German backpacker speaks out after being found alive in Australian outback

A 26-year-old German backpacker found alive in Western Australia‘s remote outback has revealed that a car crash and head injury left her disoriented and lost for 11 days.

Carolina Wilga trekked through one of the most sparsely populated and remote places in the world after her van became bogged in the Karroun Hill Nature Reserve.

Against the odds, Ms Wilga stumbled upon an unsealed access road, where a chance encounter with farmer Tania Henley led to her rescue.

“Some people might wonder why I even left my car, even though I had water, food, and clothing there,” Ms Wilga said in her first public comments since being found on Friday afternoon.

“The answer is: I lost control of the car and rolled down a slope. In the crash, I hit my head significantly. As a result of the accident, I left my car in a state of confusion and got lost.”

During those 11 nights, police said Ms Wilga survived on minimal food and sourced water from rain and puddles.

She also found shelter wherever she could, including in a cave, as she faced extreme weather.

The nights got extremely cold, police said, and without her vehicle she was totally exposed to the elements. It also rained heavily for a couple of days.

Ms Wilga’s vehicle was found first, a day before she was spotted on the road just 15 miles from her abandoned van.

She thanked her supporters and everyone who helped search for her.

“I am certain that I survived only thanks to this incredible outpouring of support,” Ms Wilga said in the statement, released by the Western Australian Police Force.

“The thought of all the people who believed in me, searched for me, and kept hoping for me gave me the strength to carry on during my darkest moments.”

Receiving treatment for her minor injuries, including many mosquito bites, as well as emotional support, Ms Wilga remains in hospital and has been in contact with her family in Germany.

Rescuers had held grave fears for Ms Wilga after so long in the wilderness. The German backpacker is the second person to have gone missing in the area in the last 12 months.

‘Beloved’ nurse named among dead in Southend plane crash as details of fireball emerge

A Chilean-born nurse has been named as among the four people who were killed in a plane crash at London Southend Airport.

Maria Fernanda Rojaz Ortiz, 31, a German citizen born in Chile, was reportedly on her first day as a flight nurse on board the small aircraft when it came down after take-off on Sunday afternoon.

A Dutch pilot and co-pilot, along with one other person, were also on the Beech B200 Super King Air, operated by Zeusch Aviation, which specialises in medical evacuations.

A friend of Ms Ortiz, called Anna Smith, told the BBC it had been her first day as a flight nurse, having previously worked as a nurse in the public sector.

“She was so excited for this new job,” she said.

She added: “She had a giving heart and was humble, and chose a profession that reflected that.

It is understood that the plane had dropped off a patient at Southend, and was due to return to its base in the Netherlands

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has started an investigation with inspectors with expertise in aircraft operations, human factors, engineering and recorded data already dispatched to the crash site.

The airport remains closed.

Man decapitated girlfriend before texting her mother pretending to be her

A man who murdered and decapitated his girlfriend before texting her mother pretending to be her and searching for internet pornography has been jailed.

Ewan Methven was sentenced to a minimum of 23 years behind bars on Monday after admitting murdering his 21-year-old girlfriend Phoenix Spencer-Horn.

Methven murdered her in the home they shared in East Kilbride on 16 November 2024.

He also admitted decapitating her body and texting her mother, pretending to be her.

Methven, who is now 27, killed Ms Spencer-Horn after the couple ordered a takeaway.

Earlier that day, he had complained to his girlfriend that her waitress shifts made him “lonely”.

The High Court in Glasgow was told that Methven attacked Miss Spencer-Horn, stabbing her 20 times, including 10 times in the face, before mutilating her body and severing her head.

Methven had also strangled her, searched for internet pornography 170 times and made repeated attempts to buy cocaine, before spending the weekend driving around in Miss Spencer-Horn’s red Corsa, and texting her mother pretending she was still alive, according to prosecutors.

He texted: “Hey sorry I’ve just woken up xxx” before searching for pornography, the court heard.

On 18 November, at about midday, he dialled 999 and told a call-handler: “I had a psychotic break and killed my wife.”

He said: “We were messing about, I take steroids and was taking cocaine and alcohol, I think there was something else in it … it was f****** horrible.”

He was transferred to a senior police officer, and said: “I just want to go to jail”, and added: “I have been out my face, I can’t remember what happened. I have been driving about all weekend.”

Police officers discovered Miss Spencer-Horn’s mutilated body hidden under a towel. Methven admitted attempting to remove the limbs and torso from her body with a knife or other instrument.

Defending, Tony Graham KC, said, in 2024, Methven realised he had an addiction problem, and had written a letter to the judge saying “in relation to the harm that could cause, it could only be harm to himself”, regarding cocaine, steroids and other drugs.

Mr Graham read from the letter, which said: “I know how loved Phoenix was and how she made her family complete. I can’t believe I’ve taken her from them.”

He told the court: “Mr Methven is in a position where he can offer no explanation as to why the course of events which led to Phoenix’s death took place, other than his own self-administration of drugs.”

He said that Methven “insists he has taken the life of a person he loved, and appreciates he has caused an enormous void in that family”, and “struggles to reconcile how he could have caused that destruction”, the court heard.

Mr Graham said that Methven had been “taken into family home of Phoenix’s family and appreciates in that that two-year period he was adopted into that family”, and described the murder as “a betrayal”, the court heard.

However, he said Methven could not explain why it happened, and added: “He has flashbacks but no real memory as to how things progressed to this destruction of human life.”

Imposing a life sentence, Judge Lord Matthews said Methven had admitted a “truly dreadful crime”.

Lord Matthews said: “At 21 years old, she was standing at the threshold of what should have been a long and fulfilling life. You were a trusted member of her family but betrayed that trust.

“For reasons no one will ever understand you strangled her and stabbed her 20 times, including 10 in the face. You robbed her of all dignity in death by decapitating her and trying to dismember her.

“For two days after, you indulged in drug abuse and watching pornography, contacting her mother and pretending to be her.”

He added: “The way you treated this innocent young woman after her death meant her family did not have the comfort of saying goodbye to her.”

The judge told Methven: “The letter by you answers none of the questions which must be plaguing the family. You blame the effect of substances but that is no excuse.”

Urgent search for Briton who went missing on solo hike in Italy

A 33-year-old British man has gone missing after going on a solo hiking trip to Italy.

Matthew Hall, from Hull, disappeared from Chiavenna, Lombardy, on 9 July. He was declared missing after he failed to check out of his accommodation, the B&B Ploncher hotel, on 11 July.

The last contact he had was at around 1.20pm on 9 July, when he sent a photo to a friend from the cross on the Daloo Alps, above Chiavenna, according to a Facebook post.

He has not been heard from since, and his phone is turned off.

Italian media reports that Mr Hall sought advice from management at the hotel upon his arrival on 8 July and then was not seen again. Staff reportedly assumed the Brit had missed breakfast for the following few days due to leaving early in the morning for hikes.

But when Mr Hall missed his checkout, staff at the hotel grew concerned and decided to check his room. There, they found his documents, personal belongings and his luggage, and they decided to raise the alarm.

The hiker also failed to check in for his flight back from Milan to Manchester on 12 July, after having begun his trip on 5 July.

His mother, Sara Foster, said she believed her son was planning an eight-hour trek before he went missing. She said he had been wearing a beige top and sporting a black backpack when he disappeared. He is around 1.78 m tall and with brown hair.

Italian and British officials have been alerted to his disappearance, and a rescue operation is underway. Italian media reported that the rescue teams are searching the territory above Borgonuovo di Piuro, considered the most likely starting point for Mr Hall to be found.

Ms Foster said she was grateful to the Italian police and rescue workers for their help. She said they had been keeping her regularly updated on the search.

She told the BBC that her son was an avid Hull KR rugby league fan who “loves his trails and walking”.

“We’d got lots of photos from him from the Saturday to the Monday and then it seemed to be a blank,” she said.

“If you’re walking around Chiavenna just keep an eye out. We just want him to come home.”

A FCDO Spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man missing in Italy and are in contact with the local authorities.”

The uncomfortable truth behind this year’s Wimbledon champions

A tradition once discarded but now an annual convention, the iconic dance between the men’s and women’s singles champions took place at the Wimbledon Ball on Sunday night. Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, two natural introverts, smiled and laughed their way through a shake and a twirl at the Raffles London hotel in Whitehall. It was an endearing sight.

Both were well-deserved first-time champions at the All England Club in their respective finals over the weekend. Sinner downed his arch rival and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, five weeks on from his French Open heartbreak, while Swiatek claimed the first double bagel in a Wimbledon final in 114 years.

But both, inescapably, had an elephant lurking in the corner of the ballroom.

Last year, to the shock of the sporting world, Sinner and Swiatek failed drug tests. Sinner twice tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid clostebol, first at the Indian Wells Masters tournament in March 2024 and then in an out-of-competition sample eight days later.

The case was only made public four months later, prior to the US Open, when the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) cleared Sinner of any wrongdoing. By February of this year, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) entered a “case resolution agreement” with Sinner, handing him a three-month suspension. Sinner accepted the offer, keen to avoid a lengthy legal battle.

WADA accepted the cause, which read that Sinner’s physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi cut his finger on a scalpel and used a spray, which was “easily available over the counter in any Italian pharmacy”, containing clostebol to treat his finger. Naldi then gives Sinner a daily full-body massage and the Italian player later tested positive.

As for Swiatek, the Pole accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine (TMZ) in August. It is a medication used to treat heart conditions, but Swiatek was found to have been “at the lowest end of the range for no significant fault or negligence” by the ITIA. It only became public in November, after the 2024 season concluded.

Swiatek explained that the positive test was caused by a contaminated supply of the non-prescription medication melatonin, which she uses to help with jet lag and sleep issues, provided to her by her physio. The product was contaminated during manufacturing, an investigation concluded, resulting in an extremely low trace of TMZ.

In both cases, the reasoning has been accepted by the authoritative bodies involved. What is less digestible, for fans of the sport and various sections of the locker room, is the notion of preferential treatment for two of tennis’s top players.

Swiatek’s one-month ban covered the Asian swing of tournaments after last year’s US Open. Sinner’s three-month suspension this year took place between the Australian Open in January (which he won) and the French Open in May. He was even back a day before his home tournament, the Italian Open.

Neither missed a Grand Slam. As such, it was not an uncommon viewpoint that it all looked a little too convenient.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka stated he “didn’t believe in a clean sport anymore” after news of Sinner’s three-month ban and the timing of it. World No 4 Jessica Pegula said after Swiatek’s suspension that it “seems so hit or miss with how people get punished.” Nick Kyrgios, rather more bluntly, lamented both cases, and simply posted an asterisk on X (Twitter) after Sinner’s Wimbledon triumph on Sunday night.

By contrast to Sinner and Swiatek, British doubles specialist Tara Moore was provisionally suspended for 19 months after testing positive for banned substances boldenone and nandrolone in 2022. The ITIA, eventually, accepted her testimony that she had eaten contaminated meat while competing in Colombia, but only in December 2023, by which point Moore had lost her ranking points and a heap of potential prize money.

“I guess only the top players’ images matter,” Moore wrote on X last summer, after Sinner’s case became public.

“I guess only the independent tribunal’s opinion on the top players is taken as sound and right. Yet, they question them in my case. Just makes no sense.”

It would be far easier to overlook the muddy waters surrounding Sinner and Swiatek in the last year. Both showed exceptional technical and athletic skill in their triumphs on the grass of SW19 in the last fortnight. And both have their integrity intact, after episodes which will no doubt have kept them awake at night. Sinner hinted as such, saying in the media theatre after his win on Sunday: “It has been everything except easy.”

But there is a genuine undertone of whether they, particularly Sinner, were fortunate to be competing at Wimbledon at all. To call the length of their suspensions and the timing favourable would be an understatement. For the winners of the most prestigious tournament in the world to have been shrouded in such contentious cases, in just the last 12 months, is a damaging and uncomfortable look for tennis.

Are we all just working for Zuckerberg?

Musicians have always been the ones to speak truth to power. To challenge the status quo. To start the rebellion. They have always been the ones brave enough to stand up and say: “Stop.  You cannot control my voice. You cannot control me”.

But when it comes to social media platforms, that power of freedom is just an illusion. The truth is: they just controlled us. They divided us. They strangled the reach of our voices through their algorithms, and made us work for them for free.

This always amazes me with much loved pop icon Taylor Swift, who has worked to build her instagram audience to 280 million followers – “Follow me on Instagram” she lovingly advocates to her audience – and yet, she only has an average of 1.5% of her audience tap the like button on her posts. She has to turn off comments because of the hate and she cannot direct people back to her website – not because they don’t love her, but because Zuck is controlling her reach.

And if the biggest pop icon of our time is being controlled by Meta’s algorithms, what hope does any other artist and musician have?

The reality is that if Swift could actually reach her audience with a post, and 280 million people actually saw it, she would be double the size of NBC in the US and one of the biggest media channels in the world. And when hateful comments are eliminated, she could turn on comments and have personal engagement from real people. And when she can link people back to her website from posts, she will have hundreds of millions of people back to her own website.

This is possible! This is the new world of social media that we have built at WeAre8. This is true creative and economic freedom. We unlock the algorithms so people’s followers actually see them, we have built AI to eliminate abusive comments, we encourage people to link from the platform back to artists’ websites. In the world of 8, Swift won’t just be singing half time at the Super Bowl, she will be buying the rights to host the superbowl on Taylorswift.com.

Today she is working for Mark Zuckerberg. And so are 2 billion other people. But the future at 8 brings real transformation and hope. When you unlock the algorithms, when you elevate the voices of artists, when you eliminate the controls and share the economics, everything changes.

Musicians can get discovered, they can be elevated and reach their audiences. They can get much bigger brand deals and they can release music independently. And most importantly, they can create the music they want to bring to the world – not just create sounds that they think an algorithm would like.  In the world of 8, every artist wins.

‘We the people’ are the largest unpaid workforce in human history. And every artist on the planet is controlled by Meta algorithms. Because let’s be honest, are we really imagining anymore? Or are we just optimising?

We live in a world where your song, your art, your wild idea about space-funk cello solos can’t even reach your own damn audience unless it performs well on the algorithm. The art of rebellion, the beauty of raw expression now has to come with captions like “Wait for it…” and “This will blow your mind 🤯.” Otherwise? It dies.

And if John Lennon was around now, would Imagine even break through the noise? Would he be told by some TikTok growth hacker to add a dance move and remix it with Doja Cat to make it trend? Would the song that once gave us chills… get five seconds of attention before someone swipes up to watch a dog play the piano?

We’ve been told that data is the new oil. But let’s be clear: your creativity, your joy, your mental health, that’s what they’re drilling for. You post, they profit. You create, they control.

It’s no accident that most platforms don’t let your message reach your people unless you pay. They designed it this way. The people with the power to inspire, to challenge, to change the world are throttled unless they play the game, the casino…Zuck’s casino.

This is the moment we flip the script. This is the moment we reclaim our value. And this is the moment that we rediscover our infinite value in the world.

And the funny thing is that evil always destroys itself.  And musicians will rise and speak truth to power again in a way that the world has never seen. Because this time, 8 is here to supercharge their voices, and the 8 technology has been built to elevate, share, and give control to artists – and all people. And this new world is so much more entertaining than the social feeds of the past.

Meta actually means ‘dead’ in Hebrew. I am surprised Zuck didn’t do a quick Google search of that before he renamed a company that now has a market cap of 1.7 Trillion dollars. But like every David and Goliath story that has come before, Meta has an achilles heel. And that is their obsession with power, control and greed: no matter what the cost to people and society.

The winners in the new world of 8? Well, everyone: every artist, every musician, every community, charity, publisher, sports team, brand and person. Everyone standing together and breaking free. Because I speak on behalf of all the artists I know, we’ve had enough of the control, the trolls and of working for you for free.

As the band Queen said: “I want to break free”. And now is the time to do it.

Zoe Kalar is the founder and CEO of the social media platform WeAre8.

WeAre8 has announced 8Fest, a three-day virtual event hailed as the world’s first social media music festival. Running from July 11-13, the algorithm-free festival is dedicated to pure music discovery, with lineups curated by industry insiders and a mission to spotlight fresh talent on a global stage.

Download the WeAre8 app today to follow 8fest and be a part of the future of social media.

Three arrested after fatal Knightsbridge stabbing

Three men have been arrested after a man was stabbed to death Knightsbridge, central London, last week.

Blue Stevens, 24, died at the scene near Hyde Park, last Wednesday in what police believe could have been a targeted attack.

Three men in their 20s have been arrested, the Metropolitan Police said.

Two were arrested at an address in Hounslow on Saturday, the force added.

One man was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. He remains in police custody.

Another man was arrested on suspicion of murder. He has been bailed pending further inquiries.

The third man was arrested on Monday on suspicion of assisting an offender. He remains in police custody.

Officers, ambulance and air ambulance services responded to reports of a stabbing in Seville Street, near Hyde Park, at around 9.30pm on Wednesday where Stevens was found with stab wounds and died at the scene.

Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah said officers “retain an open mind around motive”, but one line of inquiry is now that this may have been a “targeted attack”.

Following their arrests, Met officers obtained a warrant to search two properties in Chiswick where “significant evidence” was recovered, the Met Police said.

Detective Chief Superintendent Jessah, who leads policing in Central West London, said: “These arrests mark a significant milestone in this complex and unfolding murder investigation.

“We continue to progress at pace. While we retain an open mind around motive, one line of inquiry is now that this may have been a targeted attack.

“Increased police patrols remain active in and around the Knightsbridge area. Please do speak with an officer if you have any questions or concerns.”

The incident happened near luxury hotel The Park Tower Knightsbridge but did not involve any guests or staff, according to a Marriott spokesperson.

Mr Stevens’ next of kin continue to be supported by specialist officers.

People are urged to call police on 0208 721 4961 referencing CAD 8521/09JUL or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 with any information.

How the second Trump state visit could all go horribly wrong

Now that we know Donald Trump will be making his state visit to the United Kingdom in September, the big question is – will the blimp fly again?

You may recall the blimp – the giant Trump baby balloon that was raised in London during the president’s previous official visits, in 2018, and upgraded to full state visit status in 2019. The 20-foot-high inflatable portrayed an infantile Trump in a nappy with a snarl on its face, like it’d just been told it had lost a free and fair presidential election.

Seemingly inspired by Orville the Duck, the Trump blimp was intended – in the words at the time of its progenitor, Leo Murray – “to make sure he knows that all of Britain is looking down on him and laughing at him”.

It is now (or should be) as honoured and traditional an element of a Trump visit as the lavish banquet and inspecting the guards in their busbies – but will Keir Starmer pressure mayor Sadiq Khan to take that blimp down in the name of Anglo-American relations?

Khan has been singled out for criticism by Trump before and was proud of permitting the airborne satire to take flight over the capital on previous occasions. The now historic artefact is apparently in storage at the Museum of London, though it is occasionally given a test flight to ensure it’s still airworthy, like the Spitfires and Lancaster bombers we like to see fly past on other great occasions.

The sight of the blimp from the window of Air Force One could make the famously touchy president so upset that he might order the plane to turn around and head straight back to Florida. Which would be a shame, because it would deprive us of some great late-summer entertainment.

How big, for example, will the protests be? The British managed 400,000 last time round, including some especially obscene placards up in Scotland, where the president will be taking in a little golf.

The King has wisely opted to sequester the president, first lady and, no doubt, the extended clan at Windsor Castle, which was designed by William the Conqueror (who understood such things), to keep its inhabitants safe from attack. There will be a no-fly (or a no-blimp) zone. If possible, his majesty should make arrangements for any television sets to be removed from the visitors’ chambers and cancel the newspapers.

The prime minister has also sensibly opted for the Trump visit to be held during the parliamentary recess, so that there’ll be no unpleasant demonstrations by the likes of Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana at what would usually be a jolly joint address to MPs and peers, as was recently the case for Emmanuel Macron. No chants of “from the river to the sea” will assail the presidential sensibilities.

Nor will the House of Commons have to stage a formal debate on the wisdom of the visit because of a massive public petition, as happened before.

Given previous incidents, I imagine that the president has no doubt already been told that he won’t be able to have the carriage ride through London for “security reasons” – anyway, it might rain and the presidential Cadillac, known as “The Beast”, is both air-conditioned and assassin-proof. Thus, will President Trump be deprived of the courtesy given to President Ceausescu in 1978 and Vladimir Putin in 2003?

Under our impressive anti-terror laws, protests will be quelled, suppressed and kept as far away from Trump’s attention as possible. Most of the jeopardy of mild to severe embarrassment, then, lies with the behaviour of the president himself. Starmer will be more nervous than a chicken hosting a convention of gourmand foxes at what The Donald might say or do during the few days when he will be the centre of attention.

Hopefully, Trump will leave JD Vance at home, but he’s perfectly capable of repeating his own views about irregular migration into Britain (naturally making an egotistical contrast with his own successes on his southern border), calling it an invasion or something. He could repeat his opinions about crime in London.

He might make a big public fuss of Nigel Farage – “great guy, make a fine leader” – and tell Rachel Reeves she’s making a complete and total mess of the economy (albeit that wouldn’t be so controversial).

In fact, based on what I’ve seen and read over the years, there are many things Trump might say. He might praise the likes of Tommy Robinson – most recently in court charged with harassing two Daily Mail journalists, and Lucy Connolly, the Tory councillor’s wife, jailed for inciting racial hatred online following the Southport attacks – as political prisoners.

Or, he might deride the King’s devotion to environmentalism. No one can predict what he might do – or stop him. We know that, by now.

Volatile as he can be, the best that Starmer can hope for from Trump is some warm words on a future US-UK free trade agreement (despite the claims, there isn’t one now), support for Ukraine and the Nato alliance.

More likely, as Theresa May discovered on previous occasions, the Trumps will leave no more of a legacy than another outing for that big tangerine baby.