Investigative Stories

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online At least three people have died after an NBC news helicopter crashed and caught fire in the Chatsworth neighbourhood of Los Angeles, with the accident occurring while news crews were covering a separate fatal bus collision nearby. The helicopter came down on Tuesday evening close to a single-storey commercial building in the San Fernando Valley. Los Angeles fire...

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online The discovery of the bodies of seven women in and around the area near Johannesburg’s international airport has renewed widespread anger and fear in South Africa, where campaigners have long demanded stronger action against gender-based violence and femicide. Five of the women were found within the space of a week, while the other two deaths were discovered earlier...

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Residents of the Oxfordshire village of Piddington have voted overwhelmingly in favour of symbolically declaring independence from the United Kingdom, using an unusual local referendum to express opposition to government plans for a large asylum accommodation centre nearby. The unofficial poll, held on Tuesday, was organised by campaigners seeking to demonstrate the strength of local feeling over proposals...

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online People defending forests, rivers and Indigenous territories are facing continuing threats of violence, intimidation and murder, with communities in several countries increasingly organising local protection groups as criminal networks move deeper into environmentally sensitive areas. A new assessment cited by the independent watchdog Global Witness says 124 land and environmental defenders were killed in 2025, equivalent to roughly...

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. New historical research has uncovered further evidence of the Church of England’s financial and institutional connections to the transatlantic enslavement of Africans, adding to an increasingly detailed record of how slavery was supported by religious, commercial and political networks in Britain. The findings come as the Church of England continues to debate how it should respond to its...

Published: 16 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. New historical research has found that wealth generated through the transatlantic trafficking and enslavement of Africans was deeply connected to Britain’s financial system, including the early development of the Bank of England and other major financial institutions. The research, compiled through the Register of British Slave Traders, suggests that the involvement of financial institutions and prominent financiers in...

Published: 15 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. Fugitive property developer Jean Nassif launched an extraordinary series of accusations during a tense appearance before New South Wales’ corruption watchdog, declaring that he was not corrupt, defending his family and threatening to pursue legal action against the Australian government from overseas. Nassif, 58, gave evidence to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) from his bedroom in...

Published: 15 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population before European colonisation may have been dramatically larger than previously estimated, according to new research that suggests the demographic consequences of colonisation were far more devastating than earlier historical assessments indicated. A new study by researchers from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures...

Published: 14 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. Abuse and intimidation directed at election candidates in England have reached a level that is beginning to influence how people campaign and whether they are willing to seek public office again, according to a new review by the Electoral Commission. The findings, based on this year's local and mayoral elections in England, reveal a troubling picture of political...

Published: 14 September 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. US President Donald Trump’s ambitious programme of construction and renovation in Washington DC is facing growing criticism from architects, preservationists and other observers, who argue that a series of large-scale projects could permanently alter the character of the American capital. The projects include a major ballroom at the White House, a proposed triumphal arch, extensive changes to historic...