Sweet, soft and strong: TikTok turns Japanese milk bread into latest UK food craze

Rebeca Grynspan seen as continuity candidate with tacit support from current secretary general, António GuterresA 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...

Those tempted to access fake websites run risk of phishing scams and having computer infected with malwareThe 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...

Nikita and Olga Belov say they will be persecuted on return to Moscow but are yet to convince Finnish authoritiesA 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...

Missing payments suggest employment laws may have been breached by recruitment agencies used by courier companyLow-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...

Local council described incident as ‘worst act of environmental vandalism in Lane Cove history’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt 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...

Researchers find microplastics can persist in compost, leaching into agricultural soilsPlastic 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...

Sources say Albanese government willing to tighten rules on betting inducements but less likely to budge on TV and online advertisementsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe 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...

Planes narrowly avoid collision on tarmac with Jetstar A320 forced to ‘brake firmly’ as Qatar Boeing 777 towed into its pathFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo 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...

Teenage girl treated in hospital after Friday’s school shooting has died, police sayThe 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...

Fate of two passengers onboard helicopter that went down Friday morning remains unknown after more than 24 hoursThe 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...

As of 3pm Saturday, Australia had a total of 215 H5 bird flu cases nationally. Follow updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThis is Adeshola Ore here to take you through today’s news as it unfolds.Let’s get into it. Continue reading...