‘Alright, if you don’t shut up. That’s it. It’s the height of rudeness.’
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Dave Hughesy unleashes at Adelaide Fringe Show over women speaking in the audience: ‘It’s my show, this is ridiculous’
Rio Tinto scraps plans to raise up to $US5 billion in share sale
Rio Tinto has scrapped plans to raise as much as $US5 billion in a share sale following pushback from investors, people with knowledge of the matter said.
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BGT judge Amanda Holden’s raciest forgotten moments from lesbian fantasy to sexy roles
AS a Britain’s Got Talent judge, Amanda Holden has been hit with Ofcom complaints for her eye-popping sexy outfits.
But the defiantly risqué TV and theatre star, 54, has been showing her naughty side for far longer than her tenure on the panel.
We take a look at the mum-of-two’s forgotten gigs full of flirty behaviour and raunchy revelations:
LESBIAN FANTASY
While seductively stroking a drier hose, a fresh-faced Amanda spilled her dirtiest secret to now defunct car mag Men & Motors.
She purred: “My best fantasy, I think, if I’m completely honest, would involve another woman.
“She’d have to accidentally kiss me or something like that and it’d have to go into something else, but I’d like my husband to be there because I think I’d be a bit scared.
“I have to say I could never go down on a woman, but I could have a woman go down on me.”
Needless to say, it revved up the engines of viewers everywhere.
ANYTHING BUT GRIM
Amanda’s had plenty of acting roles over the years, but one of the sexiest saw her dressed in a daring pink corset, stockings and suspenders.
She played a desirable teacher called Geraldine Titley in ITV‘s The Grimleys.
Teen pupil Gordon Grimley had the hots for her and in a dream sequence Geraldine stripped off in class to reveal the raunchy lingerie.
She then invited Gordon to sit next to her on a Valentine’s themed bed during the sex education lesson and said: “Come on. Out you come. Don’t be shy. I won’t bite.”
If it aired today, Ofcom would no doubt be kept VERY busy.
BREAST FRIENDS
Britain’s Got Talent spin-off host Stephen Mulhern didn’t know where to look during one behind the scenes encounter with Amanda.
The judge was dressed to impress in a plunging satin outfit and drew attention to her chest as she chatted to the presenter.
She told him: “They may not look big these girls but they have the ability to upstage me now and then.”
After encouraging him to cup them, Stephen awkwardly put his fans near her chest before flashing the camera a knowing look and walking off.
RAUNCHY ROLES
Long before she was an entertainment show regular, Amanda was a budding actress with a varied credits list.
In the 90s she landed small parts in two racy dramas – Virtual Sexuality and Intimate Relations, respectively.
The latter stars Amanda’s ex-husband Les Dennis and Julie Walters and tells the story of a sailor in 1950s England as he tries to find his estranged brother. The comedy-drama has been described as a “sexual tug of war.”
While the former, in which Amanda played a shoe shop assistant, sees a teen girl create her perfect man in virtual reality before he actually comes to life.
Both flicks have since faded into obscurity.
DATING GAME
One of Amanda’s earliest forays onto national television was as a 19-year-old singleton on classic dating show, Blind Date.
Confident Amanda, dressed in a little black dress, made an impression though she failed to get picked.
Despite losing out on the night, it’s Amanda who had the last laugh going on to be a much-desired TV star.
The man who turned her down, Barnaby Hands, told the Mail in 2021: “I still get teased about it to this day. When she became famous everyone kept telling me, ‘You idiot!'”
“My brother used to tease me so much. He said, ‘I can’t believe you turned down Amanda Holden!’ She used to do some modelling in men’s magazines and he would phone me up and say, ‘What were you thinking?'”
Barnaby did well for himself, becoming a film executive for Paramount and marrying his wife of 21 years, Becca.
Amanda Holden's sexiest holiday pictures
Amanda isn't afraid to flash the flesh and post pictures of her incredible holiday style
When she balanced in a bikini off the side of a boat
When she gave Pamela Anderson a run for her money
When she celebrated her 53rd birthday on the beach in Dubai
And went completely in the nude
When she posed topless in her hot tub
When she showed off her perfect dive in her villa pool
Mo Salah ‘tries to stop Liverpool making a substitution over fear of rule breach as referee is forced to intervene’
MOHAMED SALAH had to be reassured that his team weren’t about to break the rules in the late stages of Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Southampton on Saturday.
Salah was spotted doing everything he could to stop Jarrell Quansah from being substituted on in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold, with the Egyptian fearing Liverpool were about go over their quota of substitutes.
The Reds had already made five changes – the usual limit in a Premier League match – before Quansah was warming up on the touchline.
And fearing punishment for going over their allotted amount, Salah was “desperately” trying to stop the sixth sub of the match in the 89th minute.
That was until referee Lewis Smith went over to explain that a little-known rule was in play and Liverpool were allowed to make a sixth switch.
A head injury to Armel Bella-Kotchap in the first half had led to Southampton leaning on a concussion substitution to replace the German with Jan Bednarek.
Concussion protocol rules enforce that if a team uses a concussion substitute it does not count towards their allocation of tactical switches.
As a result, the opposition team are granted a sixth change too – meaning Liverpool’s decision to bring on Quansah was perfectly legal.
Fans online were all for Salah’s attempts to stop the substitution, telling that it was an example of just how much he wants to win the league.
One wrote: “Mo was trying to prevent it from happening in case we get docked points. He’s really making sure we win the league”.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
Even if Liverpool had gone over their quota it is very unlikely they would have been handed any kind of points deduction for the blunder.
IFAB rules state that any team trying to exceed the permitted number of subs “must be prevented by the referee”.
Salah’s influence on the game didn’t stop at trying to prevent tactical errors.
The Premier League’s leading goalscorer added two more to his tally as he scored twice from the penalty spot in the 3-1 win.
Both penalties came after Darwin Nunez had levelled for the Merseyside outfit following a Will Smallbone opener for the Saints.
Liverpool’s victory means they are now an astonishing 16 points clear at the top of the table, with closest rivals Arsenal travelling to face Manchester United this afternoon.
I tried Quality Street’s new ‘Incredible Egg’ – it’s so good there won’t be any left by Easter
NOTHING says Christmas like opening a tin of Quality Street chocolates – and now the fun is spreading all the way to Easter.
One of our favourite chocolatiers, Nestle, has launched an impressively-sized Golden Collection ‘Incredible Egg’.
It’s a real whopper in a ginormous box and I’d say it’s sure to fly off supermarket shelves.
I picked it up for just £10 at Iceland, though it is £12 at some stores including Waitrose and Ocado.
But is it good value and more importantly, how does it taste? Time for me to find out.
Having long been a fan of Quality Street choccies, I was excited to see how this measured up.
The box alone looks impressive.
It really stands out amongst other eggs on the supermarket shelves and I reckon lots of us will be immediately drawn to this whopper.
The first thing that hits you when you open the box is an intensely sweet caramel aroma.
It smelled like butterscotch and made me think of ice creams I’d had with butterscotch sauce as a kid.
But I was immediately disappointed.
The egg comes with a mixed bag of nine chocolates and just four varieties – two toffee pennies, two caramel swirls, three toffee fingers and two fudge sweets.
Where are my favourites, the Green Triangles and The Purple One?
It seems madness to leave out the chocolates that everyone likes, what a rip off.
These flavours that are so popular with Quality Street fans you can buy them in bags on their own.
The Purple One has repeatedly topped polls as the nation’s favourite – but you won’t find any with this egg.
How to save money at Easter
Sun Savers Editor Lana Clements shares her tips on how to save cash at Easter...
Stock up on eggs – The best value Easter eggs typically sell out by the time the long weekend comes around so by in advance and stash in a cupboard so that you don’t get tempted to nibble.
Cut entertaining costs – If you are hosting family or friends over the holiday, consider asking them to bring a dish such as dessert, or a couple of bottles to cut costs. Use a price comparison site to find the lowest prices on the food and any other decorations or gifts that you need. Try PriceRunner or Trolley.co.uk.
Plan ahead – School holidays combined with gift can make Easter a pricey time of year, especially if you have children. Create a budget ahead of time and look for ways to keep it in check. You can go for free days out by making a scavenge hunts and limit the number of
Flash sales – Make a list of what you need for Easter and look out for flash sales or promotions from supermarkets on items that you need.
Cashback – Use cashback sites to get a little kick back on any spending that you are doing. Try Topcashback or Quidco.
There are no green triangles either, nor orange crunches or caramel swirls.
Nestle has come under fire many times for messing around with Quality Streets.
First they ditched plastic wrappers and introduced paper tubs.
Then they changed the size and shape of the Purple One and Orange Crunch.
Leaving their best chocolates out of this egg is another big mistake.
The chocolate egg itself looks a bit of a squashed oval shape and it was less shiny than some eggs, with a slightly duller brown colour but it was still very smooth on the outside.
It was hard to break open.
I had to smash it against a table a couple of times to break the chocolate so I could take a bite. Once broken, you could see the knobbly bits of toffee on the inside of the egg.
I had to take several bites to make up my mind about this egg and I reckon it’s sure to divide opinion.
The milk chocolate, caramel-flavoured shell is dotted with fudge and caramel pieces.
It’s incredibly rich and sickly which might put some people off.
But I found it very moreish and I loved the chewy bits scattered throughout the chocolate shell.
I slowly nibbled my way through it and found it quite hard to stop eating it, which isn’t good news for my waistline.
Nestle recommends one serving is just 1/15th of this giant egg and that smidge alone contains 106 calories, 6g fat and 11.7g sugar.
I probably ate at least a quarter of it through the afternoon – I just couldn’t stop.
Being a fan of Quality Street’s green triangles and orange cremes, I’d definitely have preferred a better selection of chocolates alongside the egg.
The toffee pennys are pretty tough going on the teeth.
In terms of value, it’s not too bad working out around £2.64 per 100g of chocolate.
When you consider Lindt’s Lindor Egg (260g) with truffles is £13 but £5 per 100g, this egg is great value.
It’s only a tad more expensive than the Cadbury Dairy Easter Egg (245g) which is £6 or £2.45 per 100g.
And it certainly looks more impressive than either of those.
I loved the taste and think this egg has a real wow factor.
Well done to Quality Street, which has outdone itself with this Easter offering.
It’s just a question of whether you want to treat yourself or someone else.
Either way, get your hands on one now, as there won’t be any left by Easter.
Easter Egg bargains
For those on the hunt for some Easter chocolate bargains, Asda have slashed the prices of Cadbury’s XL Easter eggs to just £2.99, making them even cheaper than Aldi right now.
This follows Sainsbury’s recent move to cut prices on Terry’s and Nestlé Easter eggs.
Aldi has also joined the price war, sending shoppers into a frenzy by slashing the cost of Cadbury Easter chocolate to as little as £1.45.
One of the standout deals is the giant 232g Cadbury Mini Eggs Easter egg, which contains two packs of Mini Eggs inside.
Originally priced at £5.99, it’s now on shelves for just £4.95.
For those after a smaller treat, Aldi has knocked 12 per cent off the price of its 96g eggs — making them a great choice for Easter Sunday, which falls on April 20 this year.
The Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons egg includes a pack of buttons, while the Freddo egg comes with Freddo Faces hidden inside.
If a bigger chocolate fix is needed, Aldi has also reduced the price of its mid-size Easter eggs.
The Cadbury Twirl Egg (198g) and Cadbury Creme Egg (195g) have both had their prices trimmed to £3.45.
Aldi is also catering to those who prefer a non-traditional Easter treat.
The supermarket has cut the price of a five-pack of Creme Eggs to just £2.95.
It’s always good to compare prices across different supermarkets to make sure you’re getting the best value for money.
How to save money on chocolate
We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don't have to break the bank buying your favourite bar.
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs…
Go own brand – if you’re not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you’ll save by going for the supermarket’s own brand bars.
Shop around – if you’ve spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it’s cheaper elsewhere.
Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you’re getting the best deal.
Look out for yellow stickers – supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they’ve been reduced.
They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.
Buy bigger bars – most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.
So if you’ve got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories
At least 8 injured as car plows into CarMax showroom in Los Angeles driven by angry customer
AT least eight people have been injured after a car plowed into a showroom in Los Angeles.
Unbelievable footage captured of the carnage shows the SUV reversing into the building as a terrified employee runs for their life.
Two people were critically hurt at the Inglewood dealership while the other six had minor injuries, LA County Fire Department spokesperson Jonathan Torres said.
More shocking footage captures the car pivoting in the lobby area of the showroom and drove out the opposite end of the building.
The showroom company CarMax said the deranged driver was a customer whose vehicle had been appraised.
He was later arrested for the horror plow.
The company said: “We appreciate the authorities’ swift response to this terrible event.”
The terrifying incident was initially reported as an active shooter situation, but spokesperson Torres said that this was not the situation.
Inglewood is around 10 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles.
It comes after a news reporter was run over by a car as she was filming a live broadcast.
WSAZ-TV reporter Tori Yorgey was reporting on a severe weather report in West Virginia and speaking with news anchor Tim Irr in the studio.
The live exchange was cut short however when a silver truck drove into Tori, knocking her to the ground.
A stunned Tori was able to pick herself up as she can be heard saying: “Oh my God, I just got hit by a car but I’m OK.”
To which her news co-host Tim replied: “That’s a first for you on TV, Tori.”
Tori reassured viewers that she was ok and wasn’t injured and added: “That’s live TV for you.”
As the clip continued, Tori was also heard telling the woman who drove the truck into her that she was alright.
While the incident happened three years ago, Tori has now marked the anniversary.
On Instagram she reshared the viral video as she wrote: “Shoutout to cousin Mikey for reminding me yesterday was my ‘anniversary’ of this gem.”
I was told Covid origins probe will lead us to Gates of Hell…Watergate was nothing compared to shock lab leak cover-up
THE probe into the origins of Covid was the biggest intelligence failure since Pearl Harbour and the cover-up was bigger than Watergate, a federal investigator has said.
David Asher, who was working in the Trump administration as Covid exploded across the world in 2020, was told any investigation “would lead us to the gates of hell”.
Speaking to The Sun for our new documentary The Covid Files: Inside the Wuhan lab leak scandal, Mr Asher compared the outbreak to the Watergate scandal which took down President Richard Nixon in the 1970s.
The bioweapons investigator said: “Watergate was nothing compared to this.”
Watch the documentary in full on our YouTube channel here
Mr Asher accused US scientists of helping orchestrate an “outrageous” cover-up and “whitewashing” the lab theory.
“This is the Chernobyl of biology,” he added.
Like many others, Mr Asher has called for a 9/11-style commission to find the truth – and claims the classified intelligence on the Covid origins “would make your head explode”.
Five years after the UK was first plunged into lockdown, the world still has no answers about where the virus that killed more than seven million people came from.
The CIA, FBI and the US Department of Energy have all backed a lab leak as the most likely explanation – with many pointing the finger at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
China‘s Wuhan lab has been at the centre of the lab leak theory since Covid emerged just miles from the facility – which was famous for its research on bat coronaviruses.
Many believe Covid leaked from the US-funded lab during risky virus tests.
Despite years of searching, a natural origin has never been found.
In the US State Department, Mr Asher said he was repeatedly told by sources in China that Covid did not appear natural right from the start.
He told us: “I’m not a whistleblower, I can only talk about what I saw – and what I saw was patently outrageous.
“The cables indicated the was this huge influenza surge.
“This starts spreading quite rapidly – a clear indication, whether you are a spook or not, that something was wrong with this influenza-like illness that was not influenza.
“As soon as I saw the cables on that from our Embassy… I said ‘I think we’ve got to look into this’.”
When he spoke to a top biologist in US national security, Mr Asher was told that China was in “meltdown”.
“It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see this thing was supernatural,” he said.
Mr Asher described the virus as “Frankenstein’s monster” thanks to its telltale signs of genetic manipulation.
Scientists have repeatedly said that Covid was “exquisitely matched”, “completely pre-adapted” and “supercharged” for humans.
From day one, bioweapons boffins in the State Department probed whether Covid had been engineered in a lab in Wuhan – information that was kept from the public.
Weeks before the pandemic was declared, China shut down scientist’s analysis and testing of Covid samples for “violating national security”, Mr Asher claimed.
And he believes Chinese president Xi Jinping engineered Covid to “control the world order, spark chaos and sow seeds of uncertainty”.
Mr Asher points out that China had already stated it was looking at creating biological weapons at a world conference in 2011.
One person’s conspiracy is another person’s strategy
David Asher
He said: “At the time, when I talked to people who were there, they were like, ‘it was shocking’.
“It was almost like China was dropping the death card, like Apocalypse Now, ‘if you mess with us, this is what could happen to you’.
“I don’t think Covid was released as a weapon, or they would have released it, say, outside the Pentagon.
“But could it have been a laboratory accident involving programmes they were running with reckless abandon? Absolutely.”
While investigating the origins, Mr Asher was told it was like “opening Pandora’s box”.
He said he was warned “we could arrive at the gates of hell” if they probed too deeply.
“We had never heard anything like that,” Mr Asher added.
Like Mr Asher, arms control official Thomas DiNanno was warned not to “open a can of worms” by probing the origins of Covid.
I was with Trump when he confronted Xi - I know Covid was a lab leak
EXCLUSIVE by Imogen Braddick, Assistant Foreign Editor
ARROGANT scientists engineered Covid in a lab – and underestimated its danger before it leaked, the former head of America’s top health agency has claimed.
Dr Robert Redfield, 73, spent his career preparing for a catastrophic pandemic – and was “aggressively” silenced when he voiced fears Covid may have leaked from a lab in China.
Speaking to The Sun for our documentary The Covid Files: Inside the Wuhan lab-leak scandal, Dr Redfield lifted the lid on the early days of the pandemic in 2020 that killed millions.
The ex-chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed how he was in the White House with Donald Trump when he called China’s president Xi Jinping.
From his home in Maryland, the top virologist told how Don demanded that Xi allow the US to send a team to China to probe the origins of the mystery bug sweeping the country.
Dr Redfield told us: “I went to ask President Trump if he would call the president of China, which he did. I was there in the Oval Office.
“But we never got an answer on any of our requests.”
He believes his counterpart in China “felt limited in what he could say” about the pandemic.
If Xi had allowed a team of experts into the country, Dr Redfield says the pandemic would have taken a very different path, and potentially saved lives.
Dr Redfield said: “It would have changed our entire public policy.
“If we had got in, I would have learned, probably within a week, that this virus was very human-to-human transmissible.
“I think they already knew that. They’re scientists and doctors. They knew it was highly infectious for humans.”
READ MORE HERE
His job in the State Department was to pour through intelligence on China’s biological weapons programmes every day.
And he said all classified intelligence points to a lab leak.
But US government officials were “uncomfortable” with the level of questioning over the origins of Covid, he claimed.
By Britain’s second lockdown in November 2020, many dismissed the laboratory leak as a conspiracy theory, but in America and China the idea was fast gaining pace.
Even a group of scientists who produced a paper – known as Proximal Origins – had their suspicions.
Their hugely influential research rejected the idea of a lab accident.
Could it have been a laboratory accident involving programmes they were running with reckless abandon? Absolutely
David Asher
Emails, obtained by investigative journalist Emily Kopp, show that another author, Eddie Holmes, said Covid “seemed to have been pre-adapted for human spread since the get go”.
In the years since the publication of Proximal Origins, thousands of people – including scientists – have signed a petition calling for it to be retracted.
The paper has been described as an attempt to cover-up the lab leak theory – forming part of a wider campaign designed to shame anybody who questioned the so-called scientific consensus.
Thousands of documents and emails – uncovered by US Right to Know – appear to reveal a carefully crafted plan by top scientists to ignore the possibility Covid may have leaked from a lab in Wuhan.
Lord Matt Ridley, co-author of Viral which investigates the origins of Covid, described the situation as “extraordinary”.
And Mr Asher, who has led major US State Department investigations, concluded: “One person’s conspiracy is another person’s strategy.”
Six alien places on Earth we STILL haven’t explored from deadly remote island to ‘untouched’ mountain
IN the modern age, it’s hard to imagine that there’s anywhere on Earth that we haven’t fully explored.
But there are surprisingly large chunks of Earth that civilisation has yet to fully probe.
So if you’re looking for a career in exploration, you’re not out of luck yet.
Here are some alien parts of Earth that are still waiting to be explored.
North Sentinel Island
In the Bay of Bengal is the Andaman Islands chain.
And it’s home to North Sentinel Island, a mysterious and unexplored place where visits are banned – a rule enforced by the patrolling Indian Navy.
While the island hasn’t been “explored” in a scientific sense, it is home to humans.
Specifically the isolated Sentinelese, an indigenous tribe that has previously attacked approaching vessels and helicopters with arrows.
Two fisherman were killed by the tribe in 2006 after this boat drifted ashore, and an American missionary who tried to make contact was murdered in 2018.
It’s now considered to be a protected area of India to guard the tribe against the outside world.
So even though it’s a tiny island at just five miles long and just over four miles wide, visitors simply can’t go exploring. Not only is it banned, it’s outright deadly.
Gangkhar Puensum mountain
The Gangkhar Puensum mountain is Bhutan’s highest peak, rising a dizzying 24,836 feet above sea level.
And it’s the highest unclimbed mountain on Earth.
There have been several summit attempts, but they’ve all failed.
Now it’s not even legal to climb out of respect for spiritual beliefs.
In 1994, Bhutan banned anyone from climbing peaks higher than about 19,500 feet.
And then in 2003, Bhutan put a block on all mountaineering in the country.
So it’s unlikely that Gangkhar Puensum will be explored any time soon.
Mariana Trench
From the top of the world to the bottom…the Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the ocean.
It’s an enormous scar that tears across the floor of the western Pacific Ocean for 1,580 miles.
The 43-mile-wide trench’s lowest point is a small valley called the Challenger Deep.
Scientists believe that it’s around 35,827 feet below sea level.
By contrast, Mount Everest only climbs 29,031 feet.
Parts of the Mariana Trench have been explored, including a famous solo descent by Canadian film director James Cameron in 2012 – who made it to the bottom of the Challenger Deep in a submersible.
HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN?
Here's the official answer from the USA's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...
“The average depth of the ocean is about 3,682 meters (12,080 feet),” the NOAA explained.
“The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench.
“Which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam.
“Challenger Deep is approximately 10,935 meters (35,876 feet) deep.
“It is named after the HMS Challenger, whose crew first sounded the depths of the trench in 1875.”
Picture Credit: Pacific Ring of Fire 2004 Expedition. NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration; Dr. Bob Embley, NOAA PMEL, Chief Scientist.
But the Mariana Trench is so huge, difficult to reach, dark and dangerous that there are still vast unexplored areas.
Star Mountains, Papua New Guinea
The Star Mountains are in Papua New Guinea, a nation known for being poorly explored.
In fact scientists think there are lots of planets and animals still waiting to be discovered there.
The problem for explorers is that Papua New Guinea is very remote and mountainous – making it difficult to navigate.
And the Star Mountains are the perfect example of a hard-to-reach part of Papua New Guinea.
The mountain range lies at the western end of the country and, although humans have visited, the vast area is still mostly unexplored.
Northern Greenland Ice Sheet
Northern Greenland is an extremely remote part of the world – mostly because it’s within the Arctic Circle.
It’s extremely cold and dark, and is made up of glaciers, ice sheet, and mountains.
So travelling across the northern part of this vast country is very difficult.
In fact, the northern parts of Greenland are covered by an enormous ice sheet.
So not only does this make exploration tough, but it also conceals whatever is beneath the ice sheet.
Parts of northern Greenland have been explored, but in a very limited way.
Parts of Amazon rainforest (Vale do Javari)
The Amazon rainforest is absolutely, staggeringly, incomprehensibly enormous.
It spans eight countries, is about 28 times bigger than the UK, and is home to around 400 tribes.
And as many as 100 of the tribes in Brazil‘s vast rainforest are uncontacted.
The rainforest is difficult to traverse, with huge areas untouched by civilisation.
Most famous for being unexplored is the Vale do Javari, which is where several uncontacted indigenous tribes live (believed to total around 2,000 people).
It has dense canopies that hide the terrain below, and physically getting there is extremely tough.
The area is bigger than Austria, and it’s highly protected.
In fact Brazil has banned non-indigenous people from entering the area to protect the tribes who live there.
It’s an enormous area that scientists still know very little about – and that likely won’t change soon.
Of course there are plenty more unexplored areas of the world.
Deep parts of the sea, caves we haven’t yet mapped out, and hard-to-reach parts of the Himalayas still evade us.
So there’s still a chance for budding explorers to make the history books.
Angry Britain’s Got Talent fans hit out at show for being ‘sexist’ after ignoring important day with audition line-up
BRITAIN’S Got Talent viewers are fuming after the show ignored something really important on Saturday night.
The hit ITV show, which catapulted back onto our screen last month, aired its third round of auditions last night.
The third episode of the new series came on March 8, which marks the globally recognised day of International Women’s Day.
But despite the globally recognised event, Britain’s Got Talent didn’t honour women at all – and instead aired ZERO female contestants.
Accused of “sexism” by viewers, those watching the show at home were quick to pick up on the lack of female representation despite it being International Women’s Day.
One person took to X to fume: “Actually awful that on international women’s day all the acts tonight so far have been men, sexist #bgt!!“
Another added: “This weeks episode of Britain’s Got Talent just ended… and there was not a *single* female act.
“80 minutes, and all ITV showed was man after man. Remember last year Sydnie was celebrated as the first solo woman to even win it in 17 years? Wild.”
A third person then responded to the above and said: “And this is one reason why i stopped watching bgt.”
While a fourth claimed it was the “worst episode there’s been”.
And a fifth penned: “Oh wow that’s shocking.”
This comes after Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli made an epic comeback for the new series last month.
As well as the four core judges, YouTuber star KSI also joined them in Blackpool when Bruno was absent during some of the auditions.
Also in Saturday night’s episode – which featured no women contestants whatsoever – Simon was left terrified as he was called on stage to participate in the sledgehammer act.
Kranthi Drillman started off his act by cracking open cans of fizzy drinks using just his teeth.
However, he then stepped his act up a notch as he enlisted the help of head judge Simon.
BGT's Best Golden Buzzer Moments
BGT have handed out many Golden Buzzer's over the years, can you remember some of the most famous
- Loren Allred – Loren Allred, 32, from Brooklyn, New York jetted to London to audition after recording the vocals for The Greatest Showman. The stunning singer got a standing ovation and a Golden Buzzer from the judges as she delivered a stirring rendition of Never Enough from the popular film. Loren came out on stage and revealed to the judges they would have heard her voice many times before that moment. “I was hired to record the vocals for The Greatest Showman as a guide for the actors to know how to sing the songs,” she explained. Loren then revealed actress Rebecca Ferguson was so stunned by her singing that she decided to let her vocals be heard in the movie. “So she lip-synced,” Loren said.
- Chicken Shed Theatre Company – Comprised of individuals aged between 5 and 37, the group was set up to welcome anyone irrespective of background to get up on stage and perform and fulfil their dream. Chicken Shed prides itself on accepting anyone and does not hold auditions to make the group a safe and inclusive space. The group wowed as they performed Wonder by Naughty Boy featuring Emeli Sande. It meant that Alesha wasted no time as she decided to hit her golden buzzer for the young performers. She told them it was her “honour” to reward their inclusiveness with her golden buzzer.
- The Dancing Granny – Granny Paddy Jones and her professional partner Niko Espinosa first hit headlines when they won the Spanish talent show Tú sí que vales in 2009, before going on to appear on Britain’s Got Talent in 2014 where they came ninth. Amanda Holden was so impressed with Paddy that she gave her the Golden Buzzer, which sent them straight through to the semi-finals. But things took a worrying turn when Paddy cracked a rib while rehearsing a new move and her place on the show was under doubt. She was given the all-clear to perform in the end but didn’t quite live up to expectations.
- Bars and Melody – They will forever be remembered for their anti-bullying song on the talent show. Bars and Melody were first seen on the 2014 series of Britain’s Got Talent, getting shuttled into the semi-finals when Simon Cowell pressed his Golden Buzzer. They made it to the final thanks to a performance of I’ll Be Missing You but lost out on the crown to Collabro. These days Charlie Lenehan – known as Melody – is covered in tattoos, with inkings on his neck, arms and chest. But he is as close as ever to co-star Leondre Devries – who is Bars – with the pair seen enjoying themselves in exotic locations all over the world.
Simon was repeatedly asked if he was ‘okay’ by the production crew as watermelons and coconuts were carefully placed around the judge, and blindfolded auditionee Kranthi picked up a sledgehammer.
Kranthi then proceeded to smash the fruit placed around Simon with the massive sledgehammer as the judges squirmed as they watched on.
After the audition Simon – who looked shell-shocked as the fruit was smashed around him – remarked: “That was the scariest thing I swear to god I have ever done.”
Amanda then branded the act absolutely “horrifying” and said she could never do what Simon did.
Despite the horror, Kranthi was sent through to the next round.
Woman sexually assaulted in city centre park by man wearing grey latex gloves in horrifying broad daylight attack
COPS are urgently hunting for a man wearing latex gloves after a woman was sexually assaulted in a city centre park in broad daylight.
The horrifying attack took place at Markeaton Park, Derby, on Thursday just after 4pm.
The woman was walking along a path and as she was crossing a small bridge a man approached her and sexually assaulted her.
The man was described by Derbyshire Police as between 20 to 30 years-old.
He was believed to be wearing all black clothes, a coat with large pockets, grey latex gloves and sunglasses.
Cops said he was around 6ft 3 and was of a medium build.
Derbyshire Police said: “We are appealing to anyone that was in the area between 4pm and 5pm and may have any information to contact us.”
Call 101 or go to Derbyshire police’s website or Facebook page, quoting incident number 397 of March 7.
CrimeStoppers can also be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111, or by visiting the CrimeStoppers website.
