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Photo: Bloomsbury Publishers Alan Moore still fears the human race has what it takes to destroy itself. The British author came to prominence in the 1980s with works like Watchmen and V for Vendetta, unusually dark - for the times - comic books and graphic novels that tackled subjects like nuclear annihilation, the Cold War and fascism. Time has not mellowed the New York Times best-selling writer, whose latest book The Great When takes place in a sinister parallel England post-World War II. "I don't think that the nuclear issue has ever gone away - it's just receded in public awareness," Moore told RNZ's Sunday Morning. "We still have all of these things all around the world, and at the moment, we do have the particular issue of which country is going to be the first to put an artificial...

Since the election Musk has added an estimated US$54 billion (NZ$93.5 billion) to his net worth. Photo: ANGELA WEISS / AFP By Isabella Higgins, ABC Elon Musk is the world's richest man and his new proximity to the White House is, for now, making him even wealthier and more powerful. The tech tycoon is believed to have added more than US$54 billion (NZ$93.5 billion) to his net worth since the 5 November election, according to estimates from Forbes magazine. The wealth injection came largely from a surge in the stock price of his companies Tesla and SpaceX after the re-election of Donald Trump. "Mr Musk has made quite the bet by investing millions of dollars in the Trump campaign," Matt Mittelsteadt said, a research fellow at the Mercatus Centre at George Mason University. "Now that Mr Tr...

Donald Trump. Photo: JIM WATSON President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named Chris Wright, the CEO of Denver-based fracking company Liberty Energy, as his pick to be the next secretary of the Department of Energy. Wright will also serve as a member of the newly formed Council of National Energy, which Trump said will consist of all agencies involved in the "permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation" of energy. North Dakota Gov Doug Burgum - Trump's pick for secretary of the Department of the Interior - will be the chairman. "Chris has been a leading technologist and entrepreneur in Energy. He has worked in Nuclear, Solar, Geothermal, and Oil and Gas. Most significantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution tha...

By Mariko Katsumura, Reuters Yamanashi Prefecture, home of the most popular route used by climbers of the 3776m volcano, is set to announce the plan soon. Photo: 123RF Japanese authorities seeking to reduce the carbon footprint and overcrowding at Mount Fuji will propose a trackless, rubber-tyred tram system made by China's CRRC to transport climbers, a person with direct knowledge of the plan said. The new proposal, which has not been previously reported, would replace the original plan to build a light-rail system connecting the base to the fifth hiking station of the popular Yoshida Trail to the top after a local city and other parties, voiced concern over its environmental and cost impact. Yamanashi Prefecture, home of the most popular route used by climbers of the 3776m volcano,...

Biden told Xi that the two leaders have not always agreed but their discussions have been "frank" and "candid." Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/ AFP By Jarrett Renshaw, Lucinda Elliott, Eduardo Baptista and Trevor Hunnicutt, Reuters Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to work with the incoming US administration of President-elect Donald Trump as he held his final talks with outgoing President Joe Biden on key conflicts from cyber crime to trade, Taiwan and Russia. Biden met Xi for about two hours at a hotel where the Chinese leader was staying, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru, for their first talks in seven months. "China's goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship remains unchanged," following the election, Xi said, ackno...