Author: Darren Smith

An ISIS-linked gang who stabbed and battered a world-renowned British botanist couple to death, threw their bodies to crocodiles and then blew £37,000 on the victims’ credit cards have been convicted of double murder in South Africa — eight years after the killing of Rod and Rachel Saunders shocked the world. Rod Saunders, 74, and his wife Rachel, 63, were ambushed in the remote Ngoye Forest National Park in February 2018 while searching for rare gladioli seeds — a passion they had pursued together for over 50 years. Just 48 hours before their deaths, the devoted couple had been filmed…

Gunmen Kill 12 in Johannesburg Massacre as Shooting Lasted More Than an Hour At least 12 people have been killed in a mass shooting at a Johannesburg informal settlement after more than ten gunmen arrived in a minibus, entered the community from both sides simultaneously and opened fire across multiple locations in an attack that lasted more than an hour — with police launching a manhunt as residents described the area as increasingly gripped by gun violence. The South African Police Service confirmed the death toll from the attack at Jumpers Informal Settlement in the Cleveland suburb of Johannesburg, which…

Austin Metcalf’s father stared down his son’s killer in open court and demanded he meet his gaze as he delivered one of the most raw and devastating victim impact statements in recent memory — telling Karmelo Anthony directly that grief is not sadness, it is “pure unfiltered rage,” and that he had destroyed not just a family but the man Jeff Metcalf used to be. Anthony, 19, sat with his head bowed as Jeff Metcalf unleashed his anguish at the Collin County courthouse on Tuesday, moments before the 19-year-old was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder of…

South Yorkshire Police have launched an urgent manhunt for a convicted child sex trafficker who fled while on bail and was found guilty in his absence after failing to appear at Sheffield Crown Court — with officers warning he is believed to still be in the country and vowing not to stop until he is found. Sharam Muhamadi, 21, was found guilty of two counts of arranging or facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation, relating to the abuse of girls as young as 12. He had been remanded in custody following the charges before being…

A woman caught on camera shouting vile antisemitic slurs at a young Orthodox Jewish woman on a New York City subway before grabbing her by the throat, kicking her to the ground and ripping out a clump of her hair has been given a $10,000 bond — far below the $30,000 prosecutors sought — after appearing virtually from a hospital psychiatric ward. Diana Smith, 45, from the Bronx, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of felony assault, harassment and criminal obstruction of breathing as a hate crime at Manhattan Supreme Court. She had at least six prior encounters with…

Angry crowds clashed outside a Texas courthouse on Tuesday as racial tensions boiled over in the immediate aftermath of Karmelo Anthony’s murder conviction and 35-year sentence, with pro-Anthony protesters screaming abuse, a Metcalf supporter arrested after an alleged shove, and members of the Black Panthers present among the demonstrators, the New York Post reported. Chants of “Free Karmelo!” rang out as supporters of the 19-year-old gathered in McKinney after the jury’s verdict, with demonstrators accusing the trial of racial injustice from the moment the guilty finding was announced. “This whole thing’s been racist!” one person shouted. Another screamed: “Y’all used…

Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B has publicly condemned the 35-year murder sentence handed to Karmelo Anthony, describing it as an attempt to “make an example” of the 19-year-old rather than deliver justice — joining a wave of public figures who have rallied behind Anthony since he stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf to death at a Texas high school track meet in 2025. “Wow! Just freakin wow! DISGUSTING… This is not justice, this is trying to make an example!!!” Cardi B wrote on X following Tuesday’s sentencing, in which a Texas jury took two and a half hours to decide on the 35-year…

Iran has escalated its military confrontation with the United States by launching drone attacks on the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and missile strikes on an American airbase in Jordan — as a retired US general urged calm and expressed hope the exchange of fire could mark the beginning of de-escalation rather than a slide toward all-out war. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed both attacks on Tuesday, saying they were a direct response to US strikes on Iranian military installations in the south of the country earlier in the day. Kuwait’s General Staff simultaneously announced that its air defence…

Police have released the first mugshot of Karmelo Anthony since his murder conviction and 35-year sentence, showing the 19-year-old staring blankly into the camera on his first night in prison — hours after he sobbed through the verdict and kept his head bowed as the family of the teenager he killed delivered devastating victim impact statements in court. Anthony, who was convicted of first-degree murder for the stabbing death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas on 2 April 2025, appeared stone-faced in the booking photograph, dressed in a black jacket, in stark contrast…

Britain’s equalities watchdog has been forced to abandon its headquarters after transgender activist group Bash Back attacked the building, vandalised it and issued guides instructing members to arm themselves and carry out repeated illegal assaults against organisations it considers “transphobic” — with the watchdog’s chairwoman warning MPs that staff safety has become a serious and ongoing concern. Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, told the women and equalities select committee on Tuesday that the EHRC had been forced to relocate away from its Vauxhall offices following the attack, which involved activists spray-painting the building and…