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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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Where are the Ugandan boxers? Four are latest athletes to vanish after UK sports events
Team manager has ‘no idea’ why they disappeared, after reports one of Commonwealth Games athletes said they intended to claim asylum Years of arduous preparation and training had come to fruition and the pressure was finally lifted. After competing for their country in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, athletes from Uganda were afforded a couple of days’ sightseeing time before catching their plane home on Tuesday. But when the flight took off, there were four empty seats. Continue reading...
AI push is putting banks at mercy of tech firms, warns Moody’s
Finance sector will gain from the tech but it will need substantial investment and create risks, says rating agency The rating agency Moody’s has said the race to adopt AI is putting big banks at the mercy of a small group of Silicon Valley firms, leaving them vulnerable to widespread outages and price gouging by profit-hungry tech bosses. The financial sector’s efforts to integrate AI into day-to-day operations will eventually cut costs and increase revenues across the City and Wall Street, Moody’s said. Continue reading...
Sweet, soft and strong: TikTok turns Japanese milk bread into latest UK food craze
Natto toast, fresh fruit sandwiches and soufflé pancakes all part of growing interest in east Asian cuisine Golden brown and glistening with melted butter, a tray of freshly baked bread fills the screen in a TikTok video. The camera lingers on the glossy tops before one bun is gently pulled apart, revealing a cloud-soft interior. The clip is one of countless videos of Japanese milk buns that have racked up millions of views and thousands of comments and shares, helping to propel the pillowy rolls into UK supermarkets. Continue reading...
‘Watch The Odyssey for free online’: scam targets film fans with fake streaming sites
Those tempted to access fake websites run risk of phishing scams and having computer infected with malware The Odyssey is the hottest release this summer and you have been looking forward to seeing the much-acclaimed adaptation of Homer’s epic ancient Greek poem. But you have been unable to go to the cinema, so when you spot an ad to watch online, you jump at the chance. There are positive reviews posted on the site so you decide to sign up. Although it asks for your bank details – which is unusual for a “free” trial – you are so eager to watch the blockbuster you input your details. Continue reading...
Costa Rican diplomat emerges as strong contender to be first female head of UN
Rebeca Grynspan seen as continuity candidate with tacit support from current secretary general, António Guterres A Costa Rican diplomat and former vice-president whose parents were refugees from the Holocaust has become the surprise frontrunner to lead the United Nations as its first female secretary general. Rebeca Grynspan, whose parents emigrated to Central America from Poland – and whose maternal grandparents were killed by the Nazis – is the current head of the UN conference on trade and development (UNCTAD), a body that has exhaustively tallied the economic damage inflicted by Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. Continue reading...
Russian family denied asylum in Finland fear reprisals for pro-Ukraine activism
Nikita and Olga Belov say they will be persecuted on return to Moscow but are yet to convince Finnish authorities A Russian family faces deportation from Finland after repeatedly being denied asylum – despite the threat of arrest, imprisonment and potential torture for their pro-Ukrainian activism. Nikita and Olga Belov fled their homeland in 2022 after attracting the attention of Russian authorities – including military summons, threatening messages and attempts to locate them – after expressing opposition to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine . Continue reading...
DPD temporary workers may have missed out on sick pay and pensions, internal documents show
Missing payments suggest employment laws may have been breached by recruitment agencies used by courier company Low-paid temporary workers at one of the UK’s top courier businesses have missed out on entitlements to sick pay and pension contributions, internal documents suggest. The payments – typically included in the “charge rate” that large brands pay recruitment companies to supply them with temporary workers – are missing from internal spreadsheets calculating the cost of employing thousands of transient staff working at DPD. Continue reading...
Sydney gardener fined almost $200,000 for removing 287 trees to improve harbourside mansion’s water views
Local council described incident as ‘worst act of environmental vandalism in Lane Cove history’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast It began with a gardener being hired to trim grass at a harbourside mansion in Sydney – and escalated to payments being left in a shoe for the unlawful felling of hundreds of native trees in protected bushland. Now a court has fined Yi Wang $187,500 for his role in organising and carrying out the destruction of 287 trees from a council-owned foreshore bushland at Woodford Bay in Longueville in late 2023. Continue reading...
‘They kidnapped a hard-working kid off our streets’: the gardener seized by ICE – and the New York town fighting back
Gerson Turcios was 17 when he fled violence in Honduras to build a new life in the US. Six years later, he was mowing lawns in his home town of Rhinebeck when immigration officers took him. Within hours, friends, neighbours and local celebrities sprang into action. Could they stop his deportation? Gerson Turcios didn’t recognise the men standing next to a couple of dark SUVs outside his house one July afternoon last year. He figured they were lost and approached to see if he could help. A slim 23-year-old with short dark hair and big brown eyes, Turcios had just finished work mowing lawns in the pretty town of Rhinebeck, in New York’s Hudson Valley. The men asked if he knew someone called Jimmy – he did, but Jimmy hadn’t lived in the small, white weatherboard house with Turcios, his brother and his brother’s girlfriend for a while. The men noted Turcios’s accent and asked where he was from. Turcios didn’t answer, so one took out his phone and snapped a photograph. The next thing Turcios knew, he was in handcuffs in the back of one of the SUVs and on his way to an ICE processing centre in Newburgh, New York, then on to a detention centre. Continue reading...
Plastics contamination an ‘overlooked’ concern in food waste schemes, experts say
Researchers find microplastics can persist in compost, leaching into agricultural soils Plastic contamination should be a central concern in efforts to deal with food waste, which campaigners call one of the most overlooked problems of the climate crisis, researchers have said. This is despite the fact that, as the chef, author and activist Max La Manna puts it, food waste management is “one of the few climate problems where everyone wins”. Continue reading...
Fred Richard coasts to first national title at US gymnastics championships
22-year-old finishes two points clear of Shane Wiskus Paris bronze medalist rebounds from difficult 2025 Nedoroscik falters as Hoopes wins pommel horse gold Frederick Richard won his first US men’s gymnastics all-around title Saturday night, flashing the form he believes can make him a contender at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The 22-year-old Richard, a key member of the men’s team that earned bronze at the Paris Games two summers ago, posted a two-day total of 170.015, two points clear of runner-up Shane Wiskus and three points ahead of promising newcomer Danila Leykin. Continue reading...
Labor open to ‘sensible amendments’ to gambling laws after inquiry hears alcohol and cocaine offered to punters
Sources say Albanese government willing to tighten rules on betting inducements but less likely to budge on TV and online advertisements Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Albanese government is prepared to tighten rules on gambling inducements, but is less likely to budge on advertising rules, as negotiations continue on wagering legislation, which so far has lacked the support needed to pass parliament. Federal Labor is open to considering amendments to its legislation from the Coalition when MPs return to Canberra this week, sources say. Continue reading...
‘Not enough air traffic controllers’: safety concerns at Sydney airport after Jetstar and Qatar planes involved in near-miss
Planes narrowly avoid collision on tarmac with Jetstar A320 forced to ‘brake firmly’ as Qatar Boeing 777 towed into its path Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Two planes have narrowly avoided a collision on the tarmac of Australia’s busiest airport as it struggles with staff shortages. The Jetstar and Qatar Airways planes almost collided at Sydney airport at 7am on Sunday. Continue reading...
Thailand school shooting toll rises to nine after 12-year-old dies, police say
Teenage girl treated in hospital after Friday’s school shooting has died, police say The death toll from a school shooting in Thailand rose to nine on Saturday, after police said a 12-year-old girl caught up in Friday’s incident had died. Police at the Plai Bang Police Station in Nonthaburi Province said the girl, who had been treated at hospital with critical wounds, had died, a day after a 14-year-old boy allegedly shot his grandparents and then killed more people at his school before turning the gun on himself. Continue reading...
Utah wildfire blocks rescuers from reaching firefighting helicopter crash site
Fate of two passengers onboard helicopter that went down Friday morning remains unknown after more than 24 hours The fate of two passengers onboard a firefighting helicopter that crashed Friday morning in Utah remains unknown after more than 24 hours, as one of the country’s largest wildfires continues to grow, preventing authorities from safely reaching the accident site. The Sikorsky S-64 helicopter, contracted by the US Forest Service, was responding on Friday to the Widemouth 2 fire, a blaze sparked in late July by lightning, when it crashed in a remote area of central Utah. Continue reading...
Australia news live: bird flu detected on Murray-Darling basin ‘should be ringing alarm bells’, expert says
As of 3pm Saturday, Australia had a total of 215 H5 bird flu cases nationally. Follow updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast This is Adeshola Ore here to take you through today’s news as it unfolds. Let’s get into it. Continue reading...
National Indigenous Music awards 2026: Baker Boy wins big, including album and song of the year
Yolŋu hip-hop artist dominates, while Butchulla duo and cousins Birdz and Fred Leone win artist of the year and Drifting Clouds takes home best new talent Baker Boy has won album, song and film clip of the year at the 2026 National Indigenous Music Awards (Nimas) , paying tribute to his late grandmother who his album Djandjay is named for. The Yolŋu hip-hop artist, whose name is Danzal Baker, won three awards for his sophomore album Djandjay , including song of the year and film clip of the year for its hit single Thick Skin, which features Indigenous artists Thelma Plum, Emma Donovan, Kee’ahn and Jada Weazel. Continue reading...
Iran issues tough demands to reopen strait of Hormuz as deal remains out of reach
Tehran urges US to ‘correct its behaviour’ as UAE says one of its ships targeted by Iranian missile Iran has issued tough new demands for reopening the strait of Hormuz, while the United Arab Emirates said one of its ships was targeted by an Iranian missile, as a deal to open the strategic waterway remained out of reach on Saturday. Iran’s politburo-like body known as the supreme national security council said the strait of Hormuz will not open until the United States “corrects its behaviour”, with its state broadcaster publishing a statement from the council’s secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who is also a commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC. Continue reading...
Navy says it is spending 25% more time monitoring Russian vessels around UK waters
Warning of increased activity as patrols spent 21 days in July monitoring Moscow’s ships in Dover Strait and North Sea The Royal Navy has warned of increasing Russian activity around the UK’s waters after it spent 21 days in July monitoring Moscow’s ships. Naval operations to monitor Russian vessels increased by 25% last month compared with the previous year, with warships making repeated voyages through the Dover Strait and North Sea. Continue reading...
Centrelink pursuing debts that are more than 40 years old despite agreeing to waive old arrears
Advocates and legal bodies want the debt to be made ‘out of bounds’ given how hard it is to determine its accuracy Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Centrelink is pursuing $4.93bn in unpaid debts, with the oldest dating back more than 40 years, despite the government agreeing to implement a six-year statute of limitations on debt recovery. A growing list of advocates, including peak legal body Economic Justice Australia, want the debts wiped, while Australia’s leading welfare expert has warned it is impossible to trust whether the huge amount of debt is accurate. Continue reading...
Hospitality recruitment app Supp calls gig-workers contractors. Some users say it leads to casual work without entitlements
Exclusive : Workers’ rights experts raise ‘alarm bells’ over app requiring ABNs for jobs they say lack worker autonomy Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Concerns have been raised that workers using an increasingly popular Australian hospitality gig-work app may be missing out on entitlements such as superannuation by being hired as “independent contractors”, similar to delivery riders. Launched in Melbourne in 2017, Supp describes itself as a “jobs marketplace”, where hospitality businesses can advertise available shifts to potential workers at an hourly rate, and where workers can secure ad-hoc employment. It was created by Kate and Cameron Reid, the owners of Lune Croissanterie, who maintain a financial stake in the company but are no longer on its board. Continue reading...
‘Super El Niño’ could bring wet winter and flooding to western US, climate scientists warn
Weather system tied to warming sea surface expected to intensify in fall and winter, persisting until early spring 2027 El Niño , a recurring climate phenomenon marked by above-average sea surface temperatures, when changes in wind patterns allow warmer water to spread across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, could spell a wet winter for portions of the western and south-eastern US, climate models show. Coastal areas may be at elevated risk of flooding, experts warn. Climate scientists predict this year’s “super” El Niño, a label assigned when sea surface temperatures climb by at least 2C , will be the strongest of the century. The weather system is expected to intensify in the fall and winter, persisting until early spring 2027, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Continue reading...
OpenAI to pause some work on AI model Astra due to security concerns
Agent found to be able to find and exploit vulnerabilities without human intervention, and to carry out cyber-attacks OpenAI will pause some work on an artificial intelligence model because of security concerns, the company stated Friday, following a series of incidents in which AI agents have escaped containment. The company had evaluated the agent, Astra, and found “significant advancements in agentic coding and cybersecurity”, which had moved to a “critical” threshold where it can find and exploit vulnerabilities without human intervention, or devise and execute cyber-attacks when given only a “high level desired goal”. Continue reading...
One of UK’s best fossil collections sold overseas in ‘loss to the nation’
Exclusive: Lack of funds left British museums unable pay eight-figure sum for collection, which went to Abu Dhabi institution One of the most important collections of UK Jurassic fossils ever compiled has been sold to a museum in Abu Dhabi, the Guardian can reveal, in what British experts have described as a loss for the nation. The collection, which was amassed by a private fossil collector, consisted of 318 specimens, including ichthyosaurs, fish and crustaceans among other creatures, some of which could be new species. Continue reading...