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By Kate Abnett, Valerie Volcovici and Karin Strohecker, Reuters Attendees walk past the COP29 logo during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 21 November 21, 2024. Photo: AFP Countries agreed on Sunday to an annual finance target of $300 billion (NZ$514b) to help poorer countries deal with impacts of climate change, with rich countries leading the payments, according to a hard fought deal clinched at the COP29 conference in Baku. The new goal is intended to replace developed countries' previous commitment to provide $100 billion (NZ$171b) per year in climate finance for poorer nations by 2020. That goal was met two years late, in 2022, and expires in 2025. The agreement was criticised by developing nations, who called it insufficient, but Unit...

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN Amelia Earhart standing under the nose of her Lockheed Mode 10-E Electra Photo: Wikipedia The disappearance of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart more than 87 years ago has remained one of the most captivating mysteries in history, with a handful of explorers devoted to scouring the seas for any clue to her final whereabouts. Sonar imagery captured in January revealed a plane-shaped anomaly on the seafloor about 161km from the Pacific Ocean's Howland Island - the next location where Earhart was expected to land before she was declared lost at sea. The detection renewed a worldwide interest in the mystery and left many questioning whether Earhart's missing Lockheed 10-E Electra had finally been found. After returning to the site on November 1, Deep Sea Vision - a...

Vientiane, Laos: The Laotian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed sympathy after the deaths of six tourists who had been on a night out in Vang Vieng. Photo: Unsplash/ Alessio Roversi The Laos government said Saturday it was "profoundly saddened" by the deaths of foreign tourists in Vang Vieng, with the toll from a suspected methanol poisoning incident now at six. A statement posted on its Ministry of Foreign Affairs website said it expressed "sincere sympathy and deepest condolences to the families of the deceased", adding an investigation was underway to find the cause of the incident. Six tourists died of suspected methanol poisoning after a night out in the Laos backpacker hotspot of Vang Vieng last week. The two Danish citizens, an American, a Briton and two Australians were a...

By Kate Abnett, Valerie Volcovici and Nailia Bagirova, Reuters Attendees walk past the COP29 logo during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 21 November 21, 2024. Photo: AFP Wealthy countries raised their offer of climate finance to US$300 billion (NZ$514b) a year at COP29 on Saturday, raising hopes of a deal with developing nations that had dismissed an earlier proposal as insufficient to address the impacts of global warming. The UN climate summit had been due to finish on Friday but ran into an extra day as negotiators from nearly 200 countries - who must adopt the deal by consensus - tried to reach agreement on the contentious funding plan for the next decade. The two-week conference cut to the heart of the global debate over the financial...

By Neil Jerome Morales, Reuters Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos Jr, in August (file photo). Photo: AFP/ Pool - Lisa Marie David Philippine security agencies stepped up safety protocols on Saturday after Vice President Sara Duterte said she would have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr assassinated if she herself were killed. In a dramatic sign of a widening rift between the two most powerful political families in the Southeast Asian nation, Duterte told an early morning press conference that she had spoken to an assassin and instructed him to kill Marcos, his wife, and the speaker of the Philippine House, if she were to be killed. "I have talked to a person. I said, if I get killed, go kill BBM (Marcos), (first lady) Liza Araneta, and (Speaker) Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke," ...