Violence tests European leaders

A spate of high-profile violent crimes is roiling the UK and France.

The French president said Wednesday that trust in the country’s institutions is “at stake,” after an 11-year-old girl was killed by a suspect who had twice been formally accused of rape, with the revelations triggering protests and a political crisis.

The UK government is grappling with a wave of anti-immigrant violence in Northern Ireland after a Sudanese refugee was accused of a stabbing. “The Belfast riots are the latest upheaval in a prolonged crisis over race and immigration in Britain,” The Washington Post wrote.

British authorities are also facing blowback over the death of a student who was stabbed by a Sikh man, and was handcuffed by officers as he lay dying.