Australian IS Families in Syria Camp Returned After Attempted Repatriation
A group of 34 Australian women and children, previously held in a Syrian camp for nearly seven years due to their links to the Islamic State (IS) group, were released on Monday to head home, but were subsequently returned to the Roj detention camp for "technical reasons," according to BBC World. The group, thought to be the wives and children of IS fighters, had been stuck in the camp since IS lost its last territorial foothold in Syria in 2019.
The Australian government had previously refused to officially repatriate them. The reason for the halt in their release remains unclear, but Australian media suggested it may have been due to a failure.
In other news, six companies linked to Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, are being wound down, documents filed with Companies House show, as reported by BBC Business. Ferguson is the director of all six businesses, which are due to be struck off the register in ten days unless legal cause is shown to prevent it. The activities of these firms are unclear, although one is related to public relations and another to retail. Their closure comes in the wake of further revelations from the Epstein files.
Also, Royal Mail postal staff are reporting significant delays in letter delivery, with some letters sitting undelivered for weeks as the company prioritizes parcels, according to BBC Business. More than a dozen postal staff from different delivery offices claim rounds are being missed on a daily basis due to being stretched beyond capacity. Postal workers told the BBC some letters sit in postal depots for weeks, while the union representing them describes Royal Mail as "a company in crisis." Hundreds of people have contacted BBC Your Voice to express frustration over delayed mail resulting in issues including missed hospital appointments. Royal Mail stated, "We want to reassure customers that the vast majority of mail is delivered a."
Brewdog employees are "really concerned" for their futures having learned the craft beer giant could be sold off, a union has said, as reported by BBC Business. Financial experts AlixPartners have been brought in to attract new investors in a move which would potentially see the Aberdeenshire-based firm broken up. The Unite union said "upset" staff had only received a single email from senior management - with some only finding out about the potential sale after it was reported in the press. In a separate email to staff, seen by BBC Scotland News, Brewdog said the decision was a "normal and prudent step."
Finally, Chinese technology giant ByteDance has pledged to curb a controversial artificial intelligence (AI) video-making tool, following threats of legal action from Disney and complaints from other entertainment giants, according to BBC Business. Videos made using the latest version of the app Seedance have proliferated online in the last few days. On Friday, Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance accusing it of supplying Seedance.
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