MALAYSIA: The organiser of a music festival is seeking 12.3 million ringgit (£2.1m) in losses from British band The 1975, after its lead singer’s on-stage protest at the country’s anti-gay laws prompted authorities to shut the festival down.

During the July 21 performance, Matty Healy used criticised the Malaysian government’s stance against homosexuality and kissed bassist Ross MacDonald during the opening show in Kuala Lumpur.

In Malaysia, homosexuality is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison and caning.

YEMEN: Five United Nations officials who were kidnapped in the country 18 months ago have walked free, the UN said today.

In a brief statement, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, said all “available information suggests that all five colleagues are in good health.”

“The secretary-general reiterates that kidnapping is an inhumane and unjustifiable crime, and calls for the perpetrators to be held accountable,” Mr Haq said.

The identity of the kidnappers was not revealed.

NORWAY: Authorities were on standby today to evacuate more people in the south-east, where huge amounts of water, littered with broken trees, debris and trash, was thundering down the usually serene rivers after days of torrential rain.

The level of water in swollen rivers and lakes continued to grow despite two days of dry but overcast weather, with houses abandoned in flooded areas, floating hay bales wrapped in white plastic, cars coated in mud and camping sites swamped.

“This has been like a disaster movie,” said Aal mayor Solveig Vestenfor.

HAWAII: Emergency management records show no indication that warning sirens sounded before people ran for their lives from wildfires on Maui that killed at least 55 people on Thursday.

Instead, officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations — but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach.

But many survivors have said that they didn’t hear any sirens or receive a warning that gave them enough time to prepare and only realised they were in danger when they saw flames or heard explosions nearby.