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The UK was left shaken after three youngsters have been stabbed to demise and eight others have been injured in a knife assault in Southport, in one of many worst assaults towards youngsters within the nation in many years.

The assault came about at a Taylor Swift themed occasion at a dance college within the seaside city in northwest England, sparking disbelief over why would anybody goal youngsters having enjoyable throughout the summer time vacation.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated the “complete nation” was deeply shocked by the “actually terrible” assault, whereas King Charles III stated he was “profoundly shocked” by the “totally horrific incident.”

Here’s what we all know concerning the assault.

Police stated Monday two ladies, aged 6 and seven, have been killed and 6 of the 9 that have been injured have been in crucial situation. Officers stated the next day that one other youngster, a 9-year-old woman, had died on account of her accidents.

Two adults have been additionally critically injured, police stated, including that they suffered their injures as a result of they “have been bravely making an attempt to guard the kids who have been being attacked.”

Merseyside Police stated the assault came about at a Taylor Swift occasion at a dance college in Southport on Monday morning, and the pressure stated it obtained a name for assist simply earlier than noon. Emergency providers, together with 13 ambulances and different specialised assets, have been despatched to the scene and a “main incident” was declared.

Police named the ladies who died within the assault as Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe.

Images of the three victims that have been shared by their households present Alice carrying a princess-like white gown, whereas Elsie is pictured smiling into the digital camera in what seems to be a faculty uniform. Bebe is proven sporting two ponytails, wanting delighted whereas pointing to her t-shirt that reveals the image of Elphaba and Galinda, the 2 witches from the “Depraved” musical.

Police additionally shared a tribute from the household of Bebe King who stated: “No phrases can describe the devastation that has hit our household as attempt to take care of the lack of our little woman Bebe.”

The mother and father of Dasilver Aguiar referred to as the nine-year-old “our princess” and stated: “Maintain smiling and dancing such as you like to do our Princess, like we stated earlier than to you, you’re all the time our princess and nobody would change that.”

The police stated a 17-year-old minor was arrested on the scene on “suspicion of homicide and tried homicide.” He was taken to the police station and was being interviewed on Tuesday morning, the police stated.

Merseyside Police’s Chief Constable Serena Kennedy stated the suspect was from Banks in Lancashire and was initially from Cardiff in Wales.

She stated the suspect was armed with a knife when he walked into the varsity in Southport, however give no different particulars on him or his obvious motive, apart from saying the assault was not being handled as terror-related.

The incident on Monday is the worst mass stabbing assault focusing on youngsters within the UK in many years – and probably ever. Whereas knife crime has risen throughout the nation over the previous decade – with a slight dip throughout the pandemic years – mass stabbing incidents are extraordinarily uncommon.

The variety of knife crimes in England rose to 48,341 within the yr to April 2024, from 27,667 within the yr to April 2014, in accordance for the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics. Greater than 1 / 4 of the incidents came about in London.

However youngsters have been focused within the UK in different sorts of assaults. A number of youngsters, together with an 8-year previous woman have been killed in a terror assault on the live performance of pop singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in Could 2017.

And 16 youngsters aged between 5 and 6 have been murdered in a faculty capturing within the Scottish city of Dunblane in 1996. The bloodbath surprised the nation and led to a ban on the non-public possession of all handguns in mainland Britain.

Many within the space and throughout the nation have been left in disbelief after studying about what occurred. Southport is a small seaside resort and a preferred summer time vacation spot for households.

Starmer and different officers visited the location of the assault on Tuesday, paying tributes to the victims and thanking emergency responders who attended the scene.

Starmer laid a wreath of cream and yellow-colored flowers on the scene, alongside floral tributes left there by the local people.

Taylor Swift, whose music was the theme of the dance class that was focused by the assault, stated Tuesday she was “fully in shock.”

“The horror of yesterday’s assault in Southport is washing over me constantly, and I’m simply fully in shock. The lack of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everybody who was there, the households, and first responders. These have been simply little children at a dance class. I’m at an entire loss for the right way to ever convey my sympathies to those households,” Swift wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.

EXPLAINER

A 17-year-old suspect is in police custody after a UK knife assault kills three youngsters and injures 10.

Three youngsters have been killed in a stabbing throughout a dance class in Southport, a seaside city in northwest England. Ten individuals have been injured, and a younger male suspect has been arrested by the police.

Right here’s what we all know to date:

What occurred and when?

• At 11:47am (10:47 GMT) on Monday, a knife assault occurred at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop at a yoga studio for youngsters.
• In keeping with social media posts by the studio internet hosting the occasion, the category was for youngsters aged six to 11.
• The occasion was meant to final from 10am to midday and was run by two girls, a yoga teacher and a dance teacher.

The place is Southport?

• Southport is a seaside city 32km (20 miles) north of Liverpool. It’s house to about 100,000 individuals.
• The incident occurred on Hart Avenue in Southport.
• Each Southport and Liverpool are a part of Merseyside county.

What do we all know concerning the victims?

• Three youngsters have been killed. Two of them, aged six and 7 years, died on Monday. The third, a lady aged 9 years, died Tuesday morning because of accidents sustained through the knife assault, Merseyside Police stated in an announcement.
• Eight different youngsters have been injured. 5 of them are in essential situation.
• Two adults have been additionally injured whereas attempting to guard the youngsters and are in essential situation, in accordance with the police.

What do we all know concerning the suspect?

• A press release launched by the Merseyside Police on Monday stated the suspect is 17 and from Banks, Lancashire, about 8km (5 miles) from the location of the assault.
• He has been arrested on suspicion of homicide and tried homicide, stated the assertion, quoting Chief Constable Serena Kennedy.
• The suspect was born in Cardiff, the capital and largest metropolis of Wales. The assertion added that the suspect has been taken to a police station the place he will probably be investigated by detectives. No additional particulars of the suspect have been revealed to date.
• Whereas the suspect’s motives stay unclear, Merseyside Police stated on Tuesday that the “incident just isn’t at present being handled as terror-related and we’re not searching for anybody else in reference to it”.

How have UK authorities reacted?

• The North West Ambulance Service stated it transported the victims to Alder Hey Youngsters’s Hospital, Aintree College Hospital and Southport and Formby District Basic Hospital after dispatching “13 ambulances together with specialised sources”.
• Residence Secretary Yvette Cooper is in Southport on Tuesday morning and is slated to fulfill group leaders in addition to Kennedy and Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell.
• King Charles III stated the assault was “actually appalling” and supplied condolences and prayers for the victims.
• “Horrendous and deeply stunning information rising from Southport,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated on X. Previous to his current election, Starmer had promised to work in direction of curbing knife assaults in the UK.

Is knife crime on the rise within the UK?

• The UK strictly regulates gun possession. The Nationwide Crime Company reported that ranges of firearm crimes within the UK stay among the many lowest globally. The 12 months ending in March 2021 noticed the bottom stage of gun violence in at the least 5 years.
• The US noticed 4.31 deaths from gun violence per 100,000 individuals in 2021 whereas the UK had 0.013 deaths per 100,000, in accordance with the College of Washington’s Institute for Well being Metrics and Analysis.
• Knife crimes, however, are widespread within the UK.
• For a decade main as much as 2023, 38 p.c of murder circumstances concerned a pointy object, in accordance with the Home of Commons Library.
• In keeping with a report printed by the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics, “knife-enabled crime recorded by the police within the 12 months ending September 2023 elevated by 5 p.c in contrast with the 12 months ending September 2022”.
• Nonetheless, the statistics for knife crimes have been nonetheless decrease than they have been earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Stabbing incidents have sporadically occurred in Southport. On Sunday, 38-year-old Mark Henderson was arrested for tried homicide after an 18-year-old transgender girl was stabbed. The sufferer is in secure situation.
• In April, the Merseyside Police arrested three suspects from Southport in connection to a stabbing that occurred within the metropolis on March 29. They have been a 17-year-old boy; a person, 25; and a girl, 51.

What’s the most recent from Southport?

• The location of the assault is cordoned off by the police, and folks have been laying flowers for the victims on a avenue that has now gone quiet.
• In an X put up on Monday, Merseyside Police stated, “There isn’t any wider risk to the general public.”
• A vigil will probably be held on Tuesday night, the BBC quoted the Labour MP for Southport, Patrick Hurley, as saying.
• Taylor Swift reacted to the lethal assault with an announcement on Instagram. “The horror of yesterday’s assault in Southport is washing over me repeatedly and I’m simply fully in shock,” Swift wrote on Tuesday. “These have been simply little youngsters at a dance class. I’m at a whole loss for find out how to ever convey my sympathies to those households.”

NPR is in Paris for the 2024 Summer time Olympics. For extra of our protection from the video games head to our newest updates.

Transfer over, Clark Kent. America’s latest glasses-wearing (and glasses-shedding) superhero is Pommel Horse Man.

Stephen Nedoroscik was not precisely a family title going into Monday’s males’s gymnastics all-around finals. As Staff USA’s resident pommel horse specialist, he was there to compete in only one occasion, which occurred to be scheduled for final.

However within the hours that the 25-year-old waited on the sidelines, he began to draw consideration.

NBC put a countdown clock for “Nedoroscik Pommel” within the backside nook of its video feed. Observers obsessed over the truth that he gave the impression to be sleeping at instances, along with his eyes absolutely closed.

Social media was flooded with comparisons, from Superman and Captain America to Steve Kornacki and Barbie’s Ken (who famously has one job). Curious followers found Nedoroscik’s Instagram, the place he had posted simply hours earlier than about fixing a Rubik’s dice in beneath 10 seconds.

“Good omen,” he’d written.

Nedoroscik grew to become a hero in a single day. However he arrived in Paris as a little bit of a controversial determine.

U.S. males’s gymnastics, chasing its first Olympic crew medal since 2008, determined to modify up its technique this time round. Though all 5 members of the crew certified for the Video games, not all of them will compete in a number of occasions (there are six total).

Moderately than assign all 5 spots on the crew to “all-around” gymnasts who compete on every equipment, the U.S. determined to allot one slot on the crew to a specialist: Nedoroscik. He’s competing solely on pommel horse, a notoriously troublesome equipment and a weak spot for a lot of groups.

However not this yr, a minimum of not for Staff USA.

“What it comes right down to is that [Nedoroscik’s] scores on pommel horse are a lot increased than all people else on that one occasion that he provides an amazing quantity of potential rating,” stated Tim Daggett, an NBC Sports activities gymnastics analyst who himself received gold within the 1984 Olympics.

By the point Nedoroscik had shed his warm-up swimsuit and glasses, the U.S. was clinging precariously to its third-place spot and relying on him to maintain them there.

It was beneath the load of that strain that Nedoroscik hopped onto the handlebars. After a dizzying 40 seconds of spinning (by him) and screaming (by the group), he caught the dismount with a smile and a fist pump.

His teammates hugged and hoisted him into the air. They already knew what simply occurred: USA males’s gymnastics had received bronze, its first Olympic crew medal in 16 years.

Nedoroscik later informed reporters that he had finished his greatest to channel nerves into pleasure.

“I’ve finished this 1,000,000 instances at this level, and I simply tried my hardest to get pleasure from each second of that routine,” he stated.

And he answered a query on many peoples’ minds: He can see with out his glasses, however doesn’t suppose he’s utilizing his eyes in any respect.

“It’s all feeling,” he added. “I see with my arms.”

Nedoroscik’s journey didn’t finish on Monday. He’s the one member of Staff USA who certified for the ultimate of any particular person equipment (you’ll by no means guess which one). The pommel horse closing is slated for Saturday, and he’ll be chasing gold.

Nedoroscik’s path to the pommel horse — and Paris

Nedoroscik is a local of Worcester, Mass., and a 2020 graduate of Penn State, the place he studied electrical engineering and competed in gymnastics all 4 years.

He acquired into the game early, across the age of 4, he informed New England Public Media earlier this month.

“I’d crawl up the partitions, I’d shimmy up the door and it scared the babysitter,” he recalled. “And my mother and father simply referred to as me their ‘little monkey boy,’ they usually determined, ‘Hey, this child most likely would do an excellent job if we put him in gymnastics.’

On his first day on the youngsters’ gymnasium, he stated, he one way or the other climbed the 15-foot rope all the way in which to the highest — setting twenty years’ of gymnastics into movement.

As a teen, Nedoroscik stated he didn’t understand how good he was on the pommel horse till a visiting coach marveled that he might at some point be a nationwide champion. Positive sufficient, one yr later, he received the Junior Olympic nationwide title on pommel horse. By the point he acquired to varsity, he made that his focus.

“If you go from a membership gymnasium to a collegiate gymnasium, you see simply how proficient gymnasts actually are on this nation,” he stated. “And purely simply desirous to be the perfect at pommel horse at Penn State, I made a decision to specialize. And I’ve caught with that ever since.”

Nedoroscik initially had his sights set on the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, sporting his signature goggles. However the crew in the end introduced one other pommel horse specialist after he fell on the trials, in keeping with the Washington Publish.

He went on to win gold on this planet championships later that yr and has continued to compete, dominating nationwide and world competitions. His 4 U.S. pommel horse titles are tied for probably the most in U.S. historical past, in keeping with USA Gymnastics.

After he was named to the Olympic crew in late June, a shocked Nedoroscik informed reporters that his longtime dream had come true.

“After I was very, very younger folks would inform me, ‘In the future you’re going to be an Olympian!’ ” he stated. “Again then I used to be only a dorky little child. And now have a look at me — I’m a dorky grownup, going to the Olympics.”

He informed NEPM that he’s particularly proud to have made it to Paris given the ups and downs of the final three years, and the frustration he felt about not qualifying for Tokyo.

“This virtually seems like my vengeance, proper?” he stated. “Coming again swinging.”

NPR’s Becky Sullivan contributed reporting from Paris.

Sam Mikulak pulled Stephen Nedoroscik shut and tasked the American pommel horse specialist with the not possible.

The U.S. males’s gymnastics crew’s first Olympic medal in 16 years a solitary routine away, Mikulak informed the pommel horse specialist that he did not must go all out. That 80% could be adequate, though Mikulak knew full effectively that Nedoroscik by no means does something — from his sport to fixing a Rubik’s Dice — at 80%.

“You need to trick your self,” stated Mikulak, a three-time Olympian turned coach. “You have to ensure you do not let all of the noise get into your head.”

That often is not an issue for the 25-year-old from Worcester, Massachusetts. It takes a sure sort of single-mindedness to make the alternatives Nedoroscik has made for the final decade, when he primarily determined to dedicate himself to a single pursuit, specializing in an occasion that has lengthy been a weak spot for the U.S. males’s nationwide crew program.

Sure, there’s monotony concerned. How may there not be?

“I don’t understand how I don’t lose my thoughts,” Nedoroscik stated earlier than the Video games. “However each day I’m going into the gymnasium and there’s nonetheless one thing to do. There’s nonetheless one thing to enhance.”

Not anymore.

Proving a degree

He drilled his set throughout qualifying on Saturday to earn a spot on the occasion finals later within the Video games. However Monday night time, issues had been completely different. Teammates Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Paul Juda and Asher Hong had put collectively 17 straight routines and not using a miss, placing the People in place to achieve the medal stand for the primary time since 2008 in Beijing.

Whereas Nedoroscik had some wiggle room — the U.S. had a reasonably wholesome lead after Juda and Malone hit their units earlier than Nedoroscik saluted the judges — he additionally did not wish to merely maintain on. He needed to show a degree.

Not simply to himself, however to those that puzzled if he deserved to be there within the first place.

What adopted had been 45 seconds of elegant brilliance, with Nedoroscik’s arms touring from one finish of the horse to the opposite, his legs swooping this fashion, then that.

A couple of toes away, his 4 teammates — and the sizable contingent of U.S. followers inside Bercy Enviornment — roared as a medal that appeared distant for a program that had completed a distant fifth in every of its final three journeys below the rings — drew nearer.

By the point Nedoroscik neared his dismount, he knew his job was full. The celebration started earlier than his toes even hit the mat.

All these years, all these reps, each bodily and psychological, all of the troublesome instances when he puzzled whether or not to maintain going, all of the quirks he is developed alongside the best way — from the non-prescription goggles he generally rocks to the chef’s kiss to the digicam he sometimes makes — led as much as that second.

And he didn’t miss, delivering “the exclamation level” with a 14.866 to complete off a efficiency the U.S. males’s program hopes offers critical momentum heading into the 2028 Video games in Los Angeles.

“I sort of in that second was like, ‘All proper, let’s run it again and let’s go on the market and do our factor,’” Nedoroscik stated.

Filling a important hole

A “factor” that has lengthy been a sore spot for the U.S. in main worldwide competitors. The 2012 Olympic crew topped qualifying. Then they led off on pommel horse within the finals and noticed their medal hopes vanish one mistake at a time.

Nedoroscik understood the historical past. It is one of many causes he gravitated towards pommels. One other is the truth that it requires many issues — stamina, power and creativity chief amongst them — that he has in spades, significantly that final one.

He describes himself as a “late bloomer” on the occasion. These early struggles solely helped him press ahead.

“Working into hassle on the equipment early on taught me how one can struggle, how one can keep on, how one can actually go for that routine,” he stated. “And I feel that that has caught with me all through.”

In contrast to different occasions, that are painstakingly laid out and practiced on finish for months if not years, pommel horse permits gymnasts to paint outdoors the traces and make issues up as they go on. Miss a component right here? Nicely, possibly you can also make it up making an attempt one thing else later within the routine.

He says the tip result’s the sensation of “flying via the air,” although it is extra akin to levitation.

Extra work to be performed

Nedoroscik will soar into the occasion finals Saturday with an opportunity to place one other medal in his carry-on earlier than he heads residence. His 15.200 qualifying rating tied Eire’s Rhys McClenaghan for the tops among the many eight finalists.

He is able to experience the wave so far as it’ll take him. But no matter occurs on Saturday or for the remainder of his life for that matter, it is going to be troublesome to high Monday night time, when the man with the curly hair and the glasses that made him the sort of social media sensation solely the Olympics offers struck a blow for his sport, his teammates and himself. (Scroll down for extra social media reactions to Nedoroscik’s efficiency.)

“I am actually happy with these guys,” he stated whereas sitting alongside the group that turned U.S. males’s gymnastics royalty. “I really like you boys.”

Social media outpouring

Nedoroscik’s Olympic prep and efficiency created immediate social media fervor. Listed here are among the reactions from throughout the web:

LOS ANGELES — Erica Ash, an actress and comic recognized for her roles on “MADtv,” “Actual Husbands of Hollywood,” has died. She was 46.

Ash’s household confirmed she died after a battle with most cancers, the New York Instances and NPR reported on Monday.

“After an extended and brave battle with most cancers, she transitioned peacefully surrounded by her family members,” her household shared in a press release. “Erica was a tremendous girl and proficient entertainer who touched numerous lives along with her sharp wit, humor, and real zest for all times. Her reminiscence will dwell eternally in our hearts.”

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Ash was born on Sept. 19, 1977 in Florida, however she grew up within the Decatur space. She attended Emory College to review pre-medicine, however determined to take a yr off in Japan earlier than medical faculty.

“My mind was drained. I simply needed to take a yr off,” Ash advised Steve Harvey TV Present in 2018. “After I acquired there, I made a decision I used to be going to have a yr of simply sure. No matter experiences and issues got here my approach, I used to be going to say sure and never be afraid.”

Whereas she was in Japan, Ash stated she acquired a possibility to be a backup singer for a Japanese singer and that acquired her leisure profession began.

From there, Ash landed roles on Emblem’s “The Massive Homosexual Sketch Present” and the 14th season of “MADtv.”

Her breakout function got here in 2013 as Bridgette Hart within the parody present “Actual Husbands of Hollywood” created by Kevin Hart. Ash would later star within the Starz drama “Survivor’s Regret.”

Her movie tasks included “Scary Film 5″ and the Netflix movie “We Have a Ghost,” which premiered in 2023.

“Erica Ash was a lightweight. Lovely, humorous, past proficient. I used to be blessed to work along with her and name her my pal. My coronary heart goes out to her household and mates proper now,” stated Christopher Landon, who wrote and directed the movie.

“At present, #BETRemembers actress and comedienne Erica Ash who has handed away on the age of 46. Recognized for being equal elements witty and humorous, Erica starred in BET favorites equivalent to authorized drama “In Contempt” and actuality spoof “Actual Husbands of Hollywood”. We ship our deepest condolences and like to her mother and father, siblings, mates, and household. Fly excessive Queen,” BET wrote on Instagram.

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