England suffer agonising defeat after Spain score winning goal in dying minutes of Euro 2024 final
The pain goes on…
LIVE Biden: Politics should never be a ‘killing field’
Joe Biden decried political violence in a speech aimed at unifying a divided nation on Sunday night, saying politics should never be a “killing field”.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Mr Biden urged Americans to “cool it down” and lower the political temperature, following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday.
“Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy, it’s part of human nature,” he said.
“But politics must never be a literal battlefield, or God forbid a killing field.”
Trump told the New York Post he was “supposed to be dead” in an interview aboard his plane en route to Milwaukee.
The FBI is investigating the shooting as a possible domestic terrorism incident.
Senior officials said they had no reason to believe the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was part of a wider plot involving other individuals, and that their priority was establishing the 20-year-old’s motive.
Follow the latest updates below and see our earlier coverage here
License this content
King to tour Australia and Samoa with ‘limited’ activities as he continues cancer treatment
The King is to tour Australia and Samoa with a “limited” programme as he continues his treatment for cancer.
Buckingham Palace has confirmed the King and Queen will undertake an autumn tour in October 2024, which will include visits to Australia and Samoa, where the couple will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2024.
Yet as with the King’s recent engagements, the trip’s programme will be “subject to doctors’ advice, and any necessary modifications on health grounds”.
The tour had originally been planned to include New Zealand, but the palace has now confirmed the country won’t be included.
Trip scaled back
The length of the trip has also been significantly scaled back from the original plans made before the King’s cancer diagnosis, when the couple were expected to be away for around three weeks.
Now, the King and Queen will be away for roughly 10 days in total, including travel time, The Telegraph understands.
A palace spokesman said: “The King and the Queen will visit Australia at the invitation of the Australian Government, where their programme will feature engagements in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales.
“Their Majesties’ state visit to Samoa will celebrate the strong bilateral relationship between the Pacific Island nation and the UK.”
When it was reported earlier this month that New Zealand had been cut from the trip, the prime minister said he had an “open invitation” to visit.
Buckingham Palace officials, including Clive Alderton, the King’s private secretary, were understood to be in Australia this month making final arrangements for the visit.
The King is said to be “disappointed” not to be visiting New Zealand but both sides are said to be aware of the need to pace himself amid his ongoing cancer treatment.
A palace spokesman said: “In close consultation with the Australian and New Zealand prime ministers, and with due regard for the pressures of time and logistics, it has therefore been agreed to limit the visit to Samoa and Australia only.
“Their Majesties send their warmest thanks and good wishes to all parties for their continued support and understanding.”
Cancer recovery
Addressing why the King and Queen are undertaking a “limited programme” in Australia, a palace spokesman said: “Their Majesties will visit the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Samoa.
“The King’s doctors have advised that a further extension to Their Majesties’ trip should be avoided at this time, to prioritise His Majesty’s continued recovery.
“As with all His Majesty’s recent engagements, his programme in both countries will be subject to doctors’ advice, and any necessary modifications on health grounds.”
The King was diagnosed with cancer in February and has been having weekly treatments. He was cleared by his medical team to return to public duties in late April after responding well to treatment.
His Majesty has made 15 visits to Australia, the most recent being in 2018 to open the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. His last visit to New Zealand was in 2019.
His late mother, Elizabeth II, visited Australia 16 times during her reign – becoming the first reigning monarch to set foot on Australian soil on her maiden trip to the country in 1954.
Anthony Albanese, the country’s Left-wing prime minister, had previously proposed to hold a republican referendum if he won a second term in 2025.
However, earlier this year the avowed republican’s government confirmed that the referendum was “not a priority at the moment” and that the focus instead was on the cost of living crisis.
License this content
‘God alone’ saved me, says Donald Trump
Donald Trump has said “God alone” saved his life from an assassination attempt, as he called Americans to unite against political violence.
The former president struck a statesmanlike tone after narrowly escaping death when 20-year-old registered Republican, Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania.
One attendee at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania where the gun attack took place was killed and two more were hospitalised, investigators said on Sunday.
Sending his “love” to victims of the shooting on Saturday, Trump said he was praying for the wounded and called on Americans to remain “resilient” in the face of “wickedness”.
The presumptive Republican nominee thanked his security team for protecting him after a bullet “ripped through” his ear, causing a minor injury. Imagery of the attack showed that the rounds missed Trump’s head by mere inches.
The incident cast a dark shadow over the presidential election race, as politicians on both sides called for an end to toxic political discourse.
Trump called for the country to reject political division, even as his own allies blamed Joe Biden for the attack.
“Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening,” he said.
“We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our faith and defiant in the face of wickedness.”
He added: “In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united, and show our true character as Americans, remaining strong and determined, and not allowing evil to win.”
Melania, his wife, said she had realised her life was “on the brink of devastating change” as the “violent bullet” sped towards her husband. She called for an end to “the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence”.
Strategists said Trump’s unity message would likely help him win over swing voters in the coming weeks ahead of November’s presidential election. Some moderates have grave concerns about voting for Mr Biden after a series of public gaffes but believed Trump was too divisive.
Crooks, a registered Republican voter who also donated to a progressive political group in 2021, used his father’s AR15-style rifle to carry out the attack from a nearby rooftop.
Investigators have not speculated publicly on his motive. The dietary aid worker at a Pennsylvania nursing home was killed by US Secret Service snipers seconds after opening fire.
Police also named Corey Comperatore, 50, as the rally attendee who was killed by a bullet intended for Trump. Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania governor, said he was a “hero” who died shielding his wife and daughters from the attack.
One of the daughters, Allyson, wrote online: “He truly loved us enough to take a real bullet for us.”
The other victims, 57-year-old David Dutch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver are in a stable condition.
The Trump campaign launched a crowd-funder for Mr Comperatore’s family, which has already raised more than $1 million (£787,000).
FBI investigators and a bomb squad searched Crooks’s family home on Sunday and found bomb-making equipment. Explosive materials were also discovered in his car at the rally, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Amid calls for unity, the attempt on Trump’s life also led to accusations by some of his supporters that Democrats had encouraged violence against him.
Don Jr, the Republican nominee’s eldest son, tweeted that liberal media outlets and rival politicians had radicalised his father’s opponents by portraying him as “literally Hitler”.
JD Vance, the favourite to be Trump’s running mate, said Mr Biden had portrayed him as an “authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs”, claiming that his rhetoric “led directly to president Trump’s attempted assassination”.
Several Republicans said Mr Biden’s reported call for his party to “put Trump in a bullseye” on a call with donors last week had encouraged Crooks to carry out the attack.
Chris LaCivita, the Trump campaign’s co-chairman, said Mr Biden should be “held accountable” for “disgusting remarks”.
One Democratic representative, issued a veiled criticism of the Biden campaign, arguing that the election should not be “misleadingly portrayed as a no-holds-barred struggle between democracy or authoritarianism”.
The same argument was made by the Russian government, which said it did not think the attack “was organised by the current authorities” but said the “atmosphere around candidate Trump…provoked what America is confronting today”.
On Sunday night, Mr Biden repeated his own call for unity, and confirmed he had ordered a “thorough and swift” investigation of the attack.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence, or any kind of violence for that matter,” he said. “We must unite as one nation to demonstrate who we are.”
The Biden-Harris campaign has suspended its communications and advert campaigns, many of which had depicted Trump as “unhinged” and “extreme”.
Some Republicans, including Mr Trump Jr, criticised Bennie Thompson, a Democratic representative who had previously proposed legislation to remove the Secret Service protection of convicted felons. If the bill had succeeded, then “my dad would be dead right now,” Mr Trump Jr said.
One of Mr Thompson’s staff members was sacked in the hours following the shooting, after she said online that Trump’s opponents should “get shooting lessons so you don’t miss next time”.
Mr Biden said he had a “short but good conversation” with Trump, and that he was “sincerely grateful he is doing well”. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, called him to offer condolences, and Boris Johnson described his escape as a “miracle”.
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader who is a friend of the former president, said he would fly to the US to support him after the attack.
Comparing the shooting to incidents during the UK election campaign, when he was doused with a milkshake and pelted with rocks, he issued a call in an article for The Telegraph for Left-wing commentators to “realise that their language has an impact”.
“It has become commonplace amongst the media elite to view Trump as an authoritarian fascist,” he said.
“I implore all of those on the Left to think very carefully about how they seek to play politics. Next time, it could be very, very different.”
Saturday’s shooting, which is the first assassination attempt to wound a US president since 1981, has raised questions about the Secret Service security measures at Trump events.
The Trump campaign said it had hired private armed security to protect him, and advised staff to avoid campaign buildings while their safety is assessed.
Mr Biden, who was due to speak again from the Oval Office on Sunday evening, said he had ordered a full security review into measures at the Republican National Convention, which begins on Monday in Wisconsin.
The convention’s organisers are working with the Secret Service and 40 law enforcement agencies to keep delegates, other attendees and members of the media safe.
Trump said he would still speak at the convention, where he is also expected to reveal his choice of running mate.
He said he was planning to delay his arrival, but decided he “cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else”.
In an apparent olive branch to one of his fiercest critics, it was revealed that Trump has invited Nikki Haley to speak to delegates.
Ms Haley was Trump’s main opponent during the Republican primary this year, and argued he was unsuitable to be president. Dozens more senior Republican figures will speak at the four-day event.
Invanka Trump, the former president’s daughter and former White House aide, said she believed her deceased mother Ivana “was watching over Dad last night during the attempt on his life”.
Melania has largely stayed out of the spotlight during the 2024 presidential campaign but called on her husband’s opponents to remember that “every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family”.
Bookmakers on Sunday slashed odds on Trump winning November’s presidential election, amid speculation that his brush with death would lead to an increase in public support.
Some analysts pointed to an eight-point poll bounce experienced by Ronald Reagan after he was shot in March 1981.
Others suggested that a Democrat coup against Mr Biden is now unlikely to succeed, leaving him as the party’s nominee. Trump allies have suggested they think they would be more likely to beat Mr Biden than Kamala Harris, his vice president.
After concerns about Trump’s security team at the rally, two congressmen proposed a law that would give presidential candidates enhanced Secret Service protection.
Ritchie Torres and Mike Lawler called the assassination attempt a “dark moment in our nation’s history” and called for “more protection” for top presidential candidates.
If successful, the law would also give protection to Robert F Kennedy Jr, who is running as an independent presidential candidate and has long complained he does not receive federal security assistance.
Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has said he will hold congressional hearings to investigate the level of security at Trump’s events.
They will include evidence sessions with Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, and other officials from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
License this content
Chaplain of private school banned from teaching over relationship with ‘very vulnerable’ pupil
The chaplain of a private school who had an inappropriate relationship with a “very vulnerable pupil” for his own sexual gratification has been banned from the profession for life.
The Rev Tom Carson quit Exeter School, which has fees of up to £17,000 a year, after what it called a “serious breach” involving an 18-year-old pupil.
The father of two admitted engaging in an inappropriate relationship with the pupil, referred to as Pupil A, in 2021 away from school premises which led to hugging, holding hands, kissing and touching each other.
A Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct panel said his conduct was sexually motivated.
He told Pupil A to delete text messages and e-mails between them and told the pupil to give an edited version of their relationship when he resigned and an investigation would follow.
He eventually reported it to the school and Pupil A’s mother, and admitted his actions brought the teaching profession into disrepute.
In September 2021 a letter was sent to the parents of the 900 pupils at the independent co-educational school when Carson quit.
The panel said: “Mr Carson was responsible for a series of failings in relation to his conduct with Pupil A.
“These included serious misconduct with a very vulnerable pupil, in which he exploited Pupil A for his own sexual gratification.
“Mr Carson’s actions had a significant harmful impact on Pupil A’s life and has continued for a number of years.
“Mr Carson’s dishonest actions in attempting to conceal the true nature of the relationship went hand in hand with his other exploitative actions with Pupil A.”
The panel said his actions happened over an extended period of time and was not a momentary lapse of judgment but a “sustained course of conduct”.
License this content
Foreign Secretary to call for immediate ceasefire in Gaza
The Foreign Secretary will call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in meetings with the leaders of Israel and Palestine on Sunday.
David Lammy will make the case for a “credible and irreversible pathway” towards a two-state solution to Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas.
Mr Lammy has travelled to the Middle East for his first visit since Labour entered Government, with meetings scheduled with leaders in Israel as well as hostage families.
The Foreign Office said he will then visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories, where he will state “his commitment to recognising a Palestinian state as an undeniable right of the Palestinian people”.
It comes after Labour’s stance on Gaza cost Sir Keir Starmer some seats at the general election, with four MPs losing to pro-Palestine independents.
The Foreign Secretary said: “The death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable. This war must end now, with an immediate ceasefire, complied with by both sides.
“The fighting has got to stop, the hostages still cruelly detained by Hamas terrorists need to be released immediately and aid must be allowed in to reach the people of Gaza without restrictions.
“I am meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to stress the UK’s ambition and commitment to play its full diplomatic role in securing a ceasefire deal and creating the space for a credible and irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution.”
He added: “The world needs a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.
“Central to this is to see an end to expanding illegal Israeli settlements and rising settler violence in the West Bank. Here, in what should be a crucial part of a Palestinian state, alongside Gaza and East Jerusalem, we need to see a reformed and empowered Palestinian Authority.”
Jonathan Ashworth, who was a central figure in the Labour campaign, lost his seat in Leicester South to Shockat Adam, a pro-Palestine independent.
The party was also unsuccessful in Blackburn, Dewsbury and Batley, and Birmingham Perry Barr, as a result of independent candidates running on pro-Palestine tickets.
Jeremy Corbyn, a long-time supporter of the Palestinian cause, won against Labour in Islington North.
The Foreign Secretary will also announce a further £5.5 million in aid this year to UK-Med, a front-line charity which sends medics to crisis-hit regions such as Gaza.
Labour called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza for the first time in February, with Mr Lammy, then the shadow foreign secretary, saying that the situation in Gaza had “evolved”.
He added that his party was “mirroring the language” used by the United Nations, as well as the UK’s fellow Five Eyes alliance members: the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
The Prime Minister initially resisted calls to support a ceasefire, instead saying he supported “humanitarian pauses” to allow the entry of aid into Gaza and for people to leave the territory.
More than 50 MPs, including 10 frontbenchers, resigned last November to vote in favour of a ceasefire.
License this content
Wounded Russian soldiers – some on crutches – used in ‘meat wave’ attacks
Injured Russian soldiers are being sent back into the line of fire in “meat wave” assaults.
The Ukrainian army has reported capturing Russians already suffering from their wounds sustained in previous attacks.
They had been given minimal medical attention before being sent back to fight.
The tactics show an apparent disregard for foot soldiers as commanders throw thousands of men into the front lines in a slow and grinding summer offensive.
Some Russians have been captured re-entering the battlefield on crutches.
Other injured troops have recorded videos pleading with their superiors for proper treatment as they receive orders to return to battle.
One soldier captured by Ukraine was said to be driving an armoured vehicle with bloodied rags over an injured eye.
The meat assault units are often made up of foot soldiers, released prisoners and the maimed.
Many are simply protecting the next wave of soldiers behind as part of a tactic to distract and overwhelm Ukraine, and make incremental territorial gains.
British military intelligence believes that Russian ranks have been depleted by as many as 70,000 personnel over the last two months – an alarming rate that shows no signs of slowing.
Ukrainian soldiers told The Telegraph that it is “normal practice” to see injured men staggering as they fight, and that Ukrainian prisoners of war are being used by Russia as human shields.
‘We don’t have the strength’
Meanwhile, Russian soldiers have been recorded pleading with their superiors, the military prosecutors office, and even Vladimir Putin, for their lives.
“Why would they send wounded and exhausted people into battle? It’s the same as sending people to their deaths,” said two soldiers of the 1009th regiment in a video shared on social media.
“The commander says that tomorrow we must go and storm this building again.
“But how can we do this if we are in pain, wounded, and simply don’t have the strength?”
The pair, who lent against a tree with visible wounds to their faces, said the only medical treatment they received for shrapnel wounds was from their own first aid kit as they hid in the forest.
Another video clip showed a group of the injured, a number of whom were walking on crutches, pleading desperately with their superiors, stressing that this was their final opportunity to make their case.
They told the camera: “Hear us, please, hear us, hear us. This is our last chance. We have no more options.”
The latest death toll figures of Russian soldiers is equivalent to an average of above 1,000 a day amid the escalating intensity of battle on the newly opened front in Kharkiv, and fighting elsewhere in east and north-east Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defence said on Friday.
“Although this new approach has increased the pressure on the front line, an effective Ukrainian defence and a lack of Russian training reduces Russia’s ability to exploit any tactical successes, despite attempting to stretch the front line further,” the MoD added.
Hunter (his call sign), a Ukrainian junior soldier, said that there are “frequent cases” of Russian soldiers “simply left in positions to die”.
“This is a common situation when wounded Russian soldiers are captured. According to them, they were left to their fate without food and water to die by their own comrades,” he said.
Hunter reported seeing Ukrainian PoWs being pushed to walk ahead of advancing Russian soldiers, forced into the cruel role of human shields.
Yuriy, a machine gunner, confirmed Hunter’s reports, telling The Telegraph: “Of course, I have seen PoWs, this is outrageous and tearing us apart from the inside, such an attitude towards prisoners of war is unacceptable and prohibited by conventions.”
In the Donetsk region, a Russian soldier was captured by Ukraine with his leg rotting from a shrapnel wound.
“He was not evacuated for some reason. Later in Dnipro, our medics had to amputate this leg for him so he can survive,” Vlad, a member of the Kraken Regiment volunteer unit, told The Telegraph.
Vlad reported that the Russians they captured revealed their commander, known by the call sign Ryba, had ordered that no one would be evacuated until they had secured the territory around the Kupyansk silicate plant in the Kharkiv region.
Kupyansk, a strategic rail hub, was seized by Russia in early 2022, retaken by Ukraine seven months later and missile and artillery strikes continue to hit the area.
The river through Kupyansk could offer a natural defence against future Russian advances.
A soldier who chose to remain anonymous said: “We carried a wounded Russian to our side for many kilometres to save his life as he was left alone to die.”
Hunter confirmed that many units – including the poorly-trained, lightly-equipped “Storm-Z” assault troopers – are “prohibited” from leaving their positions.
‘Storm fighters, they’re just meat’
Storm-Z is a series of penal military units for convicts – including murderers – established by Russia by April 6, 2023, renamed Storm-V later that year.
Illia Yevlash, the spokesman for the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, claimed in February that Russian commanders were using human wave tactics involving Storm-Z and Storm-V.
“Storm fighters, they’re just meat,” said one regular soldier from army unit number 40318.
“If such units retreat, they can be destroyed by their barrier units,” said Hunter.
“The Russian armed forces mobilise people with serious illnesses such as tuberculosis or HIV, and such ‘soldiers’ are treated differently.”
Use of suicidal human wave attacks does not appear to have reduced despite high-profile changes at the top of the Russian defence ministry.
Many Ukrainian soldiers who spoke to The Telegraph revealed they hesitate to save Russians because of their unwavering resolve to continue fighting even after being captured.
Yuriy explained that some injured soldiers wanted to surrender quickly, but that he had seen others “shoot to the last”, even attempting to detonate grenades when they were given medical aid.
The high Russian attrition rate comes as Ukraine also struggles to find enough soldiers to make any significant breakthroughs.
The much-anticipated Russian summer offensive appears to have largely fizzled out, with both sides once again locked in fighting along rigid front lines dividing Ukraine roughly from north to south.
License this content