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At some point in our lives most of us have done something to upset someone.

That person might have responded by politely asking you not to do it again, or they may have decided life is too short and simply let it go.

If you’re lucky they won’t have responded by paying a hitman thousands of pounds to have you killed.

Alexis was 19 when she received a call from the police in her hometown in the United States in 2018.

The officer told her to come to the station immediately for a conversation that would change her life forever.

“They asked if I had p****d anyone off and I said ‘no, I don’t think so’… then they said someone had paid a couple of grand to put a hit out on me.”

Alexis, whose surname we are not reporting to protect her identity, was understandably left wondering why somebody would want to have her killed, and on top of that – who did she know that had access to a hitman?

However, it turns out whoever it was didn’t need to go to the effort of making contacts in the mafia or violent street gangs.

Trying to find a hitman was apparently much easier than that.

This person had simply fired up their laptop and accessed a dangerous online space where criminals can remain anonymous as they operate outside of the law.

It is known as the “dark web”.

The hidden underbelly of the internet allows people to buy and sell drugs and weapons, watch illegal pornography, and even hire hackers to target individuals or businesses.

There is also a disturbing amount of apparent “murder-for-hire” sites offering hitman services in exchange for cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.

One site claims to have 'thousands of satisfied customers'
Image:
One site claims to have ‘thousands of satisfied customers’

An anonymous dark web user had logged on to a site called Camorra Hitman and made a Bitcoin transaction worth $5,770 (around £4,800) to have Alexis kidnapped and murdered.

Camorra Hitman is no longer running but dozen of sites claiming to offer the same services are still operating on the dark web.

‘Contract murder from $15,000’

Sky News contacted several of these websites to see if they would put someone forward for interview to discuss their operations.

None of the websites responded.

The order form from one of the sites - which asks the customers for the name and address of the 'target'
Image:
The order form from one of the sites – which asks customers for the name and address of the ‘target’

A couple of the sites feature images of people who appear to have been killed in knife attacks or road accidents. It’s not clear if the photographs are real or genuinely linked to the services the websites claim to offer.

One site, which we have chosen not to name, claims to offer “contract murder” from $15,000 (£12,600) and “beatings” from $2,000 (£1,600).

Dark web users provide personal details of people they want killed

Chris Monteiro is a UK-based hacker and dark web vigilante who gains access to transactions between buyers and sellers on these sites.

He then passes the information on to law enforcement agencies in the UK and abroad.

In fact, it was Mr Monteiro who tipped off police in the United States about the hit on Alexis.

“Over several years I have encountered thousands of legitimate murder plots,” he said.

“People are going to these sites and providing details of the person they want killed, such as where they work, where they live and how much they’re willing to pay.”

Chris Monteiro, pictured, says he uncovered thousands of legitimate murder plots on the dark web
Image:
Chris Monteiro, pictured, says he has uncovered thousands of legitimate murder plots on the dark web

‘I had a knife on me’

However, over the years Mr Monteiro discovered the websites he had been hacking into were not what they seemed to be.

The ones he had accessed were not real – and all investigations into “murder-for-hire” websites in these spaces have found them to be fake.

And thankfully for Alexis, this includes the one used by her would-be perpetrator.

But whether the site was real or not, there was still someone out there who had used it with the intention of ending her life.

“I was a little scared at first… I had pepper spray on me. I had a knife on me. I had a plank of wood in my car in case someone attacked me. So life was very different.”

Read more about the dark web:
Global dark web drug network properties raided in North East and Surrey
Dark web crackdown on opioid traffickers triggers 179 arrests across the world

One of the sites claims to offer 'services for hiring killers around the world'
Image:
One of the sites claims to offer ‘services for hiring killers around the world’

Law enforcement officials ‘not doing enough’

The police passed the investigation on to the FBI who closed her case in 2019 and told her the “United States Attorney’s Office has declined to prosecute”.

Whoever did try and have Alexis killed is still living freely today.

Both Alexis and Mr Monteiro accuse law enforcement of doing little to resolve the problem around these sites.

When asked what they are doing to tackle the issue, the UK’s National Crime Agency told the Sky News Daily podcast in a statement: “The NCA and its partners around the world work closely to remove criminal sites, and frequently identify and bring to account individuals committing serious and organised crime on the dark web – ranging from sharing indecent images of children to supplying class A drugs.”

Regardless of the legitimacy of the “murder-for-hire” websites, it doesn’t mean dangerous people aren’t paying money to them with the intention of having people killed.

When it comes to her own murder-for-hire story, Alexis says she is now getting on with her life.

“I’m trying to really grow as a person… at this point, it’s better to just move on, not to dwell on it and drag myself down.”

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At least 60 killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza, health staff say

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At least 60 killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza, health staff say

At least 60 people have been killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza, health staff have said.

A dozen people were killed near the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced people, along with eight more living in apartments, according to staff at Shifa hospital, where the bodies were brought.

Six others were killed in southern Gaza when a strike hit their tent in Muwasi, according to the hospital.

Follow latest: ‘Death to America’ chants in Tehran

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Palestinians gather at the site of a tent camp that was hit by an Israeli strike. Pic: Reuters

The strikes, which began late on Friday and continued into Saturday morning, came as US President Donald Trump said there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week.

“We’re working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of,” he told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.

Palestinians gather at the site of a tent camp that was hit by an Israeli strike.
Pic: Reuters/Mahmoud Issa
Image:
The site of a strike on Gaza City on Friday. Pic: Reuters/Mahmoud Issa

Ron Dermer, Israel’s minister for strategic affairs, will arrive in Washington next week for talks on Gaza’s ceasefire, Iran and other subjects, an official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The last ceasefire agreed back in mid-January ended in March.

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Doctors on the frontline

The war in Gaza was sparked after Hamas launched its attack on Israel in October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 people.

Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than half of them still believed to be alive.

More than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed during the war, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Read more from Sky News:
Truth about success of US strikes on Iran lies deep underground
Fury of helicopter crash victim’s son over sealed documents

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The UN has also warned that people in Gaza are “starving”, with Israel allowing a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May after blocking all food for more than two months.

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‘Gaza disinformation campaign is deliberate’

Palestinians have been shot at and killed while on their way to get food at aid sites, according to Gaza’s health officials and witnesses.

Israel’s military said it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites.

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Chants of ‘death to America’ at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists

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Chants of 'death to America' at funeral for Iranian military commanders and scientists

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Tehran to mourn top military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Iran’s 12-day war with Israel.

Iran’s state-run Press TV said the event – dubbed the “funeral procession of the Martyrs of Power” – was held for a total of 60 people, including four women and four children.

Follow live: Iran hits out at Trump’s ‘unacceptable’ remarks

It said at least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among the dead, including the head of the Revolutionary Guard General Hossein Salami and the head of the guard’s ballistic missile programme, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

Their coffins were driven on trucks into the Iranian capital’s Azadi Square adorned with their pictures as well as rose petals and flowers, as crowds waved Iranian flags.

Mourners dressed in black. Pic: Majid Asgaripour/WANA/Reuters
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Mourners at the funeral procession in Tehran. Pic: Majid Asgaripour/WANA/Reuters

Mourners dressed in black, while chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel” could be heard.

Attending the funeral were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures, including Ali Shamkhani who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

There was no immediate sign of the supreme leader in the state broadcast of the funeral.

A woman holds a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as she attends the funeral procession in Tehran.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
A woman holds a picture of Iran’s supreme leader. Pic: Reuters

Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said its war against Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.

The US launched strikes on three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran, which Donald Trump said left them “obilterated”.

The Iranian government denies having a nuclear weapons programme and the UN nuclear watchdog, which carries out inspections in Iran, has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons programme in the country.

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New details on US attacks on Iran

Over the almost two weeks of fighting, Israel claimed it killed around 30 Iranian commanders and 11 nuclear scientists, before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday.

Read more from Sky News:
Truth about success of US airstrikes on Iran lies deep underground
Fury of helicopter crash victim’s son over documents ‘sealed for 100 years’

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According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side, 13 of whom were children and 49 were women.

Israel’s health ministry said 28 people were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.

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Why critics believe Trump’s big win in Supreme Court is ‘terrifying step towards authoritarianism’

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Why critics believe Trump's big win in Supreme Court is 'terrifying step towards authoritarianism'

As the president himself said, this was a “giant” of a decision – a significant moment to end a week of whiplash-inducing news.

The decision by the US Supreme Court is a big win for President Donald Trump.

By a majority of 6-3, the highest court in the land has ruled that federal judges have been overreaching in their authority by blocking or freezing the executive orders issued by the president.

Over the last few months, a series of presidential actions by Trump have been blocked by injunctions issued by federal district judges.

The federal judges, branded “radical leftist lunatics” by the president, have ruled on numerous individual cases, most involving immigration.

They have then applied their rulings as nationwide injunctions – thus blocking the Trump administration’s policies.

Donald Trump addresses a White House news conference. Pic: AP
Image:
Donald Trump addresses a White House news conference. Pic: AP

“It was a grave threat to democracy frankly,” the president said at a hastily arranged news conference in the White House briefing room.

“Instead of merely ruling on the immediate case before them, these judges have attempted to dictate the law for the entire nation,” he said.

In simple terms, this ruling – from a Supreme Court weighted towards conservative judges – frees up the president to push on with his agenda, less opposed by the courts.

“This is such a big day,” the president said.

“It gives power back to people that should have it, including Congress, including the presidency, and it only takes bad power away from judges. It takes bad power, sick power and unfair power.

“And it’s really going to be… a very monumental decision.”

Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington DC
Image:
The Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. File pic: AP

The country’s most senior member of the Democratic Party was to the point with his reaction to the ruling.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called it “an unprecedented and terrifying step toward authoritarianism, a grave danger to our democracy, and a predictable move from this extremist MAGA court”.

In a statement, Schumer wrote: “By weakening the power of district courts to check the presidency, the court is not defending the constitution – it’s defacing it.

“This ruling hands Donald Trump yet another green light in his crusade to unravel the foundations of American democracy.”

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Trump’s ‘giant’ Supreme Court win

Federal power in the US is, constitutionally, split equally between the three branches of government – the executive branch (the presidency), the legislative branch (Congress) and the judiciary (the Supreme Court and other federal courts).

They are designed to ensure a separation of power and to ensure that no single branch becomes too powerful.

This ruling was prompted by a case brought over an executive order issued by President Trump on his inauguration day to end birthright citizenship – that constitutional right to be an American citizen if born here.

A federal judge froze the decision, ruling it to be in defiance of the 14th amendment of the constitution.

The Supreme Court has deferred its judgment on this particular case, instead ruling more broadly on the powers of the federal judges.

The court was divided along ideological lines, with conservatives in the majority and liberals in dissent.

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In her dissent, liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote: “​​As I understand the concern, in this clash over the respective powers of two coordinate branches of government, the majority sees a power grab – but not by a presumably lawless executive choosing to act in a manner that flouts the plain text of the constitution.

“Instead, to the majority, the power-hungry actors are… (wait for it)… the district courts.”

Another liberal Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, described the majority ruling by her fellow justices as: “Nothing less than an open invitation for the government to bypass the constitution.”

Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who Trump appointed during his first term, shifting the balance of left-right power in the court, led this particular ruling.

Writing for the majority, she said: “When a court concludes that the executive branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too.”

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The focus now for those who deplore this decision will be to apply ‘class action’ – to file lawsuits on behalf of a large group of people rather than applying a single case to the whole nation.

There is no question though that the president and his team will feel significantly emboldened to push through their policy agenda with fewer blocks and barriers.

Read more from Sky News:
DR Congo and Rwanda sign US-brokered peace deal

‘Life-changing’ drug for teenager who lost mother to genetic condition

The ruling ends a giddy week for the president.

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What’s behind the row on Trump’s Iran strikes?

Last Saturday he ordered the US military to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites. Within two days he had forced both Israel and Iran to a ceasefire.

By mid-week he was in The Hague for the NATO summit where the alliance members had agreed to his defence spending demands.

At an Oval Office event late on Friday, where he presided over the signing of a peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, he also hinted at a possible ceasefire “within a week” in Gaza.

A truly consequential week seems set to be followed by another.

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