Author: Darren Smith

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…

More than 700 migrants crossed the English Channel in a single day on Monday, the highest daily total recorded so far this year, as fresh questions were raised about the effectiveness of Britain’s £660 million deal with France to prevent small boat crossings. The Home Office confirmed that 710 migrants were picked up mid-Channel from 11 dinghies and brought into Dover by UK Border Force, surpassing the previous 2026 high of 610 set on 25 February. Monday’s figure was also the largest since 803 arrived on 20 December last year. The all-time daily record remains 1,305, set in September 2022.…

Jeffrey Epstein made at least three attempts to take his own life before he was found dead in his cell in August 2019, with nooses discovered on multiple occasions and warnings from his cellmate dismissed by guards, according to a bombshell investigation by the New York Times. The paper’s report, based on interviews with former inmates and prison records, offers the most detailed account yet of events inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York in the weeks before Epstein’s death — circumstances that have been the subject of intense public speculation ever since. At the centre of the account…

A French tourist has sparked a police investigation and local outrage after allegedly scattering human ashes into Venice’s St Mark’s Basin from a public waterbus, in footage that has gone viral and highlighted the strict rules governing where remains can be dispersed in the city. The unnamed woman was filmed emptying a bag containing what appears to be human ashes over the side of the vessel as it passed the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Fellow passengers can be heard shouting in the clip as the ashes are released into the water. A fellow traveller captured the incident on camera,…

Emma Hayes described Cape Verde’s historic goalless draw against Spain as a “victory for immigration” as the African nation produced one of the tournament’s biggest shocks so far, holding the reigning European champions in their opening World Cup match in Atlanta. Cape Verde, appearing at the FIFA finals for the first time and with a population of just 529,000, defied all expectations against Luis de la Fuente’s side at the Atlanta stadium in Georgia on Monday night. Spain dominated possession and created numerous chances, amassing 23 shots at goal with eight on target, but were repeatedly denied by goalkeeper Vozhino,…

The government has confirmed that a social media ban for under-16s is coming to the UK, but significant questions remain about which platforms will be included, how the rules will be enforced and whether the whole thing can realistically be in place by early next year. Which gaming platforms will be covered? The government has named Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X as platforms covered by the ban, and has said it will closely follow Australia’s approach, which also includes Kick, Reddit, Threads and Twitch. But that still leaves a major question mark over Roblox and similar gaming sites,…