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By Andrew Greene, ABC Photo: 123rf A NZ$7.7 billion (AU$7 billion) program to create an Australian military-grade satellite communications system has been cancelled, with Australia's prime minister insisting the government is busy "prioritising" all defence purchases. Eighteen months ago, US defence giant Lockheed Martin was selected to deliver a hardened network of three to five satellites to provide high-level protection against cyber and electronic warfare attacks in what would have been Australia's largest-ever defence space contract. The project - known as JP9102 - was expected to include locally controlled and operated geostationary communications satellites, as well as multiple ground stations, but on Monday the Department of Defence confirmed it no longer met "strategic priori...

Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki erupted just before midnight on Sunday local time. File photo. Photo: AFP At least nine people have died after Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki in eastern Indonesia erupted, spewing explosive plumes of lava and forcing authorities to evacuate several nearby villages. Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki - located on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara province - erupted on Sunday at 11.57pm local time, belching a fiery-red column of lava, volcanic ash and incandescent rocks, said Hadi Wijaya, a spokesperson for The Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation. "After the eruption, there was power outage and then it was raining and big lightning which caused panic among residents," he told Reuters, adding that the authority had raised the status of the volcano to level IV ...

Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia say comments from a comedian at a Trump rally last week labelling their homeland island as "garbage" have energised members of the community to get out and vote. And that could spell bad news for Donald Trump, as the battleground swing state of Pennsylvania has a massive Puerto Rican population of close to 500,000 people. Puerto Rico is a US territory, not a state, but Pureto Ricans who live in the US are citizens and can vote in the election. At a suburban carpark 20 minutes from downtown Philadelphia, members of the local Puerto Rican community have come together to show pride in their homeland, their music and their flag. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe's description of Puerto Rico as "garbage" are still very much in the minds of those here, like political activ...

Tau'ili'ili is travelling to Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Niue, and the Solomon Islands to research various musical instruments. Photo: Supplied / Tauiliili Alpha Maiava Samoan-born New Zealand writer, director, and composer Tau'ili'ili Alpha Maiava is on a journey to seven Pacific Islands to understand the origins of musical instruments that once flourished, and those that have become obsolete. He is travelling to Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Niue, and the Solomon Islands to research various musical instruments, including the conch shell, nose flute, pan pipe, lali, pāte, stamping tube, mouth harp, and mouth pipes, and the events that have influenced their current status. "When people envision the South Pacific, images of swaying palm trees, pristine...

Donald Trump supporters wait outside Madison Square Garden where former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in New York, 27 October. Photo: LEONARDO MUNOZ / AFP Analysis - In 1992 James Carville, Bill Clinton's lead strategist, hung a sign on the wall of the Democratic candidate's campaign office in Little Rock, Arkansas. It had three lines on it to focus the team on the key vote-swinging issues and one of those lines would become so famous it's turned into a political cliché. The line read, 'It's the economy, stupid.' It stuck for good reason. Elections are almost always about the economy. It's atop most of the polls asking voters their main issue for the 2024 US presidential election as well. Just perhaps not in a way you think. We'll...

By Tom Balmforth and Alexander Tanas for Reuters With 98 percent of the ballots counted, Sandu led Stoianoglo with 54.3 percent, the Central Election Commission said. Photo: DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP Moldova's pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu claimed victory at Sunday's closely-fought presidential election, defeating Alexandr Stoianoglo, her rival backed by the traditionally pro-Russian Socialist Party. With 98 percent of the ballots counted, Sandu led Stoianoglo with 54.3 percent, the Central Election Commission said at the end of an election and campaign that were marred by persistent allegations of interference denied by Russia. The victory for the 52-year-old ex-World Bank adviser, who has accelerated the nation's push to leave Moscow's orbit and join the European Union, is seen by h...

Foreign Minister Winston Peters. Photo: RNZ NICK MONRO The government is looking to tighten controls over exporting weapons or advanced technologies that could be misused in war. They would build on changes made since the controls were found to be too weak three years ago, when a 2021 review concluded they fell short of "contemporary best practice". Globally, exporters of "dual-use" civilian-military goods were facing "increasing scrutiny and regulatory complexity due to rising geopolitical tensions", said local law firm Minter Ellison in a commentary telling clients to prepare for tighter controls. "Export control regimes have struggled to keep pace with rapidly advancing technologies." New Zealand was signed up to four export control regimes. "New Zealand monitors the export control p...