The Guardian – ‘You can’t help but cry’: hundreds pay tribute to stabbing victims
The Guardian’s front page says hundreds of people gathered at a vigil in Southport to pay tribute to the victims of a dance class knife attack as three children who died were named, along with a yoga teacher who was injured trying to save them. Elsewhere, the paper reports on allegations that the front-runner to be the next Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, “traumatised” and bullied senior staff when she was in government. Simone Biles’s Gold medal at the Olympics features at the top of the paper.
‘Can’t help but cry’: hundreds pay tribute to Southport stabbing victims
Hundreds of people have gathered in Southport to pay tribute to the victims of a dance class knife attack as three children who died, and a yoga teacher who was injured trying to save them, were named.
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were killed in what police described as a “ferocious attack” during a Taylor Swift themed dance and yoga workshop on Monday.
Leanne Lucas, a yoga teacher who organised the event and helped lead the class, is believed to have been injured while trying to usher the children to safety.
She was called a hero whose “bravery has touched the hearts of the nation” in a flood of tributes on social media.
Kemi Badenoch accused of ‘bullying and traumatising’ staff
Kemi Badenoch, the frontrunner to be the next Conservative party leader, has been accused of creating an intimidating atmosphere in the government department she used to run, with some colleagues describing it as toxic, the Guardian can reveal.
At least three officials found her behaviour so traumatising that they felt they had no other choice but to leave, sources claimed.
Morale was said to be so low in the Department for Business and Trade last year that senior officials thought it necessary to address concerns about the working culture during an official “town hall” meeting. This was attended by about 70 staff in person and online on 13 December 2023.
Sources alleged that at least three senior officials in Badenoch’s private office felt in effect pushed out by what they claimed was “bullying and traumatising” behaviour by Badenoch during the 17 months she ran the department before the Conservatives lost the election. Badenoch has flatly denied behaving in that way.
Simone Biles’ narrative arc reaches full extension on glorious night for USA
Of course there was theatre at the very end. Two hours into this women’s Artistic Gymnastics Team final, with the USA coasting grandly at the head of the field, the logistics of competition left Simone Biles with one final act to stop the show.
Three years on from Tokyo and The Breakdown, the only discipline remaining in that same team event was the Biles floor routine. And so in front of Bill Gates, Gianni Infantino, Serena Williams and Spike Lee, in front of the eyes of the world as ever, Simone Biles got to dance like no one was watching.
Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
If you are someone who reads every perspective of a story, here is a news summary of all of today’s front pages from today’s newspapers; summarised in a 2-minute read
Editorial 31 July 2024.
Most of Wednesday’s front pages lead with tributes to the three young children who were stabbed to death in Monday’s attack in Southport. The three kids – aged 6, 7 and nine – names and pictures have been released.
Elsewhere, several papers cover the chancellor’s comments about coming tax rises on their front pages.
Olympic coverage bleeds onto the front page – whilst the back pages are dominated by Team GB.