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British writer and Booker Prize 2024 shortlisted author Samantha Harvey poses with her book 'Orbital' during the Booker Prize 2024 Award photo call event, at the Southbank centre, in central London, on 11 November, 2024. Photo: HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP Orbital, a slim poetic novel following six astronauts over a day onboard the International Space Station, has won the Booker Prize for 2024. The novel by British author Samantha Harvey was the shortest of the six books shortlisted for the prize at just 136 pages. The award was announced at a ceremony in London. The win was something of a surprise. Most critics and bookmakers had installed James by American author Percival Everett, the story of the slave in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, as the favourite. Recently the Booker Prize, which bills...

By Luc Cohen, Reuters A judge pauses Donald Trump's conviction proceedings for a week. Photo: CHIP SOMODEVILLA / Getty Images via AFP A New York state judge paused for a week further action on Donald Trump's conviction stemming from hush money paid to a porn star, a document made public on Wednesday showed. Justice Juan Merchan delayed at least through until 19 November any decision on whether to vacate Trump's conviction due to the US Supreme Court's decision in July that presidents are immune from prosecution involving their official acts. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office had said it agreed with a defence request to pause proceedings to consider how to approach the case in light of Trump's 5 November election win and looming inauguration in January 2025. Trump in Ma...

Bill Ramasi and his wife Vitauna at their village on Vanua Levu that is sinking beneath the sea Photo: The Detail/Sharon Brettkelly People in the Fijian village of Kiobo use kayaks to get around when the water rushes in. They must move to escape rising sea levels, but it's expensive and there's no help coming. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa this year, climate change was high on the agenda, the big talking point for politicians and NGOs. After spending a week there, hearing how Pacific Island nations were worst affected, The Detail's Sharon Brettkelly went to Fiji to see what was being done to help people. She wanted to visit the village of Vunidogoloa to find out what life was like there, 10 years after it was moved to a new site. That visit couldn't be arrang...

By David Kirton, Reuters A police car is seen at the Zhuhai Sports Centre, a day after a car rammed through the site killing dozens in Zhuhai, in south China's Guangdong province. Photo: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP A driver rammed his car into a crowd at a sports centre in southern China, killing 35 people and severely injuring 43 in one of the deadliest attacks in contemporary Chinese history. Chinese authorities took almost 24 hours to officially disclose the incident, which took place on Monday night (local time) in Zhuhai, a city of about 2.5 million people in southern China near Macau. Images and videos showing dozens of people knocked to the ground and a car fleeing from the scene, which circulated on China's major social media platforms on Monday night, were swiftly censored. Angry com...