Housing market alarm as home loans plunge Fresh data points to a sharp downturn in housing finance, with investor lending hit particularly hard amid higher interest rates and Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes. The significance is both economic and political: a weaker property market can drag on consumer confidence, construction and bank risk settings, while sharpening the debate over whether the tax overhaul is helping first-home buyers or worsening the slump. Covered by: Australian Financial Review, The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age. CFMEU “direct line” claims deepen Big Build corruption storm Victoria’s Big Build royal commission heard explosive evidence alleging senior CFMEU figures boasted of direct access to Premier Jacinta Allan’s office while pressuring contractors—alongside fresh claims about union money and influence. With an election backdrop, the inquiry is becoming a major test of Labor’s integr

The use of legal proceedings against journalists is among the threats to press freedom monitored by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), whose 2026 Press Freedom Predators List includes the Adani Group over its litigation involving journalists and media organisations. Speaking to Influencing Insider, RSF's India representative Ritika Jain explained why the Paris-based press freedom organisation considers legal harassment a serious concern, how it documents such cases and what support is available to journalists facing pressure over their reporting. “There has been a whole dossier, a profile on Adani as to why we are putting the group on the list. There's a whole justification behind it,” Jain said, emphasising that the organisation's assessments are grounded in documented actions rather than isolated allegations. The Adani Group features in the legal category of RSF's latest Predators List. Jain pointed to cases involving investigative journalists Paranjo

Wednesday, 11 November 2026 #1  ·  Times City  ·  Ground report Back to normal? Not quite. Year on, Red Fort bears scars of blast horror By Jatin Kumar, Gs.Dhanush   ·   The Times of India, New Delhi  ·  Page Page 7 One year after a car bomb killed 12 people near Red Fort, reporters returned to Chandni Chowk to speak to survivors, victims' families, and local traders. The story documents unresolved compensation grievances — a street vendor with shrapnel wounds who was denied an MLC certificate, a young woman whose treatment costs far exceeded her Rs 20,000 payout — and finds the market still economically depressed despite surface-level normalcy. Reporters physically visited the site, gathered named on-record survivors with specific, verifiable details of injuries and compensation failures — this is genuine field journalism that holds the state accountable on the anniversary rather than recy

AFP sounds alarm on youth radicalisation The Australian Federal Police is warning of a sharp rise in youth radicalisation, with cases developing rapidly and increasingly driven by online ecosystems. The significance is twofold: it raises immediate public-safety concerns after recent foiled plots, and it adds pressure for tougher platform obligations and earlier intervention by schools and families. Covered by: Sydney Morning Herald. Power price shock: wholesale electricity forecast to double New modelling reported today forecasts wholesale electricity prices surging by 2029, blamed on renewable build delays colliding with coal closures—an explosive mix for households and industry already sensitive to cost-of-living pressures. Politically, it sharpens the stakes for the government’s energy transition timetable and invites renewed scrutiny of reliability, investment settings and bill relief. Covered by: The Australian, The Advertiser. Wages go backwards as economic press

  The Kerala High Court has directed police to provide protection to Big TV journalist Aparna Kurup and her minor son following alleged death threats and cyber attacks after she anchored a television discussion on women's rights. Justice Murali Purushothaman passed the order on November 6, directing the Ernakulam South Station House Officer to provide protection whenever she reports any threat or intimidation. Kurup had alleged that she faced online harassment after hosting a programme discussing remarks by Islamic scholar Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar on women's rights. The court disposed of her petition after the state assured it of adequate police protection, Lawchakra reported.    

  The Madhya Pradesh High Court has quashed an FIR against independent journalist Uvesh Khan for reporting on violence during a Ganesh immersion procession in Silwani, Raisen district, in September 2025. In an October 28 order, Justice Himanshu Joshi observed that reporting an incident of violence did not, by itself, amount to promoting communal enmity. The FIR alleged that Khan's YouTube report could create fear and confusion among members of the Hindu community. The court held that the report did not contain specific statements promoting enmity between communities and said continuing the proceedings would amount to an abuse of the legal process, Alt News reported.    

Tuesday, 10 November 2026 #1  ·  Times City / Let Delhi Breathe  ·  Data story / Investigative Data blackout: Likely Diwali AQI much higher than 370 By Amit Bhattacharya   ·   The Times of India  ·  Page Page 2 A forensic analysis of CPCB's hourly station-level data shows that 43 of Delhi's 59 monitoring stations reported missing data during peak pollution hours on Diwali night, with 12 stations going dark for nine or more hours — enough to be excluded from the citywide average. The paper's calculations show the official AQI of 344 would likely have exceeded 370 had data transmission not been interrupted, with the 12 excluded stations averaging a likely AQI of 403. The analysis establishes that outages were concentrated precisely when air quality was at its worst, and that stations were still recording AQI 500 when transmission resumed, making the interruption pattern statistically improbable as