Major Sydney property developer collapses after ‘perfect storm’, leaving buyers in limbo

Embattled home builder Bathla Group has been placed into voluntary administration, leaving customers in limbo in what it says is a “perfect storm” of circumstances.

It joins the long list of Australian residential builders and property developers which have entered voluntary administration or liquidation due to soaring material costs, labour shortages and fixed-price contracts.

The Witcher 4 Confirmed. Here's What We Learned About Release Timing

WitcherIV

The Witcher IV

Credit: CD Projekt RED

CD Projekt Red joint-CEO Michal Nowakowski gave fans of the Witcher franchise a smidge of the information they've been waiting years to hear. Just ahead of Gamescom 2026, Nowakowski confirmed via video posted on The Witcher's official accounts that The Witcher 4 is targeting a 2028 release window. Nowakowski didn't say early, mid or late 2028, but he did sound optimistic about the upcoming product.

‘Like smoking a cigarette’: Indonesia chokes on haze as blazes intensify amid super ‘El Niño’

Suwadi can barely see five metres in front of him when he steps outside his home in Indonesian Borneo.

Each breath, he says, feels “like smoking a cigarette”.

It has been like this for weeks in Kalimantan, the Indonesian side of Borneo island, where fires have raged across tens of thousands of acres of land, including ancient rainforest, triggering a trans-boundary haze now threatening Malaysia and Singapore.

Freddie Mercury’s ‘splendid things’ to go on display at V&A

Eight famous costumes worn by Freddie Mercury, including the outfit featured on the cover of Queen’s debut album and the catsuit from the video for Bohemian Rhapsody, are to go on display at the V&A in London this autumn to mark what would have been the singer’s 80th birthday.

Europe’s heatwaves threaten insurers’ earnings, rating agency S&P says

Europe’s intense heatwaves could hit insurers’ earnings as companies face a rise in claims linked to heat-related deaths and worsening health conditions, the rating agency S&P has said.

While a long summer of extreme heat will have increased drought and wildfire-related claims, the rating agency said there would also be fallout for life and health insurers, and for the reinsurers who provide financial protection to insurance companies.

At least 35,000 excess deaths recorded in Europe’s back-to-back heatwaves

At least 35,000 more people died during Europe’s four record-breaking, back-to-back heatwaves this summer than would normally be expected, according to incomplete figures from barely half the continent.

Excess mortality in three of the EU’s larger countries – Germany, France and Spain – alone has already exceeded 25,000, according to the provisional national figures, and experts say the toll will rise significantly once August totals are consolidated.