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By Peter de Kruijff, ABC environment reporter All clouds have some level of cooling effect on the planet. Photo: Bruce Rolff A drop in the number of low-altitude clouds was behind unexplained warming that contributed to the world's hottest year on record, a new study suggests. The record-breaking heat of 2023, which saw the planet warm an average 1.45 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial surface temperatures, took many climate scientists by surprise. Their closest predictions, which simulated the effects of human-created warming and other known drivers, were around 0.2C lower than observed temperatures. Experts could not fully explain the extra heat source at the time. Now research published in Science today suggests the missing warming mechanism from the prediction models was a low i...

NYPD release photos of suspected gunman without mask Photo: NYPD By Karina Tsui, John Miller and Brynn Gingras of CNN Words written on ammunition. A smiling surveillance photo. A discarded water bottle. A dropped cell phone. These are among the key pieces of evidence providing clues for police more than 24 hours into a hunt for the man who gunned down a healthcare executive Wednesday before seemingly disappearing into the city. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed on a busy Midtown Manhattan street in a targeted early morning attack. A shell casing from one of the bullets fired into his body had the word "depose" written on it. "Delay" was written on a live round that was ejected when the shooter appeared to be clearing a jam. Police are exploring whether the words found indic...

By Francesco Fontemaggi, Stuart Williams and Alice Hackman for AFP Emmanuel Macron has adopted a defiant tone in an address to the nation, promising to see out his full term as France's president. Photo: Xose Bouzas / Hans Lucas via AFP President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday vowed to name a new prime minister in the coming days to prevent France from sliding deeper into political turmoil, rejecting growing pressure from the opposition to resign. Macron adopted a defiant tone in an address to the nation, seeking to limit an escalating political crisis after Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government was ousted in a historic no-confidence vote. Contemporary France's shortest-serving premier, Barnier resigned after Wednesday's parliamentary defeat in a standoff over the budget forced his...

Photo: 123rf Bitcoin has more than doubled this year Trump on Wednesday picked pro-crypto Paul Atkins to lead SEC Elon Musk, a major Trump ally, supports cryptocurrencies Crypto-related stocks have surged Bitcoin catapulted above US$100,000 (NZ$170,000) for the first time on Thursday (US time), a milestone hailed even by sceptics as a coming-of-age for digital assets as investors bet on a friendly US administration to cement the place of cryptocurrencies in financial markets. Once it broke US$100,000 in Thursday's Asian morning, boosted by US President-elect Trump's nomination of pro-crypto Paul Atkins to run the Securities and Exchange Commission, it was soon at an all-time high of US$103,619 (NZ$176,000). It last fetched US$101,139 ($NZ172,000), up about 3.2 percent on the day. T...