Broadcaster James Whale dies after battle with cancer, aged 74

James Whale, the veteran radio DJ and TV personality, has died from cancer, aged 74.

In a statement shared on social media, his employers TalkTV said: “We are sad to announce that James Whale MBE died earlier today, aged 74, following a lengthy battle with cancer. As a broadcasting legend for over 50 years, James will be missed by so many at Talk and the wider News UK family.”

His wife Nadine Lamont-Brown also confirmed the news in a brief statement that said: “James slipped away very gently this morning. It was a beautiful passing, and he left with a smile on his face.”

Whale was first diagnosed with cancer back in 2000 and had to have one of his kidneys removed. Then, in 2020, the TalkTV host revealed that the cancer had returned to his remaining kidney and spread to his spine, brain and lungs.

His colleague, Mike Graham, announced his death to listeners on Talk on Monday (4 August) while paying tribute to his friend whom he had worked alongside on Talk for the past six years.

Graham said in a moving tribute: “James began his remarkable career in the early 1970s when he pioneered a new kind of radio in Britain, the late night shock jock phone in. By the late 1980s, the James Whale Radio Show had become a cultural phenomenon, broadcasting every weekend on ITV. He attracted millions of viewers, making him a household name.

“James would go on to host a variety of programmes for ITV, Sky and the BBC before finding a new audience for talk radio, all the while continuing to make headlines during his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.

“In 2006, after surviving kidney cancer, James launched Kidney Cancer UK, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds. In 2024, James was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours, recognising his extraordinary contribution to broadcast and charity.”

He concluded: “James Whale broke the rules, he shaped the airwaves, and did it all on his own terms. For millions, James wasn’t just a broadcaster. He was a companion, a provocateur, and a good friend that we’ll all never forget. God bless you, James. We’ll miss you.”

The news comes just days after Whale recorded his final ever podcast from a hospice with his wife, as he thanked fans for listening. He said a farewell in an emotional clip shared on TalkTV on Friday (1 August).

Speaking with his wife Nadine, the presenter said, “We’ve had a good time together haven’t we?” to which she replied: “The best”.

He told his audience: “Thank you for being a listener. I hope it helps in some way and who knows what’s next, so I can only say au revoir.”

TalkTV host and political pundit Julia Hartley-Brewer paid tribute in a social media post and said: “So sad that my amazing, wonderful @TalkTV colleague James Whale has died.

“He was a legend both on air and off air. It was a pleasure and an honour to know him. Sending Nadine and his family all my love xxxx.”

Whale, who has been a fixture of British radio and TV for five decades, announced in May that he had stopped his treatment and was “at the end of his cancer journey”.

The industry veteran was awarded an MBE for his services to broadcasting and charity in the 2024 New Year Honours List. Whale called the moment the “pinnacle” of his career.

Due to his past experience with cancer, Whale, who competed on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, formed the James Whale Kidney Fund in 2006, which merged with Kidney Cancer UK in 2015. In 2018, his first wife, Melinda Maxted, died after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

He began his career with Metro Radio in 1974 where he pioneered the late-night radio phone-in.

Whale rose to fame in the 1980s with his frank style, dry wit and no-nonsense approach on late-night programme The James Whale Radio Show, gaining a legion of loyal listeners.

He spent 13 years at TalkSport before hosting the drivetime show on LBC and the breakfast show on BBC Essex.

During his career he also hosted Whale On, Dial Midnight and Central Weekend Live for ITV, and Talk About for BBC One. His autobiography Almost A Celebrity: A Lifetime Of Night-Time was published in 2008.

Despite the respect that he garnered, Whales’s career was peppered with controversy. In 2008, he was sacked by TalkSPORT after he called on listeners to vote for Boris Johnson when the former prime minister was campaigning to become London mayor, an election he subsequently won. While employed on TalkRadio, he clashed with listeners and activists over the Brexit referendum campaign, but later suggested he had changed his mind in response to the behaviour of the European Union.

Whale later caused a stir while on Celebrity Big Brother when broadcaster Saira Khan after the Loose Women panellist asked him if he was racist.

Khan said she had researched Whale before entering the house and had seen the claims online. He responded: “I’ve never heard so much rubbish in my entire life.”

He added: “I don’t think I am known for that. Am I known for that? I don’t know. I really don’t know. I’ve been one of the judges of the British curry awards for 10 years.”

He was the sixth contestant to be eliminated from the show and left in a double eviction alongside The Only Way Is Essex’s Lewis Bloor.

Further tributes have been paid to Whale by his colleagues and friends in the media. The entrepreneur Charlie Mullins wrote: “This morning I heard the sad news of the passing of the broadcasting legend and my dear friend – the one and only James Whale MBE. James, mate, rest in peace now.”

Chuck Thomas, an executive producer at TalkTV said that the world would be “a lot quieter without him”. Thomas added that his friend “faced the end with courage and wit” and that “broadcasting has lost a giant”.

LBC host Nick Ferrari added: “Anyone who has spent any time working in speech radio knows what a trailblazer James Whale has been. Radio just got a lot quieter.”

The illusionist Uri Geller remarked that Whale was a “brave man” and a “true friend” and that he had never met anyone “quite like James Whale”.

India deny England to seize win and series draw despite injured Woakes’ heroics

India repelled England and Chris Woakes’s heroics to produce an exhilarating day-five blitz to snatch a six-run victory in the fifth Test and a series draw at a raucous Oval.

After a combination of rain and bad light sent this gripping series into Monday, the drama came to a boil across an absorbing morning, with bowlers Mohammed Siraj – the player of the match after a memorable five-wicket haul – and Prasidh Krishna providing the spark as the ball hooped around corners.

It ended with Gus Atkinson shielding Woakes, batting with a sling with one arm tucked inside his jumper. But Siraj, clasping the ball long after cleaning out Atkinson to complete the win off the back of 5-104, conjured a spell of breathtaking speed and variety. The maverick bowler rebounded after squandering a chance to dismiss Harry Brook before his marvellous century and innings of 111, sealing a win for his country and the thousands of delirious India fans in south London and the start of a new era.

“It means absolutely everything,” said KL Rahul. “I’ve seen India win the World Cup, nothing compares, but so many doubts, so many questions from everyone if Test cricket would stay or not… I think we have answered that question. A team that was not given a chance in this series, it might seem like a draw, but I think for India, it will rank right at the top. This is where the change begins.”

If the equation appeared simple enough at the start of play, with England chasing 35 runs for victory in the Test and series, and India desperately searching for four wickets, with one of those the one-armed Woakes, to earn a draw, then the margins immediately narrowed yet further.

Krishna raced in to complete his over from last night, with dark clouds providing a gloomy backdrop, and Jamie Overton clattered him for four to ease some nerves.

But that was as comfortable as England would be for the next half an hour, as the Indian seamer almost produced the perfect response. Overton almost dragged on, and the ball raced to the boundary off his inside edge for four more precious runs.

If India started on the back foot, then Siraj, so often the villain throughout this absorbing series packed with plenty of needle, brought a counterpunch, superbly tempting Jamie Smith into a narrow miss with a lazy waft. The respite would not last, though. A belated walk after the next ball, feathering one to Dhruv Jurel, with the review eventually revitalising Indian hopes. Just two runs from Smith, England’s last recognised batter, brought even more jeopardy to the contest.

Siraj was wheeling away a moment later after his next ball, as Atkinson nicked to Rahul. But the fielder couldn’t squeeze his fingers under the ball, the agony of the ball pressing them into the turf. An extraordinary over underlined the reality of how this game is defined by inches. Two overs down, nails shortening by the minute.

Atkinson then clattered one off Prasidh through the offside, but the lightning Ravindra Jadeja scurried to the boundary to limit the damage to three runs.

Siraj then trapped Overton (9) lbw, umpire Kumar Dharmasena’s belated decision sparking wild celebrations as India moved to the brink of victory. The review showed no bat involved, with the ball glancing leg stump. From 22 balls, two wickets and two boundaries.

Krishna then removed Josh Tongue; another long wait ensured, tension simmering. The review was emphatic and demanded immediately. Tracker revealed the ball gliding down the leg side, though. Respite for England, but again, not for long. Krishna begged his captain for another review a ball later, but Gill resisted this time.

The drama eventually dipped a little, but Krishna brought it to a boil once more, cleaning out Tongue to send stumps sprawling. It enabled the wounded Woakes to walk out amid wild scenes, England still requiring 17 runs to win. A remarkable image to conclude a remarkable series.

If the principles of Bazball were discarded today in this rearguard, then Atkinson provided a telling reminder with a muscular heave to cow corner. Akash Deep tipped it over the boundary for a huge maximum. An opportunity to grab a single, with 11 runs needed, was then predictably rebutted, ensuring Woakes remained a mere spectator at the other end.

Siraj then bowled again, tasked with depriving England of a quick single, but Atkinson dashed to the non-striker’s end, forcing Woakes to desperately lunge and get off strike. He did so, arms jiggling and a grimace on his face, as Jurel rolled the ball inches past the stumps. It was a move that brought regret and a discarded glove from the wicketkeeper soon after.

Atkinson clubbed two more to the cow corner boundary to bring the target down to single figures and a delicate dink for one more off Krishna to delay India’s shot at Woakes a little longer. It mattered little as Siraj produced another sensational delivery, smashing Atkinson’s stumps in the most emphatic end to a series in recent memory.

Stepmother admits ‘massive regret’ for taking 11-year-old son to violent post-Southport riot

A stepmother who took her 11-year-old son to a post-Southport riot, where she shouted at police protecting asylum seekers, has says she has “massive regret” over her actions.

Amy Hodgkinson-Hedgecox, 38, joined the protest outside a Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth, Staffordshire, after initially intending to take the boy to a skate park, a court heard.

During the unrest on 4 August last year, the hotel was damaged and petrol was poured inside and set alight.

In November, Hodgkinson-Hedgecox reacted angrily when she given a 27-month prison sentence at Stafford Crown Court after pleading guilty to violent disorder.

But following her release on licence, the mother-of-two has now spoken of her remorse, describing herself as an “idiot” and “stupid” after getting “caught up in the moment”.

She was one of 544 people sentenced for offences linked to the nationwide unrest that broke out after the murder of three children at a dance class in Southport. The tragedy triggered a wave of misinformation, including inaccurate claims the killer was an asylum seeker.

Speaking to the BBC’s Panorama programme, Hodgkinson-Hedgecox , who now wears an electronic tag as part of a night-time curfew, said she joined the protest after seeing posts on social media that claimed asylum seekers had been filming children at a park close to the hotel.

She now acknowledges the claims may have been untrue.

The former factory worker, who lives in Tamworth, said: “I did swear. I was just shouting to the police, like, how would you like it if your child has been videoed by them? There’s a level where you should be sticking up for us as well as them.”

“I was frustrated, I was really frustrated.”

Hodgkinson-Hedgecox said she did feel concerned for the people inside the hotel when she saw a petrol bomb being lit.

She said: “When they started smashing the windows, they were throwing fireworks through the holes and they were going bang in the building, I thought, something bad’s going to happen here.

“As soon as I seen the lighter go on that petrol bomb I thought, oh my God, this building’s going to go down. I was really concerned for [the people inside]. I thought, wow, this is gonna go up in flames, gonna kill them all.”

Looking back on her actions, she said: “I accept that I was wrong for being there. I should never have been there. And I accept I should have never took a child with me either. Massive regret, huge regret. It’s bad parenting.”

She also said: “I have no answer for it other than I’m an idiot, stupid, got caught up in the moment.”

While in prison, Hodgkinson-Hedgecox said she accepted £1,000 from far-right group Patriotic Alternative. It was offered to provide financial support for families of those convicted. She told the BBC she regretted taking the cash.

Last week, a police watchdog chief warned there was “every possibility” that similar violence to the Southport riots could reoccur.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services Sir Andy Cooke said the “tools that amplified hatred last summer remain largely unchanged and unregulated”.

He said: “Online misinformation continues to spread. Community tensions persist.”

He called on police forces to modernise their understanding of how disorder develops and spreads in the digital age.

Britain’s ‘biggest rat’ found in Yorkshire home

A supersized rat thought to be the UK’s biggest has been captured by pest controllers in a home in the north of England.

The giant animal, which measured 22 inches long, was found in the Normanby area of Redcar and Cleveland after a resident called in exterminators.

Councillors who were sent an image of it described the rodent as “almost the size of a small cat”, and have claimed pest control issues have got “out of control” since the end of free services for residents in the Labour-run local authority.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Eston ward councillor David Taylor said the rodents were becoming “brazen” and had “settled into the neighbourhood”.

“The longer this is ignored, the worse it will get,” he added. “It is a growing problem.”

The council insisted it has a “dedicated pest control officer” who works on council-owned land, and said it also “offers advice to residents where possible”.

Writing on a joint Facebook page, Mr Taylor and fellow councillor Stephen Martin said the area needed “a proper vermin control strategy”.

“As many of you have seen, the rat infestation we raised has now made national headlines,” the Conservative Party councillors wrote. “What started with 100 comments on social media has grown to nearly 1,000 on Teesside Live, and now it’s been picked up by both local on Teesside, Yorkshire, Birmingham, and London and national press.

“It’s clear this needs a joined-up response — from government, local councils, housing providers, landlords, the NHS, commercial developers, and the water board. We need a proper vermin control strategy and fast. This situation should never have been allowed to get this bad.

“There’s no doubt plenty of blame to go around, but what matters now is what we do next to stop it getting worse.”

Mr Taylor said councillors would now be calling for an “urgent action plan” including a borough-wide survey into the vermin and a treatment plan.

A Redcar and Cleveland council spokesperson said: “The council has a dedicated pest control officer who manages pest issues on council-owned land.

“While we no longer provide a wider pest control service, we do offer advice to residents where possible.

“The council continues to work with Beyond Housing, Northumbrian Water and other partners to address complex issues and explore potential solutions.

“There is also helpful guidance and preventative measures on our website to support people in dealing with pests.”

The largest rat believed to have been caught in Britain measured 21 inches from tip to tail and was found in a property in Bournemouth in November 2018. According to the RSPCA, rats in the UK can grow up to 11 inches on average.

Cancer and Alzheimer’s ‘strongly’ linked to toxic chemicals in food

Toxic chemicals present in our air, food and water have been strongly linked with a huge number of environmental problems and serious health issues, including cancer, obesity, dementia, infertility and ADHD.

Describing toxicity as “the most underrated threat facing humanity”, a new report has warned that the “contamination of humans is endemic” and that the risks to planetary and human health are “widely underestimated”, with the impact of pesticide use on cancer rates potentially rivalling that of smoking.

More than 3,600 synthetic chemicals from food contact materials, such as packaging and pesticides, are present within human bodies globally, the report revealed, 80 of which are feared to be especially dangerous.

Chemicals known as Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) were found in almost everyone tested, with 14 per cent of European teenagers having blood levels high enough to pose serious health risks.

Among the shocking findings is the link between pesticide use and leukaemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and bladder, colon and liver cancer – including suggestions that prenatal pesticide exposure increases the odds of childhood leukaemia and lymphoma by more than 50 per cent.

Evidence was also gathered showing that synthetic chemicals humans are exposed to have contributed to a global decline in sperm count – for example, men with high levels of certain PFAS have been found to have less than half the normal sperm count of those with low levels.

Amid escalating cancer rates, declining fertility, and a surge in chronic diseases, the team behind the report are warning that the current international approach to managing synthetic chemicals is “inadequate” and “misunderstood”, as they call for more coordinated action across the world and better standardisation to safeguard humans and the planet alike.

‘The Invisible Tsunami’ report was created by Deep Science Ventures’ science team with The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, following an eight-month investigation involving an analysis of peer-reviewed scientific papers as well as interviews with researchers, non-profit leaders, entrepreneurs and investors.

The industrial economy has created more than 100 million new chemicals, with 350,000 currently in commercial use after production surged 50-fold since the 1950s, according to the researchers. They explained that toxic chemical exposure, via air, food, and water, originates from fossil carbon feedstocks, which are the carbon-containing components extracted from fossil fuels.

The team warned the production of persistent chemicals, a group of toxic chemicals that remain in the environment for a long time, has grown so large that “a safe planetary boundary has been breached”. As an example, they said PFAS have “contaminated the entire planet”, with rainwater levels often surpassing safe drinking water limits and the chemicals found in the blood of almost the entire population.

Non-persistent pollution is equally widespread, with World Health Organization (WHO) data showing that almost all of the global population (99 per cent) breathes air that exceeds the agency’s guideline limits and contains high levels of pollutants.

The team said the report outlines “strong” causal and correlational links between toxicity and a variety of severe human health conditions, including cancer, obesity, Alzheimer’s, pregnancy complications, ADHD, fertility issues, heart conditions, and respiratory ailments.

Beyond human health, they warned toxic chemicals are causing “noticeable and widespread” damage across ecological systems, affecting biodiversity and the delicate balance of natural environments.

“This research, collating peer-reviewed work, shows that humanity is facing a widely underappreciated exposure to chemicals through food, air and water,” said Dr Adam Tomassi-Russell, director of climate at Deep Science Ventures.

“The scale of the problem appears widespread and research shows the need for a fundamental shift in how we approach our understanding, funding and innovation efforts to solve this problem.”

Jeremy Grantham, co-founder and chair at The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, added: “Toxicity is the most underrated threat facing humanity.”

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‘My daughter went to the shops and we never saw her again – seven years later, we still want answers’

Straightening her hair and complaining about her broken phone charger, Andrea Gharshallah’s last morning with her daughter in March 2018 had been unremarkable.

A proud mother of two boys, a passionate cook of Sunday roasts and a lover of music, Georgina was surrounded by a close-knit family, which included her confidante mother and three sisters.

While her life in later years had been unpredictable and she had suffered with social anxiety and bulimia, the Gharshallah family had no inkling that once she walked out of her family home in Worthing, she would never be seen again.

Seven years and five months later, neither a police investigation nor the constant searches of her family have brought any clues.

“It’s a complete mystery,” Andrea told The Independent. “I was never aware of her having any feuds with anyone. She never mentioned anything going on, and if she had owed someone money, she would have asked me.”

At the time of her disappearance, Georgina, 30, had been unemployed and recently separated from her partner. A relationship that had been tumultuous had seen her return to live with her mother.

Despite this, she continued to visit him regularly, which is how her initial disappearance slipped through the net.

On Wednesday, 7 March, Georgina left home at 9.30am with a plan to fix her phone, visit the jobcentre and meet her father in Worthing town centre.

The last official sighting of her is recorded on CCTV at Clifton Food and Wine shop at 9.50am, where she asked the shop manager for help with her phone. She did not keep the rest of her appointments for the day, her phone disconnected from the network, and her bank accounts have not been touched since.

“I knew her phone wasn’t working, so when I didn’t hear from her for the first few days, I wasn’t initially concerned,” Andrea said. “She often went to stay with friends or with her on-off boyfriend. There was a small thing in the back of my mind, though, that she did usually let me know, and I’d sent her texts.”

Familiar with her daughter’s lifestyle, which could be erratic and involved binge-drinking, Andrea had first been annoyed. “I thought it was inconsiderate – I thought, ‘you could have at least let us know where you are’.”

It was a few days later that alarm bells began to ring, after Georgina failed to meet her children, and her ex-partner got in touch to say he had not heard from her.

After contacting local hospitals and messaging her friends on Facebook, they decided to phone the police and report her missing.

For Andrea, the investigation took a turn when detectives informed her several weeks later that Georgina’s bank accounts had not been used.

“All the time I had been listening out for her footsteps coming up the footpath and up the stairs,” she said. “We lived waiting for that, waiting for her to turn up – but it never happened. It took a very long time for me to accept that maybe she had come to harm.”

Their relationship with the police has not always been smooth sailing. Within the first few months, Andrea says, multiple people were assigned to the case, with the family unsure who was in charge until June 2019.

In August that year, they were shown CCTV of a potential sighting of Georgina with another woman at 3.30pm on Chapel Road. Despite her family being convinced that it was her, it was later removed from an appeal due to police uncertainty.

Frustrations have also mounted over the lack of publicity and urgency the case has received. “I’d see cases across the UK becoming high profile in a day or two, and I would email the police and say, ‘how come a girl in Yorkshire has drones and searches and police teams?’,” Andrea added.

“As time went by, I accused them of discriminating against my daughter because of her lifestyle choices, or race or social discrimination. If Georgina had been a blonde, blue-eyed girl who worked in Barclays, she would have had more attention.”

Sussex Police strongly denies this accusation, and a referral to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) in 2022 found no reason to investigate.

A spokesperson for the force said: “We have conducted multiple physical searches as part of our efforts to find out what happened to Georgina. This includes the use of specialist search teams and equipment to carry out rigorous tests of sites near where Georgina went missing, such as Teville Gate, which was under construction at the time. However, to date, nothing has been found that would help progress our investigation.”

They added that they had participated in TV interviews and had followed up on more than 100 possible sightings of Georgina from across the country.

While her case has now been registered as a no-body homicide, Andrea refuses to have her daughter declared deceased. “We most probably think Georgina has come to harm, but I will never, ever, register her as no longer alive until they produce evidence to say what happened to her,” she said.

The death of Claudia Lawrence’s father in 2021 had particularly struck a nerve. The 35-year-old chef from Yorkshire had disappeared in 2009, and while her body has never been found, police believe she was murdered.

“It really brought it home to me that he died and never knew what had happened,” she said. “That must be awful, spending the rest of your life trying to find answers and living for your child’s case. I think that’s my biggest fear now, coming to the end of my life and never knowing.

“If anyone knows anything or has information, we are desperately waiting. For Georgina, wherever she may be, please know that we desperately miss you.”

Detective Superintendent Andy Wolstenholme said: “From the day Georgina Gharsallah was reported missing to now, we have completed extensive enquiries to try and find her.

“Her family and friends are understandably desperate for answers, and I share their frustrations that despite exhaustive efforts, we do not know what happened to her on that day in 2018.

“My team and I remain in regular contact with Andrea, and we admire and fully support the work she does in keeping Georgina’s disappearance in the public eye.

“Our investigation’s priority is to get to the truth of what happened to Georgina and bring a conclusion to all of these years of waiting for her loved ones.”

Anyone with information should contact police online or by calling 101, quoting Operation Pavo. Reports can also be made anonymously via the independent charity Crimestoppers online or on 0800 555 111.

Ukraine war latest: Kremlin warns US over nuclear rhetoric

The Kremlin has warned that everyone should be careful about nuclear rhetoric, after Donald Trump ordered a repositioning of US nuclear submarines.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down the significance of Mr Trump’s announcement last Friday that he had ordered two submarines to be moved to “the appropriate regions”.

The move came after former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev made remarks about the risk of war between the nuclear-armed adversaries.

“In this case, it is obvious that American submarines are already on combat duty. This is an ongoing process, that’s the first thing,” Mr Peskov said.

“But in general, of course, we would not want to get involved in such a controversy and would not want to comment on it in any way,” he added.

“Of course, we believe that everyone should be very, very careful with nuclear rhetoric.”

Mr Peskov said that Russia did not see Trump’s statement as marking an escalation in nuclear tension.

He also declined to answer directly when asked whether the Kremlin had tried to warn Medvedev to tone down his online altercation with Trump.