Lego sales rise as World Cup and F1 ranges prove to be winners
The Guardian

Lego sales rise as World Cup and F1 ranges prove to be winners

Danish toymaker also scores success with KPop Demon Hunters, Star Wars and botanicals productsBusiness live – latest updatesLego sales have risen by more than a fifth as tie-ups with the football World Cup, Formula One and the hit film KPop Demon Hunters as well as its flower-based and Star Wars kits drive demand.The Danish toymaker said its revenues increased by 21% to 41.9bn Danish kroner (£4.8b...

Israel’s strikes push Syria towards Mecca defence pact membership
SCMP

Israel’s strikes push Syria towards Mecca defence pact membership

Israel’s escalating campaign to stop Syria rebuilding its military with Turkish help looks set to backfire, after Damascus signalled it was considering joining the new mutual-defence pact formed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Securing a Washington-mediated security deal with Israel was still Damascus’ top priority, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani reportedly told Roman Gofman, the ...

3 helpers sacked, issued warnings over use of employer data to secure loans
SCMP

3 helpers sacked, issued warnings over use of employer data to secure loans

Three domestic helpers in Hong Kong have been sacked and issued warning letters after providing their employers’ personal data without consent to secure loans, resulting in the households being harassed by debt collectors. Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data Ada Chung Lai-ling said on Tuesday that, in each of the three cases, the names, phone numbers and addresses of employers were originally o...

Scientists reidentify Ireland’s “Kerry Cow” bones as bear and wild boar, challenging farming theory

Scientists reidentify Ireland’s “Kerry Cow” bones as bear and wild boar, challenging farming theory

Times of India

Ancient animal bones from Ferriters Cove are now identified as bear and wild boar. This reclassification challenges decades of evidence for early farming in Ireland. Previously thought to be cattle, these remains are now understood differently. Modern scientific techniques revealed the true identity of these ancient specimens. This discovery prompts a reconsideration of Ireland's prehistoric trans...

Scientists reidentify Ireland’s “Kerry Cow” bones as bear and wild boar, challenging farming theory

Scientists reidentify Ireland’s “Kerry Cow” bones as bear and wild boar, challenging farming theory

Times of India

Ancient animal bones from Ferriters Cove are now identified as bear and wild boar. This reclassification challenges decades of evidence for early farming in Ireland. Previously thought to be cattle, these remains are now understood differently. Modern scientific techniques revealed the true identity of these ancient specimens. This discovery prompts a reconsideration of Ireland's prehistoric trans...

South Korea’s Hyundai, union agree on tentative wage deal after rare full-day strike

South Korea’s Hyundai, union agree on tentative wage deal after rare full-day strike

SCMP

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor and the union representing its workers have reached a tentative deal on wages and bonuses, both sides said on Tuesday after a rare full-day strike. Around 40,000 employees of a roughly 73,000-strong domestic workforce at the country’s largest carmaker walked off the job on Friday, according to union figures, in the first such action for a decade. The union said ...

Alan Jones and fellow 2GB host referred to SMH and reporter as ‘pigs in the media’, court hears

Alan Jones and fellow 2GB host referred to SMH and reporter as ‘pigs in the media’, court hears

The Guardian

Jason Morrison, a former presenter at the Sydney radio station, denies ‘tailoring his evidence’ during trial of veteran shock jock JonesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAlan Jones and fellow 2GB shock jock Jason Morrison often referred to the Sydney Morning Herald and its chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont as “pigs in the media”, a Sydney court has heard.The text...

Man arrested after allegedly attacking woman and boy in Melbourne CBD – as it happened

Man arrested after allegedly attacking woman and boy in Melbourne CBD – as it happened

The Guardian

This blog is now closedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNumber of NSW households in urgent need of priority housing hits highest level in over a yearThe number of NSW households in urgent need of priority social housing has reached 13,776, the highest in more than a year.The waitlist has sat [at] around 70,000 since May. Anyone reading that as stability should look at wha...

Bathla Group: major Sydney property developer collapses after ‘perfect storm’, leaving buyers in limbo

Bathla Group: major Sydney property developer collapses after ‘perfect storm’, leaving buyers in limbo

The Guardian

Bathla Group says softening sales and impacts from federal government’s May budget contributed it being placed in voluntary administrationFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastEmbattled home builder Bathla Group has been placed into voluntary administration, leaving customers in limbo in what it says is a “perfect storm” of...

Wallabies came to New Zealand in 1912; they now threaten to spread across a third of the country

Wallabies came to New Zealand in 1912; they now threaten to spread across a third of the country

Times of India

Wallabies introduced to New Zealand more than a century ago have now spread across more than 200,000 hectares in the Bay of Plenty region. The animals feed on native tree seedlings, ferns and grasses, damage plantation trees and compete with livestock for pasture. Authorities warn that unchecked wallabies could eventually occupy one-third of New Zealand by 2065 and cause $84 million in annual dama...

Why is Xiaomi doubling down on in-house chips amid a profit slump?

Why is Xiaomi doubling down on in-house chips amid a profit slump?

SCMP

Xiaomi’s long-term push into proprietary silicon is laying the groundwork for complex artificial intelligence workloads on smartphones and cars, analysts say, as the Chinese tech giant doubles down on self-developed chips despite an earnings slump and soaring component costs. On Monday it unveiled its flagship Xring O3 3-nanometre AI processor for smartphones, which is scheduled to debut in Septem...

Why is Xiaomi doubling down on in-house chips despite profit slump?

Why is Xiaomi doubling down on in-house chips despite profit slump?

SCMP

Xiaomi’s long-term push into proprietary silicon is laying the groundwork for complex artificial intelligence workloads on smartphones and cars, analysts say, as the Chinese tech giant doubles down on self-developed chips despite an earnings slump and soaring component costs. On Monday it unveiled its flagship Xring O3 3-nanometre AI processor for smartphones, which is scheduled to debut in Septem...

Controversial Malaysian professor sacked; Marcos’ US$3b estate tax: 7 Asia highlights

Controversial Malaysian professor sacked; Marcos’ US$3b estate tax: 7 Asia highlights

SCMP

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Islamic university sacks professor who claimed Malays could fly A Malaysian Islamic university has formally distanced itself from an academic whose viral claims about anci...

Dr DisRespect vs Nickmercs controversy: Streamer threatens to assault Nickmercs in COD stream

Dr DisRespect vs Nickmercs controversy: Streamer threatens to assault Nickmercs in COD stream

Times of India

Dr DisRespect has seemingly threatened Nickmercs during aCall of Duty Modern Warfare 4Beta livestream. After a viewer asked about streamer skins, the Doc questioned whether Nickmercs was in the game before calling him a “phony” and “wannabe tough guy.” He also made a gesture suggesting a strike to the face. In another clip, Dr DisRespect claimed Nickmercs walked away after being confronted by him ...

What to know about Trump's Canada tariffs and the escalating trade war

What to know about Trump's Canada tariffs and the escalating trade war

France 24

Canada plans to respond to US President Donald Trump's new tariffs on Tuesday, as the once close neighbouring allies spiral into a trade war. Ottawa and Washington failed to reach a deal on Friday to avert new 50 percent US tariffs on select Canadian goods after weeks of talks.

US Treasury’s Scott Bessent ‘will lose’ battle with bond markets, former mentor warns

US Treasury’s Scott Bessent ‘will lose’ battle with bond markets, former mentor warns

The Guardian

Trump ally should cut budget deficit rather than try to suppress bond yields, says billionaire Stanley DruckenmillerScott Bessent’s attempt to calm the bond markets and push down America’s cost of borrowing have attracted a rebuke from the US Treasury secretary’s former mentor.Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller, who worked with Bessent at George Soros’s fund management firm in the 1990s, h...