John Healey has resigned as defence secretary, saying Keir Starmer is “unwilling to commit the resources” needed to defend Britain. In his resignation letter, Healey wrote that the PM’s defence investment plan, expected to be unveiled in the next few days, falls “well short” of what is required for the country “at this dangerous time”. Police used water cannons to disperse rioters in Northern Ireland during a second night of anti-immigration protests, which saw 12 police officers injured. The Sudanese man charged with attempted murder following Monday’s knife attack claimed asylum in Belfast after travelling across Ireland’s invisible border from Dublin. The UK government is reportedly now considering a crackdown on this “backdoor” route for illegal immigration. The football World Cup begins this evening with co-hosts Mexico taking on South Africa at 8pm in Mexico City. Shakira and Burna Boy are set to perform at the first of the tournament’s three opening ceremonies – events in Canada and the US, the other hosting nations, are scheduled for Friday. England’s first game, against Croatia, is next Wednesday at 9pm; Scotland will play Haiti on Sunday at 2am.

Nearly four months into the war in Iran, says Reuel Marc Gerecht in UnHerd, “Israel still has targets to hit”. The latest round of ceasefire-busting strikes smashed Iranian missile defence systems and a petrochemical plant. In private, Israeli security officials give the impression they could still kill senior leaders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and possibly even Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader. That’s a phenomenal achievement. Before the war, Mossad and Aman, Israel’s military intelligence wing, had a deep network of local agents and extraordinary penetration of Iranian comms. The strikes that launched the conflict revealed Israel’s hand, kickstarting a counter-espionage effort to block future actions. So to have maintained communication with agents in the field in these conditions is nothing short of miraculous.

It helps that Iran’s “chatty ruling elite” have a hard time being disciplined about secure communications. It’s also a good bet that Israel has some pretty serious encrypted satellite systems for reaching its spies. What has become far harder is recruiting the next generation of local assets. American and Israeli handlers can’t exactly “cold pitch” Iranian officials when they can’t safely get anywhere near the country. But with internal dissent growing, waves of Iranians, particularly ethnic Persians, are “eagerly ratting on the theocracy and the Revolutionary Guards”, including somehow getting the message out to Israelis concerning the whereabouts of hated officials – allowing the IDF to take them out. It also helps that Tehran’s nuclear establishment has become an ultra-paranoid viper pit, where conspiracy-addled officials take the “counter-espionage buzzsaw” to a lot of innocent people who could otherwise help build a bomb. Many in the West want to believe diplomacy is the only way to end the war. To Mossad, Aman and the IRGC, “it’s a duel to the death”.

One striking feature of the rioting in Belfast on Tuesday night was how different it was to its English equivalent, says Aris Roussinos in UnHerd. Instead of the “carnival of live streamers” we’ve become used to, this was a “serious” operation, coldly and carefully targeted at migrant homes: no phones or cameras were allowed, protesters were advised to dress in “all-dark clothes” and “mask up”. Commanding-looking men in expensive 4x4s oversaw youths filling petrol bombs and setting fire to barriers. And journalists were not welcome. Asking around for an interview, I was cornered by two burly men: “Are you f***ing daft?” one asked. “F*** away off and get on home before you get kneecapped.”

London is getting a brand new skyscraper “taller than the Shard”, says Fabio Crispim in Metro, with a panoramic viewing gallery, public gardens and London’s highest bar. Newly released plans show that the £1bn, 1,015-ft behemoth, which will be erected between the Cheesegrater and the Gherkin on the site of the old St Helen’s Tower, will feature Europe’s highest publicly accessible viewing gallery on its top floors, along with children’s educational spaces on levels 72 and 73, in partnership with the London Museum. The tower’s name: One London.

Around a month ago, says Sarah Carson in The i Paper, my Instagram feed became flooded with influencers posting videos about a “typical evening” as a woman in her 20s or 30s “with no friends”. These generally involve curling up in a pristine and cosy-looking flat with scented candles, a “beautiful and balanced meal for one”, fizzy water in a wine glass, an LED skincare mask, a fluffy cat, a puzzle, a “BookTok hit on Kindle” and a 9pm bedtime. It’s ok, say these videos, “and in fact quite glamorous”, to be introverted to the point of reclusiveness, because you can still look hot while you’re doing it.

This is insane. There’s nothing serene about loneliness – “it’s a torment”, and it’s absolutely not something we should “surrender to and pretend is aspirational”. People are supposed to be connected to each other. Companionship, love, support, trust, a duty to others, even when they’re annoying: these are the things that make us human. But at some point – “and social media is largely to blame” – the world began to preach that a successful, happy life is rooted in selfishness. We are told to “protect our peace” and reminded that “‘no’ is a full sentence”. We should stop “people pleasing” (what the hell’s wrong with pleasing people?) and cut off friends and family who are “toxic”. Obviously ditching proper bastards makes sense, but we seem to have forgotten that we have a responsibility to be there for other people and occasionally do things we don’t always want to do. Avoiding parties where we don’t know many people or dodging office drinks to “stay professional” might seem like it makes life easier. But all it really does is “make our worlds smaller”.

Thanks to the ministrations of Magnolia Wilds zoo, says Rachel Wolfe in The Wall Street Journal, “there is a Nile crocodile loose somewhere in central Louisiana”. It’s in good company – the zoo, near the town of Ethel, has also misplaced a Marabou stork, a lynx, two Indian crested porcupines, a family of capybaras, a mob of kangaroos, a flock of flightless rheas, a herd of water buffalo and an “entire safari exhibit of bison, zebras and antelope”. Other incidents include a red river hod goring an employee and a hyena biting a teenager. Former owner Gabriel Ligon is nevertheless sanguine about his record. When you run a zoo, he says, “zoo things” happen.

Halfway through a Thursday lunch service at the Clerkenwell restaurant Bouchon Racine earlier this year, says Hannah Evans in The Times, a young man rushed into the dining room holding a Post-it note. He was a bellboy from the Ritz, in “full regalia”, who had been dispatched to the acclaimed French bistro to secure a table for two of the hotel’s guests. Asked why he had trekked halfway across London, the bellboy replied: “Well, you don’t answer the phones.” The manager managed to find them a table, and they are now regulars who dine at Bouchon at least once a week.

It’s an AI deepfake of Nigel Farage confronting Bank of England chief Andrew Bailey in the Question Time studio, says Dan Milmo in The Guardian. The videos, which show Farage holding a gun while he grapples with Bailey and police officers trying to separate the duo, are designed to lure people into crypto scams. Bailey has urged people to be “vigilant” about scam videos, and Farage wrote on X: “Whilst Andrew Bailey and I have our disagreements, I would never take it that far!”