A wartime hero has been honoured on his 100th birthday.
Ronald Brignall was 16 years old when he saved Cardiff City Hall from destruction during World War Two.
He carried a sandbag between his teeth, with another under his arm, while he scaled a drainpipe to douse the flames.
Image: Ronald Brignall. Pic: PA
Mr Brignall climbed back up the pipe with a fire hose, also gripped between his teeth, to finish the job.
At the time, he was studying a plumbing qualification at college.
He was walking home when he saw an incendiary bomb land on the roof of City Hall.
He told his local paper at the time that his jaw was sore from carrying the sandbag and that he had ruined his suit.
Speaking ahead of his honour, Mr Brignall said he “didn’t have any fear” and that he “just wanted to make sure the bomb didn’t do any damage to City Hall”.
He later became an official fire-watcher to help keep Cardiff safe during the war, and then joined the RAF in 1944.
Image: Cardiff City Hall. File pic: PA
Cardiff mayor Bablin Molik visited Mr Brignall in the Sussex care home where he now lives to present him with a special certificate.
Mr Brignall’s son Ian said his father was “thrilled to have this recognition”.
“It’s a perfect present on his birthday,” he added.
Read more: Intrigue over ‘World War Two’ plane propeller blade in potato sacks Sir Winston Churchill’s false teeth ‘snapped up’ at auction
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Ms Molik said the “best part” of her work was to meet “remarkable people”.
“I know this is a rather belated honour but it is no less heartfelt and I assured Mr Brignall and his family that the whole of Cardiff expresses its gratitude for the heroics he performed on that day in 1941,” she added.
A 24-year-old has been hailed the “backpack hero” for confronting the suspect after the stabbing of a British girl and five others in a French park – while using his bag as a shield.
Henri, who was on a nine-month Catholic pilgrimage around France‘s cathedrals, said that after realising the extent of the attack he “followed [his] instincts and tried to protect [the] children”.
Four children, aged between 22 months and three years old, were left with “life-threatening injuries” after the suspect, a Syrian refugee named by French media as Abdalmasih H, rampaged through the lakeside park in the town of Annecy.
The most critically injured children were two cousins.
Two adult men were also hurt during the incident – one of whom was injured with the knife and by a shot fired by police as they were arresting the suspect.
Image: Henri following the suspect with his backpack after the attack in French park
Using his bag to swipe at the attacker, and at one point throwing one of the backpacks to fend off his blade, Henri told broadcaster BFMTV that he acted off his instincts and immediately ran after the suspect, trying to scare him off and distance him from the injured.
“I didn’t even think, I must admit the brain really unplugged,” he said.
“For me, it was just impossible to let those who can’t defend themselves get attacked by someone who seemed like a crazy person.
“I had my big 20kg backpack on my back, I tried to run with the big one at first in the park behind him before realising he was much faster than me so I got rid of my big backpack after and followed him with my little bag.”
Image: The knife attack suspect
Henri added: “He tried to attack me at some point, our eyes have met.
“I understood that it wasn’t a guy in a normal state, something really bad was inside of him and it had to absolutely be stopped.
“I am far from alone in having reacted.
“Many other people around started, like me, to run after him to try to scare him, push him away.
“And other people immediately went over to the children to take care of the injured.”
Read more: British girl, 3, has ‘woken up’ – Macron Victim was there on holiday What do we know about the Annecy knife attacker?
Image: Henri the ‘backpack hero’
Image: President Emmanuel Macron talks with Henri
President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that the victims would “continue to improve”.
The two cousins have been stabilised and the three-year-old British national is “awake and watching television” after being treated at a hospital in Grenoble, Mr Macron said.
A wounded Dutch girl has also improved and a critically injured adult is regaining consciousness.
He said that the children were saved by the “swiftness” of those who intervened after the incident, including Henri.
Henri asked the French president if he could be invited to the inauguration of Notre-Dame Cathedral – which was partially destroyed in a fire in 2019 – when it re-opens.
Mr Macron said he will personally make sure he is invited.
“Thank you immeasurably for your courage,” Mr Macron said to those who intervened. “You experienced very hard moments, traumatising. I am very proud of you.”
Motives for the attack remain unknown, but there was “no apparent terrorist motive”, according to local prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis.
Image: Pic: AP
Image: People pay tribute at scene of attack
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the 31-year-old suspect recently had an asylum request rejected because he has held refugee status in Sweden for the past 10 years.
French authorities rejected the request on 26 April but the suspect only learned of the decision on 4 June, French broadcaster BFMTV said.
Henri’s father, Francois, said his son “told me that the Syrian was incoherent, saying lots of strange things in different languages, invoking his father, his mother, all the Gods”.
“In short, he was possessed by who knows what, but possessed by folly, that’s certain,” he said.
A six-year-old boy who fell through ice into a lake in Solihull is still fighting for his life, as one of the three children who died was named locally.
Mourners left flowers, balloons, soft toys and lighted candles at a vigil held on Monday night following the deaths of three boys aged eight, 10 and 11.
One of those who died has been named as 10-year-old Jack Johnson, who has been described to Sky News as a “hero” because he went into the lake to try to save others.
The boys fell through the ice into Babbs Mill lake in the West Midlands along with a fourth boy, aged six, who remains in a critical condition in hospital.
Image: Tributes have been paid to the three boys who died
He was pulled from the water by emergency crews, including a police officer who tried to punch through ice during the rescue efforts.
West Midlands Police said nobody else had been reported missing.
A friend of one of the boys who died told Sky News how the events unfolded.
Tommy Barnet, 10, said one of the boys got his legs stuck in the ice before his friends rushed over to help him, but they all fell in.
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‘They all fell in’ – friend on lake deaths
Tommy told Sky News: “They were all playing on the ice, one got their legs stuck in the ice and then… his friends went to go and save him, but they all fell in.
“When it was summer, we used to go in the woods and play hide and seek next to the lake. But I wasn’t here yesterday.”
“It’s so sad, I am upset,” Tommy said, as he described how the community was waiting to hear the names of the other boys involved.
“They want them [the police] to reveal more information about it just to make sure who it is.”
The four children were all in cardiac arrest when rescue teams pulled them out.
They were taken to hospital but police said three of them “could not be revived”.
Reports from the scene and social media videos indicate they were playing on the ice and fell through, the fire service said.
Members of the public and police officers initially went into the chilly waters to try to get the youngsters out, before the children were reached by specialist water rescue-trained firefighters who got the group to safety.
Families affected by the tragedy are “absolutely devastated”, said Superintendent Richard Harris of West Midlands Police.
Temperatures are thought to have plunged to 1C (34F) in the area at the time of the incident, falling to minus 3C (26F) overnight.
Ben Stokes will retire from one-day internationals after Tuesday’s match with South Africa.
England’s Test captain inspired his country to success in the 2019 Cricket World Cup, as they beat New Zealand in the final at Lord’s.
The 31-year-old says he wants to concentrate on his Test career.
In a post on Instagram, Stoke wrote that retiring was an “incredibly tough decision to make” but added that “I can’t give my teammates 100% of myself in this format”.
“The England shirt deserves nothing less from anyone who wears it,” he said.
“Three formats are just unsustainable for me now. Not only do I feel that my body is letting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us, but I also feel that I am taking the place of another player who can give Jos and the rest of the team their all.
“It’s time for someone else to progress as a cricketer and make incredible memories like I have over the past 11 years.”
He added that he will continue to play T20 cricket and wished recently appointed captain, Jos Buttler, and new coach Matthew Mott “every success going forward”.
Stokes has played 101 ODIs for England, after he made his debut in August 2011 against Ireland.
He has scored 2,919 runs and taken 74 wickets in the format and was part of the team that lifted the 2019 World Cup at Lords in 2019, scoring 84 not out in the final.
In April 2022, Stokes was named as England’s Test captain after Joe Rootstepped down.
In a statement, the ECB said Stokes’ ODI career would “forever be remembered” for his role in the World Cup final at Lord’s, where he scored an unbeaten 84 to help England win via a Super Over.
“I know this must have been a tough decision, but I completely understand why he has reached this conclusion,” added Rob Key, the managing director of England men’s cricket.
In June, World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan retired from international cricket, with Buttler appointed as the side’s new captain.
