Body of Falconio, who Murdoch killed in the Australian outback in 2001, has never been found
Bradley John Murdoch, the man who killed British backpacker Peter Falconio in 2001, has died from throat cancer at the age of 67.
Murdoch succumbed to throat cancer on Tuesday night at a hospital in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, a corrections spokesperson confirmed. He had been moved to the hospital from jail in June.
24-year-old set to sign $120.4m extension through 2030
Jets also set up $130m deal with WR Garrett Wilson
The New York Jets are making Sauce Gardner the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.
The Jets and Gardner agreed on a four-year, $120.4m extension through the 2030 season, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the agreement had not been announced.
There are questions around the race contenders’ teams but Wout van Aert’s form could be key for the Danish challenger
There is always a sense of phoney war in the run-in to the Tour de France’s first stage in the high mountains, and at least one debate of the opening 10 days of this year’s race fits that context to a T. Has Jonas Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike team at times been towing the bunch deliberately in order to ensure that Tadej Pogacar retains the yellow jersey? It’s a gloriously arcane question, the kind that only comes up in the Tour’s opening phase, but it distracts from a point that could be key in the next 10 days: how the two teams manage the race will probably be decisive.
Firstly, a brief explainer. The received wisdom in cycling lore is that holding the yellow jersey early in a Grand Tour can be as much a curse as a blessing, because the daily media and podium duties cut into recovery time. Hence the thinking goes that Visma might have been chasing down the odd move purposely to keep Pogacar in the maillot jaune, so that he will be answering media questions and hanging about waiting to go on the podium, while Vingegaard has his feet up. Only Visma’s management know if this was the case, but what is certain is that the febrile atmosphere between the two teams will intensify from here on in.
Letter calls for AG and FBI chief amid rift between Trump and supporters over files on notorious sex criminal
Democratic members of the House judiciary committee on Thursday demanded that Republicans summon the attorney general, Pam Bondi, the FBI director, Kash Patel, and their deputies for a hearing into the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s death and the sex-trafficking case against him.
The letter from all 19 Democratic members on the committee to its Republican chair, Jim Jordan, comes amid a rift between Donald Trump and some of his supporters over the justice department’s conclusion, announced last week, that Epstein’s death in federal custody six years ago was a suicide, and that there is no secret list of his clients to be made public.
Leaked details are just another example of how the UK let down Afghans who believed in what Britain promised their country
This week’s revelations about the UK’s dangerously cavalier treatment of Afghans who worked with British forces are shocking but not surprising.
The carelessness with which Britain went to war in Afghanistan was matched by the carelessness with which it left the country and its people to Taliban rule two decades later.
French federation puts forward hosting 2027 warm-up
Meeting before second Test over new Lions model
A British & Irish Lions tour of France could move a step closer next week when executives hold talks over “a new business model” in Melbourne before the second Test of the series against Australia.
Abdel Benazzi, the vice-president of the French federation (FFR), held informal discussions with Lions executives in Dublin before the warm-up match against Argentina, and he will travel to Australia next week to further press his nation’s claims of facing the touring side again, having previously done so in 1989. France have emerged as leading contenders to face the Lions in a warm-up match before the tour of New Zealand in 2029 and, according to Benazzi, could also fulfil the same role before the inaugural women’s tour in 2027, also to New Zealand.
A New York doctor faced a $113,000 penalty from Texas after being accused of shipping abortion pills across state lines
A New York county clerk again rejected an effort by Texas to fine a New York-based doctor accused of shipping abortion pills across state lines, in a case that could tee up a US supreme court showdown between states that protect abortion access and those that ban it.
On Monday, the acting Ulster county clerk, Taylor Bruck, rejected a court filing by Texas’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, which sought to collect a $113,000 penalty against Dr Margaret Carpenter. Paxton had sued Carpenter in December 2024 over allegations she shipped abortion pills to a Texas woman in defiance of the state’s ban on virtually all abortions. When Carpenter did not show up to a court hearing earlier this year, a judge automatically ruled against her and ordered her to pay the fine as well as stop mailing pills to Texas.
Teenagers suspected of being hired by criminals paid to carry out acts on behalf of states, it is understood
Schoolchildren have been arrested by detectives investigating Russian and Iranian plots against Britain, a police chief has said, as he warned hostile state aggression was rising and youngsters were at risk.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan police’s counter-terrorism unit, said children in their “mid teens” had been investigated. It is understood they were suspected of being hired by criminals paid to carry out acts for Russia and Iran.
BBC show’s producers Banijay UK say Torode’s contract will not be renewed after allegation, which he has denied
John Torode will not return to MasterChef after its producers confirmed his contract would not be renewed after an allegation of using racist language.
Boxing great made two symbolic political gestures in London with his bout against Daniel Dubois only days away
On Monday afternoon, in central London, Oleksandr Usyk looked resplendent on an open-topped black bus as he prepared to send loaded messages to Daniel Dubois, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. High in the air he held three fingers on his right hand to signify his intention to become a three-time undisputed world champion. It was a typical sporting gesture and underlined his determination to defeat Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night and follow his earlier achievements in winning all the belts as a cruiserweight and then, last year, becoming the first boxer to unify the world heavyweight division this century.
Usyk remains the WBA, WBC and WBO champion but boxing politics forced him to vacate his IBF title soon after he beat Tyson Fury in their magnificent first world title unification fight 14 months ago in Riyadh. He looks ready now for the dangerous challenge of Dubois, the new IBF champion, but Usyk’s arrival in London was a timely reminder of the far more significant role he plays in Ukraine.
I don’t know if you had the time or the energy to watch today’s Emmy nominations on YouTube, but if you did – and you followed along with the comments in real time – then you will know that there was one glaring omission that has sent the entire world into a screaming tailspin of panic and terror. I am talking, of course, about Thanos from Squid Game.
For some, Thanos – a purple-haired Konglish-spewing drug-addicted rapper played by the Korean performer T.O.P – was the standout actor of the entire year, in any genre or format. But not only was this a bad result for Thanos, it was a bad result for Squid Game altogether. A show that comprehensively did the numbers for Netflix found itself being locked out of all categories. Still, at least it finds itself in decent company; Black Doves, Netflix’s other wildly entertaining genre series, also found itself snubbed. As was The Handmaid’s Tale, which is admittedly a little less surprising, given the amount of heat it has lost in the years since it debuted.
Pittsburgh event angers climate groups as Trump ties AI expansion to oil and gas, sidelining renewable energy
Donald Trump joined big oil and technology bosses on Tuesday at a major artificial intelligence and energy summit in Pittsburgh, outraging environmentalists and community organizations.
The event came weeks after the passage of a mega-bill that experts say could stymy AI growth with its attacks on renewable energy.
Fast bowler displayed all the attributes which set him apart from others to deliver optimism for rest of series and Ashes
The electric return of Jofra Archer in England’s tight victory against India at Lord’s set straight a couple of narratives that arose during his four-year absence from Test cricket. It is often said that a player’s stock can rise when they are sat on the sidelines – yet sometimes, in some quarters, the reverse can also be true.
Chief among them was a reminder that England possess a special fast bowling talent here, Archer displaying the attributes that set him apart from others. As the man himself confidently put it regarding the 89.6mph beauty to Rishabh Pant that angled in, nipped away and gave the snappers the stumplosion they craved: “I guess it was just a matter of when, if I kept bowling like that. I can’t imagine many left-handers getting away with it.”
Ex-national security adviser questioned about controversy during a Senate hearing to be US ambassador to UN
Just over two months after being ousted as national security adviser, Mike Waltz faced lawmakers on Tuesday during a confirmation hearing to be US ambassador to the UN, telling them that he planned to make the world body “great again”.
“We should have one place in the world where everyone can talk – where China, Russia, Europe and the developing world can come together and resolve conflicts,” Waltz told the Senate foreign relations committee about the UN. “But after 80 years, it’s drifted from its core mission of peacemaking.”
Under new policy, such immigrants would not be able to request bond from immigration judge before deportation
The Trump administration is reportedly seeking to bar millions of immigrants who allegedly arrived in the US without legal status from receiving a bond hearing as they try to fight their deportations in court.
The new policy would apply during removal proceedings, which can take years, for millions of immigrants who entered the country from Mexico in recent decades, according to a report from the Washington Post, which reviewed documents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).
Clive Foster aims to ‘confront uncomfortable realities’ and expand his remit to help those faced with discrimination
The newly appointed Windrush commissioner has promised to expand his remit to fight for marginalised communities who have experienced discrimination in housing, education, employment and policing.
At a launch event on Wednesday, Clive Foster will tell the immigration minister, Seema Malhotra, that he does not intend to perform a public relations role for the government.
UK, France and Germany say without firm commitment from Iran by 29 August they will reapply embargos that were lifted 10 years ago
The EU will start the process of reinstating UN sanctions on Iran from 29 August if Tehran has made no progress by then on containing its nuclear programme, the bloc has announced.
Speaking at a meeting of his EU counterparts, the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said: “France and its partners are … justified in reapplying global embargos on arms, banks and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest.”
Israel’s military blamed the deaths of six Palestinian children on Sunday on a technical error. But a staggering toll continues to mount
On Sunday, an Israeli strike killed six Palestinian children – and four adults – as they queued for water in a refugee camp. The deaths of children may be the most terrible part of any war. It is not only the suffering of the innocent and powerless, and the unimaginable pain of surviving parents – as dreadful as those are – but the knowledge of lives ended when they had barely begun, of futures that should have stretched long into the distance severed in an instant.
As shocking as Sunday’s deaths were, they are commonplace in Gaza: a classroom-worth of children have been killed each day since the war began. What marked them out was that so many deaths happened at once and publicly; and that Israel’s military felt obliged to acknowledge its responsibility – though without any great contrition. It claimed that a “technical error with the munition” caused it to miss its intended target and added that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”.
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The dramatic Lord’s Test between England and India showcased the glories of the game’s traditional form
Never try to explain Test cricket to an American. In sport, Americans value brevity, drama, a guaranteed resolution. Draws are anathema and ways must be found to avoid them. Two enterprising journalists once took Groucho Marx to an MCC game at Lord’s and he pronounced it “a wonderful cure for insomnia”.
What Groucho would have made of the “timeless” Test in Durban in March 1939 – it had been going on for 10 days before England, close to victory, decided that they had to catch the boat home – doesn’t bear thinking about. George Bernard Shaw summed it up perfectly: “The English are not a very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity.”
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Shifting media landscape and declining income from licence fee point to tough financial choices ahead
As understatement goes, Tim Davie appeared to have mastered it as he presented the BBC’s annual report. Questions poured in over whether he had ever considered his position as a succession of problems landed on his desk this year. In response, he acknowledged he and the BBC had faced a “tough period”.
Future looks bright for UK cycling thanks to early-career riders bringing a brave, attacking approach
For more than a decade, the interest in British riders racing in the Tour de France was focused on familiar names – Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas – but now a new generation of English-speaking talent is making its mark on the world’s biggest race.
Ben Healy, West Midlands-born but with Irish heritage, has been the revelation of the Tour so far, and was fully rewarded for his unrelenting efforts with the yellow jersey of race leadership on the Bastille Day stage to Puy de Sancy.
François Bayrou says Easter Monday and VE Day could become normal workdays as critics call plan ‘a direct attack on France’
France’s prime minister, François Bayrou, has proposed scrapping two public holidays as part of radical measures aimed at reducing the country’s ballooning deficit, boosting its economy and preventing it being “crushed” by debt.
Outlining the 2026 budget on Tuesday, Bayrou suggested Easter Monday and 8 May, when France commemorates Victory Day, marking the end of the second world war, although he said he was open to other options.
This isn’t the first time Afghans brave enough to work against the Taliban have been let down by Britain, but it might be the most shameful
The headline figures are eye-watering. Up to 100,000 Afghans could have been placed at risk after a British soldier, according to the Times, sent the names of 33,000 people who supported British forces to a contact he hoped would help verify their applications for sanctuary in this country. The story behind these numbers is one of real people who had already been living in fear for years, and who have been treated abhorrently by the British state.
As soon as it became clear that the information could fall into the Taliban’s hands and lead to these people and those close to them being targeted, the highly secret Operation Rubific was launched. This debacle occurred under the previous Conservative government, which obtained a superinjunction preventing several media organisations that were aware of the leak from reporting on it.
Diane Taylor writes on human rights, racism and civil liberties
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England captain lauds ‘incredibly powerful’ clubmate
Praises influence of retired Jill Scott in England camp
Leah Williamson has described Arsenal teammate Stina Blackstenius as an “incredibly powerful footballer” as the pair prepare to go head-to-head in the Euro 2025 quarter-final between England and Sweden.
“She’s a great player and she has been for many years now,” said the England captain. “Her experience speaks for itself. We were celebrating her success at Arsenal, but not so much now. We’ll see. Stina is an incredibly powerful footballer and very intelligent with her runs. She’s a hard player to play against in that respect.”
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