‘Masked thugs’ set fire to leisure centre in third night of Northern Ireland violence

A group of masked individuals have set fire to a leisure centre in the latest night of violence in Northern Ireland.

The fire broke out at Larne Leisure Centre in Co Antrim on Wednesday following vandalism at the facility.

The attack came on the third night of public disorder in the town of Ballymena, 30 minutes away from Larne.

Local Alliance MLA Danny Donnelly said the leisure centre had been “attacked by masked thugs”.

“Windows smashed and fires lit nearby. Larne does not need this,” he added in a social media post.

The Police Service for Northern Ireland (PSNI) deployed riot police in Ballymena for a third night as a significant crowd gathered around the Clonavon Terrace area.

Missiles were thrown at officers in the area on Wednesday night.

Riot police with shields advanced on crowds to disperse them, and officers also used dog units and drones in their response to the gathering.

Rioters who gathered on Bridge Street near the residential area were told to disperse shortly before 9pm after a firework was thrown at officers.

Earlier, a senior officer said the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) had requested support from colleagues in the rest of the UK following further violence in Ballymena.

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said the force would be bringing extra officers, vehicles and equipment to areas where unrest has flared.

He said there were disgraceful scenes in Belfast, Lisburn, Coleraine, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey on Tuesday, as businesses, homes and cars were attacked and damaged.

By Wednesday, six individuals had been arrested for public order offences, and one charged.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said he “utterly condemns” violence which left 32 police officers injured after the second night of disturbances.

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has warned that the rioting “risks undermining” the criminal justice process into an allegation of a sex attack on a teenage girl in Ballymena at the weekend.

Stormont ministers have also made an urgent appeal for calm and said the justice process had to be allowed to take its course.

Providing an update on the policing operation on Wednesday, Mr Henderson said: “We are taking steps to increase available resources and are surging a significant number of extra officers, vehicles and equipment to those areas where the rioting is taking place.

“This will have an impact on our community, this will take away vital resources needed to police other areas.”

He said they have requested about 80 officers through mutual aid.

In a joint statement, ministers from across the Stormont powersharing Executive, which includes Sinn Fein, DUP, Alliance Party and UUP, said those involved in disorder have nothing to offer society but “division and disorder”.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly later appeared together to voice their condemnation.

Sinn Fein vice-president Ms O’Neill told reporters in Belfast: “It’s pure racism, there is no other way to dress it up.”

She said ministers stood full-square with the young girl who was subject to the alleged sex attack but added the criminal justice system must be allowed to deal with that case.

Police said their officers came under sustained attack over a number of hours with multiple petrol bombs, heavy masonry, bricks and fireworks thrown in their direction in the Clonavon Terrace area of Ballymena on Tuesday night.

The PSNI deployed riot police, fired plastic baton rounds, and used water cannon as well as dog units as part of its response to the disorder.

Police also reported that “sporadic disorder” had also occurred in Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus, as well as incidents in north Belfast.

The violence began around Clonavon Terrace on Monday night following an earlier peaceful protest which was organised in support of the family of a girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in the area.

This is a breaking news story, more follows…

Disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein again found guilty of an assault

Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been convicted of a single count of criminal sexual act at his sex crimes retrial, closing one chapter in the yearslong saga of the onetime Hollywood honcho-turned-#MeToo outcast.

The jury found Weinstein not guilty on another count of criminal sexual act and reached no verdict on the single count of rape he had faced. They deliberated for five days before reaching a verdict on Wednesday.

Weinstein, 73, who appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court in a wheelchair after experiencing a litany of health problems, looked at his lawyer in shock when the “not guilty” verdict was read, according to reports. He had decided not to testify in his defense during the six-week trial.

The former producer and Miramax studio co-founder had pleaded not guilty to raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and forcing oral sex on two others, separately, in 2006. He denied the allegations, and his attorneys maintain that anything that happened between him and his accusers was consensual.

He was previously convicted in New York, but it was tossed by an appeals court.

Closing arguments in the retrial concluded on Wednesday with Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, portraying him as the falsely accused “original sinner” of the #MeToo era, while Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg told jurors that Weinstein preyed on less-powerful women he thought would never speak up.

“Members of the jury, he raped three women. They all said, ‘no,’” Blumberg said.

“We heard a lot about ‘policing the bedroom’ yesterday,” Blumberg said, referring to Aidala’s closing argument on Tuesday. “We don’t want to police bedrooms either – unless you’re forcibly raping someone inside them.”

On Tuesday, Aidala accused the alleged victims of lying on the stand.

“They are lying about what happened. Not about everything, but about a small slice – just enough to turn their regret, their buyers’ remorse, into criminality,” Aidala said of the accusers.

During his closing, he veered into folksy jokes — sometimes re-enacting witnesses’ behavior — as he contended that his client engaged in a “courting game,” not crimes, the Associated Press reported.

But Blumberg urged jurors to focus on Weinstein’s accusers and their days of grueling testimony.

“This was not a ‘courting game,’ as Mr. Aidala wants you to believe. This was not a ‘transaction,’” Blumberg shot back. “This was never about ‘fooling around.’ It was about rape.”

Aidala argued that everything that happened between the ex-producer and his accusers was a consensual, if “transactional,” exchange of favors. The attorney accused prosecutors of “trying to police the bedroom” and zeroing in on the man seen as ”the poster boy, the original sinner, for the #MeToo movement.”

“They tried to do it five years ago, and now there’s a redo, and they’re trying to do it again,” he told jurors.

His hours-long summation touched on matters from the acclaimed, Weinstein-co-produced 1994 film “Pulp Fiction” to his own marriage and his grandmother’s Italian gravy, at times playing for — and getting — laughs from jurors and Weinstein.

Aidala depicted the former studio boss as a self-made New Yorker, while painting Weinstein’s accusers as troubled and canny “women with broken dreams” who plied him for movie opportunities and other perks, kept engaging with him for years and then turned on him to cash in on his #MeToo undoing. All three received compensation through legal processes separate from the criminal trial.

Blumberg countered that Weinstein interpreted a sexual “no” as a cue to “push a little bit more, and if they still say no, just take it anyway.”

She argued that his accusers stayed in friendly contact with Weinstein because they were trying to work in entertainment, and they feared their careers would be squashed if they crossed him.

“He chose people who he thought would be the perfect victims, who he could rape and keep silent,” the prosecutor said. “He underestimated them.”

Weinstein had a decades-long run as one of the movie industry’s most influential people. In 2017, allegations of sexual assault and harassment tanked his career and catalyzed the #MeToo movement, which seeks accountability for sexual misconduct. More than 100 women, including famous actresses, have accused Weinstein of misconduct.

He was subsequently convicted of sex crimes and sentenced to prison in New York and California. His California appeal hasn’t been decided.

Since the New York retrial opened April 23, prosecutors have brought in more than two dozen witnesses. The prosecution centered on Weinstein’s three accusers, who each faced days of questions.

In often graphic and sometimes tearful testimony, the women said the Oscar-winning producer used his showbiz stature as a hook to prey on them.

Jessica Mann, who accused Weinstein of rape, was a hairstylist hoping to make it as an actress when she met him. The sexual assault accusers also were trying to build careers in entertainment: Miriam Haley was a production assistant and producer, and Kaja Sokola was a teenage model who wanted to get into acting.

Prosecutors added Sokola’s allegations to the case for the retrial. But some other accusers from the first trial weren’t part of the second. The appeals court said it was prejudicial to include their accusations, which never resulted in charges.

Weinstein, who has been held at New York City’s Rikers Island jail since his conviction was overturned, now faces a maximum sentence of up to 29 years in prison.

He already will likely spend the rest of his life in prison due to a 16-year prison sentence given to him after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022.

Police deployed to tackle ‘youths causing serious disorder’ in Salford

A 16-year-old girl has been arrested after police responded to “serious disorder” involving dozens of youths in Salford.

Around 50 to 60 people gathered on Lower Broughton Road at around 1.30pm on Wednesday, using cars and wheelie bins to block off the road, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

The force put in place a dispersal order on the road after numerous reports of anti-social behaviour, vehicles being damaged and burnt out, stolen cars, motorbikes being used and bricks thrown at officers.

A 16-year-old girl had been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and remains in custody for questioning.

The dispersal order will be in place until 2pm on Thursday and officers will remain in the area overnight, the force said.

The windscreen of a police vehicle was also smashed during the disorder, GMP said.

Videos on social media show a car performing a handbrake turn in the street while seemingly being pursued by another car, while groups of youths wearing hoods and masks can also be seen on the road.

Riot police were at the scene, with one witness reporting that there were “cops on every corner”.

Superintendent Marcus Noden said: “This sort of behaviour will not be tolerated and we took robust and appropriate action.

“In response to this disorder we have dispatched a large number of officers to the scene, and we now have a dispersal order in place until 2pm tomorrow afternoon (Thursday 12 June 2025). A large number of officers will be remaining in the area over night as a precaution.

“We are aware of speculation online that this incident is linked to immigration, this is categorically incorrect.

“There are currently no ongoing incidents in the area, however, tensions remain heightened, and we have robust plans in place, should we need to respond to any further incidents.

“I would also like to thank members of the public for their patience and support while we continue to deal with this incident.”

A witness told Manchester Evening News that around 50-60 teenagers and young people are “hanging round” at the scene. They said several bricks and stones were strewn across the road and described the scene as “pretty intense”.

They added: “There is a Fiat 500 which has been completely smashed in. Its windows have been stoved in.

“The police are here, but they’re circling around at the moment. At a rough guess, I’d say there are about 50-60 people hanging about, but a lot of residents are also coming out.”

Curfew lifted after ‘mass arrests’ in LA as Trump mulls sending troops to other cities

The Trump administration has filed a response to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s lawsuit to stop the “unnecessary” deployment of U.S. Marines to Los Angeles, in addition to the 4,000 federalized California National Guard troops ordered into the city.

According to the filing, the LAPD is “unable to bring order” to LA, six days after protests began against ICE raids to round up those in the country illegally as part of Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies.

Protests and confrontations with police sparked wider problems of vandalism and looting in downtown Los Angeles, which last night was put under curfew. LAPD reported mass arrests. Local residents blame the president for exacerbating tensions through the deployment of troops.

Mayor Karen Bass said the curfew was a response to the president’s “chaotic escalation” of the situation through his deployment of the Guard and the upcoming addition of 700 Marines, who are training 30 miles south of the city.

Troops are authorized to temporarily detain individuals until law enforcement agents arrive to make an arrest, Major General Scott Sherman said this morning. They are backed up by unarmed Predator drones, which are being used for high-altitude surveillance.

Rolling Stones ‘back in the studio working on new album’

The Rolling Stones are reportedly back in the studio and working on a new album, after rumours that they had scrapped plans for a summer 2025 tour.

The Independent understands that the storied rock band have been working in Metropolis Studios in west London, following the successful release of their last record, 2023’s Hackney Diamonds.

Their first album of original material in 18 years, Hackney Diamonds was produced by Grammy-winner Andrew Watt, whose other credits include works by Elton John, Pearl Jam, Ozzy Osbourne and Lady Gaga.

Hackney Diamonds shot to No 1 upon its release and received positive reviews from critics.

“Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood rip through gritty glam and blues rock riffs like guitarists half of half their ages, and rather than mutter reflective wisdom gleaned from a rock’n’roll life mid-winddown – a la Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan – Jagger bawls and yowls about blurry nights, media intrusion and relationship ructions like an eternal A-list twentysomething,” Mark Beaumont wrote in his review for The Independent.

The Sun reports that the new album is being recorded by original members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, with current drummer Steve Jordan.

“Originally, the plan was for them to bring their huge US tour to the UK and Europe this summer, but promoters couldn’t get the dates to work,” a source claimed.

The Sun also reports that the Stones have teamed up with Watt again for the new songs.

The band are supposedly planning on announcing UK shows in the coming weeks, after earlier media reports suggested they had encountered issues over venue and travel options.

Sixty years since they first formed, the Stones remain one of the world’s most popular live acts, with their latest North America tour grossing almost a quarter of a billion dollars and selling 880,000 tickets.

However, they have not played in the UK since 2022, the year after the death of their longtime drummer, Charlie Watts.

Fans are hoping that Wood might turn up at Worthy Farm for a surprise appearance with longtime friend Rod Stewart, when the “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” star takes on the Legends Slot on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival this summer.

The E2E Tech 100 Track 2025 revealed

The E2E Tech 100 is a celebration of the UK’s most dynamic and fast-growing technology businesses. These companies are redefining the future through innovation, digital transformation, and remarkable revenue growth, with artificial intelligence playing a central role in many of their business models.

Our headline partner for the E2E 100 2025 is Universal Partners.

The Tech 100 showcases groundbreaking tech companies, each surpassing £10 million in turnover over past 2 years, and setting new standards for innovation and growth across the tech sector.

Featured in the track and demonstrating extraordinary growth are:

Revolut Ltd – One of the world’s fastest-growing fintech super-apps, Revolut has revolutionised the way millions manage their finances. With services spanning banking, crypto, stock trading, and travel insurance, the company has scaled across continents under the leadership of CEO and Co-Founder Nikolay Storonsky. Now serving over 40 million users globally, Revolut’s seamless digital-first approach has set a new benchmark for financial innovation.

Cleo AI Ltd – At the cutting edge of artificial intelligence in personal finance, Cleo is reshaping how Gen Z manages money. Founded by Barney Hussey-Yeo, Cleo combines humour, data, and conversational AI to make budgeting and saving both intuitive and engaging. With tens of millions of interactions every month and strong traction in the US market, Cleo has emerged as a disruptive force in fintech.

Zilch Technology Limited is a leading UK-based buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) fintech company revolutionising consumer spending with a transparent, interest-free model. Founded by Philip Belamant, Zilch combines open banking and AI to offer smarter, responsible credit to over 3 million users. With a rapidly growing presence in both the UK and US markets, Zilch is redefining flexible payments for the digital age.

This initiative stands as a compelling testament to the UK’s thriving tech ecosystem, showcasing companies that not only drive significant revenue growth but also foster digital inclusion, enhance user experience, and shape global tech trends.

With founders from across the country, the E2E Tech 100 demonstrates the depth and diversity of talent in the UK, spotlighting entrepreneurs who are leading change through creativity, data, and purpose in an increasingly tech-driven world.

As the Founder and CEO of E2E said: “The E2E Tech 100 track recognises the exceptional achievements of technology companies that are scaling with speed, vision, and impact. From AI-driven solutions to inclusive fintech platforms, these businesses are solving real-world problems and transforming industries. It’s an honour to celebrate their growth, resilience, and leadership as they navigate and shape a digital-first future.”

Andrew Morley, CRO at The Independent, added: “We are delighted to partner with E2E in celebrating the UK’s top 100 tech innovators. These businesses embody what’s best about British entrepreneurship: bold thinking, digital excellence, and global ambition. Their stories inspire and remind us of the extraordinary potential within the UK tech landscape. Congratulations to all those featured in this year’s Tech 100.”

The track was carefully curated using trusted data from Experian and Creditsafe, ensuring only the most impactful and high-performing businesses have been recognised in this track.

Each E2E 100 track is supported by our partners: Universal Partners (Headline Partner), Fora, Lioncroft, Creditsafe, OakNorth, and Experian.

With London Tech Week underway, it’s an exciting time to spotlight innovation and entrepreneurship across the UK. As the nation celebrates tech talent, the E2E Tech 100 recognises the businesses driving real impact and growth.

For more information and to see the full E2E Tech 100 2025 track, click here.

To find out more about E2E, visit https://www.e2exchange.com/

Spending review a ‘blow’ for police and will hamper 13k officer pledge

The government’s spending review is a “huge blow” for police and will leave forces struggling to recruit 13,000 neighbourhood officers promised by Labour, police leaders have warned.

The chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said Rachel Reeves’ plans for an average 2.3 per cent rise in police spending per year, the equivalent of £2bn, will cover little more than inflationary pay increases for existing officers and staff.

Meanwhile a projected £1.2 billion black hole in police funding will continue to grow, chief constable Gavin Stephens warned.

He insisted policing is still focussed on meeting the government’s ambitious manifesto pledges to halve violence against and women and girls and knife crime in a decade but admitted the tough funding settlement will make progress “slower”.

Chief constable Paul Sanford, chair of the NPCC’s finance committee, warned it will be “incredibly difficult” to meet the government’s pledge to recruit 13,000 additional neighbourhood officers, PCSOs and special constables.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper promised every community a named, contactable officer as part of her Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee last November. So far around 3,000 officers have been recruited.

CC Sanford added: “We will be working incredibly hard with the Home Office to complete as much of the recruitment that is required as is possible in the years ahead, but based on this settlement, that does look a real challenge for us.”

He also warned forces have increasingly relied on borrowing money to balance the books and the cost of debt is expected to go up by 49 per cent in the next three years.

There is also no additional funding to help police to manage more offenders expected to serve their sentences in the community under plans laid out by the Ministry of Justice, following David Gauke’s sentencing review.

President of the Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA), Nick Smart, described the spending review as a “huge blow” to policing and claimed the fallout “has the potential to put public safety at risk”.

He said: “Many of the government’s election pledges centred around a commitment to ‘safer streets’, promising the public that it would meet ambitious targets such as halving knife crime.

“Yet the lack of investment announced today means we will continue to struggle to deliver the basics, to maintain officer numbers, cover inflationary costs, cover pay awards, and function as we are, let alone move forward on new public safety and transformation initiatives.

“Leaders representing every part of the police workforce have come out in unison, stating the stark truth of policing today, stressing that it will be impossible to deliver on the pledges made by government without increased, long-term investment, and once again, we are ignored.”

Considering the funding challenges, he said “conversations must be had” around where police can begin to say “no” when other services turn to them for support, adding: “We cannot continue to be society’s sticking plaster when other services falter.”

Acting national chairwoman of the Police Federation, Tiff Lynch, accused the chancellor of failing to listen to police officers or the home secretary in the lead up to the review.

She said: “This spending review should have been a turning point after 15 years of austerity that has left policing, and police officers, broken.

“Instead, the cuts will continue and it’s the public who will pay the price.

“As rank-and-file officers kit up for night duty this evening, they’ll do so knowing exactly where they stand in the Government’s priorities.

“It is beyond insulting for cabinet ministers to call on police to ‘do their bit’ when officers are overworked, underpaid, and under threat like never before.

“They are facing blades and bricks, managing mental health crises while battling to protect their own, and carrying the weight of trauma and financial stress home with them every day.”

The union, which represents 145,000 rank and file officers, claims police pay has fallen by more than 20 per cent in real terms since 2010, while the number of crimes allocated to each officer has risen by a third.

Roger Hirst and Joy Allen, joint leads for funding for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, agreed the settlement is not enough to meet government targets to reduce crime.

Mr Hirst warned some areas forces will have to rely on council tax hikes to maintain officer numbers, while Ms Allen said a lack of capital investment will leave many forces struggling with outdated digital infrastructure as well as ageing buildings and vehicle fleets.

Ms Reeves has said she recognises “that not everyone has been able to get exactly what they want” from Wednesday’s spending review, but insisted forces can meet the government’s manifesto commitments.

Asked about concerns raised by policing figures, she told the BBC: “I recognise that not everyone has been able to get exactly what they want in this spending review.”

She added: “We’re not able to do everything that everyone would want, but real-terms spending power increases for the police of 2.3 per cent a year, above inflation, enabling us to deliver on the commitments we made in our manifesto.”

‘Bombshell’ badger cull study review ‘disproves evidence used’

A prominent ecologist says an independent assessment of the latest study on badger culling is a “bombshell” takedown of the government’s evidence used to justify the policy.

Tom Langton, a badger expert, said the conclusions by a top statistics professor should prompt the government to end the programme of shooting badgers to try to eradicate bovine tuberculosis (bTB).

Professor Mark Brewer, director of Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland, who reviewed the paper, praised the openness of earlier papers but wrote: “I would even go as far to say that, in such a contentious area as this, it is naïve to imagine that a single analysis by a particular group of scientists should be seen as sufficient.”

A study by Mr Langton and colleagues published by the Royal Society criticised scientists who believed badger culling was successful in reducing bTB, claiming they had made coding errors.

In the new study, Prof Paul Torgerson wrote: “The justification for lethal control of badgers to-date appears to have been based upon basic statistical oversight.”

Last week, The Independent revealed that government body Natural England had this year re-authorised supplementary licences to continue badger culls across England – against advice from their own scientific chief.

The new culls will lead to an estimated 5,000 badgers being shot dead.

The government has already begun establishing teams to increase badger vaccination and launched a badger population survey.

It announced on Wednesday that badger TB vaccinations rose by 24 per cent across England last year, to what it said was a record high, with 4,110 badgers being vaccinated.

But controversially, ministers have also reconvened a panel of experts led by Prof Sir Charles Godfray, who has long backed culling and assessed the randomised badger culling trial (RBCT), concluding that culling reduced the spread in bovine TB.

Prof Torgerson wrote: “A very substantial number of publications that rest extensively or completely on RBCT statistical analyses may require major qualification or retraction.”

And Mr Langton called for the earlier papers, on which successive governments have relied for evidence to continue culls, to be retracted.

He said: “The independent reviewer’s views should help take a wrecking ball to a large volume of accepted badger-culling science.

“This shows how misjudgement can create bad government policy, if statistics are not checked properly and brings to life the many claims that the public have been cheated over badger culling for over a decade.”

Badger lobbyists argue that more scrupulous hygiene on farms reduces TB.

The Wild Justice organisation, jointly led by naturalist Chris Packham, together with the Badger Trust, have won permission for a full judicial review of badger culling.

The RBCT, which ran from 1998 to 2005, suggested a reduction in TB infections in cull zones, but its findings were disputed because of the “perturbation” effect, where badgers from targeted families moved further away from their natural areas, potentially carrying disease risk with them.

It’s estimated 250 papers have been published using the results of the RBCT.

Epidemiologist Prof Christl Donnelly, professor of Applied Statistics at Oxford University, told The Independent that in the light of recent correspondence they would make some minor tweaks to some of their models.

“Crucially, the position does not change: repeated widespread badger culling can reduce risks of bovine TB to cattle inside culled areas, while increasing risks to cattle on nearby unculled land,” she said.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “TB has devastated British farmers and wildlife for far too long.

“We are rolling out a comprehensive TB eradication package that will allow us to end the badger cull and stop the spread of this horrific disease.

“This includes launching the first ever national wildlife surveillance programme to better understand the disease and work to increase badger vaccination at pace.”