Tiananmen Square vigil organisers found guilty in Hong Kong of ‘inciting subversion’

• JD Vance stated that the U.S. is entering a "new phase" of economic pressure against Iran, while Iran dismissed Donald Trump's threat of an "economic D-Day" as a repetition of failed policies. • In a separate diplomatic development, Canada and six European nations condemned a contentious Israeli settlement project located near Jerusalem.

• Experts interviewed by Vedomosti on August 20th report that Europe's economic gap with the United States is widening due to lower labor productivity and structural challenges. • The decline is attributed to a combination of demographic issues, exchange-rate effects, and a heavy dependence on foreign trade.

• India and Bangladesh are facing a critical diplomatic test regarding the management of the Teesta River and the strategic "Chicken's Neck" corridor. • The situation is being exacerbated by climate change, which has increased hydrological uncertainty, alongside rising agricultural demands and intensifying strategic competition.

Jenny Ware, member of inquiry that recommended wagering advertising ban, says ‘public health crisis’ demands stronger response from major partiesFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe former Liberal MP Jenny Ware has condemned her one-time Coalition colleagues for backing Labor’s gambling legislation, claiming “vulnerable Australians have been let down”, as the parliament failed to back a full ban on wagering ads.Ware, a member of the Peta Murphy-led inquiry in 2023 that recommended entirely ending wagering advertising and inducements, called gambling a public health crisis that demanded a much stronger response from both sides of politics. Continue reading...

Chester zoo resident, 23, ‘back to her usual feisty self’ after electrochemotherapy for tumour in her jawA 15ft (4.5-metre) python is believed to be the first snake in the world to be given a pioneering, life-saving cancer treatment normally used on humans.The 50kg reticulated python, named Jodie Foster after the Hollywood star, has just turned 23 and lives at Chester zoo. Keepers first became concerned that she may be unwell when she began eating less and spending more time inactive in her habitat. Continue reading...

Value of banknotes in circulation rises from €1bn in 2016 to €1.6bn in 2026 as people advised to keep stash of cashThe number of banknotes in circulation in the EU is increasing despite widespread smartphone payments, new data shows, with wildfires ripping through parts of Europe fuelling demand for an emergency stash of cash.While cash plays second fiddle to contactless payments in many cities across Europe, the amount in circulation is actually going up, Philip Lane, the chief economist of the European Central Bank (ECB), said at the MacGill summer school conference in Ireland. Continue reading...

Man, 32, charged with six counts of rape, stalking and assault after woman was allegedly attacked in BrookfieldFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastQueensland police say a man accused of raping and assaulting a young woman, who was taking a morning bushwalk, has been arrested after he returned to the crime scene in his vehicle later that evening.A woman, aged in her 20s, was walking in the semi-rural Brisbane suburb of Brookfield about 6.30am on Thursday when she was allegedly stopped by the man and sexually assaulted. She told police her attacker fled on foot. Continue reading...

Watchdog investigating whether Dallas McInerney arranged illegal political donations from schools to lobbying companies controlled by the ReformersThe chief executive of Catholic Schools New South Wales, Dallas McInerney, has been sacked after appearing at a watchdog inquiry into allegations of corruption in the state’s Liberal party.The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) is investigating the allegation that McInerney, who gave evidence to the inquiry this week and last week, arranged and approved illegal political donations from Catholic Schools NSW to lobbying companies controlled by conservative factional group the Reformers, under the guise of consultancy services. Continue reading...

Fawning, deferential, oleaginous – this was the Untruth and Reconciliation Commission as Trump called in to 77 WABC“Our next guest is a ‘racist’, a ‘conman’ and a ‘cheat’ – someone who behaves more like a ‘mobster’ than a president. Please welcome Donald J Trump!”That is how Michael Cohen could have introduced Trump on his New York radio show on Thursday. After all, Cohen used such terms to describe the US president in his testimony to Congress in 2019. But now Trump’s former personal lawyer and self-described fixer had different words: “boss” and “sir”. Just like old times. Continue reading...

Court finds ‘defects’ in investigation of two senior constables charged over 2024 incident at Mareeba watch house in far north QueenslandTwo police officers charged with criminal offences over the use of capsicum spray, Tasers and restraints on a “cognitively and emotionally vulnerable” First Nations man in police custody have had the case against them permanently stayed, after a court found “defects” in the subsequent investigation.Andrew David Couchman, 54, and Ulrich Weiss, 45, both senior constables, were both charged over the incident at the Mareeba watch house in far north Queensland in January 2024. Continue reading...

The former gang leader was charged with planning the drive-by shooting that killed Tupac Shakur in 1996Jurors on Thursday heard Duane “Keffe D” Davis tell detectives in 2008 that his nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson fired the shots that killed Tupac Shakur.Davis, who said in the interview that he was also in the car with Anderson, is accused of orchestrating the 1996 killing of the 25-year-old hip-hop superstar in Las Vegas. At the time of the interview, his nephew had been dead for a decade. Continue reading...