Author: Darren Smith

An American man whose interaction with a young boy on a balcony in Bogotá was filmed and shared globally as apparent evidence of child sexual abuse has been fully cleared by Colombian authorities, who confirmed he was in fact helping the child who was choking, in a case that caused a violent mob reaction and has now put a three-year adoption process at risk. The 36-year-old Texas man was taken into custody after a bystander filmed what she believed to be a sexual assault taking place on a balcony and began shouting. The footage spread rapidly on social media, prompting…

The world’s largest Ford dealership group has been accused of encouraging people to exploit the taxpayer-funded Motability scheme before tighter eligibility rules come into force on 1 July, running adverts urging customers to “beat the changes” and lock in current benefits before a planned crackdown slashes funding by a third. Trust Ford, a trading name of the Ford Retail Group — a subsidiary of Ford of Europe — is running adverts on social media and podcasts telling people who receive disability benefits they may be eligible for a brand new Ford, and that they should order before the July deadline…

South Yorkshire Police have released an e-fit image of a man they want to identify after a woman was grabbed and sexually assaulted in Doncaster city centre last month. The incident took place on Tuesday 12 May and the suspect has been described as having several distinctive physical characteristics that officers hope will help the public identify him. The man is believed to be aged between 50 and 60, around 5ft 5in tall, with a bald head, tattoos on both his neck and fingers, and a tracheotomy tube in the base of his throat. South Yorkshire Police are urging anyone…

A Brazilian spiritualist with more than 23 million social media followers has claimed that an alien invasion will strike the World Cup match between Brazil and Scotland on 24 June, warning that thousands of fans and players will be abducted by extraterrestrial craft at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Vó Bahiana, who describes herself as a clairvoyant, said she had two separate dreams this month about the match, both featuring multiple UFOs descending on the stadium. In an emotional Instagram post, she said: “I have to tell you that I dreamed again about aliens invading the soccer…

Kyle Calder, a former Chicago Blackhawks forward who won gold with Team Canada at the 2003 IIHF World Championships, has died at the age of 47 following a brief illness, with tributes pouring in from the hockey world. The Alberta native’s death was announced late on Monday night in an Instagram post by his daughter Madison, who had been coaching youth hockey with the Los Angeles Jr. Kings at the time of his passing. The team confirmed he had been dealing with a brief illness but gave no further details about the cause of death. Madison’s tribute was one of…

A 59-year-old woman has died after falling around 100 feet during a cave-rappelling excursion in Rio de Janeiro, just days after a young woman was thrown to her death without a safety rope at a separate Brazilian adventure site, raising fresh concerns about safety standards at the country’s extreme sports attractions. Rosemary Suzart Garcia died on 14 June after falling from a cliff inside the Spar Cave complex in Marica, Rio de Janeiro, during a group activity involving around 15 participants. Witnesses said Garcia was fully equipped with a helmet, gloves and other protective gear as she moved along the…

A Russian warship has fired warning shots at a British yacht in the English Channel in an incident the Ministry of Defence is investigating, with British and French vessels mobilising in response and a Royal Navy helicopter operating over the area. The incident occurred at around 11.40am today, with shots fired from approximately 500 yards away at a location roughly 20 nautical miles south of the Isle of Wight, between the island and the Normandy coast in international waters. There are no reports of injuries or damage to the yacht. The vessel responsible is the Admiral Grigorovich, a 4,000-tonne guided-missile…

Robert F Kennedy Jr once released a snake into a swimming pool packed with children during a family birthday party, his sister Kerry Kennedy has claimed, using the anecdote to argue that the Health and Human Services Secretary lacks the judgment required for his role. Kerry Kennedy, 66, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday that the incident occurred at her daughter’s birthday party, when she discovered a snake in the garden and called her brother to deal with it. Kennedy, 72, arrived carrying a pillowcase and his then-infant son Aidan, grabbed the snake and stuffed it into the bag while…

A Russian exile who spent years mocking Vladimir Putin in satirical paintings has been shot dead in Poland in what investigators are treating as a targeted assassination, days after staging a provocative protest outside the Russian embassy in Berlin and claiming to have received threats from pro-Kremlin supporters. Semyon Skrepetsky, 44, whose real name is Robert Kuzovkov, was shot five times in a car park in the eastern Polish city of Biała Podlaska, around 40 kilometres from the Belarusian border, on Monday. Polish prosecutors confirmed that a lone gunman approached him at close range and fired two shots before standing…

A family friend of a 20-year-old American student found dead in Japan has publicly called out online sleuths for their “especially painful” focus on how he died, as his grieving mother described being overwhelmed by waves of pain so intense she can barely breathe. James “Weston” Higginbotham, a biosystems engineering student at Auburn University in Alabama, went missing on 29 May during a family holiday in Japan after an argument with his family, which his mother Nancy told NBC News began over her use of ChatGPT. “We try never to use it and I totally agree with him. It was…