used to house migrants and asylum seekers. Videos posted on social media show the police retreating under a hail of objects thrown by anti-immigration protesters outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham. There are pictures of protestors hurling pieces of wood and chairs
The hugely controversial Olympic boxing bout between Italian Angela Carini and her opponent Imane Khelif from Algeria lasted just 46 seconds. After taking two punches from Khelif to the chin, Carini was forced to quit, saying she had done so ‘to save my life’. She said she had ‘never felt punches like it’, after sustaining
Two children have died and nine have been injured, six critically, after a series of stabbings in Southport, Merseyside. Two adults are also in a critical condition – they were apparently injured trying to protect the children from their attacker. A 17-year old boy, from the nearby village of Banks in Lancashire, remains in custody
Expectations are high for Team GB at the Paris Olympics. UK Sport, the Olympic funding agency, expects British athletes to win at least 50 medals and achieve a top-five finish in the overall table. That must count as the bare minimum and there is every chance that Britain could do even better than this. Why the
A video of an armed police officer kicking and stamping on a man’s head has plunged Greater Manchester Police (GMP), the country’s second largest force, into crisis. The incident at Manchester Airport on Tuesday night has led to widespread condemnation. Protestors have gathered outside Rochdale police station, with some in the crowd chanting: ‘GMP shame
The Post Office inquiry has shed an unflattering light on the inner workings of Whitehall, a hermetically sealed world in which officials purr with reassurance, ministers unquestioningly promulgate their findings to the outside world, and the little people (in this case, innocent sub-postmasters) are fobbed off as know-nothing troublemakers. Witness after witness has expressed regrets,
JD Vance, unveiled last night as Donald Trump’s pick for vice-president, has claimed that Britain is ‘the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon’. Vance made the comments at a National Conservatism Conference in Washington on Thursday. This is what he had to say: ‘I was talking with a friend recently. And we were
David Lammy was always a somewhat implausible choice as foreign secretary. His historical reputation for mouthing off on social media on a range of topics – not least Donald Trump’s fitness for office – seemed a blatant hostage to fortune. His ill-judged tweeting has come back to haunt him this weekend. A 2019 tweet from Lammy
England and their manager Gareth Southgate fell short once more, losing 2-1 to Spain in the Euro 24 final. Spain gave England a lesson in attacking football, dominating possession and controlling the match for long periods. The Spanish are the deserving champions of Europe for a record fourth time. And England? They hardly turned up,
Keir Starmer, a lifelong Arsenal fan, will be in Berlin to watch England take on Spain this Sunday in the Euro 2024 final. The Prime Minister says he wants to ‘mark the occasion’ if England win, prompting speculation that an extra bank holiday may be in the offing. Plans are reportedly underway for a celebration in London
England are through to the final of Euro 24 after substitute Ollie Watkins scored in the dying seconds of normal time. Nothing beats the euphoria of a last-gasp winner. Watkins had only been on the pitch for a few minutes before he rifled a stunning low shot into the far corner of the goal. There
Those taking a pop at tennis star Emma Raducanu for her last-minute decision to withdraw from a mixed-doubles match alongside Andy Murray – effectively ending his Wimbledon career – are out of order. It is not Raducanu’s fault that her pulling out of the match, scheduled for Saturday evening, brings the curtain down on Murray’s
In an otherwise jubilant night for Labour, the party has performed badly in areas with a high proportion of Muslim voters. So far, Labour has lost five seats with large Muslim populations – four to independent candidates and one to the Conservatives. The party’s vote is down on average by 11 points in seats where more
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has disclosed that he won’t work ’24/7′ if he wins the election this week and becomes Prime Minister. Starmer believes that spending time with his children – he has a son and a daughter – makes him a better politician. Starmer says he plans to continue his habit of having ‘protected
Watching England play in Euro 24 in Germany really is some form of exquisite torture. There is nothing about this team or this manager that inspires confidence but they continue to defy the sceptics. They are now through to the quarter-finals of the tournament after beating Slovakia in the last-16 knockout tie in Gelsenkirchen. They may
The Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he didn’t mean to cause ‘concern or offence’ when he called for more Bangladeshi asylum seekers to be deported. His comments – singling out Bangladesh as a place where more people could be returned to from the UK – have sparked uproar in the British-Bangladeshi community (traditionally Labour-supporting),
Voting takes place in Iran’s snap presidential election today – a contest brought forward by the death last month in a helicopter crash of the former president Ebrahim Raisi. A few predictions can be made with absolute certainty. Firstly, the winner will be a man (there are no women taking part – Iran’s ruling clerics
