The OECD warns weak boardroom skills are stifling innovation and growth.

A judge said the offending was a ‘gross breach of trust’ between a father and a daughter.

With nothing but grit, muscle and an iron jaw, a hugely popular Egyptian wrestler geared up for an extraordinary challenge yesterday: pulling a 700-ton ship across the water with a rope held only by his teeth.

“Today, I have come to break the world record,” Ashraf Mahrous said in an interview in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Hurghada after the challenge.

It was no easy task but Ashraf Mahrous, also known by his nickname Kabonga, has dazzled before with his astonishing strength. Earlier this year, he pulled a train. He has also singlehandedly pulled a locomotive and four years ago, a truck.

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With each achievement, his popularity has soared — children run after him in the streets, where he's known simply as “strong man.”

With the ship pull, Mahrous, a 44-year-old native of the port city of Ismalia, hopes to get yet another recognition from the Guinness World Records.

A triumph by the Red Sea

The scene was set at the shore in Hurghada. Mahrous first pulled a 700-ton ship, and to affirm his challenge he pulled two ships weighing approximately 1150 tons together.

“I pulled them both, thanks to God, to prove to my friends and the whole world that God blessed me by being the strongest man in the world,” Mahrous said.

He said the current Guinness World Record is a 614-ton ship set in 2018.

Mahrous said he will send videos and photos of his attempt to Guinness World Records to be evaluated.

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In preparation for the feat, Mahrous followed a protein- and iron-rich diet, consuming at least a dozen eggs, two whole chickens, and 5 kilograms of fish every day — all while training for two hours, three times a day.

It wasn't his first ship pull. Six years ago, he tried for two hours before he managed to pull a 4000-ton ship in the water, a rope strapped to his shoulders, for about 30 metres. The event was caught on video.

″I grunted and yelled as I pulled the ship, and I spoke to it, saying ‘It’s either me or you today,’" he told The Associated Press recently at his local gym in Cairo, where he trains daily.

Mahrous believes that speaking with the object he pulls beforehand helps him establish a connection and is key to his success. “It’s important for me to treat the object that I will pull as part of my body that moves along with my heart beat,” he said.

An extraordinary child

Mahrous, 190 centimetres tall and weighing 155 kilograms, said his strength emerged early.

As a child, he would carry his friends for fun and haul heavy loads, several gas cylinders at once on a wheelbarrow. He was nine when his father lost his job as a contractor in Iraq and after that, Mahrous began knocking on doors, offering to lift heavy items for some cash.

Once, he accidentally broke a friend’s arm when he tried to pull him as they played. He helped people move bricks, sandbags and other heavy materials — and he was fast. He loved sports and trained in kung fu, kickboxing and even established a wrestling team in Cairo.

It was only when his friends saw him easily flip giant tires 10 times in a row in a deserted courtyard at their gym and push a car using only a finger that they encouraged him to go for a world record.

“I was inspired by people who broke records and felt like they are no better than me,” he said. Now he's less fearful of injuries and more concerned about failing to accomplish a pull.

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Past recognitions

In March, he was formally recognised by Guinness World Records for the heaviest rail pull: He pulled a train weighing 279 tons with a rope held by his teeth for a distance of nearly 10 metres. At the time, he received two other certificates, for the heaviest locomotive pull and for the fastest 100-metre road vehicle pull.

Mahrous, who is also president of the Egyptian Federation for Professional Wrestlers, was previously recognised by Guinness in June 2021, for pulling a 15,730-kilogram truck with his teeth. And in February 2024, the international franchise recognised him for cracking and eating 11 raw eggs in 30 seconds.

He wears a mouthguard during pulling events but says he has no concerns about his teeth. Instead of going to a dentist, he uses a miswak — a traditional teeth-cleaning twig rich in anti-bacterial compounds that help prevent decay.

He says he takes no supplements but eats, sleeps and works out at least twice every day.

His ambitions are far from over. Next, he plans to send a request to the Egyptian presidency for permission to pull a 263,000-ton submarine.

He also hopes someday to pull a plane using only his eyelid muscles.

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Sir Tumu Te Heuheu died aged 84, leaving a legacy of calm leadership.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has visited Balmoral Castle for a private meeting with King Charles III.

Albanese and fiance Jodie Haydon flew to Scotland overnight for the face-to-face visit, which the prime minister described as a privilege and a "great honour".

The King only two weeks ago praised the AUKUS defence pact between Australia, the US and Britain during Donald Trump's state visit to the UK.

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The prime minister will tomorrow speak at the UK Labour Party conference in Liverpool before travelling to the United Arab Emirates.

Earlier, Albanese joined the British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in discussing defence, security, trade and the economy.

Top of the agenda was how to protect the AUKUS pact from being unpicked by Donald Trump's America First agenda.

The US President's unique brand of populism has been matched in Britain by Nigel Farage's Reform party which is leading the UK polls.

Farage is riding a wave of anti-immigration sentiment helped along by rallies stoked by far-right activists.

March for Australia protests have also been held in major cities over the past few weeks.

"That sends shivers through the spines on many of our communities," Starmer said.

"I don't want to see the rise of populist organisations," Albanese added.

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The British Prime Minister hosted his Australian counterpart at Number 10.

Albanese said: "We share values and today more so than ever really."

Later, he was seen heading into the famous door with some Aussie-brewed beers with partner Haydon.

He clutched a four-pack of his own Albo brew by Willie The Boatman in Sydney.

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Albanese and Starmer are both from the progressive side of politics.

Albanese scored a thumping re-election in May.

The other is facing an early reckoning just 14 months after winning power.

The British public is increasingly concerned about illegal migrants, with many crossing the English Channel in boats.

The British PM has announced a mandatory digital ID in a bid to stamp out illegal workers.

Albanese declined to say whether he recommended Sir Keir learn the lesson of the Australian Labor Party and muscle up in border control.

A man has died after a plane used by a skydiving business crashed on the far south coast of NSW.

Emergency services were called to bushland west of George Bass Drive in Moruya, around two kilometres north of Moruya Airport, after reports of a plane crash.

The pilot, a 54-year-old man who was the only person onboard, died at the scene.

A crime scene has been established and will be examined by specialist officers.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has been informed.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

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Strike Four has also rolled over, pushing the prize pool to $400,000.

Mother urges Christchurch residents to check their security cameras.

Detectives are investigating after the bodies of a man and a woman were found at a house near Coffs Harbour, NSW.

Officers were called to the house in Boambee at 5.15pm yesterday.

Mother and wife Carolyn Campbell, 61, an avid hiker, was found dead along with another man inside her Boambee home, about 10 kilometres south-west of Coffs Harbour.

The man is believed to be a family friend who had been visiting.

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He is believed to be aged in his sixties but has not yet formally identified.

Carolyn had lived at the home with her husband.

Detectives are assisting local police from Coffs Harbour.

Police are stressing that at this stage they have no evidence to suggest anyone else is involved.

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Det. Insp Peter O'Reilly from NSW Police said a member of the family called police.

"When they arrived at that location they found a woman and a man deceased," he said.

"We've learned the deceased male is a person known to the couple and had been residing with them in the days prior to this incident."

How exactly the pair died remains a mystery

Police aren't ruling anything in or out, they told 9News.

One person has been taken by ambulance to Whakatāne Hospital.