Author: Darren Smith

The number of homes selling at auction in Sydney and Melbourne has fallen to levels not seen since the Covid pandemic, as sellers across Australia’s two biggest property markets rethink their plans amid persistently weak clearance rates and growing frustration over the Albanese government’s tax reforms. New data from property research firm Cotality shows Sydney recorded its weakest week of auction sales in more than six years last week, while Melbourne’s clearance rate dropped to its lowest point in almost five years. The capital city average clearance rate — the proportion of homes sold at auction compared to those listed…

A 20-year-old delivery driver has died after jumping into a rip current to rescue a father and son from drowning, with friends later discovering a heartbreaking note on his phone revealing his only wishes for 2026 were to save enough money to buy his father a minivan. Jin Xiaowu was walking along a riverbank in Guizhou, China, with his colleague Wang Fangyang when they heard cries for help from the water. A father and his son had accidentally stepped into deep water and been caught by a powerful current, leaving them fighting for their lives. Jin and his colleague immediately…

Iran has launched ballistic missiles and suicide drones at American military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, triggering air raid sirens across both Gulf states and raising fears that a fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran is collapsing into full-scale conflict. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed via Iran’s IRNA and Tasnim news agencies that its Navy and Air Force targeted the US Army at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait and the US Fifth Naval Fleet at Port Salman in Manama, Bahrain. Kuwait’s armed forces said its air defence systems were actively intercepting the incoming threats, warning residents: “The…

Kuwait’s military has activated its air defence systems in response to what it described as “hostile missile and drone threats,” in a dramatic development that threatens to widen regional tensions amid the already volatile situation in the Gulf. The Kuwaiti Armed Forces General Headquarters announced the alert on its official X account, urging citizens and residents to adhere to safety instructions as the country’s defences engaged the incoming threats. No further details about the origin of the missiles and drones were immediately provided. The announcement comes as the region remains on a knife edge following the fragile US-Iran ceasefire agreement,…

Steve Clarke has stepped down as Scotland manager after his side crashed out of the World Cup 2026 at the group stage, bringing to an end a seven-year tenure the Scottish FA described as the most successful in the national team’s history. The Scottish FA confirmed Clarke’s departure this evening, with the 60-year-old addressing supporters directly in an open letter that paid tribute to his players above all else. “The most emotional part of this goodbye is for my players, without whom we wouldn’t have had any of the memories that we’ve accumulated from 2019 until now,” Clarke wrote. “They…

Marjana Koçeku, one of Albania’s youngest MPs and a former member of the ruling Socialist Party parliamentary group, has told Britannia Daily that the country’s mass protest movement reflects a “deeper crisis of trust” between citizens and political institutions — and has sent a direct message to demonstrators: “You are not alone.” Koçeku, who took her seat in parliament last September before leaving the governing Socialist Party to sit as an independent MP, said growing disillusionment with the way power is exercised inside Albanian politics ultimately led her to break ranks. Defections from Albania’s major political parties are relatively uncommon…

Nicholas Rossi, the American rapist who faked his own death and fled to Scotland in a bid to evade justice before being tracked down by hospital staff who recognised his tattoos, has died in prison at the age of 38. The Utah Department of Corrections confirmed that Rossi died in a local hospital from complications of an existing medical condition after choosing to discontinue medical treatment. “This notification follows communication with Rossi’s family and his victims,” the department said in a statement. He had been serving a sentence of ten years to life for two counts of first-degree felony rape.…

A man who punched a female police officer in the face with such force that he broke her nose at Manchester Airport, then “played the victim” when only partial footage of the incident circulated on social media, has been jailed for three and a half years. Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 21, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court after being convicted of actual bodily harm against PC Lydia Ward and assault against PC Ellie Cook. He was also convicted of a separate assault on a member of the public at an airport Starbucks earlier in the same incident. The events unfolded on…

Sergei Ivanov, one of Vladimir Putin’s longest-serving and most influential allies and a figure who was once widely considered the most likely successor to the Russian president, has died aged 73, Kremlin media have reported. The cause of death has not been publicly specified. The announcement was made by the United VTB League, the Russian basketball organisation of which Ivanov served as honorary president, and was subsequently confirmed by Kremlin-linked outlets including TASS, as reported by Meduza. Ivanov and Putin first worked together in the KGB, and the two men remained closely bound throughout the decades that followed. Ivanov served…

Britain was battered by more than 63,000 lightning strikes in just 24 hours as ferocious thunderstorms swept across the country overnight, striking landmarks including Stonehenge, Chesil Beach and The Needles, even as a record-breaking third consecutive day of red extreme heat warnings pushed temperatures toward 38C. The Met Office confirmed the extraordinary lightning count in the 24 hours to 10am on Friday, warning that many more strikes could follow through the day and into Saturday. Stunning photographs captured bolts hitting Stonehenge in Wiltshire, Fistral Beach in Cornwall and The Needles on the Isle of Wight, while videos shared from Manchester,…