Two years in limbo: the residents still paying mortgages on flats destroyed in east London fire
The Guardian

Two years in limbo: the residents still paying mortgages on flats destroyed in east London fire

Spectrum Building leaseholders awaiting payouts after freeholder, Arinium, went bankrupt shortly after 2024 blazeSarah Williams vividly remembers the night in 2016 when she camped overnight in a car park to put down a deposit on a flat in the newly completed Spectrum Building in Dagenham, east London.“People started queuing for those flats 24 hours before they went on sale,” she said. “It was basi...

Iran seeks to criminalise all contact with foreign media in ‘chilling’ crackdown
The Guardian

Iran seeks to criminalise all contact with foreign media in ‘chilling’ crackdown

As photojournalist sentenced to 15 years, rights groups warn law would turn civic engagement into security crimeIran has taken the first step towards criminalising contact with foreign media, in a move human rights groups have said attempts to “sever the entire Iranian society from the rest of the world”.For journalists, researchers and even ordinary citizens, the proposed law being discussed by I...

Iran seeks to criminalise all contact with foreign media in latest ‘chilling’ crackdown

Iran seeks to criminalise all contact with foreign media in latest ‘chilling’ crackdown

The Guardian

As photojournalist sentenced to 15 years, rights groups warn law would turn civic engagement into security crimeIran has taken the first step towards criminalising contact with foreign media, in a move human rights groups have said attempts to “sever the entire Iranian society from the rest of the world”.For journalists, researchers and even ordinary citizens, the proposed law being discussed by I...

Autism and ADHD care complaints more than triple in five years in England

Autism and ADHD care complaints more than triple in five years in England

The Guardian

NHS ombudsman warns of years-long waits and patients paying thousands to go private as demand for services soarsComplaints about autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder services in England have more than tripled in five years, official figures show, with the NHS ombudsman warning of years-long waits and patients paying thousands of pounds for private care.One woman was removed from an ...

National lottery faces questions over new boss’s record in gambling industry

National lottery faces questions over new boss’s record in gambling industry

The Guardian

MPs tell regulator they are ‘deeply concerned’ over interim CEO Phil Walker’s roles at William Hill and Game NationThe national lottery is facing questions over its new boss’s record in the gambling industry, including a lucrative role in the 24-hour slot machine sector singled out by the prime minister as a blight on British high streets.Allwyn UK, which holds a licence to run the Lottery until 2...

Australia news live: WA premier’s ‘east coast clowns’ barb was unacceptable, Spender says; NSW police investigate alleged theft of 400,000 oysters

Australia news live: WA premier’s ‘east coast clowns’ barb was unacceptable, Spender says; NSW police investigate alleged theft of 400,000 oysters

The Guardian

Follow updates liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAngela Jackson, the commissioner of the Productivity Commission, said the body stands by the interim report into the GST, which found the deal with Western Australia to be a costly mistake that should be reversed.Jackson spoke to RN this morning after WA premier Roger Cook said “east coast clowns” didn’t understand the s...

Two Dan Sullivans to appear on Alaska’s US Senate ballot in November’s midterm elections

Two Dan Sullivans to appear on Alaska’s US Senate ballot in November’s midterm elections

The Guardian

The incumbent senator Dan S Sullivan has condemned ex-school teacher Dan J Sullivan, claiming he is running at the behest of Democrats to confuse supportersRepublican senator Dan S Sullivan will be joined on the November ballot in Alaska by a challenger with a nearly identical name from the same party, election officials confirmed on Tuesday, adding a twist to what is expected to be one of the mo...

Trump sends Saudi nuclear deal to Congress, keeps Israel normalisation as condition

Trump sends Saudi nuclear deal to Congress, keeps Israel normalisation as condition

Times of India

The United States has submitted a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia to Congress. This pact will only proceed if Riyadh agrees to normalize relations with Israel. Congress has ninety days to review the proposed thirty-year agreement for potential nuclear proliferation concerns. The deal facilitates US companies' involvement in Saudi Arabia's nuclear program development. Saudi Ar...

Deadly Shah Alam brawl reignites Malaysian gang violence fears

Deadly Shah Alam brawl reignites Malaysian gang violence fears

SCMP

Malaysian police are investigating a killing near Kuala Lumpur as murder after a man rammed by a car died following an armed brawl in broad daylight that was caught on camera – footage that has stirred fresh alarm over brazen street violence in the country. The fight, in which several men were filmed slashing at one another, broke out at around 2pm on Tuesday in the Taman Alam Megah neighbourhood ...

China’s coastal regions on high alert as Typhoon Saudel cancels flights, ferries

China’s coastal regions on high alert as Typhoon Saudel cancels flights, ferries

SCMP

Airports in China’s Zhejiang and Fujian provinces remained on high alert for potential delays and cancellations as Typhoon Saudel approached landfall on Wednesday, after multiple flights were cancelled in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Saudel, which entered the East China Sea early on Wednesday morning, led to 16 cancelled flights at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport. Affected carriers included Peach,...

US sanctions Chinese firms trading with Iran

US sanctions Chinese firms trading with Iran

SCMP

The US Department of the Treasury launched targeted sanctions against some 24 entities based in mainland China or Hong Kong as part of its “Operation Economic Outcast” campaign against Iran and its enablers. See below for the original announcement: US Treasury sanctions by scmp

US Treasury sanctions on Iran’s trade partners

US Treasury sanctions on Iran’s trade partners

SCMP

The US Department of the Treasury launched targeted sanctions against some 24 entities based in mainland China or Hong Kong as part of its “Operation Economic Outcast” campaign against Iran and its enablers. See below for the original announcement: US Treasury sanctions by scmp

Nine CEO sees ‘world of growth in publishing’ as network slashes costs

Nine CEO sees ‘world of growth in publishing’ as network slashes costs

The Guardian

Matt Stanton says company has ‘good pipeline’ of AI deals ahead even as it aims to cut $160m in costsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe head of Nine Entertainment sees a “world of growth in publishing” on the horizon backed by laws designed to force tech platforms into commercial deals, even as the network cuts costs...

Singapore sends 70 tonnes of unwanted clothes to Malaysia to recycle

Singapore sends 70 tonnes of unwanted clothes to Malaysia to recycle

Times of India

Singapore sends up to seventy tonnes of clothing weekly to Malaysia for recycling. This cross-border initiative gives discarded garments a second life through reuse and repurposing. The volume has doubled in two years, highlighting the growing scale of textile waste management. At the Malaysian facility, clothes are sorted for resale or material recovery. This partnership aims to keep textiles in ...

RTHK editor gets 160 hours of community service for upskirt video

RTHK editor gets 160 hours of community service for upskirt video

SCMP

A Hong Kong court has ordered a civil servant at public broadcaster RTHK to perform 160 hours of community service after he admitted filming upskirt footage of a woman in public. Chong Tak-yin, assistant chief assignment editor at RTHK’s Chinese news and current affairs division, received the sentence on Wednesday at West Kowloon Court after pleading guilty to one count of unlawful recording or ob...

Call to ban marmot hunting in France as campaigners say they are ‘killed for fun’

Call to ban marmot hunting in France as campaigners say they are ‘killed for fun’

The Guardian

Protests and petitions planned amid growing concerns over impact of climate crisis on numbers of Alpine rodentAnimal rights campaigners are gearing up for protests and petitions aimed at persuading the French government to ban the hunting of Alpine marmots.Open season on the rodents, members of the squirrel and groundhog family, begins in September, a few weeks before they go into a long winter hi...

Man on trial for Daphne Caruana Galizia murder claims he was framed

Man on trial for Daphne Caruana Galizia murder claims he was framed

The Guardian

Yorgen Fenech tells jury he had nothing to do with killing and alleges top adviser to Malta’s then PM was instigatorA businessman on trial for the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has spoken about the charges for the first time in court since his arrest seven years ago, telling the jury he was framed by police and had nothing to do with the killing.During four days of questioning by...

Iran faces strait of Hormuz paradox as strategic value of chokehold erodes

Iran faces strait of Hormuz paradox as strategic value of chokehold erodes

The Guardian

Internal calls to end war get louder as Gulf neighbours plan alternative pipelines to cut reliance on waterwayIs the strait of Hormuz, recently cited by the office of the Iranian supreme leader as “the pillar of Iran’s new security order”, and as transformative as possessing a nuclear weapon, in reality becoming a fast-diminishing asset, leaving Iran increasingly vulnerable to the new planned US w...

As more expats flock to Hong Kong, luxury home rents poised for further upswing

As more expats flock to Hong Kong, luxury home rents poised for further upswing

SCMP

Hong Kong’s growing number of expatriates is boosting the city’s residential property leasing market with luxury rents likely to rise by about 5 per cent this year and continue their upswing in 2027, according to property consultancy JLL. The private residential rental index by the Rating and Valuation Department had surged by 18.5 per cent as of June to 205.8 from the Covid-19 pandemic trough in ...

Ming dynasty work shows how Chinese understood the world in the 1600s

Ming dynasty work shows how Chinese understood the world in the 1600s

SCMP

Long before the digital age, a Ming dynasty scholar made it his mission to map human knowledge from a Chinese perspective. The result was an encyclopaedia spanning 127 volumes known as the Tushu Bian, or Compendium of Illustrations and Texts. The work – published in 1613 – was compiled by Neo-Confucian scholar Zhang Huang and drew on more than 200 printed sources across several decades to document...