Sunday, November 23

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Ceasefire ‘victory’ looks bleak as Hezbollah bodies exhumed from makeshift mass graves | World News
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Ceasefire ‘victory’ looks bleak as Hezbollah bodies exhumed from makeshift mass graves | World News

In scrubland on the outskirts of Tyre, southern Lebanon, they started digging out the bodies - 186 of them.One family of women, mothers and daughters all dressed in black, fell on the coffin of their brother, their son, stroking it, sweeping the dust off, wailing. His name was Hussein Fakih and he was a Hezbollah militant.This was not an ordinary graveyard. Image: Pic: Michael Greenfield/Sky A makeshift mass grave, the corpses were mainly those of Hezbollah fighters. A temporary solution while the war was at its raging peak. Get them in the ground quick. Bury them later.Framed against a bright blue sky, a yellow digger scraped the topsoil off. People wore masks to protect against the overpowering stench.Others went to the e...
Japan allows Kiwis to gain approval for working holiday visa twice
World News

Japan allows Kiwis to gain approval for working holiday visa twice

Photo: RNZ Eligible New Zealanders are now able to apply for a working holiday visa to Japan twice in their lifetime, which was only allowed once before. The new rule came into effect at the start of this month, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Applicants should be between 18 and 30 years age and cannot be accompanied by dependants or children and must meet some health requirements. The programme intended to make it possible for young people from Japan and its partner countries and regions to spend holidays while working to supplement their travel in each other's territory, the website of the Japanese foreign ministry said. "The programmes are designed to provide the youth with wider opportunities for them to appreciate the culture and general way of life in the par...
What is Brain Rot, the Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year?
World News

What is Brain Rot, the Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year?

Memory loss. brain dissolves into water. vector illustration Photo: 123rf One hundred and 62 years after he died, American Philosopher Henry David Thoreau is suddenly having a moment, and it's all thanks to Gen Z and emergent demographic Gen Alpha. It's nothing to do with his essays on political transcendentalism and proto-anarchism, but entirely due to an inconspicuous phrase coined in his 1854 book Walden - a treatise detailing that one time Thoreau went to live in the woods for a couple of years, in order to write a book about living in the woods for a couple of years. That phrase is of course, "brain rot", which has been crowned Oxford's Word of the Year 2024. Technically, yes, it's two words. But who wants to risk getting pedantic with an Oxford dictionary? The term "brain rot" has...
Fianna Fail largest party in Ireland as counting finishes | World News
Business

Fianna Fail largest party in Ireland as counting finishes | World News

Fianna Fail is the largest party in Ireland on 48 seats out of 174 in parliament, with Sinn Fein on 39 and Fine Gael on 38.Fianna Fail also secured the most first preference votes in Friday's vote, taking 21.9% to Fine Gael's 20.8%. Sinn Fein came in third on 19%. The result, after three days of counting, paves the way for a Fianna Fail-Fine Gael coalition in government with either a handful of independents or a third party. The two centre-right parties had previously said they would not rule with the left-wing Sinn Fein. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:30 ...
Comanchero vice president charged over Australia’s largest ever cocaine seizure
World News

Comanchero vice president charged over Australia’s largest ever cocaine seizure

By Jessica Black, Claudia Williams, Grace Whiteside Authorities allege the group attempted to import the drugs into Queensland by sea. Photo: ABC / Nickoles Coleman A Comanchero outlaw bikie gang leader has been charged over Australia's largest ever cocaine seizure, police say. A transnational organised crime syndicate with links to the Comancheros is alleged to have attempted to bring 2.34 tonnes of cocaine into Australia. Eleven men and two juveniles were arrested on Saturday night and in the early hours of Sunday morning, in a joint investigation between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Queensland police. The arrests include the vice president of the Comancheros Brisbane chapter, and a patched member. Authorities allege the group attempted to import the drugs into Queenslan...
Nine-year-old boy sent to shops ended up paralysed: The Palestinian families’ lives shattered by Israelis shooting their children | World News
Business

Nine-year-old boy sent to shops ended up paralysed: The Palestinian families’ lives shattered by Israelis shooting their children | World News

In a West Bank clinic, the father of a nine-year-old Palestinian boy showed us where the bullet shot by an Israeli soldier entered his son's neck and where it left his small body through his spine.Kareem Sharaab had been outside his home when the Israeli military entered his village in the occupied West Bank.He'd been sent out to the shops for groceries. The short walk would change his life forever.His grandfather, Hani, told me what happened next. "There was nothing going on then. No clashes, nothing. The kid was just playing on the road. Out of nowhere, the sound of gunfire, and the voice of children screaming out that Kareem has been injured." Image: Kareem Sharaab was left paralysed when an Israeli bullet hit his spine ...
Cancer Society concerned teens promoting UV Index as tanning guide
World News

Cancer Society concerned teens promoting UV Index as tanning guide

With an exceptionally hot summer on the cards, concerns have been raised about a new sunbathing trend. Cancer Society prevention policy lead Emma Shields said it was alarming to see teenagers on TikTok promoting the UV Index (UVI) as a tanning guide. The UVI shown on weather and forecasting apps is intended help people know when to use sun protection. Several Aucklanders RNZ spoke to at Mission Bay said they had come to the beach after checking the sun was strong. Eighteen-year-old Anastasia Campos said she made sure to lay in the sun when the UV was high. "I text the group chat 'UV 9 today let's go to the beach'." She said she was not worried about skin damage. "Any tan is a sign of skin damage and long-term skin damage can accumulate to cause premature ageing and increase the risk of ...
Doug Ford’s chief of staff ‘missing’ months of government texts after phone was ‘reset’
Politics

Doug Ford’s chief of staff ‘missing’ months of government texts after phone was ‘reset’

A top aide to Ontario Premier Doug Ford is facing questions about how he manages sensitive government records after he traded in his cellphone without fully backing it up, Global News can reveal, meaning months of text messages related to official government business are now considered “missing.” The government has been engaged in a months-long freedom of information appeal with Global News over text conversations between Ford’s chief of staff Patrick Sackville and Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster.Records from Verster show intermittent text messages in the first half of 2023 between the two officials, spanning everything from advice to government to holiday greetings and emojis.While Verster had submitted his side of the digital conversations, as part of a freedom of information request, Sackvil...
Increasing intake of plant protein may help boost your heart health: Study
Health

Increasing intake of plant protein may help boost your heart health: Study

Eating more plant-based protein than animal-based protein may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a new study on Monday.  The study, led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, showed that the risk reductions are likely driven by the replacement of red and processed meats with plant proteins and eating more legumes and nuts. “Such a dietary pattern is beneficial not just for human health but also the health of our planet," they said in the study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study aims to pioneer the investigation of an ideal ratio of plant to animal protein and how it impacts health, specifically heart health. "The average American eats a 1:3 plant-to-animal protein rat...
Syria says its strikes with Russia have killed at least 400 insurgents over past 24 hours | World News
Business

Syria says its strikes with Russia have killed at least 400 insurgents over past 24 hours | World News

Syria's military has said its joint airstrikes with Russia have killed at least 400 insurgents over the past 24 hours - as Vladimir Putin reaffirmed his support for Syrian President Bashar al Assad.The strikes are being carried out after insurgents led by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al Sham and including Turkey-backed fighters launched a two-pronged attack on Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, on Saturday. The rebels then moved into the countryside around the provinces of Idlib and neighbouring Hama.Syrian and Russian airstrikes have mainly been carried out on rebel positions in those two provinces, Syria's military said.Syria's opposition-run White Helmets rescue service said on Monday that at least 25 people, including 10 children, have been killed in airstrikes carried out by the Syrian...