Author: Darren Smith

Two men fled into woodland after realising they had failed to attach a safety rope before throwing a young woman to her death from a bridge in Brazil, as tributes poured in describing her as a “beautiful” graduate “full of dreams” who had shared a haunting final post moments before the jump. Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, was seen in disturbing footage circulating online being carried by two workers, one holding her legs and the other her torso as she held a “superman” pose, before being thrown from Skeleton Bridge in Limeira, São Paulo, on Saturday. Although she was…

Switzerland has voted against a referendum proposal that would have capped the country’s population at 10 million, becoming the first country in the world to put such a measure to a national vote. Voters cast their final ballots on Sunday, with the result showing just over 45 per cent in favour of the cap and just under 55 per cent against. The proposal, known as the “sustainability initiative,” was put forward by the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), the largest party in the Swiss parliament, which argued that the country’s infrastructure, housing, social programmes, natural resources and way of life had…

Donald Trump has publicly criticised Israel’s latest strike on Beirut, saying the attack “should not have happened” at a moment when the United States and Iran appear close to signing a deal aimed at ending the war, as an Iranian negotiator separately accused Washington of failing to prevent the strike. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “This morning’s attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran. Israel has the right to defend itself against threats, but the attack it was responding to was…

Former Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has emerged as a leading candidate to become the next manager of AC Milan, with conversations already taking place between the club and his representatives despite no agreement yet being in place. The 41-year-old Portuguese has been without a club since being sacked by United in January following a difficult 14-month spell in charge, as reported by the BBC. Sources close to Amorim had previously played down the possibility of a return to Benfica, the club where he spent six years as a player and made 154 appearances, suggesting his focus now lies…

A senior legal executive who joked that a raffle winner could “take the virginity” of a junior female colleague, and was found to have trapped a wheelchair user against her will on a dancefloor, has been banned from the legal profession following a disciplinary tribunal. Darren Shaw, a chartered legal executive at personal injury firm Keller Postman, made the comments during the firm’s annual conference in Manchester in 2022, after a “Virgin Experience Day” was announced as a raffle prize. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard he joked “loudly” that a junior colleague was a “virgin” and that whoever won the…

West Ham have insisted they are under no financial pressure to sell midfielder Mateus Fernandes, despite growing interest from Manchester United and Arsenal following the club’s relegation from the Premier League. Shareholder Daniel Kretinsky, who is set to become West Ham’s largest shareholder and also owns the Daily Mail, told The Times the club’s priority is securing an immediate return to the top flight rather than raising funds through player sales. “We have a very credible strategy,” Kretinsky said. “We don’t need to sell the players for financial reasons. We are doing this to make sure we are promoted back…

US President Donald Trump has said a deal to end the war with Iran could be signed as early as Sunday, even as Tehran disputed the timeline and Israel carried out renewed strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs despite a declared ceasefire. According to Al Jazeera, Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would “open to all” once the deal is signed, and claimed the United States would eventually secure access to Iran’s nuclear material. Iranian media, however, reported that Tehran had “not yet taken a final decision” on the proposed framework agreement, with officials suggesting any signing could instead take place…

A Victorian woman has been widely praised online after standing up for an Officeworks staff member who was being berated by a customer, in an incident that escalated into a heated exchange in the store’s car park. Georgia Koik said she intervened after witnessing the customer being unkind to a staff member at Officeworks Maroochydore on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. “I just ran into Officeworks and this old hag was having a go at the person that worked and I was like, ‘There’s no need to speak like that to him,'” Koik said. “She’s like, ‘You need to mind your own…

A 28-year-old Ukrainian mother died just metres from safety after shielding her two young sons from a second missile strike on her Kyiv neighbourhood, in an attack that killed six people and injured almost twenty during a renewed wave of intensified Russian strikes on the capital. Veronika Chuyan had already survived one missile impact near her apartment block, which shook the building and destroyed a children’s playground in the courtyard below. Seeing a neighbouring residential building engulfed in flames, she gathered her sons, three-year-old Jacob and five-year-old Jasim, and led them through debris and damaged furniture to join other residents…

British Transport Police have released CCTV images of two men they want to identify after a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by buskers travelling on the Elizabeth Line. The incident occurred at around 11pm on Saturday 6 June, when a group of buskers boarded an eastbound service at Whitechapel station in east London. During the journey, two men from the group are alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman before the train reached Stratford, where the suspects got off. In a statement, BTP said: “At just before 11pm on Saturday 6 June, a group of buskers boarded an eastbound service…