Charlotte Church has launched a remarkable on-stage attack on Ed Sheeran, calling him a greedy capitalist for refusing to support Macklemore over the Gaza conflict.

The controversial Welsh singer, 40, also warned that Sheeran’s critics were “watching” him as the bitter dispute over Israel and Palestine spilled into his Loop tour across the United States.

Church, who has recently described herself as an advocate for Palestinians and spoken out against the UK ban on Palestine Action, encouraged the Cardiff audience—including under-18s—to chant “Free Palestine”.

Sheeran has faced intense criticism after Macklemore, the opening act on his Loop tour, was dropped following pro-Palestinian remarks made during Sheeran’s New Jersey concerts earlier this month.

Sheeran has twice broken down in tears on stage after support acts withdrew in solidarity with the rapper. He said he had made mistakes but was attempting to keep politics out of his concerts because many children attend them.

However, Church used her Cardiff performance this week to deliver a fierce criticism of the singer, accusing him of placing money before doing what she considered to be “the right thing”.

“Whilst he has made millions and has an enormous following, he has an enormous platform to do real good in the world. He chose consumerism and capitalism over doing the right thing,” Church told the crowd.

“So we say the same thing to Ed Sheeran because f**k the fact [he says] that musicians shouldn’t be involved in politics. F**k that s**t. Politics is life.”

She then declared, “Ed Sheeran, we’re watching you,” repeating the phrase with her band at least four times before leading the South Wales audience in chants of “Free Palestine”.

The Daily Mail reported last night that Great British Bake Off star Nadiya Hussain had shared a video accusing Ed Sheeran of shedding “white tears” and portraying himself as “the victim”.

Hussain, a devout Muslim, shared the video with her one million Instagram followers. It alleged that Sheeran’s tears were an example of “white tears”.

The video stated: “If the tears of Palestinians and Black, Brown and Indigenous communities carried as much gravity, genocide would not happen.”

“White tears” is a political expression used by some activists and commentators to describe situations in which a white person’s emotional reaction is viewed as shifting attention away from racism or oppression.

The video shared by the former Great British Bake Off winner, who did not provide her own commentary, featured British therapist Megan Cooper saying: “We’re all waking up to Ed Sheeran’s statement on stage, and I’m not going to go into what he said, but I do want to focus on one specific point.

“For those of us in white bodies, we need to understand and educate ourselves about white tears.

“White tears [are] a cultural tactic that uses emotion, consciously or unconsciously, to deflect accountability, gain sympathy and centre the self during conflict and challenge, particularly in discussions about racism and oppression.”

Ms Cooper added that, in this instance, “not only does emotion meet whiteness, but it also meets patriarchy. So what we have [are] not just tears, it’s power.

“What happens is that we become the victim. Our emotion is now valued above the actual issue, in this case, genocide. What this shines a light on is whose tears are seen, listened to and heard in our society—and whose are not.”

The Mail has approached Ms Hussain for comment. 

Sheeran – who insists the decision to drop Macklemore was made by his promoter, not by himself – told fans in Philadelphia he had ‘found out who his friends are’, adding: ‘I cannot hide how I feel… any more.’

The singer admitted to making ‘mistakes’ in his handling of the situation and backtracked on his previous vow not to bring politics to his show as he called the situation in Gaza ‘catastrophic and unjustifiable’ and Hamas’s October 7 attacks ‘horrific’.

In his first stage appearance since the Loop tour was plunged into turmoil, the father of two said he ‘never wanted to be an activist musician’ but the fierce criticism meant he has had to ‘take and make difficult decisions’.

He said: ‘I really didn’t know whether this tour would be carrying on. In these situations, you really find out who your friends are and it’s been a weird week. I just feel like it happened very quickly.

‘In the back of my mind, I saw the ticket sales for this gig and I didn’t see cancellations, I saw people buying tickets for this gig. 

‘Everyone’s telling me to cancel and I’m feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me.

‘I look at the end of the week and I see 50,000 people who haven’t abandoned me. People will say what they want, but I am doing this for you. I love you. I love this.’

Sheeran said his heart had been broken ‘by the scale of devastation and loss of lives’ and became emotional as he told a cheering crowd: ‘I’m so grateful you are here with me tonight.’

He apologised and became visibly emotional again at the end of the show for bringing politics to his concert – something he had vowed not to do.

Sheeran said at the end of the night: ‘The one thing that I would like to apologise for is the first bit of the show where it wasn’t about music and I had to talk.

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‘I understand that people have children here and I understand that families didn’t buy a ticket to hear that first bit of the show, but that was something I felt like I needed to say.’ 

Sheeran had previously said that ‘those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum’.

The gig at the Lincoln Financial Field marked the first time the star returned to the stage since the rapper Macklemore was dropped as his opening act after taking a vocal stance in favour of a ‘Free Palestine’.

In a solemn speech at the start of the concert, Sheeran said: ‘I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity and not division, about humanity and not politics. But this is a humanitarian issue and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore.’

‘What happened in Israel at Nova music festival on October 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain.

‘What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate,’ Sheeran said in a video captured and shared online by a concertgoer.

‘My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives, and the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked,’ he declared.

Sheeran told the audience that he plans to ‘continue my current tour’ despite each of his openers dropping out.

By the end of the show, Sheeran broke down into tears, telling fans: ‘I’m so grateful. The world is a scary place right now. America is a scary place right now. This gives hope. This gives hope.’

The crowd broke out in applause as Sheeran appeared deeply moved.

‘My shows are about this,’ he said. ‘They are about people coming together that don’t know each other, that have different beliefs. They’re about unity. They’re about love. They’re about family.’

As fans cheered, Sheeran vowed that the controversy would not stop him from performing.

‘You’re jumping around like maniacs with each other and having fun,’ he said. ‘And I will never stop doing this. I will never stop doing this. I love doing this so much.’

It came after Macklemore said Sheeran had spoken to Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts through his holding company, the Kraft Group.

‘Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium. Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues,’ he wrote.

On Tuesday, Sheeran released his own statement on Instagram, saying it wasn’t his decision to remove Macklemore from the tour, but rather the promoter’s.

‘I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living,’ the British singer-songwriter added.

Sheeran said in the lengthy statement that he has ‘personal views on this devastating conflict’ but made the choice ‘not to speak publicly’.

He has faced criticism from other artists, including Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, who bashed him on social media for not taking a stand against the decision.

Ed Sheeran’s cousin last week branded the pop star a ‘coward’ for dropping pro-Palestine Macklemore.

Jethro Sheeran, who at 44 is nine years older than his cousin, responded to the row by saying he was ‘ashamed’ of his relative.

In a furious post on Facebook, he said: ‘Finally it’s all coming out! I’m ashamed of my cousin Ed and what he’s done.

‘Finally the world and all his fans see through him. He’s not a good person, I don’t like his music so I can’t say he’s even a good artist.’

Billie Eilish’s brother, Finneas, pulled out of his scheduled appearances in upcoming tour dates, stating that ‘artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed’.

Tour openers including Aaron Rowe and the band Lukas Graham, along with Sheeran’s long-time backing folk band Beoga, also withdrew from the endeavour.

In his address to fans on Saturday, Sheeran stated: ‘I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so, so sorry.’

He said: ‘I don’t want to disappoint fans and I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician. But this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech in the most complex political issue on the planet.’

The pop star continued: ‘Our concerts have always been a safe space for everyone, and that matters hugely to me. Honouring my commitment to my fans is also completely central to who I am and that is why I’m here tonight, on my own, and continuing my own tour.’

He went on to say: ‘I am deeply worried about the idea that venues pre-approved content performance. This happens in so many places that I’ve gone around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.’

A wheelchair user who fatally stabbed a friend when she came to his aid during a drug-fuelled breakdown has died unexpectedly in prison.

Autumn Baker, 40, from Darley, about 60km north-west of Melbourne, was killed by Mark Graham Ludbrook on August 3, 2023.

Ludbrook was naked when he took a steak knife from the kitchen and stabbed himself in the abdomen. He then attacked the unarmed mother of two as she tried to intervene.

A Supreme Court of Victoria jury convicted him in February, after jurors at his first trial were unable to reach a verdict.

Ludbrook, 54, was sentenced in May to 19 years behind bars, with a minimum 14-year non-parole period. He was appealing the murder conviction at the time of his death.

He had been held in the specialist medical unit at Port Phillip Prison after a rare neurological disorder, transverse myelitis, left him dependent on a wheelchair.

Ludbrook reportedly died at the prison on September 13. Authorities have not publicly disclosed the circumstances surrounding his death.

News of his death prompted an angry response from Ms Baker’s friends, who used social media to challenge tributes posted in memory of the convicted killer.

“Rot in Hell Mark Ludbrook, you savage murderer of a young mother, Autumn Baker,” one person wrote.

“The death penalty, and in the same karmic manner. Now he knows how it feels to be on the receiving end,” another commenter said.

A further post read: “He may not have served out his sentence, but he got one better, in my opinion.”

The criticism followed tributes from people who had known Ludbrook and remembered him more positively.

“Will cherish the times we had together DJing at gigs and going to festivals,” one friend wrote. “A great bloke and will be missed by everyone who knew him.”

Ms Baker was a prominent anti-vaccination campaigner who appeared in several videos protesting mandatory Covid vaccinations during Victoria’s lockdowns.

On January 15, 2022, she took the microphone at a major protest held in support of tennis star Novak Djokovic.

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Djokovic had been detained and later deported from Australia after opposing Covid vaccination requirements.

In footage from the rally, Ms Baker led chants including “The people united will never be defeated”, “Hey Pfizer, leave our kids alone”, “Hands off our kids, they are not your guinea pigs”, “Free Victoria” and “No more vax pass.”

The court heard Ms Baker had shown nothing but compassion for her killer in the lead up to her murder.

The court heard Ms Baker was stabbed repeatedly in the chest and face around her eyes and left to die on the bedroom floor.

She had suffered defensive cuts to her hands as she fought for her life.

The court heard Ludbrook’s behaviour had become erratic after he took a double dose of an illegal ketamine-like drug called PCE at his Hoppers Crossing home, west of Melbourne, while being attended by his carer.

‘You told [her] that you needed to sleep with her to save the animals, which she rebuffed,’ Justice Gorton said.

‘You then removed your pants and stood at the end of the bed … You asked [her] to give you high fives or a high tenner to say, “Hallelujah when your hands connected.”‘

Ludbrook was also seen spitting on cash and smearing it over his naked body while ‘saying that you would save 10,000 souls,’ Justice Gorton said.

The episode escalated when Ms Baker arrived at the house out of concern for Ludbrook, who had been her friend.

His death will be investigated by the coroner. 

Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jonathan Duniam has urged the Australian Government to prevent streamer Hasan Piker from entering the country, arguing that his record of controversial comments should be examined under migration law.

Piker, among the world’s most prominent online commentators, is scheduled to appear at the iStream convention in Melbourne in January 2027.

Organisers describe the event as ‘Australia’s largest content creator convention’. It is also expected to feature major online personalities including TommyInnit and Pokimane.

Piker is listed on the programme alongside Australian media personality Abbie Chatfield, with organisers describing him as the ‘face of pop culture and lifestyle on Twitch’.

His planned appearance has renewed scrutiny of past remarks on terrorism, geopolitics and extremist groups.

‘Hasan Piker has made many obscene and notorious remarks about a number of sensitive issues, including the 9/11 attacks, Hamas and Israel,’ Duniam told the Daily Mail.

‘So, if he has been granted a visa to Australia by the Albanese Government, it is very difficult to understand how that could possibly have been allowed.’

Duniam said Piker could potentially fail Australia’s character test, provisions that have previously been used to prevent high-profile commentators such as Candace Owens from entering the country.

‘The character provisions of Australia’s migration laws are meant to provide the Government with the ability to consider whether an overseas visitor would risk vilifying Australians or inflaming community division and to block the arrival of any such person,’ he said.

‘Any clear-headed assessment of Piker’s past record would surely have to invoke these provisions.’

Piker, who broadcasts under the name HasanAbi, is one of Twitch’s most prominent progressive political commentators in the United States.

He initially built an audience at The Young Turks, the left-wing digital media outlet founded by his uncle, Cenk Uygur. Piker left the organisation in 2020 to concentrate on his growing online platforms.

He now runs one of Twitch’s largest political channels, combining news analysis, interviews, commentary and gaming content.

Piker’s influence also extends to political organising. Last year, he campaigned alongside prominent progressive Democrats, including Zohran Mamdani, who is now New York’s mayor.

Critics have accused Piker of making comments supportive of groups including Ansar Allah, better known as the Houthi movement, which Australia classifies as a terrorist organisation.

In January 2024, Piker interviewed a Yemeni social media figure following the hijacking of the Galaxy Leader cargo ship during Houthi operations in the Red Sea.

The interview prompted condemnation from commentators who argued that it risked sanitising the Iran-backed group’s actions.

In another livestream, Piker reportedly praised Houthi attacks on shipping linked to Israel and discussed vessel seizures with enthusiasm.

He said he did not ‘have an issue’ with Hezbollah, while acknowledging its status as a terrorist organisation in the US.

Piker has also faced scrutiny for comments regarding Hamas and the October 7 attacks in Israel. 

Critics point to comments in which he described Hamas as ‘a thousand times better than Israel’ and said allegations of sexual violence during the attacks did not alter his broader view of the conflict. 

During a 2024 exchange with a Cambridge University student, Piker was repeatedly pressed to unequivocally condemn Hamas’s massacre at the Nova music festival, where hundreds were killed. 

When asked if there could ever be context for the murder of concertgoers, Piker said it was ‘important to understand the context in which violent resistance has evolved, whether it be Hamas or whether it be any militancy’.

The student argued ‘there is a time to say something is unequivocally evil and something is unequivocally unjustifiable,’ referencing the killings, mutilations and reports of sexual violence during the attack.

Piker called the events ‘horrifying atrocities’, but argued they were not driven by ‘antiquated antisemitic tendencies’ or a desire for mass rape.

Pushed on whether the perpetrators were motivated by antisemitism, he replied: ‘No.’

The student also challenged Piker about the Houthis, noting their slogan contains the phrase ‘Death to the Jews’. Piker said he had been critical of that rhetoric.

Critics have argued the exchange showed Piker sought to contextualise the October 7 massacre rather than provide an unequivocal condemnation of Hamas. 

Before Russia’s invasion in 2022, Piker also dismissed concerns of an imminent attack as ‘Western fearmongering’ and claimed Crimea was effectively Russian territory. He later apologised. 

Mr Duniam said Australia must be cautious about giving a platform to figures whose public statements risk minimising extremist violence.

‘At a time when social cohesion is under strain, we should be asking whether inviting figures with a record of inflammatory comments helps bring Australians together or drives communities further apart,’ he said.

The British Home Office barred both Piker and his uncle, The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur, from entering the UK in June 2026. 

Australia’s Department of Home Affairs, iStream and Piker were contacted by the Daily Mail for comment.

The United States is preparing to establish two additional military bases in Greenland under an agreement that President Donald Trump says gives Washington permanent control over the territory’s security.

Trump is expected to sign the agreement with Danish and Greenlandic leaders at the United Nations General Assembly. The deal is intended to outline the expansion of the US military presence across Greenland.

“I’m looking forward to the meeting tomorrow. I think we have reached a good agreement,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told TV2 Denmark.

The proposed arrangement would see the US revive a Cold War-era base in southern Greenland and establish another facility on the east coast, at a site currently used by Denmark’s military dog-sled patrol.

The locations are Narsarsuaq, where only a few dozen people remain after the US shut its Bluie West One base in the 1950s, and Mestersvig, a remote military outpost used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit.

The agreement has not been released publicly. Three people familiar with the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the terms would not be finalized until the document is signed.

The governments of Denmark and Greenland did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

A White House spokesperson also declined to discuss the agreement’s details, instead repeating an earlier statement that Tuesday’s signing would “secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States.”

Denmark says the arrangement places Arctic security within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, rather than leaving responsibility exclusively to Washington and Copenhagen.

The agreement comes after months of pressure from Trump, who has repeatedly said he wants the United States to control Greenland. At times, he has also refused to rule out using military or economic force to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Polling indicates that the proposal has been rejected by an overwhelming majority of Greenland’s population.

Trump’s threats, which reached a peak in January, sparked a diplomatic crisis within NATO and prompted Denmark and Greenland to open talks with Washington in an effort to ease tensions.

During the Cold War, the United States operated 17 military installations in Greenland and stationed more than 10,000 personnel there.

Today, only Pituffik Space Base remains, with approximately 150 US military personnel based at the facility.

Under the proposed agreement, Greenland would remain part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Trump said on Friday that the United States had reached an agreement with Denmark granting Washington “permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many US concerns.”

It was not immediately clear what the president meant by “all other needs.”

‘At my direction, we worked with representatives of Denmark and Greenland to guarantee that the United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States of America,’ Trump wrote, calling it an ‘infinite life’ agreement.

‘Additionally, from now on, no US adversary can EVER have a base in Greenland, have a military presence in Greenland, or make sensitive investments in Greenland, without our express written approval,’ he claimed.

The US will now ‘immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland, of which there are many’ and will work with the people of Greenland in its development and construction.

It will allegedly not cost the US anything, Trump insisted, as a senior official told Fox News the deal would even remain in effect if Greenland were to ever become an independent country.

‘This solution is a great one for the United States of America, Denmark, Greenland, and all of our Allies,’ he wrote.

‘We look forward to working with the wonderful people of Denmark and Greenland toward a magnificent future with respect to this large, and highly strategic, parcel of land,’ the president continued. ‘We will be very protective of it!’

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‘This is a dream come true for the United States of America, one that is very important, historic, and special,’ he concluded. 

Greenland and Denmark’s parliaments will also have to approve it, their governments said in a joint statement. 

‘It is gratifying that we are about to enter into an agreement that ensures and strengthens the security of Greenland, the Kingdom of Denmark, the United States and the Western alliance,’ Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said.

‘The agreement recognizes Greenland’s interests and our place in international cooperation. It is to the benefit of us all,’ he insisted.

Frederiksen also said the agreement ‘recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination’. 

Under the deal, Denmark and Greenland would no longer have to approve any new US military installations on the island, according to Fox News.

But the deal only allows the US and its allies to make ‘sensitive investments’ on the territory, including telecommunications infrastructure, undersea capabilities, ports and critical minerals.

The deal also falls short of ceding control of the territory to the US.

Trump framed his push to acquire the island as a national security imperative, citing Greenland’s strategic position in the Arctic and China’s and Russia’s ambitions to expand their presence in the region.

Northern Command boss General Gregory M Guillot has noted how Greenland could host part of an array of radar stations in the Arctic that includes outposts in Alaska and Canada. 

He has also said that the US seeks a deepwater port and a base for US special forces on the island.

Trump first floated the idea of bringing Greenland into the US sphere of influence during his first term in 2019. 

Since returning to the office, he has repeatedly doubled down on that.

But at first, officials in Greenland and Denmark, which holds sovereignty over the self-governing territory, scoffed at Trump’s insistence that the US must ‘own’ Greenland as the president threatened that US forces could be used to take control of the island.

Still, representatives from Denmark and Greenland agreed to sit down with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House adviser Stephen Miller and officials at the State Department and National Security Council. 

The months-long closed-door negotiations focused on allowing American troops to stay on the island indefinitely, co-operation on extracting the island’s rich natural resources like rare earths and oil and the possible re-opening of a Second World War-era US military base on the southern coast.

Eventually, officials in Denmark and Greenland came to see the agreement as serving their own security interests, and the three parties reached a deal that satisfied all sides, a source familiar with the negotiations told Fox.

‘They recognize at the end of the day that they have a national security concern here as well,’ Rubio explained to the outlet.

‘Denmark and Greenland understand that they don’t have the financial means necessary to defend Greenland if it were to come under attack or be threatened. The United States has the power to do that.’ 

Rubio also commended the president for reaching the agreement.

‘This historic deal is a huge win for the United States and the American people,’ he said in a statement to the Daily Mail.

‘Thanks to President Trump’s vision and leadership, this historic agreement permanently guarantees US security interests in the Arctic at zero cost to the US taxpayer,’ Rubio noted.