Author: Darren Smith

A 21-year-old woman has died after being thrown from a 40-metre bridge during a bungee-style “rope jump” in Brazil, after the company running the activity failed to attach her safety harness, with six people connected to the operation detained by police. The victim, Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, from Jandira in greater São Paulo, was taking part in the jump at the Ponte do Esqueleto, or Skeleton Bridge, trail in Limeira on Saturday morning. According to Britannia Daily sources , instructors carried her to the platform and launched her from the bridge without the rope that should have secured her.…

Gary Neville has accused FIFA of behaving like a “dictatorship” after a controversial penalty was awarded to Switzerland during their World Cup match against Qatar, with the governing body failing to publish footage to justify the decision despite boasting of advanced offside technology at the tournament. Switzerland were awarded the spot-kick after Remo Freuler, running onto a header played into his path by Breel Embolo, was brought down by Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. Footage of the incident appeared to show Freuler in an offside position before the goalkeeper made contact, but VAR reviewed the…

An Alaskan woman has described how she shot a bear three times to save her dog after it was mauled during a mushroom foraging trip near Skilak Lake, in an encounter that left the animal badly injured but alive. Lori Price, of Cooper Landing, was out with her two dogs, Willis and Chaos, on Sunday when she heard Chaos yelp and immediately realised what was happening. “I heard the yip, and I heard the bear, and I registered what was going on,” she told KTUU. “My sudden reaction was, I got to get to my dog, and I got to…

A contractor working at Network Rail stations has sparked an investigation after posting a TikTok guide ranking London train stations by how easy they are to dodge fares at, boasting to his 112,000 followers that he had “bumped” 538 stations without ever being caught. The 26-year-old, who goes by the username @itsdatguyfromends and is known online as LB, filmed himself wearing a jacket bearing a Network Rail badge while presenting his guide. “I work at train stations so know how security works,” he said, using slang for fare evasion to claim: “I’ve bumped 538 stations with no penalties so trust…

Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, says he was held at Heathrow Airport for around three hours on Saturday evening under Schedule 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, with his phone seized by officers and no specific reason given for the stop. The 43-year-old posted about the incident on X, describing it as “absolute f***ing madness,” and subsequently shared photographs of the detention paperwork. He said he was launching a legal defence fund through his Urban Scoop website in anticipation of further legal costs. Authorities had not commented on the matter at the time of…

A 26-year-old man stabbed to death on a residential street in west London in the early hours of last Tuesday has been named as Gurbhej Singh, as police confirm six of seven arrested men have been released with no further action. Emergency services were called to North Road in Southall at around 12.41am on 10 June, near its junction with Dormers Wells Lane. Officers and paramedics arrived to find two men with injuries, one of whom had suffered stab wounds. Despite the efforts of medical staff, Mr Singh was pronounced dead at the scene. A second man, in his 30s,…

A mother-of-three has died after being shot in the head by her estranged husband, a former mayor, while the pair were at a law office in Brazil to sign their divorce papers, in an apparent murder-suicide. Icicléia Alves Veloso, 41, was shot on Wednesday at a law office in Ourilândia do Norte, southeastern Pará, where she and her estranged husband Romildo Veloso e Silva, 69, had gone to formalise their separation after three months apart. Silva, a surgeon, councillor and former mayor of Ourilândia do Norte, was found dead in the office’s bathroom shortly afterwards. Staff at the office told…

Fernando Alonso has been linked with a remarkable return to former team Alpine, as speculation grows in the Formula 1 paddock that the Spaniard could make one final switch before retirement, amid Aston Martin’s continued struggles for form. Alonso, who turns 45 in July, has previously said he wants to finish his Formula 1 career with Aston Martin, but talk of a possible late-career move dominated the paddock at the Spanish Grand Prix. According to Motorsport.com, speculation is mounting that Alonso could be welcomed back to the Enstone-based team by boss Flavio Briatore, who remains Alonso’s manager and continues to…

A simulation that left AI agents to govern a virtual society without human oversight saw it descend into arson, theft and violence within days, with one trial ending in the deaths of all ten inhabitants, according to a new study that researchers say raises serious questions about how reliable AI behaviour really is once external constraints are removed. Researchers at AI lab Emergence built a virtual world spanning more than 40 locations designed to mimic real life, including libraries, town halls and residential areas, and populated it with digital characters controlled by AI agents. The agents had access to live…

Thousands of parents across France fear that paedophiles have infiltrated the country’s public nursery and after-school system, after a wave of suspensions, investigations and criminal trials involving classroom assistants accused of abusing children as young as three, in a scandal that one child protection expert has warned Britain is “not immune” from. According to The Sun, the scale of the crisis has prompted Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire to confirm that 132 after-school assistants have been suspended in the capital since 1 January, including 52 over suspected sexual violence, with others suspended over allegations of physical violence towards children. In late…