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.
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© Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA
© Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA
© Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA
People in city’s minority ethnic communities speak of alarm as violence casts light on racism in Northern Ireland
As widespread violence broke out in Belfast, a list of addresses began circulating on social media. Spread geographically wide, on dozens of streets across the city, the addresses were reportedly houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) where immigrants live.
Joseph and Solomon, who are both from Eritrea, and came to Belfast as refugees, now have leave to remain and work full-time. They live on the same street as one of the properties on the list, but Joseph thought it was theirs that was meant to be on it. “It’s obviously for us,” he said.
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© Photograph: Alan Lewis/Photopress Belfast/The Guardian
© Photograph: Alan Lewis/Photopress Belfast/The Guardian
© Photograph: Alan Lewis/Photopress Belfast/The Guardian
In today’s newsletter: With violent crime declining but hate crime increasing, a look at what we can all do to make our shared spaces safer
Good morning. Who is safe on Britain’s streets? Two acts of gross violence – the murder of Henry Nowak in Southampton and the stabbing of Stephen Ogilvie in Belfast – have been ruthlessly exploited by the far-right and now the spaces we all share are contested.
It is an entirely human response to feel unsafe when we watch a clip of an assailant wielding a knife over his victim, or police officers handcuffing a distressed, dying young man. Much as it is when we see ethnic minority families fleeing burning homes in Belfast, or a menacing crowd in Glasgow setting about black people as they pass.
Middle East | The US launched new strikes against targets in Iran for the second consecutive day after Donald Trump promised to “hit them hard again” as a two-month-old ceasefire appears close to collapse.
UK politics | Keir Starmer’s closest aides are “war-gaming” how to win a leadership contest ahead of Andy Burnham’s much-anticipated return to Westminster if he wins the Makerfield byelection, the Guardian understands.
Belfast | 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.
Environment | Temperatures in the Antarctic climbed above 15C this month, shattering the previous winter heat record for the usually frozen region and raising concerns about the speed of climate breakdown.
UK news | One of the government’s key contractors has launched an investigation into allegations of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and hate speech among staff working in immigration removal centres, the Guardian has learned.
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© Photograph: Claudia Savage/PA
© Photograph: Claudia Savage/PA
© Photograph: Claudia Savage/PA
Nuclear powers spent a record of $119 billion on arsenals in 2025, as the world’s nine nuclear-armed states significantly increased their weapons-related expenditure, according to a new report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
The figure marks a 19 percent rise from 2024, with nuclear powers spending $17 billion more than the previous year. ICAN warns that the increase reflects a broader trend that is likely to continue for decades. The report covers the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea.
As per the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization, rising geopolitical tensions are fueling what it describes as a new nuclear arms race. ICAN has also raised concerns over the possible role of artificial intelligence in nuclear decision-making, warning that AI could accelerate the process leading to the potential use of nuclear weapons.
Susie Snyder, ICAN’s program coordinator and one of the report’s authors, described the figures as deeply troubling. Speaking to Agence France-Presse, she declared it’s deeply terrifying.
The United States remained the world’s largest nuclear spender in 2025, allocating $69.2 billion to its arsenal. That was $12.4 billion more than in 2024 and more than the combined total spent by the other eight nuclear-armed states. China ranked second, with estimated spending of $13.5 billion. The United Kingdom followed with $12.6 billion, while Russia spent $9.5 billion.
According to ICAN, the nine nuclear-armed countries have spent over $470 billion on their arsenals in the past five years.
The report reveals that nuclear weapons spending is expected to continue rising as countries modernize and maintain their arsenals over time. ICAN points to spending plans in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France that could necessitate billions of dollars through the end of the century. Other nuclear-armed states are also developing weapons systems designed to remain in service for decades.
In the United States, the planned Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program is expected to remain operational beyond 2100. Based on the report, expanded US production of plutonium pits could support nuclear warheads until at least 2120. ICAN estimates that the United States alone is expected to spend nearly $1 trillion on its nuclear arsenal between 2025 and 2034.
The scale of spending, ICAN says, comes as governments face pressing global challenges, including health care, food security, and humanitarian needs. According to Snyder, the amount spent by nuclear-armed states in 2025 would have been enough to fund the United Nations budget dozens of times over. She added that a single day of nuclear weapons spending could have guaranteed food security for two million people last year.
The report argues that nuclear-armed countries are committing public resources to weapons that, according to Snyder, they “could not use without committing a war crime.” ICAN maintains that the latest figures show that nuclear weapons spending is becoming a long-term strategic priority rather than a short-term response to current global tensions.
Texas trial, which lasted a week, drew national attention due to race, as Anthony is Black and Austin Metcalf was white
Following a trial that lasted just one week from jury selection to verdict, a Collin county, Texas, jury found Karmelo Anthony, now 19, guilty of murder in the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf last year.
The closely watched trial drew national attention, with viral social media posts that highlighted the racial composition of the case: Anthony is Black; Austin was white. Attorneys selected 12 jurors and six alternates for the trial; none of the jurors was Black.
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© Photograph: Pat Lopez/AP
© Photograph: Pat Lopez/AP
© Photograph: Pat Lopez/AP
The Tory leader says the public sector duty to consider minorities encourages division – but legal experts say abolishing it will fuel discrimination
For more than two decades, an important part of Britain’s equality laws ensured public institutions had to think about the impact their decisions could have on different groups in society.
Introduced after the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, the public sector equality duty required public bodies – such as local councils, police forces and hospitals – to think proactively about equality law. Now this once uncontroversial public duty is a new battleground in Britain’s culture wars.
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© Photograph: James Manning/PA
© Photograph: James Manning/PA
© Photograph: James Manning/PA
When politicians talk ‘common sense’ it’s time to worry; when the Tory leader does, it’s time to be doubly vigilant
You know how it is. You’re a middle class, straight white man in his 60s in A&E. Possibly the most disadvantaged person in the entire country. You complain of chest pains. In the adjoining triage queue there is a black woman with what looks like a broken toe. You know what happens next. The black woman is seen within minutes. You have a cardiac arrest on the waiting room floor.
Said no one ever. There may be times when there simply aren’t enough staff in the A&E department. There may also be times when a doctor under pressure fails to make the right diagnosis. But no one for a minute believes they are being deliberately kept waiting any longer than necessary. The founding principle of the NHS is predicated on patients being treated according to the severity of their condition.
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© Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP
© Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP
© Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP
Tory leader takes aim at police guidance and says more black boys searched means more black lives saved
Kemi Badenoch has argued that Britain took a wrong turn after the landmark Macpherson report into the racist killing of Stephen Lawrence, and said that it didn’t matter how many young black boys were stopped and searched by police.
The Conservative leader made the comments as she announced plans to scrap the obligation on public bodies to consider how they can promote equality as she seeks to head off the challenge to her party from Reform UK.
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© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA
© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA
© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA
Crowds gather at sites across Belfast after Sudanese man charged with attempted murder
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.
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© Photograph: PA
© Photograph: PA
© Photograph: PA
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