The Guardian – Thousands take to the streets to counter threat from far right
The Guardian reports that thousands of anti-racism protesters formed “human shields to protect asylum centres” across England after days of unrest by far-right rioters. Holding placards saying “refugees welcome” and “reject racism, try therapy”, people took to the streets in towns and cities nine days after the country was shaken by the fatal stabbing of three girls in Merseyside and the rioting that followed. The front page also features a report on opioids. The paper says research finds one in three people taking the drugs show signs of becoming dependent, and one in eight are at risk from misuse. A picture of Matt Hudson-Smith – who narrowly missed out on gold at the Olympics- also features on the front page.
Thousands of anti-racism protesters take to streets across England to counter far-right rallies
Thousands of anti-racism protesters gathered across England and formed human shields to protect asylum centres after police warned of unrest from more than 100 far right-led rallies.
Holding placards saying “refugees welcome” and “reject racism, try therapy”, people took to the streets in towns and cities nine days after the country was shaken by the fatal stabbing of three girls in Merseyside and the rioting that followed. But there was little sign of the unrest seen over the past week.
Police staged their biggest mobilisation to counter disorder since the 2011 riots on Wednesday, saying many of the planned gatherings had the potential to turn violent.
Opioid painkillers put millions at risk of addiction or dependency – study
Millions of people are addicted to, or at risk of becoming dependent on, prescription opioid painkillers, according to international research.
The study found that one in three people taking prescribed opioid analgesics, which include codeine, tramadol, oxycodone and morphine, show symptoms of being dependent on them, while one in 10 become fully dependent on the drugs.
The research, led by academics from the University of Bristol and published in the journal Addiction, also showed that one in eight people are at risk of prescription opioid misuse.
It examined data from 148 international studies involving more than 4.3 million patients aged 12 and over who had non-cancer pain for three months or longer and who were prescribed the medicines.
Matt Hudson-Smith denied Olympic gold on line by Hall in 400m thriller
Fingers were starting to touch the keyboard. Intros being formulated, allusions to history made. “Matt Hudson‑Smith last night became the first Briton since Eric Liddell in 1924 to wi …” And then Quincy Hall came from the gods to have everyone pressing the delete key.
The 26-year-old American is known as an epic closer. But with 50 metres left of this Olympic men’s 400m final, we all thought he was too far back. Hudson-Smith was five or six metres ahead of him, the gold medal strides away. But then came the gut punch.
Suddenly the Briton’s legs started to tie up. Simultaneously Hall’s long, galloping strides increased in urgency and power. As they did he went from fourth, to third, to second. And, two metres from the line, to gold in 43.40sec – making him the fourth quickest 400m runner in history.
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 08 August 2024.
Almost all of Thursday’s front pages report on the anti-racism protestors taking to England’s streets yesterday – in peaceful demonstrations. There is also coverage of the first far-right thugs that have been sentenced for their roles in the rioting and disorder we have seen over the past week – following the stabbing deaths of three young girls and misinformation about the attacker spreading rapidly online.
Many front pages feature images of Matt Hudson-Smith – who narrowly missed out on Gold at the Olympics. His Olympics 2024 silver dominates the back pages and the UK sports pages.