‘Exam-obsessed’ schools leave pupils unready for work, Alan Milburn says

• Member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) convened for a summit in Bishkek, where they condemned sanctions and attacks targeting Iran. • The group asserted their "inalienable right" to develop, produce, and utilize atomic energy for peaceful purposes, arguing that restrictive measures are contrary to international law.

• UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Bishkek, calling for global institutions to be reformed to reflect modern geopolitical realities. • Guterres urged for stronger multilateralism and specifically demanded that the ceasefire in Gaza be respected to protect civilians.

• A recent disaster in Nepal has highlighted the practical advantages of maintaining strong diplomatic and strategic ties between Nepal, India, and China. • The event underscores how regional cooperation can provide critical support and resources during humanitarian crises, transcending political tensions.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif gathered for a group photo at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit. • During the event, PM Modi was observed briefly exchanging words with President Xi Jinping, marking a notable interaction between the two leaders.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged member states at the SCO summit to combat state-backed terrorism and eliminate "double standards" in global security. • The summit resulted in the approval of regulations for the SCO Universal Centre for Countering Security and a 2026-2030 action plan for developing regional ports and logistics centers.

• The Iranian regime is attempting to maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz by projecting a perceived threat to passing vessels. • US officials reported to Axios on August 19 that CENTCOM campaigns have successfully degraded Iran's maritime surveillance, limiting their monitoring capabilities to a few radars and Fast Attack Craft (FAC).

• A series of global meetings and diplomatic shifts have highlighted a growing fracture in international geopolitics. • The instability is primarily attributed to unpredictability in U.S. foreign policy and leadership.

Consumer watchdog Which? set up and accepted payment for fake listing for ‘1 bed apartment in heart of London’Successive politicians have clawed their way past colleagues over the years to call the residence home. Yet in an offer that probably seemed too good to be true, the property site Booking.com has been accused of “systemic security failures” after it was able to set up and accept payment for a fake listing for 10 Downing Street.A property listed as a “1 bedroom apartment in the heart of London” – with the exact address and a picture of the prime minister’s home – was listed on 18 June by researchers from the consumer watchdog Which?. Continue reading...

Foreign policy chief says drone attack last month ‘had all the hallmarks of state sponsored terrorism’ as she prepares to lead talks todaySeparately, German police are also investigating another attempt to disrupt the country’s energy grid, this time at a electricity substation in Bergheim in the west of the country.A local police spokesperson said they are “not assuming a technical failure but a deliberate act,” without revealing more details. The region’s power supply was not affected. Continue reading...

Arthur Downing, author of Power and the People: A History of British Energy, says all-encompassing rapid transition will need a mutualised systemHave you ever wondered why it is that most houses in the UK are reliant on gas boilers? Not what’s stopping more people from replacing them with heat pumps, but instead why and how the gas boiler became so ubiquitous in the first place?Arthur Downing, the author of the new book Power and the People: A History of British Energy, can tell you exactly why. “We only have boilers in our houses because of a state-owned enterprise that went into everybody’s home and installed natural gas-suitable appliances at no direct cost,” he says. The nationalised gas industry of the 1940s to the 1980s, which oversaw this huge project, was for three decades one of the “most dynamic, innovative, efficient industries in Britain”, Downing says. Yet few of us would use these terms to describe it as such now. Continue reading...

Hundreds of university staff were stationed at picket lines, calling for stronger protections around the use of AIFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe same week union members at the University of Sydney agreed to a 24-hour strike, staff received the results of an internal survey.In the faculty of arts and social sciences, 0% agreed with the statement: “I trust the University of Sydney to act in the best interests of staff, students and the broader community.” Continue reading...

Police say the sheep were stolen from a property 830km west of Brisbane between February and MayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastQueensland police are investigating after about 5,500 Dorper sheep worth more than $1.7m were allegedly stolen from a western Queensland farm.Police said the sheep were stolen from a property outside Blackall, about 830km west of Brisbane, between February and May this year. Continue reading...